Ohanaeze, which is the umbrella body of Igbo people, has described the military operation in the South East, tagged: ‘Python dance 11’ as an invasion aimed at intimidating the Igbo people and called on the federal government to direct the military to call it off.
In a seven point statement, signed by its President General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, today, Tuesday, the Ohanaeze said that Nigeria does not need such deliberate and proactive escalation of tensions and crisis at this moment.
It said that rather than resort to the use of brute force in resolution of issue of self determination: “there are more civilised and established practices to resolve our democratic and security challenges”
Ohaneze said that if this act of intimidation is not discontinued immediately, “it would be left with no alternative than to conclude that this is a containment policy aimed at the South East to intimidate our people from freely expressing their anger and angst at their marginalization and treatment as second class citizens.”
The Igbo umbrella body said that in a democracy, the level of disenchantment expressed by the people of the South East of Nigeria ought to have provoked a serious dialogue “between our people and the Federal Executive and the Legislature.
“History teaches us that the continous use of force to silence dissent and free speech will only accelerate the growth of dissent and dissatisfaction. “Fundamental Rights of freedom of expression are critical for a successful democracy.”
Ohanaeze stressed that the claim that the program is aimed at checking increasing crime in the region has no empirical support because the first Python dance was used to extort money from the people and never addressed the issue of crime as the Police record showed that the South East is not the worst in crime rate in the country.
“Our people were shamelessly intimidated and harassed at these check points. Operation Python Dance 1 procured no arrests of criminals that were prosecuted for any of the criminal activities that Operation Python Dance II is supposed to address. Instead it witnessed reckless and indiscriminate murder of self determination agitators in Asaba,Aba,Nkpor,and Porthacourt numbering up to 191 by the estimates of Transparency International and shattered public confidence of South Easterners in the Nigerian Army and Police.”
On the incident at the country home of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Ohaneze said that it was unfortunate, adding: “we believe that it is a deliberate invasion of a quiet homestead, an act of provocation and a continuing policy of intimidation.
“Crimes of monstrous proportions are occurring in other parts of Nigeria. Such crimes include ravaging killings by Fulani herdsmen in the Middle Belt, Secret cult killings in Lagos and the South West, bunkering and armed resistance in the Delta, wanton kidnappings and killing of military personnel in Kaduna State and environs as well as Boko Haram insurgency in the North East. The Nigerian Army has never embarked on Operation Python Dance in any of the other five geopolitical zones on account of these incidences. Innocent civilians living in these other parts of Nigeria have not witnessed the type of invasion Umuahia witnessed Sunday night.” [myad]
A case of dog biting dog has been established with the detention, harassment and embarrassment by police, of its external Public Relations specialist, Malam Yushau Shuaib and his wife.
Shuaib, in protest, has written a 30-paragraph petition to the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ahmed, complaining of police harassment and intimidation of his family members living in Abuja, “especially the Gestapo style his family members were subjected to by a team of Policemen and woman from Lagos.”
Shuaib wrote: “The ridiculous treatment of myself and my wife with the detention in Wuye Police Station (Abuja) before our eventual release is not only appalling and scandalous but a calculated attempt to rubbish our hard-earned reputation, having used the last five years protecting and promoting the activities of security agencies in Nigeria.
“In fact, through PRNigeria Platform alone, we have syndicated and published over 300 official Press Releases from the Police in the last two years of the current administration as part of our social responsibility to our fatherland.”
Full text of the petition is reproduced here:
September 11, 2017
Inspector General of Police
Nigeria Police Headquarters
Abuja
Sir,
LAGOS POLICE’S HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION OF FAMILY OF YUSHAU SHUAIB IN ABUJA
I write to report the harassment and intimidation of my family by a Police Team from Lagos who claimed to be from the Governor’s Office, Alausa Ikeja.
On August 21, 2017, my wife received a phone call purported to be from an MTN Team coming to deliver a seasonal gift to her. Suspicious of such gifts at a period of insecurity, their calls were ignored. With persistent calls, she told them she was going towards Wuye Market with her sister where they were accosted by four hefty men and a woman claiming to be from the Police.
When they attempted to bundle her into their white saloon car, she resisted by raising her voice, shouting for help. She learnt the trick of ‘shouting’ to evade abductions by suspected kidnappers who use names of security agencies to whisk away innocent victims.
Realising the implication of her “shout” that could attract a mob action, they accepted her request to trek together to a nearby Wuye Divisional Police Station for fear of abduction.
When I was alerted to the incident, I rushed to the police station on a pyjamas and bathroom slippers only to be detained by the policemen who now seized our telephones and were dialling different telephone numbers from them.
When I insisted on what offences we committed for our detention and search on our phones, they claimed that Governor Ambode of Lagos was aware of an alleged massive fraud committed in Lagos involving my Son, Gidado Shuaib.
Though shocked and traumatised by the experience and the so-called massive fraud in Lagos, I can conveniently without an iota of doubt, vouch and defend the integrity of all my children, who were not only trained to be of good character but were groomed to imbibe value of simplicity, humility, hard-work and sacrifice.
Gidado had travelled the previous day as Member of MediaTeam for the coverage of Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
The police team insisted we should write official statements about our son and some of his friends who are mostly university students. They further insisted that my wife could be granted a bail, while I must follow them to Lagos that day in my pyjamas.
Intervention from well-meaning senior security officers, whom I have worked with over the years by virtue of my professional callings saved me from being taken to Lagos that morning. The DPO of Wuye Police Station, CSP Solome Hardy (Mrs.) was very categorical when she told them point-blank that she would never allow them to take me to Lagos because I was not the suspect of their investigation.
The police Team reluctantly accepted DPO’s position, especially on health ground and that I should bring my son to Lagos upon his return from the foreign trip.
Gidado, my first son and his siblings are not only well-brought up, they are exceptionally humble, simple and very obedient that they hardly go out to seek for favours.
On the police allegation of fraud in Lagos, Gidado has never spent a night in Lagos in the last five years. In fact, he was only in Lagos on a transit to connect with a foreign airline on a trip to New York to attend the annual United Nations Youths Assembly where he was invited as a delegate in 2015. He didn’t even return through Lagos but through Abuja Airport. He has therefore never spent a single night in Lagos in the last five years.
Since September 2016 to May 2017, Gidado had been in the United Kingdom pursuing a Master Degree Programme on Communication at the University of Westminster. He started the programme immediately after his graduation from the Baze University Abuja.
Apart from the fact that I opened Bank Accounts for my Children, I closely monitor their transactions which give me ideas on their spending.
I deliberately arranged for Gidado to be staying with a very humble guardian in London who guarded and guided him throughout his stay. Most of his expenses were routed through the same guardian.
As a father, I subjected him to live an austere life in London so that he could imbibe the spirit of endurance, piety and independence rather than develop an ostentatious lifestyle.
As the Publisher of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and other media outlets, I ensure Gidado earns extra allowances by writings, proofreading, editing and publishing.
While at the Baze University Abuja, Gidado introduced a magazine, YouthsDigest which focuses on students, education and youths engagements. He doesn’t engage in any other business apart from that.
In recognition of his entrepreneurship skills, Gidado was recently voted and honoured by SME100 as one of the 25 Young Nigerians under the age of 25 who have inspired others to greatness.
It is painful, however, that I have to write this letter over supposedly unproven allegations against an innocent young Nigerian for an offence in an environment he was not used to.
It is also shocking that in this age of technological advancement with affordable tools for intelligence gathering, the police in Lagos have to waste human and material resources to identify and locate a young man that can be simply and easily identified and traced through the common ID Caller App and the social media Platforms. This is terribly embarrassing.
The ridiculous treatment of myself and my wife with the detention in Wuye Police Station, before our eventual release, is not only appalling and scandalous but a calculated attempt to rubbish our hard-earned reputation, having used the last five years protecting and promoting the activities of security agencies in Nigeria.
In fact, through PRNigeria Platform alone, we have syndicated and published over 300 official Press Releases from the Police in the last two years of the current administration as part of our social responsibility to our fatherland.
While we have been threatened by terrorists and their sympathisers in the cause of our services, it is rather unfortunate that the police are now our tormentors.
My fear, currently is not about me, my family or my son who will surely confront the Police with his lawyers over the reckless allegation on his return. My fear is: what may be happening to other ordinary Nigerians who do not have people in police or security agencies to put words on their behalf.
Only God knows how many lives could have been lost with the kind of recklessness exhibited by the Lagos Police Team that engages in the gestapo-like operation of picking up people without providing the information on their alleged offences.
I am writing this letter to request the Office of the Inspector General of Police over the unnecessary harassment and unjust intimidation from Police Team from Lagos.
I wish to, therefore, request your office to:
Demand the reason and justification for the harassment of myself and especially my wife who has been traumatised since then and undergoing medication and counselling
Provide clear information of the alleged offences purported committed by my son
Direct one Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) to stop threatening me with phone calls insisting I must be in Lagos in the absence of my son
Tender unreserved apology for treating my family like a common criminal without adequate proof of the allegations.
Note that my ordeal contravenes a clear provision of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which prohibits the arrest of another person in place of a suspect.
Note that with the unprofessional and questionable manner of the Lagos Police Team, I wish you would transfer the case to any of your Special Investigation Units or to the FCT Police Command
With my strict monitoring and parental guidance over my children, I should also be held liable if my son is found guilty of the alleged offence. I am not only a guardian but a Father in every sense of the word.
I, therefore, submit this for your prompt intervention, as the Gestapo-police team insists on my presence in Lagos this week which I will not honour in the absence of my son who is yet to return from Hajj.
Yushau A. Shuaib
Publisher PRNigeria, Economic Confidential
Copy:
Governor Ambode of Lagos State
Commissioner of Police Lagos State
Commissioner of Police Federal Capital Territory
Force Police Public Relations Officer
Divisional Police Officer, Wuye District
Executive Secretary Centre for Crisis Communication
Chief Press Secretary to Governor of Lagos State. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari had to reschedule a programme to host the Ghanian President, Nana Kufuor Addo at the presidential villa for two hours to commission a new poultry feed mill worth $150 million in Kaduna State.
The President who inaugurated the plant located at Chikpiri Gabas village in Gwagwada area of the state today, Tuesday said: “I had to tell my Ghannian colleague to delay his visit for about two hours so that I can come and commission this project.”
He said that the project would add value to the diversification programme of his administration in addition to assisting in creating new jobs for the nation’s teaming youth.
President Buhari called on foreign and local investors to take advantage of the huge incentives, including favourable business environment being created by government to invest in areas that would complement the employment generation initiative of the federal government.
“This project is very important to us. We are determined to encourage those who are coming to invest in Nigeria to invest in areas where our people can get jobs, particularly in the non-extractive industry.
Considering the importance of the project to his administration’s policies of boosting agriculture, President
Buhari assured Olam group and other investors of his government’s continue support and partnership in several other investments.
The Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai thanked President Buhari for finding time out of his busy schedule to commission the feed mill.
He noted that this was the first public outing of the President since he returned from a medical vacation in London, adding that his presence was a rare boost of confidence to Olam group and other investors interested in making huge investments in similar projects in the country.
Governor el-Rufai said that the feed mill was designed to produce 1.6 million day-old chicks weekly and 360,000 metric tonnes of animal feed annually.
He said that the project would add value to Nigeria’s quest of achieving food security and economic diversification.
“What we are seeing today did not happen by chance. This is as a result of careful investment promotion that the Kaduna state undertook to attract Olam, a company that was born in Nigeria in 1989 but emigrated to Singapore to become one of the world’s largest agri-business.”
Governor el-Rufai said that the project is one of the states’ largest single private sector investments which will encourage small farmer holders. At the commissioning ceremony were the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbe; minister of trade and investment, Okechukwu Enalamah; minister of state Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; minister of sports and youth development, Solomon Dalung; Kebbi state governor, Atiku Bagudu; Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi; the Emir. Zazau and chief executives of vrious private and public organizations. [myad]
Mama Taraba is Senator Aisha Alhassan, the current Minister of Women Affairs in the Muhammadu Buhari cabinet, and arguably the most influential female politician in Taraba state today. She did something shocking and unusual in Nigerian politics during the last Eid-el-Kabir holidays. While paying homage to former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, she addressed him as follows: “Your Excellency, our father and our President by the grace of God, come 2019…” Members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have been on a war-path with her since then. They have labeled Mama Taraba a traitor, and an ingrate and have even called for her immediate sack, disgrace, humiliation and outright dismissal for “anti-party activities”. What is not clear is how a serving Minister expressing an opinion amounts to “an anti-party activity.” Alhaji Atiku Abubakar whom she visited is a member and one of the leaders of the APC, and she has since made it clear, not only in private, but through the BBC, that she regards Atiku as her political godfather and mentor, and should he decide to run for President in 2019, she will support him, not Buhari. She does not deserve the hate speeches she is getting from the Buhari apologists. If Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai is to be believed, Mama Taraba has never regarded President Buhari as her political mentor. He was not even her choice as presidential candidate in the 2015 APC primaries. She voted for her mentor, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who contested against the incumbent President at the time. She deserves high marks for her consistency, honesty and courage. Any close watcher of Nigerian politics can easily appreciate the gravity of the risk that she has taken. It is that kind of risk that could attract a punishment worse than dismissal from the Cabinet. In the estimation of those who are asking for her to be punished by both the ruling party and the President, Mama Taraba has crossed certain “red lines.” In the first place, she did not go to Daura to pay homage to the President, instead she went to Adamawa to visit former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a man who has declared interest in sending President Buhari out of Aso Villa. In Nigeria’s unwritten manual of politics and governance, political appointees are not to be seen with those who are considered enemies or rivals of the ruler. Mama Taraba not only crossed that line, she went many steps further. It is also the rule in Nigerian politics that political appointees are expected to sing the praise of their bosses in public all the time, and should they have any misgivings they can only express those misgivings privately. The problem this has created is that most political appointees are as subservient as civil servants. They don’t express independent opinions as they should, not to talk of misgivings. They just act as directed. The President or the Governor is considered the wisest man exercising a divine mandate that no man should question. The corridor of power in Nigeria is littered with sycophants. In one state for example, the new Speaker of the State House of Assembly was asked if the legislature under his watch would avoid the temptation of becoming the Governor’s rubber stamp. The fellow reportedly responded: “I tell you, this House of Assembly will not only be the Governor’s rubber stamp, we will be his Seal!” Mama Taraba has chosen to be different. Those who are criticising her are not stupid either, but it is just so convenient for them to play the role of sycophants and court jesters. They know when Mama Taraba says President Buhari should not run in 2019, what she is really saying is that she does not consider him fit enough for that office. She is more or less passing a vote of no confidence in the President. She is by the same token advertising Atiku Abubakar as a better person. The crabs in the corridor of power have amplified these suggestions to the level of blasphemy. But the truth is that there are many of them who probably hold the same opinion, who are secretly working against the Buhari Presidency, but they would never admit doing so publicly. These green snakes under the green grass, are the hidden saboteurs, the Judases President Buhari must beware of. They are like the members of the Akintola group in the First Republic in the then Western Region. In the fight for political supremacy between Samuel Ladoke Akintola, who would later cross to the NNDP (or Der-mor as the people called it) and Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the Action Group, many supporters of the former openly supported Awolowo, but they were loyal to Akintola and the NNDP. There was even a famous song on this: “Bi o ri owo mi, o o ri inu mi, Demo ni mo wa.” The elevation of perfidy into a strategy started long ago in Nigerian politics. In this instance, Mama Taraba has boldly called the bluff of her adversaries: she says she is ready to quit the Cabinet if she is asked to leave. How many of her colleagues feel the same way but too scared to say so? With Aisha Alhassan, President Buhari knows where he stands. It is better for him that this is so. Ordinarily, Mama Taraba should support him. In 2015, she contested for the Gubernatorial position in Taraba state on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, and lost. She petitioned the State Election Tribunal and won, but this victory at the Tribunal which would have made her the first elected female Governor in Nigeria was later upturned by the Appeal and Supreme Courts. By bringing her into his Cabinet, President Buhari rehabilitated her. He was advised against offering her the position then because she was a known Atiku person. President Buhari needs not regret the choice he has made. His appointment of non-Buhari persons into his Cabinet, including persons who refused to leave the PDP and join the APC, and are still in the PDP or other parties, is an indication of his own largeness of heart and statesmanship. He should be glad that this particular Minister has spoken honestly. At least, he now knows that he cannot rely on her political structures in Taraba state and wherever else she wields influence. In case he plans to run in 2019, Mama Taraba has already served him an early notice – he would have to build his political machinery in that state around someone else. Her critics insist that she should on her own resign and go back to her Atiku. This raises the question of the nature of loyalty in politics. What determines loyalty? There is a lot of obsession with loyalty or disloyalty in Nigerian politics. Did Aisha Alhassan take an oath of office to serve Buhari or the Federal Republic of Nigeria? What we know is that political leaders in Africa place loyalty to themselves above loyalty to the state. Which is why our security and law enforcement agencies are so mercurial; they are ever so busy protecting the political interests of the incumbent, and will change should the incumbent change, rather than focusing on their core mandates. If Mama Taraba is efficient in the discharge of her duties as Minister, President Buhari should ignore those who are asking him to sack her. What cannot be ignored though, is that the ruling APC is truly and terribly in crisis. The subsequent attacks on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by the pro-Buhari wing of the APC, following his declaration that he was used and dumped by the President further confirms the depth of this internal turmoil. But was Atiku really used and dumped, or to use his word, “sidelined?” He says: “I was sidelined, I have no relationship with the government. I’ve not been contacted even once to comment on anything and in turn, I maintained my distance. They used our money and influence to get to where they are but three years down the lane, this is where we are.” These are strong words. The bitterness in Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s tone touches the heart. But can he really claim that he has been sidelined when Mama Taraba, his loyalist and at least one or two others from his political camp are playing key roles in the Buhari government? Could they have gone to work for Buhari without his “permission” or knowledge? The side-talk that they got the job on their own merit is opaque given the clientelist character of political proximity in African democracies. With Mama Taraba’s statement, Atiku’s protest, and the epigrammatic statement by Senator Shehu Sani about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that was thrown in, the support base for President Buhari’s likely shot at a second term in office appears shaky. Senator Sani confirms this when he says: “The Lion Monarch should reach out to the aggrieved but silent Lagoon Lion so that he doesn’t explode like the Hippo. The Lagoon Lion controls waters that can drown… The disloyal Cobra who spat venom before you and the friendly Viper who sprayed venom behind you are all snakes. In comparison the former is of lesser evil than the latter.” In straightforward English, Shehu Sani is saying President Buhari is likely to drown politically if he does not pay homage to “the silent Lagoon Lion.” The tragedy of the APC is that a party that came to power as a party of change-agents has in all of two years and four months become a party of lions, hyenas, jackals, snakes and rats. Those who have been using these animal kingdom references so freely are party insiders who obviously know the circumstances of their own party. What is seen is an increasingly atomistic political party, looking hubristically, like the dominant party it displaced. It is worse that the party leaders are now speaking in tongues. In a statement issued on September 25, 2016, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu sounded a note of warning asking for an urgent reform of the party. He was ignored. As at this moment, the APC is yet to hold a national convention; it has no Board of Trustees. Internal party processes have broken down. It should also be recalled that when Senator Bukola Saraki made the moves that saw him emerge as Senate President of the 8th National Assembly in 2015, the first and the only prominent party leader he visited was Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. It was a very sensitive move in the APC chess game – the anti-Saraki and anti-Atiku groups within the party are still fuming two years later! In the 2015 election, President Buhari got close to 2 million votes from Kano state. Today, Kano is divided against his Presidency. During the last Sallah, supporters of the incumbent Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, and loyalists of the former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso turned the prayer ground into a battle-field, using machetes freely on a Holy day! Ganduje is pro-Buhari. Kwankwaso nurses a Presidential ambition. The big threat to the Buhari Presidency is not the likes of Aisha Alhassan, who speak their minds, but the possible union of the lions, snakes, the hyenas and the rats, hiding in dark corners, waiting to take their pounds of flesh from the party and the Buhari Presidency. [myad]
Atiku Abubakar, second-in-command or Vice to the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, from 1999 to 2007, has been very ambitious about becoming the President of Nigeria. Even when he was serving as Vice President, his determination to either edge out his boss, Obsanjo, or to succeed him at the end of his second tenure in 2007, was never in doubt. Of course, as a bonafide citizen of this country and with his enormous wealth or even lack of it, Atiku is eminently qualified to want to be the President of the country. Atiku has been in politics long enough to understand what it takes to attract majority votes of Nigerians that would bring him out as President, but he has always been missing the vital points on that. First, Atiku has been in the habit of engaging in conflict with the leadership of his party, mostly the Presidents. He did it during Obasanjo even as second in command. He was alleged to have mounted pressure with his political clout on Obasanjo, so much that he, Obasanjo, had to come down to his level to be able to survive. In a nutshell, Atiku has been in the habit of putting himself in opposition to the President of the party he belongs to. Apart from putting Obasanjo on his political toes so that he was not manoeuvred out, Atiku later, during the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan, led some governors out of a national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to form a new PDP, shortly before the campaigns began in 2014. In his quest to be President, Atiku had jumped from one political party to another, and eventually brought into the All Progressives Congress (APC) when he joined it, only the agenda of realizing his Presidential dream. If his idea of being President is hinged on who controls wealth, he would easily have gotten the APC ticket in the 2015 Presidential election, but, unfortunately for him, it was based on votes, stemming from how he convinced the electoral or even party members on his ability to lead the country into prosperity. Beyond the manifesto of an individual Presidential candidate in any political contest, is also the vital issue of creating good rapport with majority of the various ethnic groups, without necessarily being devious. But, Atiku has always tried to cut corners, and in the process, he stays aloof from the main stream of his party to struggle to achieve his ambition with a motley crowd of those who want to tap from his wealth. As a matter of fact, it is politically unwise for Atiku to think that by attacking the President or his political party for whatever failure he notices; the failure which he should have admitted to be part of, he would earn the sympathy of majority of Nigerians. If he had read the country’s political heartbeat well, he should have known that this is not the time, and indeed, it is not in the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari that he should be making scathing statement about what ought to have been done that were not done, because, obviously, he, Atiku wouldn’t have done something fantastically different if he were to be on the saddle. Yes, even if he had been sidelined, as he said, by the APC and President Buhari, the point is that he never made a personal effort to be relevant in the system in the first place. He may have forgotten that governance is often the business of collective ideas from within and without, especially, with him being the senior partner in the system. As a matter of fact, there are no evidence to show that President Buhari or the leadership of APC refused to give him audience if he had sought one. But it is like he wanted the President and APC to come knocking on his door or bowing sown for him, or invite him formally to seek for his rich contribution to the governance. And, instead of flying the kite of restructuring of Nigeria as he did a couple of months ago, thereby kick-starting the agitation, especially in the South West, just so as to divert the focus of his party-in-government and use it to seek for the favour of a section of the country, Atiku should have since embarked on the late MKO Abiola’s political winning formula that so won him the love of almost all Nigerians, without tribal, religious, ethnic and other colourations. He should have embarked on massive and multi dimensional projects that would touch on the lives of millions across the country, and pretend that he had no any ambition first. Such projects and programmes could include massive scholarships to indigent students across the country, building of hospitals and clinics as well as primary schools to render free service to the poor, establishing of more industries to absorb thousands of unemployed youths, and so on and so forth. In other words, Atiku would need to go back to the basic things that would make the mass of Nigerians to love him, the way late Abiola did and ripped abundant goodwill that saw him defeating his political opponents even in their own homes. Throwing money all over the place, causing confusion with the hope of ripping some political dividends from such confusion, accusing his party or lamenting the negative attitude of his party members and or the President towards him and finding an easy route to the Presidency would only complicate matter for him. An average Nigerian is thoroughly wise and can’t be taken for granted simply on the alter of how much a politician puts in his pocket for a meal or two. So, in reality, if Atiku wants to be elected as President of Nigeria, he should first and foremost, return to God who gives power to whom He will and when He will and takes it from whom He will and when He will. He should display the correct attitude towards the leadership of his political party and the man in power; stick to a political party without any pronounced ambition, remain consistent in supporting the leadership, believing that no leader is infallible and try to positively touch the lives of many Nigerians with no condition attached etc. Only then Nigerians, across the six geo-political zones would seek earnestly after him.[myad]
Aisha, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, today, Monday, distribute various food items to the victims of flood in Benue State. The items distributed, include bags of rice, garri, tomato puree, food seasoning, nutritional packs for children and other essential commodities. The representative of the Presudent’s wife, Hajiya Mairo Almakura, who is wife of governor Tanko Umar Almakura of Nasarawa state, distributed the items to about 5000 displaced persons, mostly women and children who are taking refuge at the Makurdi Ultra-modern market. Aisha Buhari appealed to Nigerians to support the victims as a way of complementing government effort at providing succor to them. The items were received on behalf of the Benue state government by the Deputy Governor of the state, Engr. Benson Abounu. He described the humanitarian gesture of Aisha Buhari as worthy of emulation, adding that the items would raise the hope to the hopeless even as he assured her of fair distribution and effective utilization of the items.[myad]
Operatives of the Nigerian Custom Service in Tin-Can Island Command, Lagos, have impounded 1,100 pump action rifles, bringing to a total of about 2,110 pump action rifles so far impounded in Lagos alone in the last seven months. The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Custom Service, retired Colonel Hameed Ali, who confirmed the seizure said that the weapons were fearfully concealed in a 1×20 ft container. He said the weapons were brought from Turkey and concealed inside a container which Bill of Laden indicated they were ‘conveying wash hand basins’. Colonel Ali said that the weapons were discovered by custom officers who were carrying out 100 percent examination of the container. Members of the syndicate that specialises in smuggling weapons into the country were also arrested. The Controller General said that already, a Customs officer suspected to have cut the seal of the container without following due process, as well as a clerk at the command have been arrested in connection with the discovery.
President Muhammadu Buhari with some members of traditional rulers
President Muhammadu Buhari has said, jokingly that he would have ran to another country to take refuge but thanks to the abundant rains last year and this year that had led to boost in food production. “We are lucky that last year and this year the rainy season is good. If it were not good I must confide to you that I was considering which country to run to. “But God answered the prayers of many Nigerians the rainy season last year was good and this year with the report I’m getting is good. We thank God for that otherwise there would have been a lot of problems in this country.” President Buhari spoke today, Monday, when he received the National Council of Traditional Rulers, led by the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the presidential villa. The President said that rain has led to good harvest and prevented famine in the country even as he blamed the “mismanagement of national resources” over the years for the economic woes that had visited Nigeria. He gave assurance that he will continue to pursue programmes and projects that will better the lives of Nigerians in all spheres of life.[myad]
The Presidency has made it clear that it is not in the character of President Muhammadu Buhari to turn away visitors, especially in festive period. Reacting to the news carried by some social media to the effect that the President refused to grant audience to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State during the recent Eid-el-Kabir holidays in his Daura country home, the Presidency described thhe perhaps as the antics of mischief makers, who wish to score cheap political points against the Kano State governor. In a statement today, Monday, the Special Adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina said that if the President had received Governor Ganduje, along with others, a few weeks ago in London, why would the same President refused to welcome him at his Daura home. Adesina recalled that Governor Ganduja also welcomed the President, alongside many others, on his return to the country on August 19. “There is absolutely no reason for President Buhari to have snubbed Gov. Ganduje, or anybody else for that matter. It is not in the character of our President.” Adesina explained that governor Ganduje was in Daura during the Sallah holidays to commiserate with the Emir of Daura, His Royal Highness Faruk Umar Faruk, who had recently lost his younger brother, Barden Daura, adding that the governor then used the opportunity to be part of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration along with President Buhari.
In furtherance of the recently commenced Operation RUWAN WUTA, on 7 September 2017, The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jet was said to have fired at a building in Lake Chad area in which a number of Boko Haram insurgents had gathered for a meeting, killing all of them. The operation was carried out in Zanari in the northern fringes of Borno State, bordering Lake Chad where the Boko Haram insurgents had already hoisted their flags. According to a statement by the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, a lot of insurgents had earlier been spotted, from a NAF Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform, entering the buildings apparently for meetings. “The F-7Ni and the Alpha Jet aircraft were detailed to attack the target. Overhead the location, the target was acquired and engaged by the two aircraft, in rapid succession. “Subsequent Battle Damage Assessment revealed that the targeted structures went up in flames, killing its occupants.” The NAF spokesman said that the objective of Operation RUWAN WUTA is to further degrade the capability of the BHTs thereby preventing them from regrouping to cause havoc for our surface forces. He said that the Operation was also aimed at softening the ground for the surface forces to subsequently move in and conduct mopping up operations. Meanwhile, the Director Defence Information, Major General John Enenche has issued a statement condemning what he called “ill motivated” online publication on 7 September 2017 against the Nigerian Air Force which he said was sensationally captioned: “How Nigerian Air Force’s failings allegedly prolonged war against Boko Haram.” Enenche said that the report was a deliberate misinformation about the Nigerian Air Force in particular and the Armed Forces of Nigeria in general. He stressed that the Armed Forces of Nigeria trained and have always operated jointly to achieve set objectives under a coordinated command and control centre which is the Defence Headquarters. According to the defence spokesman, it is not possible for a single service or component to frustrate or derail the aim of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. “Therefore, the ill motivated publication against the Chief of Air Staff and the Nigerian Air Force should be disregarded. “It is worthy to point out clearly that, the Nigerian Air Force has lived up to its expectation in the North East, alongside the Nigerian Army and Navy for the successes recorded against Boko Haram. The Air Force like the Army and Navy were not left out of the commendation given to the Chief of Defence Staff on the fight against Boko Haram by the United States of America secretary of state, on 22 March 2017 in New York.” He confirmed on behalf of the Defence Headquarters, that the Nigerian Air Force has never failed in its tasks against Boko Haram Terrorists in the North East. “Collectively, the Armed Forces of Nigeria will continue to work relentlessly to make Boko Haram activities in the North East history in record time.” [myad]
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Aisha, the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, today, 
Operatives of the Nigerian Custom Service in Tin-Can Island Command, Lagos, have impounded 1,100 pump action rifles, bringing to a total of about 2,110 pump action rifles so far impounded in Lagos alone in the last seven months.
The Presidency has made it clear that it is not in the character of President Muhammadu Buhari to turn away visitors, especially in festive period.
