Security Operatives Rake-In 100 Exam Crooks In Recent UTM Exam

April 22, 2019

No fewer than 100 examination cheats have so far been arrested by security operatives across the country during the just-concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said.

Among the persons arrested was a notorious cheat who had registered about 64 times in a bid to “ghost-write” for 64 candidates.
In its Weekly Bulletin released in Abuja today, Monday by its spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB said the fraudsters were found to have engaged in multiple registration to facilitate impersonation during the examination.
The board noted that the act was inflating annual registration of the UTME exercise by up to 30 per cent.
JAMB also said that data available to it showed that the unwholesome practice was prevalent in virtually all the states of the federation, including Abuja.
The examination body said the arrest of the culprits was made possible by the comprehensive and mandatory identity checks conducted on those taking the examination with a view to fishing out professional ghost writers before the release of the results. JAMB also said that it had cancelled the results of two Computer Based (CBT) centres in Abia over what it described as “widespread irregularities” during the UTME. The board gave the names of the CBT centres as Heritage and Infinity CBT centre and Okwyzil Computer Institute Comprehensive School Ugwunabo, Aba, Abia.
It said the drastic action was necessitated by the visual evidence obtained from a careful review of the CCTV recordings by a panel of experts engaged by the board.
“However, in order not to unduly punish honest and hardworking candidates who found themselves attached to these two centres, the board magnanimously relocated all the candidates who had taken or were scheduled to take their examination in the two centres to other centres where they had subsequently taken their examinations,” it said.
JAMB, however, apologised to innocent candidates involved in the relocation for the inconveniences they may have suffered, reaffirming its commitment to providing equal opportunity to all candidates to articulate their hopes and aspirations.
The body said that all the results of the examination sessions conducted by the board in the two centres from April 11 to 18 were null and void.

Presidency Faults Bishop Mamza Over Ways Buhari Handles Security Issues

Editorial staff

April 22, 2019

The Presidency has reminded the Catholic Bishop of Yola Diocese, Rt. Rev. Fr. Stephen Mamza, who said recently that the President is sleeping on duty as the nation is suffering from insecurity, that rather than sleeping, the President has been at alert since 2015 to resolve a lot of security challenges he inherited.

The Presidency reminded the Bishop that before the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari to power in 2015, he (the Bishop) had harboured over 1,500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), mostly women and children at his St. Theresa’s Cathedral Church which administered food rations and issued bags of maize, cooking oil and seasoning, but that all such IDPs have gone back to their homes.

In a statement today, Monday, by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, the Presidency stressed that there is so much that has changed in the past three to four years in and around Yola, and the Catholic Church in particular.

It said that a true assessment would show that but for the Change Administration of President Buhari, things would have continued the way they were, or even get worse, saying: “these could not have happened if a Commander-in- Chief was asleep.”

The Presidency said that Bishop Mamza was, and is still a strong member of the Adamawa Peace Initiative (API), which is made up of religious and community leaders and that the Peace Initiative once housed and fed 400,000 displaced people from Northern Adamawa and Borno States in 2015.

“As widely reported by the local and international press, in the premises of St. Theresa’s Cathedral where Rev. Mamza ministered, there were more than 1,500 IDPs, mostly women and children on whom the church administered food rations and issued bags of maize, cooking oil and seasoning.

“Now that Boko Haram has been degraded, the more than 400,000 displaced people absorbed by the Adamawa community have all gone back to Borno State and to those council areas in northern Adamawa.

“In addition to the capital, Yola, the towns of Michika, Madagali and Mubi which had been occupied by Boko Haram during their military advances have since been retaken by the Nigerian military, whose personnel are also clearing litters of Boko Haram’s carnage and are, through the support of the administration as well as local and international partners, rebuilding roads and bridges, power lines, burnt schools, markets, destroyed churches and mosques.

“Without an iota of doubt, the Northeast is better off with President Buhari than it was under the previous administration. That should explain the massive turnout of voters in the region, in spite of threats to life and property, to vote for the return of the President for a Second Term of four years.

“Sadly, one of the realities of today’s Nigeria is that it easy to blame President Buhari for the violence all around us. Community leaders are too scared to blame the warlords and the sponsors of killings we live with because they fear for their own lives.

“What is happening in several communities racked by inter-ethnic and religious violence is arising from the refusal of community leaders to point at known criminals in their midst for the law enforcement agencies to act against them. They rather blame President Buhari for their woes.

“It is indeed an irony that in the week that Bishop Mamza was speaking, another Bishop with a known commitment to peace, and results to show for his work in neighbouring Plateau State, is being dispatched to go to Taraba, Adamawa and Benue States to work in collaboration with security agencies in mending broken inter-communal relationships.

“This senseless violence can never be condoned by the administration and we sympathize with the families of those who lost loved ones as well as those injured. The administration’s intense security efforts and peace building will not only continue, but will expand in response to such explosions of violence in the country.”

Dr. Tom Adaba… Humility And Submission To God – Book Review By Yusuf Ozi-Usman

Greenbarge Reporters

April 22, 2019

Two things captured my attention immediately a copy of the book titled: BUT FOR GOD was graciously handed to me by no other person than the author himself, Dr. Aaze Thomas Adaba. One of the two things is the photo of him and his wife in, wait for it, romantic posture, featured at the back page of the 637 page book with caption to it thus: “At our 50th wedding anniversary, the Lord has blessed us with 6 biological children, 2 adopted ones and 16 grandchildren.”

The second one are the words of dedication in the book on page one, which read: “To God Almighty, The Height of Might, The Tower of Power, The Sole Authority of our Lives, The Infinity in Glory, The Sole Creator of Time, Space and the Universe, I dedicate this work in Thanksgiving for His infinite love and care for me and all about me. By His grace I am. To Him I owe all.”

The words of dedication are not just an acknowledgement of the indisputable hand of God in all his life and living on this earth, but also a sign of absolute submission, in prostrating posture, without intervening factor, to the same God. The words appear to have set the tone of the entire book, and can be said to represent the summary of the thought of the author. The back page photo and its caption show the creativity and thought of the author, i.e. as in saying: after all said and done, here we are, my wife and I, awaiting God’s next step in our lives.

If the author had commissioned me to write the book on him, I would have titled it, going by the content therein as: “Tom Adaba Gives Everything To God” and may add: “In Absolute Submission.” But I might not have been as detailed, in-depth, creative as the master himself. For, Dr. Tom Adaba as he’s fondly called by his admirers, including yours truly, is a renowned erudite scholar, flawless orator not only in Queen’s English but also in his native language, Ebira from Kogi State of Nigeria; a respected teacher, a technologically based broadcaster and politico-business guru.

He has every reason, every cause to give everything he has become to God, from the account of the event leading to, and the circumstances of his birth, as he narrates in the first three chapters.

He’s modest enough to acknowledge that the circumstances of his birth were narrated to him by Pa Joseph Abara Adaba.

In Ebira culture, such circumstances preceding his birth made him “a child of name” directly translated. His mother, Mrs. Mary Oniya Adaba had given birth to three children before him but they all died at infancy. It was one Parish Priest, Rev Fr Thomas Duffy who prophesized that the next child of Mrs. Mary would be male who would survive series of child deaths in her life. The Priest prophesy came to pass, resulting in the parents naming the child after him, i.e. Thomas.

Therefore, his first name, Aaze is a quick reminder of where he is coming from, for Aaze means “if it’s or he’s allowed” to manifest or to live.

The circumstances of his birth also included the fact that his father was conscripted into the British West Africa Frontier Force for operations in India and Burma in the Second World War (1939-44) at the time his wife took in for Thomas. The father didn’t return from the war front until the end of the war in 1944 when Tom, who was growing up in his forester father’s house, was already over eight years old.

Such circumstances of his birth and early years in his life were later to run through the major part of his life: jumping from one unforeseen fortune and blessing of God to the other amidst lurking uncertainties. It was like swimming comfortably in an ocean full of sharks and dangerous reptiles.

However, like any other creation of God, Tom narrates, from page 226, a sordid experience he encountered in an unlikely place when he was in NTA (Nigerian Television Authority), where he stagnated for a long time on Grade Level 15. When he complained to his superior officer who happened to be his friend, about the bad treatment regarding a quit notice for him in his accommodation in Lagos and lack of promotion for a long time, the boss cum friend told Tom: “Yes, I ordered the quit notice…” and “l honestly tell you I don’t know what you are doing here. As far as I am concerned, I do not recognize your assignment. You have no assignment here that I know of.”

That was perhaps, the first time, on page 229, he would ever shed tears as an adult, as he says: “shock, perplexity and utter disappointment were words too weak to describe my state of mind at the time he uttered the statements…l barged out of the office with tears welling in my eyes.”

As human being created by God living in our own kind of clime, the author also tasted incidence of robbery attacks and other forms of societal foibles, but as he concludes: that he survived all such foibles, tumbles, tribulations and hiccups, by men and nature’s arrangements, proved the high level of God’s attention to him and his family.

Indeed, it is impossible for one to adequately capture most of the essential parts of the book in a review such as this. This is backgrounded in the foreword to the book written by no other personality than the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan who wrote: “he has achieved significant success in his chosen profession in the communication field. In his family life, he is clearly a role model for many, especially for the younger couples facing chaos and disorder in an important area of human life. If we can talk of any “secret” from his successful life, he will be the first to submit that it is all by the grace of God, to whom he has shown great devotion at every moment of his life. This publication will highlight some major elements in this exciting romance with God…Dr. Tom Adaba has done well to screw up his courage to get this publication out now, before it gets too late…his journey is not yet over…”

What is possible from this review is for one to touch on one or two points as a way of creating a leeway for readers to understand, appreciate the import of the work and go out there to possess copies to read. You won’t regret doing so.

One last word: the book is rendered in simple, flawless, straight forward and conversational English. It is very educative, very revealing, very enlightening, very bold and faultlessly factual.

10 Days After Security Alert, Series Of Bomb Blasts Kill 160 People In Sri Lanka

Greenbarge Reporters

April 21, 2019

A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka today, Sunday, killing nearly 160 people, including dozens of foreigners.

The attacks came ten days after Sri Lanka’s police, Chief Pujuth Jayasundara issued an intelligence alert to top officers, warning that suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches.”

In the documents seen by AFP, the security agencies said: “a foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ (National Thowheeth Jama’ath) is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo.”

The NTJ is a radical Muslim group in Sri Lanka that was linked last year to the vandalisation of Buddhist statues.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe condemned the attacks, describing them as the worst act of violence since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war a decade ago and as “cowardly.” The powerful blasts, six in quick succession and then two more hours later, wrought devastation, including at the capital’s well-known St Anthony’s Shrine, a historic Catholic Church.

Hospital sources said British, Dutch and American citizens were among the 158 dead overall, with Britons and Japanese also injured. A Portuguese man also died, the country’s LUSA news agency reported.

An AFP photographer at the scene at St Anthony’s saw bodies lying on the floor, some draped with scarves and clothes.

Much of the church roof was blown out in the explosion, with roof tiles, glass and splintered wood littering the floor along with pools of blood.

The injured flooded into local hospitals, where officials reported hundreds of wounded were being admitted.

The country’s defence ministry ordered a night-time curfew, beginning on Sunday 6:00pm local time (1230 GMT), and a “temporary” social media ban was imposed by the government.

The first blast was reported at St Anthony’s, followed by a second deadly explosion at St Sebastian’s, a church in the town of Negombo, north of the capital.

“A bomb attack to our church, please come and help if your family members are there,” read a post in English on the church’s Facebook page.

Soon after, police confirmed that a third church in the east-coast town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with three high-end hotels in the capital.

Later in the afternoon, a hotel in the south of Colombo was struck — killing at least two people and bringing the toll to 158 — while another hit the suburb of Orugodawatta in the north of the capital.

President Maithripala Sirisena said in an address that he was shocked by the explosions and appealed for calm, and the prime minister was expected to speak to the media shortly.

On Twitter, Wickremesinghe wrote: “I strongly condemn the cowardly attacks on our people today.

“I call upon all Sri Lankans during this tragic time to remain united and strong. Please avoid propagating unverified reports and speculation. The government is taking immediate steps to contain this situation.”

The hotels targeted in the attack are all popular destinations for tourists, among them the Cinnamon Grand, which is near the prime minister’s official residence in Colombo.

An official at the hotel told AFP the blast there had hit the restaurant, and reported at least one person had been killed.

At the Shangri-La hotel, an AFP photographer saw extensive damage on the second floor restaurant, with windows blown out and electrical wires hanging from the ceiling.

– ‘Horrible scenes’ –

“Emergency meeting called in a few minutes. Rescue operations underway,” Sri Lanka’s Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, Harsha de Silva, said in a tweet on his verified account.

He said he had been to two of the attacked hotels and was at the scene at St Anthony’s Shrine, where he described “horrible scenes”.

“I saw many body parts strewn all over,” he tweeted, adding that there were “many casualties including foreigners”.

“Please stay calm and indoors,” he added.

Embassies in Colombo warned their citizens to shelter in place, and Sri Lankan Airlines told customers to arrive at the airport four hours ahead of flights because of ramped-up security in the wake of the attacks.

Only around six percent of mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka is Catholic, but the religion is seen as a unifying force because it includes people from both the Tamil and majority Sinhalese ethnic groups.

There have been no attacks in Sri Lanka linked to foreign Islamist groups, despite local media reports that a 37-year-old Sri Lankan was killed in Syria in 2016 while fighting for the Islamic State group.

In January, Sri Lankan police seized a haul of explosives and detonators stashed near a wildlife sanctuary following the arrest of four men from a newly formed radical Muslim group

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has expressed shock and sadness over what he called terrible attacks.

The President, who in a statement, condoled with the families of those killed in the attacks and wished speedy recovery to the injured, said: “we stand with victims of terrorism all over the world because we know and understand this harrowing inhuman activity.”

The Nigerian leader, called on the Sri Lanka’s authorities not to spare the wicked elements behind the mischievous attacks.

Source: AFP.

I’m Not Cameroonian: My Father’s From Sokoto, Mother’s From Jigawa – Atiku

Editorial staff

April 21, 2019

Defeated Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar Atiku, has said that he is not a Cameroonian by birth but that his father is from Wurmo in present day Sokoto State, while his mother hailed from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.

In his response to the All Progressives Congress (APC) filing before the Presidential election tribunal, Atiku said his father’s name is Garba Atiku Abdulkadir while the name of his mother is Aisha Kande.

Atiku, who was born in Jada in 1946, in present day Adamawa state, but then part of Northern Cameroon, insisted that he is a bonifide citizen of Nigeria by birth.

APC had described Atiku as an alien that was not qualified to be President of Nigeria.

But Atiku’s lawyers told the Tribunal that the parents of the 1st Petitioner (Atiku) are both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria.

“The birth of the 1st Petitioner in Jada, in present day Adamawa State of Nigeria was occasioned by the movement of his paternal grandfather called Atiku who was an itinerant trader, from Wurmo in present day Sokoto State to Jada in the company of his friend, Ardo Usman.

“That in Jada, Atiku, the grandfather of the 1st Petitioner gave birth to Garba who in tum gave birth to the 1st Petitioner and named him after his own father Atiku.

“The 1st Petitioner’s mother, Aisha Kande was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.

“That all averments concerning Germany, British Cameroons, League of Nations and Plebiscite are false and misleading in relation to the 1st Petitioner and therefore completely irrelevant more so that the 1st Petitioner is a Nigerian by birth within the contemplation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic ofNigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“The averments in the aforesaid paragraphs are indeed fabricated, contrived, made in bad faith and designed to embarrass the 1st Petitioner.”

Atiku said that the votes he secured in the presidential election were not wasted votes, and still claimed that he got more votes than President Buhari.

To buttress his Nigerian citizenship, Atiku listed his career path and political activities and the awards and honours that he had received.

These included his being a civil servant in the Nigerian Customs Service for over 20 years, retiring as a Deputy Director; a politician for about 30 years, who in 1992 contested the Presidential Primaries under the platform of then Social Democratic Party (SDP) alongside the late Chief M.K.O Abiola and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe.

He also mentioned his participation in the 1999 governorship election in Adamawa State in 1999, which he won and the presidential elections of 1999 and 2003, which he won as running mate to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mentioned also was his being a recipient of the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) and holder of the traditional title holder of Turakin Adamawa from 1982 to 2017 when he was elevated to Wazirin Adamawa.

“In 2007, the 1st Petitioner contested Presidential election under the platform of Action Congress (AC) and the 2nd Respondent contested under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP). “In 2014, the 1st Petitioner and the 2nd Respondent contested the Presidential Primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the 3rd Respondent for the 2015 Presidential Elections.”

2019 UTM Exam: Results Are Ready, But Not Released Yet – JAMB

Editorial staff

April 21, 2019

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that the results of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which was conducted nationwide from April 11 to 18, this year, are ready but have not been released yet. Over 1.8 million candidates registered for the examination.

According to the Head of the media and information of the Board, Fabian Benjamin, the release of the results will be publicized as soon as the Board is through with all it had set out to achieve.

“Yes, the results are all ready, but we are yet to release them because they are still being ratified.

“The board is carrying out all the checks and balances regarding these results, by way of viewing the CCTV camera, as well as attend to all findings brought before it while the examination lasted.

According to him, candidates should not be carried away by what he described as rumours and misleading information in some sections of the media, especially social media.

“The board want to distance itself from such rumours about releasing the results of candidates of the just concluded UTME and steps to check these results as being speculated.

“Candidates should disregard this information as it is not true. It is not emanating from the board.

“Candidates should not bother themselves going to any cyber cafe to check any result. Our result check has been standardised. We will forward the results to the respective telephone numbers of those candidates who are deserving of it.”

He said that the board is intensifying efforts to ensure that results of deserving candidates are released by next week.

Source: NAN.

Tinubu Accuses Senate President, Reps Speaker Of High Jacking Budgets Since 2015

Editorial staff

April 21, 2019

The national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has accused the outgoing Senate President, Bukola Saraki and speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara of high jacking the nation’s budget since 2015.

Tinubu, who spoke in defence of his support for better leadership of the ninth national assembly, beginning from May this year, also accused the (current) Senate leadership of being regressive elitists, constituting a brake on progress and good governance.

“The Senate leadership, and to a lesser degree, the House leadership, stymied APC legislative initiatives while attempting to hoist noxious, reactionary and self-interested legislation on the nation.”

“National budgets were delayed and distorted as these actors (Saraki and Dogara) repeatedly sought to pad budgets with pet projects that would profit them.

“Even worse, they cut funds intended to prosper projects that would have benefitted the average person. After four years of their antics, halting the progress of government, we should do all we can to prevent a repeat of their malign control of the National Assembly.”

According to Tinubu, Senator Saraki finagled his way into the senate presidency in 2015, saying: “he planted himself at the apex of legislative power. But his actions as Senate president showed a man devoid of compassion for the average Nigerian. All he cared for was power and position.

“Soon he will be deprived of both. House Speaker Dogara has fared only slightly better. Occupying these positions is not a guarantee of future success. It is only a guarantee of present duty.

“Politics requires jockeying and maneuvering for influence to get the right people in the right positions. To be beneficial, politics must be tied to the greater purpose of governance such as with President Buhari’s goal to reform the national economy for the good of all Nigerians.

“Just look at the way Saraki, Dogara and their ilk high jacked the budget process these past four years. National budgets were delayed and distorted as these actors repeatedly sought to pad budgets with pet projects that would profit them. Even worse, they cut funds intended to prosper projects that would have benefitted the average person. After four years of their antics halting the progress of government, we should do all we can to prevent a repeat of their malign control of the National Assembly.

“If we are truly committed to optimal governance, then we also must be equally committed to ensuring that the National Assembly leadership be competent and experienced as well as imbued with a progressive mindset and a desire to work in close cooperation with executive. This is all Asiwaju has hoped to achieve. There are no ulterior motives. Everything he has done is in concert with and in furtherance of the wishes of President Buhari and the party.

“What everyone who cares about Nigeria should now do is rally around the president to give him all possible support in driving to reality his economic policies and objectives. This is how we progress as a nation.

2023 Presidency: Tomorrow’ll Decide – Asiwaju Tinubu

Editorial staff

April 21, 2019

“Let the future stay where it is for now. In due time, it shall come and shall decide the shape it is to take regardless of the plans we mortals hold for it.As for me, I live in the here and now.”

These were the words of the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he reacted to news reports that he is meddling in the APC’s nomination process to National Assembly leadership positions in order to position himself for a presidential run in 2023.

In a statement by his media aide today, Tinubu said that his words and deeds are geared toward perfecting progressive governance and resolving the substantive issues of today, adding that those so enamored with gossiping about him, would do themselves and the nation well if they would follow his more productive example.

Asiwaju Tinubu said that all he has done in respect of the impending election of presiding officers of the National Assembly is to support the APC’s and President Muhammadu Buhari’s position, adding that he had no ulterior motives in so doing.

According to him, all his mind, heart and efforts are focused on backing the APC and President Buhari in achieving their shared vision of a flourishing economy and a prosperous people.

“We have monitored, with rising incredulity, the rash of news stories claiming Asiwaju Tinubu is manipulating the APC nomination process for the National Assembly leadership. The stories claim this supposed manipulation is the first salvo in Asiwaju’s effort to position himself for a presidential run during the 2023 election cycle. Not only are these reports utterly false, based as they are in the febrile imaginations of those persons by whom they are being peddled, they are injurious to President Buhari’s historic quest to reform Nigeria. It is for this latter reason that we find cause to speak out where otherwise we would have continued to watch on in silent amusement.

“Nigeria has barely emerged from President Buhari and the APC’s resounding victory in the last election. The President, with the support of an APC majority in both chambers of our National Assembly, is now preparing to lead the nation forward for the next four years. Instead of covering the President’s exciting Next Level agenda and what it promises in terms of economic and social growth & development, these people want to skip ahead to the next election as if they can cast aside the next four years.

“However, the Nigerian people do not elect politicians to office simply to watch on as they maneuver and jostle for position at the next election. The people elect those who they believe will be the best public servants, committed to the national wellbeing. This is why they reelected in President Buhari while rejecting the horde of political jobbers that constitute the PDP.

“The peddlers of these rumors have arrogated to themselves the preternatural ability to read Asiwaju’s mind more than he himself can know it. They also seem to have acquired the unique gift of bending time so that 2023 appears before we even reach the midway point of 2019. If these people would only enlist their uncanny talents in the service of the nation instead of in the service of political intrigue and gossip mongering our country would be much the better.

“This attempt to caricature Asiwaju as if his words and actions are all aimed at grabbing power will fail because this portrait distorts the plain truth. While the headlines are sensational they are also senseless because they are not grounded in fact. Asiwaju has not run for elected office since 2003. He last held office in 2007. He has never vied to become chairman of the APC nor has he tried to insinuate himself into any major government office.

“If you were asked to name another political figure who has exercised such forbearance, you would be hard pressed to identify another person with a comparable record when it comes to restraint in seeking office. Where others, upon leaving one office, tend to set their eyes immediately upon another, Asiwaju, uniquely in Nigerian politics, has foregone his personal ambitions as his political ideas and policies have flourished in the hands of his allies and mentees.

“This track record does not evince a man obsessed with power and office. While the intrigue-mongers seek to depict Asiwaju as a man hungering for position, his deeds speak of something else. These peddlers of tales do not know the measure of the man nor can they understand what motivates him. Thus, they project their own petty ambitions and designs on to him. The rumors reveal more about the mongers than they say about Asiwaju. They merely reveal what these people would do if they were Asiwaju. But they are not him and thankfully he is not motivated by the same selfish designs that fuel such people. Perhaps because these people have nothing to contribute regarding statecraft or providing actual solutions to actual problems, their minds remain forever mired in political machinations.

“What afflicts them does not affect Asiwaju. Since he last held public office, Asiwaju has, with unprecedented success, dedicated himself toward building a political party that would furnish a progressive alternative to the regressive policies of the PDP. Joining forces with President Buhari and others who shared his progressive ideology, he helped form the APC. Since the inception of the APC, Asiwaju’s focus has been to assist President Buhari develop, refine and implement a progressive agenda that would give every Nigerian a fair chance to prosper and provide for his loved ones.

“As he enters his second term, President Buhari has stated that he will give the economy special priority. His goal is to defeat poverty and joblessness while spurring the type of growth and development that will make Nigeria’s a durable and flourishing economy. These goals are laudable and necessary to move Nigeria forward. However, the obstacles before us are vast and complex.

“Asiwaju’s mind, heart and efforts are focused on supporting the President in achieving their shared vision of a flourishing economy and a prosperous people. He is committed to doing what he can to help President Buhari surmount the challenges in order to achieve the economic reform the nation sorely needs. Given that the imperatives of today are sufficiently daunting in and of themselves, Asiwaju is neither inclined, nor sufficiently naïve, to take his eye off the present in the futile attempt to peer through the thick fog that is the future.

“It is against this backdrop that Asiwaju’s support of the party position regarding the National Assembly leadership must be interpreted. There is no surprise in him supporting the party and the president’s position regarding the National Assembly positions. Nor is it wrong that he do so. As a loyal party member and progressive leader, he would have committed a terrible wrong by navigating against the president and party in these matters.

“That Asiwaju has actively and publicly supported the party and president should not result in such public backbiting. We all know how important these positions are to the fulfillment of the president’s agenda. One need only look to the last four years to see how painfully this lesson has been learned. With the Senate leadership usurped by regressive elitists that chamber constituted a brake on progress and good governance. The Senate leadership, and to a lesser degree the House leadership, stymied APC legislative initiatives while attempting to hoist noxious, reactionary and self-interested legislation on the nation.”

Suspected Village Thieves Kill Chief Imam, Dispossess Him Of N400,000 In Jigawa

Editorial staff

April 20, 2019

Suspected village thieves have killed a 65-year-old Chief Imam of a village in Kiyawa Local Government Area of Jigawa State, Alsheik Idris Musa, after dispossessing him of N400,000.

According to the spokesman of Jigawa Police State Command, Superintendent Abdu Jinjiri, the Chief Imam was killed at about 1:30am today, Saturday after collecting N400,000 from a one of the construction companies in the state he sold his plot of land to.

Audu Jinjiri confirmed that the suspects allegedly took away the sum of N400,000 from their victim, hit him several times with sticks, which led to his death. He added that the suspects also beat up the wives and children of the deceased.

“It is suspected that the transaction took place in the presence of the suspects, but unidentified hoodlums who later trailed him to his residence. The village where the incident took place is a remote area. The distance to our station is two hours’ drive.

“So the DPO in charge of the area got the information at about 1:30am and proceeded to the scene immediately, but he got there after 3am. When he got there, the victim was already dead, but he was able to rescue the family members beaten by the hoodlums.

“They were taken to hospital for medical attention.”

The police spokesman said that the remains of the deceased had been released to his family for burial, adding that the police have commenced investigations into the matter, and efforts are being intensified to arrest the fleeing suspects.

Female Prisoner Delivers Twins In Calabar Prison

Editorial staff

April 20, 2019

A female inmate of the Afokang prison, Calabar (name withheld), has given birth to twins: a boy and girl.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) today, Saturday in Calabar that the lady gave birth to the twins on Thursday at the Prison yard in Calabar.

The commissioner said that she received a distress call from the prison authorities about an inmate with complicated labour issues.

She said that her team immediately swung into action to provide health services to the inmate. Meanwhile, the Cross River State Government has taken responsibility for the wins.

The mother is said to have developed some postpartum morbidity and had to be referred for expert management.

The twins have been named Benedict and Linda.

When NAN correspondent visited the prisons, the authority could not disclose the identity of the lady, saying that it was classified.

An officer who pleaded anonymity, said the lady was currently receiving treatment in a medical facility in Calabar.

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