Brigadier General John Agim has been appointed as new Director of Defence Information, replacing Major General John Enenche Enenche who is now Commandant of the Army War College.
A statement by Wing Commander O. O. Ademosu of Directorate of Defence Information (DDI) said that until his appointment, Brigadier General Agim was Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Public Relations.
Nigerian Army has also appointed Major General James Gwaza Khalifa Myam as a new Garrison Commander in Abuja.
A statement by Major Salisu Ibrahim Mustapha said the new commander took over from Major General John Seyina Malu who is now appointed the Corps Commander Nigerian Army Engineers.
The handing and taking over ceremony took place today, Monday, January 8.
According to Nigerian Army tradition, part of the activities for the handing and taking over ceremony includes; Quarter Guard inspection, Lowering and hoisting of outgoing and incoming Commander’s Flag, formal signing of handing and taking over notes between the outgoing and the incoming Commander and troops address.
The outgoing Commander, Major General Malu in his farewell speech, thanked the Officers and Soldiers of Army Headquarters Garrison for their untiring commitment and cooperation throughout his tenure as the Commander.
He advised the troops not to relent, but rather work harder and give the incoming Commander maximum support. In the same vein, the incoming Commander Major General Myam appreciated his predecessor and charged the troops to accord him same cooperation to enable him work in line with the Chief of Army Staff’s vision which is “To have A Professionally Responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its Constitutional roles.”
Major General James Myam was until his present appointment, the Director of Operations at the Army Headquarters. He is a seasoned Senior Officer with vast experience in staff, instruction and command appointments. [myad]
A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Mi-17 Helicopter on a mission in the ongoing counterinsurgency operation in the North East, was involved in an air mishap today, Monday.
The helicopter was said have crashed today, January 8, resulting in significant damage but there was no loss of life.
The Director of the NAF Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, in a statement, confirmed the incidence.
He said that the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has immediately directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the exact cause of the incident, in line with global best practices.
He said that the NAF is soliciting the understanding and support of the general public as it daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians. [myad]
Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Sam Adeyemi, has offered special prayer for the success of Otumba Gani Adams as he prepares to assume full status as the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland.
The Pastor, in a letter responding to invitation to him to attend the installation of Otunba Gani Adams as Aare Ona Kakanfo, on January 13, described Adams as a leader with passion for the protection of the interests of all Yoruba people.
Adeyemi, who is from Kogi State, commended the 15th Aare Ona Kakanfo “and congratulate you on your laudable achievement in recognition of your passion to protect the interests of all Yoruba people.
“I pray that God will give you unusual wisdom and sound health to serve with excellence in your new position in Jesus name. Amen.”
Otumba Gani Adams was named Aare Ona Kakanfo by the Alaafin of Oyo, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, to succeed late MKO Abiola who died while occupying the stool. [myad]
As projected by the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele at the Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) in Lagos last November, the nation’s External Reserves have hit a new level of $40.4 Billion.
This came even as the Bank has injected a total of $210 million into the interbank Foreign Exchange Market in the first round of trading for the year.
Figures obtained from the CBN today, Monday, January 8, indicate that the External Reserves reached the $40.4 Billion mark on Friday, last week, indicating an increase of about one billion United States dollars between December 2017 and January 2018.
Confirming the figure, the Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor attributed the accretion to the country’s reserves to the Bank’s strategy to effectively manage forex demand by various sectors of the economy.
Citing the CBN policy restricting access to forex from the Nigerian forex market by importers of some 41 items as the major turning point, Okorafor said that the policy had helped to stop the hemorrhaging of the country’s external reserves, which hitherto witnessed heavy depletion due to huge import bills and other debt obligations. According to him, the CBN policy had ensured a decline in Nigeria’s import bills from over $5 billion monthly in 2015 to about $1.5 billion in 2017.
He expressed optimism that with the determination of the Bank and the cooperation of the fiscal authorities, the external reserves will continue to enjoy more accretion in the course of 2018.
Meanwhile, the CBN injected a total of $210 million into interbank window of the foreign exchange market on Monday, for requests in the wholesale, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisibles segments of the market.
A breakdown of the figure indicates that the CBN offered $100m to the Wholesale sector while the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisibles windows each received $55 million. [myad]
A former Nigeria aviation minister and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Femi Fani-Kayode has described Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as a lily-livered coward who has lost his mind.
Continuing his attack on the Vice President in a message he shared on twitter, Fani-Kayode said that Osinbajo would do anything to please the Fulani.
He wrote: “VP Osinbajo said Nigerians should not defend themselves against Fulani terrorists when they are attacked but should pray for them instead.
“Clearly the VP has lost his mind.
“He is nothing but a lily-livered coward who would say and do anything to please the Fulani. Shame!” [myad]
Governor Tanko Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State has delivered what he called ‘dream-come-through’ to the people with the inauguration of 2 by 7.5 MVA power injection substations to boost electricity supply to the state.
Governor Al-Makura, who inaugurated the project in company of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said that the project is constructed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) of the Federal Government.
The governor said that the project would go a long way in boosting the economy of the state through the expansion and sustainability of small scale businesses.
“As from today, the people within the state capital and environs would start benefiting from effective and efficient power supply because the burden of power on the Lafia substation would be reduced.”
Governor Al-Makura also commended the Federal Government for various power expansion projects as well as the ongoing construction of a sub-station at Akurba in Lafia with a view to stepping down the 330kva power line running through the state.
Earlier, the Managing Director of NDPHC, Chiedu Ugbo, said that the project, which commenced in 2007, was completed about three years ago, adding that the project was vandalized before it could be handed over and had to be rehabilitated by the company.
Ugbo said that the two 7.5 MVA power transformers at the station would inject 13 megawatts of electricity to the existing supply to Lafia and environs.
According to him, each of the 7.5 MVA power transformers will feed 15 units of 500kv distribution transformers, adding that a 500kv transformer have the capacity of supplying power to about 1,000 households. [myad]
Kogi State government has dismissed 1, 774 civil servants in the service of the state government, even as it compulsorily retired eight permanent secretaries, some directors and others in what is termed ‘civil service reforms.’
The letters that sent the civil servants out of their jobs were signed by the state head of service, Deborah Ogunmola, and chairman of the state Civil Service Commission, Ado Shaibu.
A copy of the retirement letter addressed to one of the affected permanent secretaries indicated that the retirement was “in the interest of the public”.
Commenting on the development, Governor Yahaya Bello’s Chief Press Secretary, Petra Akinti-Onyegbule, confirmed that it was part of ongoing reforms in the civil service. [myad]
A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Mi-17 Helicopter on a mission in the ongoing counterinsurgency operation in the North East, was involved in an air mishap today, Monday. The helicopter was said have crashed today, January 8, resulting in significant damage but there was no loss of life. The Director of the NAF Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, in a statement, confirmed the incidence. He said that the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has immediately directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the exact cause of the incident, in line with global best practices. He said that the NAF is soliciting the understanding and support of the general public as it daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians.
The Nigerian army has announced that the dreaded leader of the long-fighting Boko Haram is currently sick and no longer pose any threat, even as it said that another factional leader of the same sect, Abu Mus’ab Albarnawiy will soon be captured. In a statement today, Monday, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani kukasheka Usman said: “there is no doubt that the main Boko Haram terrorists group factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, is in a terrible state of health and not much a threat as he is now a spent horse, waiting for his waterloo. “However, Abu Mus’ab Albarnawiy, who has been busy deceiving and recruiting gullible persons, especially misguided youths into his fold, will soon be captured. “We reliably learnt that some misguided persons, particularly youths, are getting conscripted into the sect through enticements. “They are usually attracted to the sect because of the deceitful and erroneous impression that Abu Musab’s Albarnawiy brand of “jihad” and insurgency is refined and genuine. This is far from it. “Both factions are terrorists’ organizations whose activities constitute crimes against humanity. Their nefarious activities run contrary to the religion of Islam.” Brigadier General Sani Usman said that the faction has recruiters all over the country, especially in the north east. According to him, the clearing house for such conscripts by the terrorist leaders, is at Potiskum in Yobe State, stressing that efforts are ongoing to track those involved. This is even as he appealed to the general public to be wary of these unscrupulous elements attempting to recruit more youths into their sect. The spokesman said that the terrorists have also embarked on tricks to evade air bombardments, explaining that they usually deploy special roofing techniques in order to avoid air detection and bombardment from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). “They resort to roofing their living accommodation and hideouts with a mixture of coated sugar and mud so that the roof will not reflect when there is sun shine.” He assured that decisive measures have been taken to deal with this deception. According to him, the new tricks were decoded through credible intelligence.
Former Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for allowing the genocide in the Middle Belt to go on unimpeded, thereby betraying his campaign promise to Nigerians that his government “will always act in time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester.”
In an open letter to President Buhari, dated January 5th, Ambassador Hagher said that in allowing the Benue genocide to take place, the Buhari government has acted irresponsibly and has allowed problems to fester and failed to act on time.
“You have also failed to lead from the front; giving the impression that centrifugal forces around you are dictating vicious anti-people agenda!”
The former Ambassador said that he was pained that the advice he gave President Buhari in a private memorandum dated July 30, 2016 was ignored, reminded the President: “I had warned you of the possibility of a horrendous genocide in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Southern Kaduna, and Southern Adamawa States.
“I asked you to be proactive and stop the genocide that has been ongoing but which would burst out in the open and shock the world within 18 months. Your office replied my letter on September, 28th 2016, and the reply was couriered to me in the United States, thanking me “immensely” and giving me the assurances that the advice would be heeded.
“With the current situation on ground, I regret to now inform you that it is seventeen months since my warning and prediction and your government did nothing to pre-empt or prevent the genocide. The nomadic terrorists have finally accelerated the ethnic cleansing in Benue State. They have strategically moved against the Tiv, the largest minority ethnicity in northern Nigeria. These perpetrators believe that if they can ethnic cleanse the Tiv, then nobody can stand in their way to possess the land and carve a new geo-polity and demography for the middle-belt.”
Hagher, who was a second republic senator on the platform of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), further reminded the President: “The protection of lives and property of the citizens is more important than your war against corruption! The protection of lives of citizens is the most sacred responsibility of the state and your presidency. Your government has failed woefully in this regard. Mr President there is no greater corruption than the government looking the other way while the strong bullies and kills the weak with impunity and pleasure!”
He regretted that in President Buhari’s passion to rid the country of corruption, he had totally ignored nation building and ended up with a very divided country. “You have failed your immediate Northern constituency by your inability, failure or lack of the political will to end northern poverty through measures that enhance school enrolment, promote girl-child education, and revive dead industries.”
Ambassador Hagher, who is the Executive Director of African Leadership institute based in Ohio, USA, noted that Buhari became Nigeria’s president on the altar of northern unity when the northern minorities abandoned President Goodluck Jonathan to vote for him. “You have now desecrated that altar. By refusing to arrest those that brutally butchered defenseless innocent Benue women and children, you have imperiled northern unity and taken sides with evil,” he told the President.
Hagher told President Buhari: “Many Nigerians think you have failed the country by the lack of a clear vision and a lack of capacity to provide needed infrastructure and a composite holistic development; more significantly, they think you have failed to institute a political culture of integrity. You are often compared with the lone King Sisyphus of Ephyra who was punished by the gods to roll an immense border up the hill, only to watch it roll back down, then condemned to repeat the same rolling action forever. This is the picture people have in mind of your war against endemic corruption. You honestly deserve pity and prayers, but certainly not support for a second term.”
The former Ambassador however acknowledged that President Buhari still has a horde of admirers that look up to him with great admiration, but that the Benue genocide had seriously questions his integrity, and his capacity to lead a plural modern state.
“ Is there a rule of law in this country? Why does the Miyetti Allah act with so much impunity? Is this because this terrorist group claims you as their life patron? Do not accept the clamour of those who for their personal political reasons urge you to contest in the 2019 election to be a second term president! Mr. President, please rise above the impression being given that you are just another power obsessed and hungry politician!”
He advised President Buhari to “step aside and open the political space for another person to continue your war against corruption with a more comprehensive development programme that Nigeria needs and deserves.”
“For now, modernise infrastructure and try to banish poverty. And while your party campaigns for 2019, take a sabbatical from partisanship and build national unity, good governance and concentrate on getting rid of Boko Haram and the Herdsmen Terrorists. After all, great people are not great for winning elections; rather they are known to be great by the legacy they leave behind. With what legacy do you wish the country to remember you for? It is unfortunate that family members of those that were hacked to death will remember you as the genocide president.”
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The Nigerian army has announced that the dreaded leader of the long-fighting Boko Haram is currently sick and no longer pose any threat, even as it said that another factional leader of the same sect, Abu Mus’ab Albarnawiy will soon be captured.
