Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has raved at his Plateau State counterpart, Governor Simon Lalong, warning him to stop interfering in the affairs of Benue state.
Governor Ortom, who spoke in the early hours of today, Monday, shortly after a stakeholders’ meeting with National Economic Council (NEC), technical committee on herdsman/ farmers crisis resolution, led by Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, said: “I’m the governor here (Benue). How can he (Gov Lalong) says that he warned me? Who is he to warn me? He can only advise me.”
Governor Ortom narrated that his deputy, Benson Abounu, had met Governor Lalong at a function outside the state recently where Lalong said he still stands by his statement, warning governor Ortom to desist from the anti-open grazing law.
According to Ortom: “my deputy told me that he had a discussion with Lalong recently at a function, where he said that he had to apologize to me over his statement because of pressure on him, saying, he stands by his earlier statement.
“He also told people that he introduced this Kenya woman in this committee to me, whereas, this woman was introduced to me by Nasir El Rufai, not him.”
The stakeholders’ meeting which commenced Sunday night at the new banquet hall, government house, Makurdi dragged to early hours of Monday.
It would be recalled that Governor Lalong at the peak of the herdsmen attacks on Benue State told newsmen in Abuja that he had warned governor Ortom against the new anti-grazing law but he would not listen.
The inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market has received the sum of $210 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.
The CBN, in its determination to meet the customers’ needs in the sundry segments of the market, offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market, while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment got the sum of $55 million.
According to figures obtained from the Bank today, Monday, customers needing foreign exchange for invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), among others, were also allocated the sum of $55 million.
The Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department (CCD), Isaac Okorafor assured Nigerians that the Bank will continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market, in line with its pledge to sustain liquidity in the market and maintain stability. According to Mr. Okorafor, the CBN will not renege on its promise to manage the forex with a view to reducing the country’s import bills and halting depletion of its foreign reserves.
It will be recalled that last Friday, February 9, CBN had again intervened in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to the tune of $325.64 million to cater for requests in the airlines, agricultural, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.
Meanwhile, the naira continued its stability in the FOREX market, exchanging at an average of N361/$1 in the BDC segment of the market today, Monday.
President Muhammadu Buhari, today, Monday, held a long-hours meeting with all the security chiefs in the country at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, to find solutions to various security challenges across Nigeria.
Those in attendance are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha; National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Major General Babagana Monguno; Minister of Defence, retired Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Interior, retired Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau; Director General of Department of State Security, Lawan Daura; Director General of National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai; Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Yusuf Buratai; Representatives of Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Training and Operation, Major General A Mohammed; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and others. Photo by Sunday Aghaeze. [myad]
The Igala of Kogi state in north central Nigeria have a proverb that succinctly explicates an exception to what is generally seen or thought to be the conventional. While the young people may decide to do all manner of acrobatic displays in the open field or in the farm, they say it is not in the character of old people to so behave. According to them, “An old man does not run in-between ridges in the farm for nothing; it is either he is chasing something or something is chasing him.” This provides the context within which I want to analyse the recent intervention in the state of the nation by the former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (popularly referred to as IBB).
My preoccupation is not to deconstruct the general and specific messages contained in the February 4, 2018 press statement in which he shared his thoughts with fellow compatriots on the need to infuse fresh blood or enthrone younger leaders in the mainstream of the nation’s political leadership in 2019; rather, the enterprise is to interrogate the likely circumstances that might have led the former military president to take to the popular media, against his style, to offer advice, pro bono publico, on the 2019 presidential race.
IBB has been characteristically prudent in matters of presidential power. But, suddenly, he has unusually acted out of character, intrepidly lending his avuncular voice to the growing corpus of interventions on the modus of dealing with the nation’s seeming incompetent leadership that has brought about unimaginable pains on Nigerians. I think very seriously that he should be allowed to reinvent himself in the light of the cumulative hunger and anguish in the land, having stoically related with and acted in seeming condonation of the nation’s successive governments since he stepped aside on August 27, 1993.
Apart from the coup of August 27, 1985 that produced him as head of state, consequent upon the overthrow of General Muhammadu Buhari during which he pilloried the governance style of his predecessor in his takeover speech, IBB has never been openly critical of any of his successors in office until presently. His refrain, anytime the media place a demand on him to assess the performance of any government in power, has been that there are open channels of communication through which he advises the president.
For the records, he never criticised Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government (ING) to which he handed over power on August 27, 1993 nor did he take on the regime of General Sani Abacha that took over from Shonekan, even when the regime unleashed a reign of terror on the nation. IBB also did not chastise General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s regime that came after the Abacha regime, not to talk of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight-year administration with all its imperfections and malfeasance.
There was speculation that Obasanjo breached a gentleman’s agreement to rule for a term of four years after which power would be guided to IBB, one of his sponsors to power. The gap-toothed general did not cause ruckus when Obasanjo forcefully retained power in 2003. He had maintained a deep sense of equanimity and statesmanlike disposition. In 2007, after the failure of Obasanjo to manipulate the constitution amendment to provide for his third term in office, his presidency had moved against IBB’s presidential bid.
Again, IBB did not impudently fight back or insist on having his way. He quietly eased out of the race, explaining in a letter to Obasanjo as president and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he took the decision because his friend, General Aliyu Gusau, and his younger brother, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (then governor of Katsina state), were already in the race and would not want to be seen to be competing with them for power.
The fact that Obasanjo imposed Yar’Adua on the PDP as the presidential candidate might not have rankled IBB as he did not do anything subsequently to undermine the Yar’Adua presidency. At the most critical time in the presidency in 2009, when Yar’Adua was sick, it was Obasanjo who, surprisingly, championed the call for his resignation. When Goodluck Jonathan, another stooge of Obasanjo, who was then vice president, stepped in following Yar’Adua’s death, Obasanjo characteristically did not support him to the end.
To demonstrate his public rejection of Jonathan and his government, Obasanjo had to publicly tear his PDP membership card. He had earlier written an open letter to the Ijaw-born leader titled: “Before it is too late”. Obasanjo did not leave anyone in doubt that he was supporting General Muhammadu Buhari for the presidency. His anti-Jonathan sentiments were so deep-seated that he made up his mind to vote for anybody but Jonathan. That predisposed him to glossing over, for instance, the weakness of Buhari in the area of the economy.
For IBB, who has been a PDP leader from the outset, it was a time to remain steadfast, not a time to jump on the bandwagon just because the entire north was gravitating towards Buhari. He did not speak against the candidature of Buhari. But for perceptive watchers of the nation’s presidential politics, IBB’s body language was unambiguous. Nothing has changed or even mitigated his 1985 verdict about Buhari, with which he justified the overthrow of the Daura-born general as head of state.
Methinks IBB just decided to live quietly and painfully with his apparent minority view about a Buhari presidency in 2015. It was clear he could do nothing to avert it. About three years in the saddle, Buhari has unraveled to the chagrin of a vast majority of Nigerians. Obasanjo’s January 23, 2018 intervention was just a confirmation of the pan-Nigerian sentiments about the incompetence and cluelessness of the administration that feed egregiously on nepotism and ethno-religious chauvinism.
IBB possibly realised that his strategic diplomacy prelude to 2015 presidential election had not helped the nation when it mattered most. If there was anybody who could have spoken magisterially to Buhari’s capacity to rule, it was IBB. But he probably chose to watch with subtle amazement the mass hysteria about the garb of Messianism with which propagandists had clad Buhari. It was only a matter of time and the entire saga about a “redemptive mission” by Buhari has turned into a historic scam.
Is IBB now trying to atone for his sin of seeming conspiratorial silence by which he left Nigerians to the task of construing or misconstruing his body language at a critical juncture when his voice was most needed to help chart a trajectory in the quest for a president with capacity to redeem our nation? I think this is the reason he has now taken up the gauntlet in the face of the economic ruins, growing misery, unconscionable divisiveness and rudderless leadership in our nation presently to stand up to be counted on the popular side.
Otherwise, it is not in IBB’s character to lampoon and criticize his successors in office. He must have advised himself to earn his badge as a statesman, who has seen it all and sacrificed so much for the country; a statesman committed to the survival of Nigeria; a statesman like some influential others who are in the night of their lives, quietly waiting in the departure lounge for the ultimate “beatification and canonization” of their respective legacies.
IBB would be consigning himself to the wrong side of history as a timid and confused leader if he failed to act. This is why he has acted. Yet, the Yoruba have a proverb that “a hunter who has only one arrow does not shoot with careless aim.” That is the vital summation of IBB’s latest and, possibly, last act in the search for a digital president for our beleaguered nation. I just hope this act enjoys endorsement by a vast majority of Nigerian electorate for the actualization of his advocacy.
Ojeifo, editor-in-chief of The Congresswatch magazine sent this piece via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com
President Muhammadu Buhari has given security chiefs in the country to always stay ahead of those who are causing trouble, including herdsmen, farmers, militia people and other criminals across the country.
In a personal tweet shortly after a crucial meeting he held with all the service chiefs and heads of other security organization today, Monday, at the Presidential Villa, President Buhari said: “our law enforcement agencies must at all times stay ahead of bandits and criminals, wherever they are across the country, by efficiently gathering, sharing and acting on credible Intelligence.
“I am assuring that we will give them all the support needed to succeed.”
The President insisted that all the law enforcement agencies must take intelligence-gathering and sharing much more seriously, adding that the Police and DSS (Department of State Security), especially, have been charged to step up their efforts and capacity in this regard.
“Let me also assure that all persons arrested so far, including those arrested for illegally possessing arms, will be duly prosecuted. I urge judicial officers to be alive to responsibilities in this regard, to enable the speedy dispensation of justice.”
Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku and Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II
“The attention of the Taraba State Government has been drawn to a statement credited to the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, to the effect that the state government is training and arming militia men in the state. The Emir’s allegation is unfounded, misleading and unfair.”
This was contained in a statement issued by Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state in reaction to Emir Sanusi’s criticism of him and the governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom, on their handling of herdsmen/farmers clashes in their states.
The Emir had, at a meeting with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Niger State, on Sunday, regretted the attitude of the states towards open grazing, saying: “we hope that the Vice President will speak to the Governors of Taraba and Benue in particular, on the manner the militias have continued to implement these obnoxious and unconstitutional laws.
“We hope that he will speak to the governors and the traditional rulers of the Bachama, the Tivs. This country cannot afford ethnic conflicts and hopefully we will sit down with them and find a way forward.”
However, in the statement signed by Bala Abu, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Governor Darius described the allegation as “false and unfair.
“The administration of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku has done a lot since inception to promote peaceful relationship among the ethnic groups and communities in the state. Even in the case of herdsmen/farmers conflicts, the administration has ensured that the issues involved are promptly and amicably resolved and security provided so that no party to the crisis suffers undue and unnecessary hardship.
“The law on Anti-Open Grazing and the establishment of ranches is in furtherance of government’s peace efforts.
“The government has not recruited militia and is not involved in the training of such people anywhere in or outside of the state.
“The government advises the Emir to rather use his vantage position as a traditional and religious leader to complement the peace efforts of the government than raise unnecessary alarm capable of causing disaffection among the peace-loving people of Taraba State.”
Also, the Chief Press Secretary to governor Ortom, Terver Akase denied that the governor was sponsoring militia.
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has sent a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari to thank him for the renaming of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti as Adeyinka Adebayo University (FUOYE). It was named after late General Robert Adeyinka Adebayo who was Military Governor of defunct Western State.
In a letter dated January 29, 2018, with reference number EK/GOV/28/93, governor Fayose said: “on behalf of the People and Government of Ekiti State, I thank Your Excellency for the thoughtfulness, please.”
This was even as he appealed to the President to quickly effect the change in the name of the university as promised by the then acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo sometime in May last year, at the burial of late General Adebayo who died at Iyin-Ekiti, his home town.
Governor Fayose’s letter to President Buhari reads: “As Your Excellency is aware, the Late General Robert Adeyinka Adebayo (Military Governor of defunct Western State and one time Head of the Nigerian Army died last year).
“Your Excellency was represented at his burial on May 20, 2017 by the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (GCON) at Iyin-Ekiti, his home town.
“The Acting President at the occasion announced the decision of the Federal Government to rename the Federal University, Oye Ekiti as Adeyinka Adebayo University in recognition of the exemplary leadership of the late hero and frontline Statesman.
“However, more than seven months after this pronouncement, nothing has been done.
“Your Excellency, this letter therefore is to serve as reminder of this significant decision of your Government so as to enable appropriate directive(s) and implementation.” [myad]
Internally Displaces Persons (IDPs), who are mainly victims of the Boko Haram attacks in the Northeast, have expressed appreciation to the Federal Government on efforts being made towards making the camps safe but stressed that they are eager to return to their various homes in the Northeast and other parts of the country.
Leader of the victims in the IDP’s camp at Kuchigoro in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Mr. Philemon Emmanuel made this point over the weekend during the delivery of food, non-food items, empowerment and educational materials in the camp by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.
According to Emmanuel, “we do appreciate all the efforts to make the camps comfortable for us through the donations and several visits by concerned people from within and outside the country, we have been missing home and we will want to beg that government should intensify efforts towards making out places safe so we can return home.
“We have been shown that humanity cares for us through the regular gifts we get here, but we have been disconnected from our roots and majority of us here will want to return to out ancestral lands because there is no place like home.”
He appealed to those coming with gifts to the camp to pay attention to their medical needs, saying: “among the several gifts we have gotten on this camp is the medical clinic donated by the German government but there are no drugs in the clinic.
“We have a nurse who has volunteered to render free services to us here, but there are no drugs for treating our simple medical challenges that come up from time to time.
“Having stayed out here without any gainful employment over the years, we will also want to appeal to government and those who can assist us to consider us for employment opportunities so that we can return to normal family lives.
“We have graduates among us who were engaged in some professional duties before the killers came yo ragas our lands and turned us to a people who depend on others to survive.
“If such people are employed, we will surely have less tension on the camp,” Emmanuel told the visitors.
Speaking earlier, Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Hajia Sadiya Farouk promised the the Federal Government will continue to partner with donor agencies and public spirited individuals to alleviate the suffering of the victims of skirmishes across the country while intensifying efforts towards making everywhere safe in the country.
“Out concern for the provision of durable solutions is to out an end to those activities that can temporarily of permanently bring about displacement, such as assisting displaced persons to return to their habitual residence when it becomes possible and safe; reintegrate them in host communities as well as resettle or relocate them elsewhere in safer areas.
Earlier, Hajiya Farouk had led a delegation yo make similar donations were at the Wasa and Durumi camps where the camp coordinators collected the items to be shared according to the laid down regulations for such donations in the camps. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed profound sadness over what he called “the tragic accident” that took the life of Senator John Shagaya.
In a condolence message to the Shagaya family, friends, the Government and people of Plateau State, issued by the special adviser to Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the President Buhari described his death as painful.
The President referred to late Shagaya as a great Nigerian whose legacies will live on in the patriotic work he did as a military officer, “who rose to the position of a General, and a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic that ably represented the Plateau Southern zone.”
Buhari said that at each step of his distinguished career in national service and politics, General Shagaya brought his deep convictions and discipline to national, regional and community assignments and was ready to always offer his best to the development and stability of the country.
President Buhari then prayed that God Almighty will comfort all who mourn him and grant his soul eternal rest.
Also, the former Nigerian military President, retired General Ibrahim Babangida has expressed shock over the death of Senator Shagaya, whom he described as brilliant retired military officers.
He recalled that until his death, General Shagaya had been an ardent supporter of the unity of Nigeria as a nation and a peace builder irrespective of ethnicism, tribalism and religious bigotry.
“Equally, my condolences go to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.General Tukur Yusuf Buratai on the demise of his father a veteran of the Nigerian Army at the age of 103.
“Similarly, I condole members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm over the demise of veteran broadcaster Late Mahmoon Baba Ahmed who died at the age of 74.
“My heartfelt condolences go to all their families, friends and well-wishers.” [myad]
Former Senator representing Plateau Southern Zone, retired General John Nanzip Shagaya, has died following a ghastly motor accident.
General Shagaya was recently appointed as the Chairman National Institute for Policy and Strategy Studies (NIPSS) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
A family source confirmed in Jos that the former Senator died in a ghastly motor accident on his way to Jos from Langtang on Sunday.
Late Senator Shagaya was born on September, 2nd 1942 to Mallam Sikji Miri Wazhi alias SHAGAYA and Mrs. Maryamu Zwancit. He attended Junior Primary School at Nyer and Sudan United Mission (S.U.M) Primary School, Langtang between 1952-1959, and later the Nigeria Military School (N.M.S) Zaria in 1960-1964.
After Graduation from the Nigeria Military school, Zaria, young Shagaya got posted to the Nigerian Army Corps then (Recce Squadron) before attending the first short service Combatant Commission Course at Nigeria Defence Academy (N.D.A) Kaduna, in 1967. He was posted to 3 Marine Commando upon commission in the rank of Second Lieutenant where he participated in the Nigeria Civil War from1967-1970.
After the civil War, John started a long and successful march to command a West Africa Multinational Force (ECOMOG) as a Major General. He became the first Field Commander to chair the Conference of the Joint Chief of Staff of the enlarged ECOMOG having Commanded the 1st Mechanized Division in the Nigerian Army including a Platoon, Company, Battalion and Brigade.
Senator John Shagaya is the longest serving member of the Federal Minister of Internal Affairs and a former member, Armed Forces Ruling Council, member of the Police Council and member, National Boundary Commission all between August, 1985-December, 1989. While a Federal Minister, he served as Chairman of the controversial Organization of Islamic Conference (O.I.C) Committee in 1987. The Committee was set up to resolve Nigeria’s alleged Permanent Membership of the O.I.C.
Between the same period as Minister of Internal Affairs, Shagaya served as the Chairman of Ministers of Internal Affairs of the ECOWAS Sub-region and helped draft the ECOWAS PROTOCOLS 1, II &III. He was also the Minister of Internal Affairs of Benin, Nigeria and Chad, helping to resolve Nigeria’s International Boundaries problem with neighbours.
Due to Senator John Shagaya’s interest in Military history, he was made the Chairman of the National War Museum and was a member of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments between 1984-1986. His efforts resulted in the establishment of the historic Umuahia complex of the National War Museum and the National Museum of Colonial History at Aba in Abia State.
Other important military appointments held during Shagaya’s military career include; The Military Secretary Army, Army Headquarters, Directing Staff Command and Staff college- Jaji, Director of Cadets- Nigerian Defence Academy, Grade Three staff officer Nigeria Army School of Infantry- Jaji. He was described throughout his career by his superiors and assessors as the soldiers’ soldier. He was one of the few Nigerian Military Officers who, between the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and Major General, attended every professional course commensurate to that age and rank. His performances at military Institutions in USA earned him the Honorary Citizenship of six states. At the Royal college of Defence Studies (1990), he became the second Nigerian to earn an academic prize for his research work, the first being the Late General ID Bissalla in 1974. On 16th November, 2000, Shagaya was conferred with the National Honour of ‘Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic’ (OFR) by the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Aremu Kikiola Obasanjo. He was elected Senator representing Plateau South Senatorial District on the 21st of April, 2007 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform.
In addition to being an active politician, Senator Shagaya OFR was Director of Lion Bank (Nig.) Plc between 1998-2003. Senator John Shagaya has just concluded work on a book, ‘The Tarok History’ after having already published and presented two other books, ‘Governance in Nigeria’ ‘The IBB ERA’ an Insider’s View and ‘The Ministry of Internal affairs an Overview’. He has participated in many international seminars on Peace Keeping such as ‘The ECOMOG Experience’ and ‘Conflicts and Resolutions’.
His Educational, Military qualifications, Awards and Decorations include:
Boys Intermediate and Senior Examination Certificate ( British Army’s Equivalent of WAEC Certificate.)
Advance Diploma in Religious Studies.
A fellow of the Nigerian Institute Management.
A graduate of Royal College of Defence Studies with an Associate Masters in Degree in Defence Studies.
A graduate of two Staff Colleges.
Marines Staff College USA and Army Command and Staff College Jaji.
A degree of Doctors of letters (St. Clements University Australia) 1998.
Traditional titles include; Damburam Langtang II, Akaraka I of Ibeku, Otun-Akogun I of Ikose-Kosofeland, Lagos and Dike Ogu- Asa Bielere.
The Chairman, Nigerian/Taiwan (ROC) Chambers of Commerce.
ECOWAS Distinguish Service Medal.
Republic of Liberia’s Distinguish Service Star Nigerian Armed Forces Medal.
‘Distinguish Service Star’
Grand Commander of the Nigerian Youth.
A Patron, Boys Scout of Nigeria, Plateau chapter.
A Patron, PLACIMA Plateau State.
A Patron National Youth Forum.
A Patron, African Youth Congress.
President General, Nimbar Community Development Association.
Member, Board of Trustees of Four Golf Clubs in Nigeria; (IBB-IGC Abuja, Ray Field Golf Club, Lamingo Golf Club and Ikeja Lagos).
Senator Dr JN Shagaya is married with a wife and five Children (3 boys & 2 girls.) Hobbies include, Golf, Reading, Hunting and Travelling [myad]
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The inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market has received the sum of $210 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to meet customers’ requests in various segments of the market.
