The first Multi-National Joint Task Force Commander in the North-East, retired General Jonathan Temlong, has painted a picture of how members of the dreaded Boko Haram penetrated many communities in the North East in particular and many parts of the North in general.

General Temlomg, who spoke to an online medium, DAILY POST said that one of the major cause has to do with total absence of government in many communities.

“I operated in the North-East as the first Multi-National Joint Task Force Commander. I tell you, and have said it in many places that there is the absence of governance in most of those areas.

“If you have people with such tendencies, they will use those areas and create their fiefdoms or whatever you want to call it and raise their own armies or start imposing dues on the people‎.

“They start gradually until they become a monster because there is nobody to check them, and there is no credible alternative to them. Sometimes they even offer protection to the people.

“The people are under their control, and once there is no credible alternative, the people pledge their allegiance to them. If there was a credible alternative, some of them would not go into the Boko Haram thing.

“Today, the Boko Haram got the ideology that western education is haram (forbidden), because it is the product of that education. When you go and read, you don’t get work, and those who did it are the ones doing the oppression”, he further lamented.

“Go to Maiduguri and see; I mean inside Maiduguri town, you’ll see the competition of houses, yet, you have over 90% of the population living in penury. Their existence in this country is as if nobody cares about them. There is no governance at all. There is no presence of governance.

“I was in the Lake Chad, the first time they heard about vaccination was when some of my troops gave them. I had to go to UNICEF to buy vaccines. We gave over 40,000 children. That was the first time they found out about it. The local government Chairman that I mentioned it to said he never heard of that place.

“So, you see the people were just staying on their own. It was survival of the fittest. There was no presence of government. You know within the hinterlands some of the local governments have no presence of governance. We must address the deficit of good governance, and once you address it, governors must be accountable to their people.

“Those in position of authority must be accountable to their people. I tell you, you will find out a situation where the troops will tell you they rescued 1,000 people, women and children. Was there any report about their abduction?” He asked.

“You only heard they were rescued, that means there is no accountability.

“If you cannot account for the people, who are you governing? Is it the Government House or your staff?

“If today an American gets missing, the whole of the U.S. stands still, until he is rescued. If one American is taken hostage, the U.S President knows, and they’ll start planning on ways to rescue him.

“You have thousands that the government doesn’t know about, the local government Chairman doesn’t know about. They are the closest. How do you expect the President to know? They are the channels through which information gets to the President.

“Lives have no value; people justify retaliation to kill people like flies. That means there is the absence of law and order.

“If today I kill your relation, and in five years time you come to retaliate, people justify it. What’s the meaning of that? That will lead to the state of anarchy.

“Those in positions of authority must watch their utterances. They must be accountable to the people; they should know they will be accountable to God.” [myad]

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has asked the government to start paying N50,000 minimum wage to Nigerian workers as demanded by organized labour and scrap security vote for state governors.

A statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukuwu, quoted Senator Ekweremadu, who spoke at the 4th National Public Service Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association in Ibadan at the weekend, as condemning a situation where the minimum wage was pegged at N18,000, while some State governors could pocket as much as N2 billion under the cover of Security Vote.

“When a man who earns N18,000, cannot buy a bag of rice, how then can such a person take care of his family? Does it make sense to him if you tell him not to find alternative means of catering to the needs of his family?

“Is it not also possible to abolish the Security Vote and replace it with Contingency Vote so it can be appropriated and accounted for?,

Senator Ekweremadu, however, observed: “while it is easy to point accusing fingers at the governing elites in public and private sectors, we must all embark on individual soul searching from the highest to the lowest rung of the social-economic strata.

“From the clerks who would never be able to trace your file unless you grease their palms, to security men who would not let you in or claim that ‘oga no dey’ if you are not the type that parts with ‘kola’ each time you visit, the penchant for corrupt enrichment is definitely not the exclusive malaise of the rich and influential.

“Procurement managers in public and private establishments who have mastered the art of contract inflation and over-pricing; traditional rulers who confer chieftaincy titles on known criminals and corrupt persons; religious leaders and institutions that honour the corrupt are also as guilty as those highly influential persons who clear billions with a stroke of the pen or public office holders who cart away public resources under the cover of Security Vote.” [myad]

Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that the Presidential Library which he initiated and was officially commissioned today in Abeokuta, Ogu state capital, was a fulfillment of his dreams.

“This library is the combination of fulfillment of dreams, a vision which began in 1988. When I came to realize how much vital materials that should have been preserved from the civil war and from our period of military government were allowed to waste carelessly, then I tried to see what could be salvaged and preserved.”

In his speech at the commissioning which was attended by acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Presidents from other countries, Obasanjo said that from start, he ensured that three elements of the library were covered.

The commissioning was part of Obasanjo’s 80th birthday celebration.

The former Nigerian leader said that the first one was the incorporation of revenue generating unit to ensure that substantial fund are generated to support what donations it may continue to receive.

The second one, he said: “there must be enough facilities to serve the need of the community and to impart positively on the community in a way it must be a community project from the point of view.

“Three, it must be active and dynamic, not inactive, but also instructive and inspiring.  It must also be a centre for knowledge, information and values to a large extent.”

The library was incorporated in November 2002 as a not-for-profit organisation.

Speaking at the occasion, Osinbajo noted: “very few human  being  have the chance  to make history and few have a good  fortune  of both making history and writing  it as they go on earth and living  long enough  to even  established  a library  of history in your  own world . Baba Olusegun Obasanjo is certainly one of those truly a rare human being.

“There are two advantages of writing history: the first one you can add a few nice things about yourself, the second advantage is that it is best sure way of preserving the failures and the successes of the past.

“President Obasanjo is a gift to us in various ways. From a few  years away  from independent to the civil war to military  rule and then the Head of State who  kept  faith to the Nigerian  people by ensuring a transition  to civil rules and then from retirement  to farming to be twice elected  as Nigerian President and  handed to another President  at every time,” Mr. Osinbajo said.

“You are even more an incredible life of service to our nation to our continent and to our world, his enduring legacy will be believed in one strong and detribalized Nigeria.”

Also speaking, the Liberian President, Ellen Sirleaf, said: “history will bear truth to this precedent setting  presidential  initiative in Africa  that will spread  a strong  legacy for retiring president  to emulate to record  and preserved  the history  of nation building for prosperity  and for the benefit  of today and future  generation.

“A nation must believe in three things. It must  believe  in the past,  it must  believe  in the future,  it must  above all believe  in the capacity  of his own people to learn  from the past in creating  their own future.”

The facility is equipped with a museum, zoological gardens, amphitheatre, as well as advocacy centres, including the Institute of African Culture and International Understanding and Centre for Human Security and Green Energy Demonstration.

Other dignitaries who attended the event are Presidents Faure Gnassingbe of Togo and Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone; former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, former Presidents of Benin Republic, Boni Yayi, Joyce Banda of Malawi and John Kuffour of Ghana.

There were also former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Anan; AfDB President, Akin Adesina; former heads of state, Ernest Shonekan and Abdulsalam Abubakar; former Commonwealth Secretary General, Emeka Anyaoku, and former Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Former governors, Bola Tinubu, Olusegun Osoba, Rabiu  Kwakwaso, Godswill Akpabio, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Donald Duke, Liyel Imoke and  Alao Akala also attended.

Others are Ministers Kemi Adeosun, Kayode Fayemi, and Lai Mohammed.

A former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, also attended. [myad]

The newly installed Tor Tiv of Tiv land, Orchivirigh Professor James Ortese Ayatse, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari what have Tiv people done that his government refused to appoint any of them to positions.

He said:”the Tiv people, who are the fourth largest ethnic group in the country, are not represented at the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Tiv man has not been appointed Chief Executive Officer of any federal parastatal in the current dispensation. We believe God will help you to correct this marginalization.”

Professor Ayatse, who adopted a title: His Royal Majesty, Begha U Tiv, Orchivirigh, Prof Ortese Iorzua James Ayatse and was inaugurated today, Saturday by Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom in Gboko, at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka Stadium, said that Benue state is central to the federal government’s economic diversification programme.

He said the Tiv people gave their overwhelming support during the electioneering campaign of President Buhari, and wondered why they are being treated shabbily after the elections.

”As you take stock and make your next series of appointments, kindly be reminded that the Tiv Nation is not represented in FEC and have not benefitted from any appointment at the federal level.”

The new Tor Tiv commended the diversification program of the federal government that is tied to agriculture, saying that the people have comparative advantage owing their agrarian economy. He appealed to the federal government to involve the Tiv people in its empowerment schemes to facilitate provision of agricultural inputs and enhance skills.

He said such measures would enhance food sufficiency and prevent food crises in the country.

Acting President Osinbajo, represented by the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, promised to present the demands of the Tor Tiv to the president.

He advised the Tiv people to learn to live together with Fulani herdsmen, with whom, they had lived together for ages.

Governor Ortom lamented the security challenges that are confronting the state, even as he said that measures have been adopted to curtail the challenges. He reiterated his earlier resolve to create ranches which he said is the solution to the perennial crises between farmers and herdsmen.

The ceremony was witnessed by many dignitaries, including Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives,Yakubu Dogara, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, the governors of Imo, Sokoto, Zamfara, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kwara, Niger, Taraba, Plateau, Kano and Kogi states. [myad]

The United Nations Security Council Visiting Mission to the Lake Chad Basin Region is expected at the epic centre of the Boko Haram devastating terrorism, starting from tomorrow, Sunday.

A statement from the spokesperson and Head of communications of the UK Mission to the UN, Matt Moody said that the team which will meet with Northeast stakeholders in Maiduguri on their arrival tomorrow would proceed to the nation’s federal capital, Abuja to meet with the acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday.

“On Day 5 of the UK Presidency, the Security Council will transfer to Maiduguri, Nigeria, where they will meet local officials and civil society organisations before visiting an IDP camp. In the evening, the Council will transfer to Abuja

“On Day 6 of the UK Presidency (Monday), the Security Council will meet Civil Society Organisations, Women’s Groups, and leaders of the Nigerian Government in Abuja.”

The visit is part of the UN Security Council’s mission under the UK Presidency, to the areas devastated by Boko Haram terrorists in the countries of the Lake Chad Basin – Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The mission to Nigeria is aimed at enabling the UN body to get first-hand information on the various issues affecting the country.

This will be the first time the UN Security Council is visiting Nigeria.

With the ongoing crisis in the North East and other challenges faced by the country, the delegation will use the mission to engage with Federal and State authorities.

The Council will also engage actors on the ground supporting national response efforts and visit selected affected populations.

The delegation will have engagement with journalists in Maiduguri at 5 p.m. on Sunday and Abuja at 7 p.m. on Monday.

The delegation, led by Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, UK Permanent Representative to the UN and the Security Council’s President for the month of March, had earlier visited Cameroon, Chad and will leave to Niger on Saturday night.

The UN says no fewer than 4.8 million people are now in urgent need of food assistance and 5.1 million are predicted to be food insecure if not supported by the humanitarian community in 2017.

The UN said that an estimated 300,000 children in Borno alone will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next 12 months and up to 450,000 in total across Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, if adequate assistance is not received.

(NAN). [myad]

The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has pleaded with the foreign airlines to shelve their threat not to use Kaduna airport as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport in Abuja will soon be shut down for renovation.

Osinbajo who spoke today, Friday shortly after inspecting the level ofr work done at the Kaduna airport said that though it is not all the foreign airlines that have threatened not to use the Kaduna airport, but that the renovation of Abuja airport is for the safety of all the users.

“Some airlines are willing to come to Kaduna Airport; I just spoke with Ethiopia airline and they are willing to come. I think that foreign airlines will, but what we need to tell them is that obviously this a temporary arrangement and they should really work with us on the temporary arrangement.

“We are concerned about safety and comfort as they are. They are here also to see for themselves, I am sure you have seen some of them.”

On the level of work done, the acting President acknowledged that considerable progress had been made, but that more needed to be done to ensure its readiness.

“We think that, it may not be in a complete state of readiness by Wednesday. I expect that within a very very short period of time, the airport will be very usable and in a comfortable state.”

He called on the contractors to speed up work and meet up with the scheduled deadline.

”We ask people working on the airport to quickly speed up or to double the number of people who are working on the ceiling and other facilities.

“They certainly need to work more faster and much more diligently to be able to deliver on schedule.

“Kaduna Airport deserves the temporal substitute for Abuja airport for both local and international flights.

“We are looking at the state of readiness considering that this is always a local airport and for that, a lot of work needs to be done to bring it to the kind of standard that will be required.” [myad]

The Rivers State Judiciary complex in Port Harcourt was full of jubilation today, Friday, as 35 people who have been agitating for the creation of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria were set free from detention by a court.

The agitators were arrested by the Police on January 20, during a rally in solidarity for the inauguration of the U.S. President, Donald Trump. They were charged by the Police on two counts bordering on conspiracy to commit treason and treasonable felony.

The Chief Magistrate, Andrew Jaja, who set the suspects free for what he described as lack of diligent prosecution by the Police, also held that neither the Attorney-General nor the Commissioner of Police showed up in court within the 20-day period as stipulated by law, to file the necessary court processes to show proof why the agitators should continue to be held in prison custody for the offences for which they were charged. [myad]

Former United States of America’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Mr Andrew Young, has identified corruption, laziness and selfishness as factors responsible for holding down the potential of Nigeria to attain greatness.
“The slavery of Nigeria is corruption, laziness, selfishness and refusal to realise that she is a nation destined to be great.”
Andrew Young, who spoke today, Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun of Nigeria, at a symposium organised as part of the activities to celebrate the 80th birth anniversary of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, however, expressed the belief that Nigeria can be liberated from all the things it had become slave unto.
The subject of the symposium, organised by the Centre for Human Security, an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Library, is: “Purposes and Utilitarian Values of Presidential Libraries.”
Young said that Nigeria had produced great minds who had done great things and are respected all over the world.
“I have seen Nigerians abroad.
“They are brilliant, intelligent and hardworking and respectable.”
The former US diplomat likened Nigeria’s destiny to the Biblical Israelites whose ancestors served under slavery for several years in spite of being destined by God to be great.
The ambassador described the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), to be inaugurated tomorrow, Saturday as one of the platforms that would launch Nigeria into enviable heights among nations of the world.
“I see the library as something that will not only teach young Nigerians about their rich heritage, but will also point them to the great future of the nation.
“I see the nation, Nigeria, rising and occupying a significant position like China, US and other great nations of the world.”
This was even as the former Permanent Delegate of Kenya to UNESCO, Ambassador Mary Khimulu, described the library as “a new African record.”
Khimula, who pledged to be an ambassador of the library, called for more of such projects in Africa.
The former Secretary-General, All-Africa Association of Students’ Union, Mr Fred Awaah,  described the library as a pride of the African continent.
He expressed joy that the work had served as a catalyst and engendered a re-awakening among African leaders. He added that two other similar projects were ongoing in the continent.
“Such libraries would afford us the opportunity to tell the world our stories from our own perspective rather than have it misinterpreted by other people.”
Awaah stressed the importance of presidential libraries and called on African governments to put necessary laws in place to prioritise the establishment of such libraries for an exiting presidents.
“The US which realises the importance has the Presidential Library Act of 1955 as well as the Public Records Act of 1978.”
In his remarks, former President Obasanjo, described the library as an opportunity given to him by God to correct his past mistakes of not documenting some materials.
He expressed optimism that the library would stimulate tourism in and promote the image of Nigeria globally. [myad]