Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has described Aba traders, in Abia state as the bedrock of the nation’s economy. “You can’t do much for manufacturing without coming to Aba; Aba traders, artisans, tailors, shoemakers and others are the bedrock of our economy.” Professor Osinbajo was in Aba today, Thursday, where he participated in the First Micro, Small, & Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMES), Clinics. The media launch of the programme took place in Abuja on Tuesday. Osinbajo asked relevant federal government agencies to see themselves as facilitators of the businesses and remove bottlenecks that are often reported when enterprises have something to do with the agencies. He vowed that the Buhari presidency would do all within its ability to ensure that business men and women under the scheme thrive, stressing the importance of taking care of people “who do the things that make us comfortable. “We will spend time to ensure that we give those who produce locally all the support that we can give, and that is why we are doing this clinics.” The Office of the Special Adviser on Economic Matters in the Presidency had devised the idea of a Clinic to bridge the gap between medium and small scale businesses and government agencies such as Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC; Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON; National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC; Bank of Industry, BOI; Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS; Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC; and others. The Clinic is meant to bring together all those agencies in one spot and at appointed times across the country to attend to the needs, questions and requests of people doing business. It was launched on Tuesday by Professor Osinbajo. The clinics would be held in two different cities every month and the relevant government agencies would be on hand to solve problems of business enterprises, take inquiries, explain government initiatives and educate the public about regulatory issues regarding MSMES in Nigeria. At the Aba launch, the Vice President went round the stands of all the agencies at the MSMES Clinic and those of several businesses and local manufacturers. The Abia State Governor, Dr. Okpezie Ikpeazu, said that with the visit of the Acting President to Abia, the story of Aba traders will change. Professor Osinbajo was also accompanied by the Industry, Trade and Investment Minister, Dr. Okey Enelamah, among several other senior government officials. [myad]
A 70 year old herbalist, Simon Odo Okoro, a.k.a Onuwa, has divorced 57 out of his 70 wives. The herbalist, who lived around Aji, Enugu Ezike in Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, vowed not to marry again, having accused some of his children of allegedly sleeping with some of them.
Onuwa, who calls himself King of Satan, broke his vow not to marry again by quickly remarrying one of the youngest of his divorced wives, an 18 year old Chidinma. He said that she pleaded with him to marry her so that she could take care of him as an old man.
“The girl who lured me to marry her returned from the United States. She told me to marry her so that she would take care of me as an old man. She is from Enugu State. However, a month after the marriage was consummated, she told me to sack the youngest one, Chidinma and I became furious with her because that was not why I married her. I beat her and she left.”
On the allegation that some of his children (names withheld) not only slept with some of his wives but planned to kill him, he said that he would disown any of his sons involved in criminal activities.
Onuwa married the 57th wife in November 2015 and vowed not to marry again, having had a fair share of women in his life.
Chidinma was married from Okutu, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. Odo, also known variously as Onuwa, King Solomon of Africa or King of Satan had altogether been married to 69 women but some of them had earlier died.
Augustina Odo (nee Asogwa) and Virginia, nee Mogbo from Oraifite were among the dead ones.
Onuwa who is always with a note book where names of his wives and over 200 children are listed according to their dates of birth, said that his first son, Emeka was born on December 15, 1969.
“I was born in 1947 on the day they had an eclipse of the sun and the moon. There was darkness in the afternoon on the day I was born. I was the only son of my parents. I was baptised as a Christian in the Catholic Church and even became a mass servant under Rev Father Desmond McGlade. I, however, became a herbalist because of circumstances beyond my control.
“As I said, I was the only son of my parents but because some of his relations wanted to take over his landed property, they poisoned me. I contracted tuberculosis and had to be treated for years. At a point, I was even unable to walk for about five years because I became lame. I ran to Ondo State in the South West, where I trained to become a herbalist at the age of 15, before returning to the village. I married 15 wives when my father was alive and the situation prolonged his life. He died in 1992 at the ripe old age of over 90 years. My first son has seven children and four grandchildren. Any of my children who chooses to become a Christian is free to do so, provided he/she must become a Catholic. I don’t like the Pentecostal churches.”
On feeding of his large family, Onuwa said: “People think that I feed many of them but this is not true. Most of my children are grown up. The boys among them usually marry and go to their own houses just like the girls who marry and follow their husbands to their places. However, my wives cook food for the whole family in turns. For example, if it is the turn of Ada or Omada to cook, she would invite five of her colleagues to assist her in cooking. One woman cooks for everybody in the house at a time but my other wives would always assist such a person.”
Asked if any of his sons has taken after him as a herbalist, he said: “I will not encourage them to do so. I don’t want my sons to take after me because some of them will do bad things with my medicine. As a herbalist, I have never killed anybody or thought of evil against anybody but I do not trust that my children would be upright like me. That is why I will not encourage them to inherit my medicine but I may bequeath them to some of my younger children, not the old, greedy ones.”
Meanwhile, it was learnt that although Onuwa abhorred seeing his children attend churches other than the Catholic Church, seven of them were ordained pastors of the Lord’s Chosen Church. Hitherto, some of them attended Catholic and Anglican churches while many of them took after their father in his business. [myad]
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has called on Maritime stakeholders to make inputs in the ongoing Port Reform Agenda of the present administration in other to reposition the maritime industry for greater efficiency. Peterside who made the call in Lagos when he played host to a delegation of the Editorial Board of the Nation Newspaper, led by its chairman Mr. Sam Omatseye and the chief strategist of Epsilon Limited Mr. Amechi Chukwujama. Stressed the need to harness a synergy of ideas from all stakeholders towards ensuring a very user friendly port system that will be a model in the sub-region. The groups were in Lagos ahead of the proposed port reforms conference in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Transportation. The Director General said that the need for seamless transaction at the ports cannot be over emphasized, adding that the proposed conference would help reposition the Maritime Sector for the realization of the change Agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration. The Executive Director (Finance and Administration) Mr. Bashir Yusuf Jamoh in his contribution, made a case for the inclusion of the railways in the intended ports reform in order to decongest the roads. Mr. Fashakin Rotimi Joseph (Executive Director Operations) on his part, commended the Nation Newspaper for conceiving and proposing this conference which is expected to create awareness and set acceptable standards for port operations in Nigeria. The leader of the delegation, Mr. Omatseye said that the Port Reform Conference is intended to bring together all agencies connected with Port Administration to create a seamless business environment through an acceptable template with defined timelines. Chukwujama said that though a number of positive developments have been recorded in the Maritime Sector since 2006, but that there is still room for improvement, saying that the forum is geared towards President Buhari’s quest for accelerated economic growth through increased revenue and job creation. The conference is scheduled to hold on March 30, 2017 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, with the theme “Making Nigerian Sea Ports World Class.” [myad]
We hope you realize just like us that history is upon us, challenging us to rise up to the occasion. We risk an unanswerable verdict against us should you fail, for whatever reason, to deliver on good governance. For your own good, don’t lean too heavily on political appointees because a major problem with them is their inability to summon courage and speak the bitter truth.
This letter is coming on the heels of vain efforts made to reach you or your office. Since you are widely perceived to be on a divine mission, we have been very careful not to incur the wrath of God by interfering in God’s highly valued project. This explains our stoic silence even in the face of pestering of skeptics to act, one way or the other. However, to continue to perch on the fence in the face of growing disaffection will call our patriotism to question apart from portraying us as renegades, the more so that we were the first to trumpet your administration as a dispensation of hope, fairness and the restorer of the years of the locust.
The content of the open letter to Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, the Executive Governor of Kogi State, Lokoja, as he marks his one year anniversary in office, beginning on Friday, 27th January, 2017, is reproduced here:
Significantly, you were sworn in on a Friday, the spiritual significance of this coincidence is left to the spiritually discerning to unravel.
Meanwhile, we look forward to many happy and redeeming returns. Your administration’s physical development stride as manifested in several roads construction among others, are highly commendable and heart-warming.
Your Excellency Sir, Ebira Youth Congress (EYC) and Ebira Renaissance Group (ERG) are no strangers to you. To refresh Your Excellency’s memory, the two bodies, for many years, have crusaded for power-shift based on the hallowed principle of Equity, Fairness and Justice.
Some of our senior colleagues/comrades were detained and some paid the supreme sacrifice in the course of this noble crusade. Equally to be recalled, the fact that you met with these groups at Alama Hotel, Lokoja shortly before the APC primary which threw you up as runner-up to late Governor Prince Abubakar Audu – a feat that subsequently propelled you to become the State Governor.
It is also worthy of recall that the two bodies drummed up support for you via a press conference at the NUJ Press House in Lokoja as the right replacement upon Prince Abubakar Audu’s death. Upon the threat by the Faleke Support Group (FSG) to make the State (Kogi) ungovernable if you were ever inaugurated as the Governor, the EYC again, rose to call the Group to order through a press conference at the NUJ Press House, Lokoja.
This was followed up by our distress letters to the Presidency, IGP and the DSS. This was promptly acted upon; the result of this was visible to all, even the blind. We did not stop at that, when the so called “Kogi East Elders Council” sponsored a publication on 8th February, 2016 titled “THAT GOVERNANCE MAY WORK IN THE INTEREST OF ALL IN KOGI”, the ERG stoutly rose to your defence without any prompting or sponsorship from any quarter.
Further to the foregoing, the EYC/ERG major radio programmes, before the ERG rested her own, were effectively deployed to launder your government and galvanize people’s support for the nascent administration. With these antecedents, we cannot be classified as enemy of your government for whatever reason.
In short, we like to see ourselves as unacknowledged and unsung stakeholder of your government.
This letter is coming on the heels of vain efforts made to reach you or your office. Since you are widely perceived to be on a divine mission, we have been very careful not to incur the wrath of God by interfering in God’s highly valued project. This explains our stoic silence even in the face of pestering of skeptics to act, one way or the other. However, to continue to perch on the fence in the face of growing disaffection will call our patriotism to question apart from portraying us as renegades, the more so that we were the first to trumpet your administration as a dispensation of hope, fairness and the restorer of the years of the locust.
Your Excellency Sir, this letter is intended to give you a deserved respite from adversarial campaigns that presently suffuse the social media about your person and administrative style. However, we want to counsel you, Your Excellency to put your ear to the ground in order to hear the silent majority that presently groan under your well intended but poorly executed programmes and policies, especially as it concerns the seemingly unending screening exercises that have recorded a lot of painful casualties. You may also wish to address the worsening security situation in the State, particularly in your immediate constituency, Kogi Central Senatorial District where kidnapping enjoys unfettered comfort.
We hope you realize just like us that history is upon us, challenging us to rise up to the occasion. We risk an unanswerable verdict against us should you fail, for whatever reason, to deliver on good governance. For your own good, don’t lean too heavily on political appointees because a major problem with them is their inability to summon courage and speak the bitter truth.
More often than not, they shield their leaders from reality on ground in order not to imperil their personal comfort conferred by their positions. Political appointees, in most cases, constitute human barricade around the leader and inflict him with blinkered view which disables him from separating imagination from reality.
In conclusion, we plead with you to let the fear of God reflects on what you do or refuse to do as Governor. Please, count us among the major groups that earnestly pray that your government succeeds, at least for our collective good.
Our last line: a leader may never know his good friends until he is out of power.
The news that President Muhammadu Buhari has resubmitted the name of Ibrahim Magu to the Senate for confirmation as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is indeed a very cheery one. It is cheery in the sense that the presidency has not only done the right thing but is also beginning to understand the logic and the doctrines of presidential power in a democracy. It all started with the forwarding of Magu’s name to the Senate for confirmation in June 2016 by the presidency. The Senate kept the letter and sat on it for as many months and would only consider it in December when it felt good and ready in spite of the pressures from all quarters of the Nigerian society calling for Magu’s confirmation. Not even the EFCC Chairman’s spectacular performance in the short period of his acting capacity would spur the Senate into doing the needful over the matter. And when it finally decided to act, the upper legislative house refused to screen the EFCC Chairman, citing a security report from the DSS as an impediment. But in what was clearly a rigging of its own procedures, the Senate through its spokesperson, Abdulahi Sabi, announced that they had rejected a man that never appeared before them and who they never screened! Perhaps, one can exonerate the Senate from the shenanigans that have become the confirmation politics of Magu given that the DSS that wrote the infamous “Report” is under the presidency. Yet, how can one explain the fact that the attempt of Senator Ndume to clarify the Senate position has already cost him his office as Senate Leader? Ndume stepped out to say his afternoon prayers and before God could answer him, his colleagues with the speed of light toppled him for daring to canvass for fair play in the Magu matter. Well, President Buhari knowing full well the perception that his administration will succeed or fail depending on how successful the anti-corruption war his government is waging turns out, decided to intervene and got his Attorney General to investigate the matter, especially the DSS allegations against Magu, and report back to him. With the re-submission of the name of Magu to the Senate by the President, it is evidently clear that the AGF found all the allegations against Magu unfounded and reeking of pettiness, prejudice and vendetta and therefore rightly advised the President to re-forward the name of the EFCC Chairman for confirmation. Was this the right thing to do? As one of the critics of the Buhari government, I would have reserved the harshest words for Mr. President had he caved in to the intrigues of the Senate in conniving with one of the security agencies under the Presidency to abridge the powers freely given to him by the Nigerian people, whose president he is. It is important to note that of all the elected officials in the country, including members of the Senate, Mr. President is the only person who has a nation-wide mandate. What this means is that it is only Mr. President who has the entire Nigeria as his constituency, whereas others including senators only have limited constituencies. That being the case, Mr. President is the only person who can make a call over and above every other persons’ head, be they senators or governors. It is only Mr. President who can truly speak in the best interest of all Nigerian citizens. He has the mandate of the Nigerian people to make any decision which in his view is in the best interest of all Nigerians. And this is because, the logic of presidential powers rightly assumes that the President is in a vantage position more than anyone else to know what is right for his country. The appointment of Magu as the EFCC chairman is one of such decisions. It must be noted that Mr. President had identified fighting corruption as the centerpiece of the policy of his government. And in pursuing that policy, he has equally identified Mr. Magu as the officer he needs to head the EFCC, the major arm for the anti-corruption war. By refusing to screen and clear Magu, the Senate are clearly abridging the rights and powers of Mr. President as the chief executive officer and the only one with nationwide mandate to govern, and in the process, will be cheating the Nigerian people of the well-intentioned decision of Mr. President. This cannot be allowed to stand! It is against the Constitution! It is against the doctrine of presidential power! As reported in the newspapers recently, if the Senate is still insisting on that DSS report in dealing with the confirmation of Magu even after the President had explained to them that he has cleared Magu of all those false allegations, it means that they are yet to understand comprehensively the powers of a president in our type of democracy. Is the DSS superior to the President? If the Senate is not satisfied with the President’s clarifications, they are at liberty to call for the sack of the leadership of the DSS for misleading them. Yet the Senate must not make the mistake of over hyping a hate report feeding off an inter-agency rivalry and competition, as well as a morbid fear of Mr. Magu. It has been in the public domain that the leadership of the DSS and some powers that be in the presidency, have a no-love-lost relationship with Magu. One of the suggestions of the said report was that Mr. Magu lives an ostentatious lifestyle. This singular suggestion is clearly false and completely at variance with the EFCC Chairman’s ascetic lifestyle and therefore questions not only the credibility of the report but also the motives of its writers. Again, that the DSS allegedly presented two different reports on the same person with different conclusions clearly gave out its mischief in the drama that played out in the Senate. Again, security reports the world over can be merely nebulous and sometimes instruments used to pursue all manner of vendettas and interest, which may in the final analysis, be just the personal idiosyncrasies of their authors. For instance, it is now well-documented that the United States went into the Gulf War based on a false “security report”. Given the false remarks against Mr. Magu’s lifestyle in that report produced by the DSS and the fact that the said report categorically prayed that Mr. Magu should not be confirmed as EFCC Chairman because he is not fit, contrary to the ethical standards in report writing in the Secret Service all over the world, is an indication that it must be taken with a pinch of salt. It is just a mere smear campaign against Ibrahim Magu! Now that President Buhari has done the right thing by re-submitting Ibrahim Magu’s name to the Senate as his only candidate for the EFCC Chairman, he must follow that action up by putting all the apparatus of presidential power behind Magu to lobby senators and secure the confirmation for the EFCC Chairman this time around. And in doing so, he should be rest assured that the Constitution supports him. It is in the national interest; it is in tandem with one of the major promises for which the Nigerian people elected him – to fight corruption. And above all, by resubmitting Magu’s name, Mr. President is sending the signal in an unmistakable language that he is ready to use the full powers that the Nigerian people gave him to serve them in the best possible way and will not brook any attempt by any ambitious or unpatriotic legislature to abridge his powers as the only official with nationwide mandate to govern. Magu’s confirmation is just a test case. If the President allows the Senate to get away this time with the attempt to trample on some of the powers of the office of the President, then the stage would have been set for future attempts to undermine the Presidency! *Uche Ugboajah, a researcher in presidential studies, wrote from Abuja. [myad]
You can’t continue to beat that dead horse. It’s been said by economists, by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and by so many people, that Nigeria was primed for recession. That recession was inevitable the way Nigeria had been run two, three, four years prior to the time we went into recession. Nigeria was just primed for it, there was no way it would not have happened.
These are the views as expressed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, when he spoke as a guest on Channels TV. He also spoke on the controversy surrounding President Muhammadu Buhari’s health, efforts to get Nigeria out of recession and other issues of national interest. Excerpts: Q: The president travelled and one is curious because he left earlier than scheduled, contrary to what the president said in the letter that he transmitted to the National Assembly and the press release issued by your office. Two days after he left, there were negative reports about his health. What is the true state of the president’s health? A: The true state of the president’s health is that he is not ill. I have been in touch with the president and the people around him today, just as I was also, yesterday. The president is not ill, the president is fine. Don’t forget, the statement we issued said he was going on holiday and during that holiday, he will do medical checkups. The sequence is very important. Holiday first; medical checkup second but Nigerians want to turn the sequence as medical checkup first instead of holiday first. It’s a holiday. He is 74. Even if you are not 74, you need to check your health. So, there is nothing wrong with the president. He is hale and hearty. Q: A lot of Nigerians are wondering that the president has severally gone to seek medical attention overseas. What is your take on that? A: When you say severally, you make it appear as if it is every other month. It’s been twice. Severally could be two and above but it’s just two. Q: Even if it is two, one will be wondering why the president will be seeking medical attention overseas. Does it mean the Aso Rock medical facilities and any other medical institution in Nigeria cannot attend to the president’s medical concerns? A: You also have what is called medical history, where you consult people who are used to you, your constitution and your health. They have your medical history. Before he became president, he had been using those same set of people. So, it stands to reason that the same people continue to attend to him. Q: Does he use the medical facilities in the Aso Rock villa? A: I can’t say, because when the president is at home, I have never seen him fall sick, but he has a personal physician who attends to him. I will not be able to say categorically whether he uses the Aso Rock facility or not. Q: At a time, he went to visit the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist in London and some doctors said we have very qualified ENT specialists in Nigeria who can effectively handle the issue. Don’t you think he should stay at home in order not to encourage medical tourism? A: It‘s the same issue of changing the order of our statement. When he went out then, we said he was taking a vacation and during that vacation, he will use the opportunity to see ENT doctors. He had been attended to in Nigeria then, and he was going to ask for another opinion where they will look at him again. He was originally attended to in this country. It was in the statement we issued. Q: You attend cabinet meetings. There are some openings in the cabinet such as the late Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James Ocholi, and Mrs Amina Mohammed. Will the president be rejigging his cabinet? A: I only know of the late Ocholi. Mrs Amina Mohammed will not be out of the cabinet until March 2nd. On the issue of the president re-jigging his cabinet, it is his prerogative. So, he will do it if he wishes to do it. He has appointed them. He assembled that cabinet. The prerogative is also his own if he wishes to rejig it. Q: Do you think he needs to rejig it? A: I am not in a position to answer that question. Q: But you advise him, don’t you? A: Yes, I advise him on media and publicity Q: But don’t you hear people talk about his cabinet in the media? A: Yes, people have a right to say what they are saying but they will have their say, and the president will have his way because the president is the one that has been elected and he is the one that assembled that cabinet. Q: Are you in touch with what is happening in the grassroots, in the local areas about the suffering of many Nigerians? A: Very much so; I tell you. There are days I decide in the evenings to visit the president at home, after office hours. One day, I went to see him and we were talking and I said ‘Mr. President, people are going through tough times’. And he told me ‘I know. I know. I have people come visit me here even from my own constituency and they tell me what they are passing through’. So, it’s not as if he does not know, he knows. Q: And what is he doing about it? A: What he is doing is governance; good governance, which will translate to better life for the people. It’s not going to be by sudden flight. It’s not a magic wand that he will wave; rather, it is by policies that will yield over time, and lead to the improvement in the lives of the people. Q: A lot of things have changed since the president took power two years ago in terms of purchasing power. People are asking ‘Is the APC government really living up to the billing compared to the promises the party made at the poll? A: Things are going to change again, and change for the better before the end of this year. That is inexorable. The change will be very evident. Q: Does the president have a map to get Nigeria out of recession? A: Definitely. That goes without saying. For instance, all the prognosis have shown that Nigeria will likely exit recession this year. World Bank has said it, IMF has said it and even before these institutions, the government itself has said it. Q: One of the reasons why Nigeria may exit recession is the oil price, which is not determined by the decisions and policies of the federal government. Don’t you agree with that? A: What was the reason that got us into recession in the first place? Oil price. So, if oil price got us into recession and oil price gets us out of recession, then what are we complaining about? Q: People will say one of the reasons why we entered into recession is because of the slow decision of the Buhari government. For example, it took over six months before President Buhari could set up his cabinet. A: You can’t continue to beat that dead horse. It’s been said by economists, by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and by so many people, that Nigeria was primed for recession. That recession was inevitable the way Nigeria had been run two, three, four years prior to the time we went into recession. Nigeria was just primed for it, there was no way it would not have happened. Q: Are you saying the APC government was just waiting for it to happen? A: APC was just unfortunate to be on the scene when it happened. It was bound to happen. Q: Some people have said the APC does not look like a party that is ready to govern. The party spent a year complaining about how bad things were… A: It’s a matter of opinion. We must talk about how bad things were, and going forward, we will still talk about it because there is always a nexus between the past and the present. So, it is something that we will continue to talk about. We will not talk about it as if we are moaning or bemoaning our fate. No. We will talk about it as a signpost for Nigerians to see why we got to where we are, but moving forward, we will get out of it. Q: Speaking in terms of the Nigerian economy, people are wondering what exactly are the major ideas of the Buhari government to get Nigeria out of recession? A: It would have been self-dependence and it is still self-dependence. Even when oil price rises again, Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari will not fall into that false sense of security of thinking that everything is alright because oil price is high. No. President Muhammadu Buhari is building a new economy founded on solid structures. Agric, Mines and Steel development, and many other things, and going forward, even if oil price hits $120 or $150 bpd, we will not take our eyes off that ball. There must be an alternative for Nigeria’s economy, apart from oil. Q: What concerns some Nigerians is the high foreign exchange rate and particularly the value of the naira to the dollar. It is alleged that there are different rates for different kinds of people, and some people profit from it. Do you have any knowledge this? A: I wouldn’t know about that. You know that in every system, there are people that subvert the system. However tight that system is, some people know how to subvert it. I wouldn’t say for sure that it happens. All I will say is that disparity between naira to the dollar may continue until we begin to earn foreign exchange. The way it is now, how do you defend your currency against the dollar and other foreign currencies? What do we sell? What do we export? The only thing we sold used to be oil. Now, oil crashed, nothing else fetches us foreign exchange. Unless we begin to earn foreign exchange through other commodities and products, then the situation will remain the same. Q: What is the president’s stance on restoring peace in the Niger Delta? A: The president has said it a number of times that dialogue is still the way forward. On Christmas day, he still said it when he received people in government and outside Abuja and environs, who came to the villa to greet him. He even appealed to the Niger Deltans to let peace reign so that Nigeria can move forward. Many options are on the table, no doubt, because for government, there will always be many options, but the number one option for the president is peace and dialogue. Q: Has he dropped the military option? A: I said it. I said there will always be many options for the government but the number one is peace and dialogue. Q: The president once said he needs genuine leaders from that region. Has he found them? A: A lot is going on now. Remember that Vice- President, Yemi Osinbajo was in that region last week. A lot is going on behind the scenes and very soon, we will see the fruits from those initiatives. Q: Was President Buhari invited to the Trump inauguration? A: It is the height of ignorance to expect a sitting president at the inauguration of an American president. It is never done. They don’t invite heads of governments. They don’t invite foreign presidents. We have never seen one there. What they do is that they invite the ambassadors of the countries to attend. Did you see any foreign leader at the inauguration? Did you see any at Obama’s inauguration? It is ignorance to say a president was not invited. They don’t invite sitting presidents. Q: Did the president as the Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces get the permission of the National Assembly before deploying troops to Gambia? A: I think that was also put in proper perspective by the Senate president. He read a part of the law which allowed the president to do what he did and then come back for assent from the Senate. So, the president acted strictly within the law. [myad]
The leader of Muslims in Nigerian and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III (third from left), had a meeting with Christian leaders from across Nigeria, under the aegis of the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), an inter governmental organization that promotes dialogue to build peace in conflict areas that is based in Vienna, Austria. The programme is supported by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), in collaboration with the Inter faith Mediation Centre (IMC), which brought together 100 key actors from diverse Nigerian communities, both Christian and Muslim, to find common ground to build and support a platform for inter religious dialogue in Nigeria. [myad]
The Nigeria Federal Government has ordered the payment of N150 billion for Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) owed petroleum marketers in the country. It represents the bridging cost for the delivery of petroleum products across the country.
The order for the payment was given at a meeting between the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari and key players in the petroleum downstream sector.
The National Secretary of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Zarma Mustapha, told news men shortly after a closed-door meeting, which lasted about two hours that the meeting had nothing to do with increase in petroleum pump prices.
“We looked into the issue of diesel and kerosene and as a matter of fact government is tackling the issues.
“The other issue is the issue of franchise which is the petroleum equalization fund which marketers are owed up to about N150 billion. That issue has been resolved. The government has directed that our monies must be paid and I am assuring you that with the payment of this money there is no cause for alarm.
“We are assuring our marketers that they should go back to their normal business as their outstanding money will be paid in few days.” [myad]
A customer of the Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) in Lagos, Olobashola Folorunsho Gabriel, has been thrown into dilemma by the bank over the ATM dispensing error.
In a complaint he sent by text to Greenbarge Reporters, Olobashola Folorunsho said that the management of the bank refused to pay his N20,000 that got stuck in the bank’s ATM machine and that even when he wanted to close the account, the bank refused him.
Here is the complaint from the customer:
“Dear Admin, My name is Olobashola Folorunsho Gabriel, I wish to share with you my disheartening Experience with Guarantee Trust Bank. I Made a withdrawal on my GTB account 0030077983 VIA the ATM machine at GTB Ajibade, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo state on December 3rd 2016. which happens to be the branch where my account is domiciled. I was debited of #20,000 without getting paid, i lodged several complaints to the management to no available, Pictures taken by the machine clearly showed I didn’t receive cash from the machine but the management insisted I did, my request to view the video playback was refused. I made a request to close my account and the head of operations told me he was not going to close it, he told me to forget about closing the account and to also forget about the #20,000 dispense error and maintain a relationship with GTB. I had no choice but to leave the Bank premises.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has made it clear that any religious leader who is advocating violence in any form is an enemy of peace, even as he insisted that Nigerians should not to give up on working for peaceful and co-existence among the diverse faiths.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day conference organized by the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID) on the theme, ‘Coordinate to Achieve 2-Inclusive and Sustainable Interreligious Dilaogue in Nigeria,’ today, Wednesday, the Sultan said that those who are encouraging violence through reprisal attacks are not friends but enemies of peace.
“We must tell ourselves the truth irrespective of the religious divide we find ourselves. Those who don’t want peace are out to cause trouble. We must rally round the government to assist them deal with the enemies of peace in this country. Those who are encouraging violence are not following the true teaching of Christianity and Islam.”
The leader of Nigeria’s Muslims called on religious leader not to engage in encouraging violence in any form, saying that considering the respect and authority enjoined by religious leaders, both Muslim and Christina leaders should be in the forefront of promoting peace through respect for one another.
“I have never picked up the mic to insult any Christian leader. We should be tolerant of one another and work towards achieving peace in this country. I have never lost hope in this country as far for the search of this country is concerned. No matter what happens, those championing peace will succeed at the end of the day.” Sultan Abubakar added: “Muslim leaders will continue to work with Christian leaders to bring peace to Nigeria. No outsider can bring peace to our country. We are the only ones who can work and bring peace for us. We must have a commitment among us to live in peace, work in peace and bring peace. We believe in dialogue. If we do not believe in dialogue, we won’t be here.
“The big problem is that those who are outside of this gathering preach violence and violence. They harp on negative things contrary to what they preach. We need to engage people outside of this place to embrace peace and dialogue.”
Commending KAICIID for organizing the conference, Sultan Abubakar III tasked participants in the conference to ensure implementation of all recommendations.
“The challenge here is that each time we meet and resolve on certain issues, the problem has always been with the implementation aspect. I hope that after this conference, which I am told is rallying for a common ground for inclusive and sustainable interreligious dialogue in Nigeria, focus will be beamed on implementation aspect.
National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev Samuel Ayokunle, who was represented by Bishop Stephen Adegbite, welcomed the conference and expressed willingness of Christians to assist in preaching peace. He said that only God has the right to take life and called on all to embrace peace and avoid loss of lives.
“We welcome all initiatives for peace and we want to state that we support all efforts aimed at preaching peace. We deplored the level of violence that has led to killings. Only God has the right to take life,” the CAN President declared.
Speaking through a video broadcast from Vienna in Austria, the Director General of KAICIID, Fahad Abualnasr, said the International Dialogue Centre would continue to support and partner with both Muslims and Christians in Nigerians to ensure peace. He said the 2nd coordinate conference, whose theme is, ‘Coordinate to Achieve 2 – Inclusive and Sustainable Interreligious Dialogue in Nigeria’ (CtA2), is holding in Abuja, Nigeria, from 25 to 26 January, 2017 as a follow-up of the first coordinate conference that held in September 2016. [myad]
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Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has described Aba traders, in Abia state as the bedrock of the nation’s economy.
Corruption War: Buhari‘s Pride In Magu, The Nightmare Of Senators, By Uche Ugboajah
It all started with the forwarding of Magu’s name to the Senate for confirmation in June 2016 by the presidency. The Senate kept the letter and sat on it for as many months and would only consider it in December when it felt good and ready in spite of the pressures from all quarters of the Nigerian society calling for Magu’s confirmation. Not even the EFCC Chairman’s spectacular performance in the short period of his acting capacity would spur the Senate into doing the needful over the matter. And when it finally decided to act, the upper legislative house refused to screen the EFCC Chairman, citing a security report from the DSS as an impediment. But in what was clearly a rigging of its own procedures, the Senate through its spokesperson, Abdulahi Sabi, announced that they had rejected a man that never appeared before them and who they never screened!
Perhaps, one can exonerate the Senate from the shenanigans that have become the confirmation politics of Magu given that the DSS that wrote the infamous “Report” is under the presidency. Yet, how can one explain the fact that the attempt of Senator Ndume to clarify the Senate position has already cost him his office as Senate Leader? Ndume stepped out to say his afternoon prayers and before God could answer him, his colleagues with the speed of light toppled him for daring to canvass for fair play in the Magu matter.
Well, President Buhari knowing full well the perception that his administration will succeed or fail depending on how successful the anti-corruption war his government is waging turns out, decided to intervene and got his Attorney General to investigate the matter, especially the DSS allegations against Magu, and report back to him. With the re-submission of the name of Magu to the Senate by the President, it is evidently clear that the AGF found all the allegations against Magu unfounded and reeking of pettiness, prejudice and vendetta and therefore rightly advised the President to re-forward the name of the EFCC Chairman for confirmation. Was this the right thing to do?
As one of the critics of the Buhari government, I would have reserved the harshest words for Mr. President had he caved in to the intrigues of the Senate in conniving with one of the security agencies under the Presidency to abridge the powers freely given to him by the Nigerian people, whose president he is. It is important to note that of all the elected officials in the country, including members of the Senate, Mr. President is the only person who has a nation-wide mandate.
What this means is that it is only Mr. President who has the entire Nigeria as his constituency, whereas others including senators only have limited constituencies. That being the case, Mr. President is the only person who can make a call over and above every other persons’ head, be they senators or governors. It is only Mr. President who can truly speak in the best interest of all Nigerian citizens. He has the mandate of the Nigerian people to make any decision which in his view is in the best interest of all Nigerians. And this is because, the logic of presidential powers rightly assumes that the President is in a vantage position more than anyone else to know what is right for his country. The appointment of Magu as the EFCC chairman is one of such decisions.
It must be noted that Mr. President had identified fighting corruption as the centerpiece of the policy of his government. And in pursuing that policy, he has equally identified Mr. Magu as the officer he needs to head the EFCC, the major arm for the anti-corruption war. By refusing to screen and clear Magu, the Senate are clearly abridging the rights and powers of Mr. President as the chief executive officer and the only one with nationwide mandate to govern, and in the process, will be cheating the Nigerian people of the well-intentioned decision of Mr. President. This cannot be allowed to stand! It is against the Constitution! It is against the doctrine of presidential power!
As reported in the newspapers recently, if the Senate is still insisting on that DSS report in dealing with the confirmation of Magu even after the President had explained to them that he has cleared Magu of all those false allegations, it means that they are yet to understand comprehensively the powers of a president in our type of democracy. Is the DSS superior to the President? If the Senate is not satisfied with the President’s clarifications, they are at liberty to call for the sack of the leadership of the DSS for misleading them. Yet the Senate must not make the mistake of over hyping a hate report feeding off an inter-agency rivalry and competition, as well as a morbid fear of Mr. Magu. It has been in the public domain that the leadership of the DSS and some powers that be in the presidency, have a no-love-lost relationship with Magu. One of the suggestions of the said report was that Mr. Magu lives an ostentatious lifestyle. This singular suggestion is clearly false and completely at variance with the EFCC Chairman’s ascetic lifestyle and therefore questions not only the credibility of the report but also the motives of its writers. Again, that the DSS allegedly presented two different reports on the same person with different conclusions clearly gave out its mischief in the drama that played out in the Senate.
Again, security reports the world over can be merely nebulous and sometimes instruments used to pursue all manner of vendettas and interest, which may in the final analysis, be just the personal idiosyncrasies of their authors. For instance, it is now well-documented that the United States went into the Gulf War based on a false “security report”. Given the false remarks against Mr. Magu’s lifestyle in that report produced by the DSS and the fact that the said report categorically prayed that Mr. Magu should not be confirmed as EFCC Chairman because he is not fit, contrary to the ethical standards in report writing in the Secret Service all over the world, is an indication that it must be taken with a pinch of salt. It is just a mere smear campaign against Ibrahim Magu!
Now that President Buhari has done the right thing by re-submitting Ibrahim Magu’s name to the Senate as his only candidate for the EFCC Chairman, he must follow that action up by putting all the apparatus of presidential power behind Magu to lobby senators and secure the confirmation for the EFCC Chairman this time around. And in doing so, he should be rest assured that the Constitution supports him. It is in the national interest; it is in tandem with one of the major promises for which the Nigerian people elected him – to fight corruption. And above all, by resubmitting Magu’s name, Mr. President is sending the signal in an unmistakable language that he is ready to use the full powers that the Nigerian people gave him to serve them in the best possible way and will not brook any attempt by any ambitious or unpatriotic legislature to abridge his powers as the only official with nationwide mandate to govern.
Magu’s confirmation is just a test case. If the President allows the Senate to get away this time with the attempt to trample on some of the powers of the office of the President, then the stage would have been set for future attempts to undermine the Presidency!
*Uche Ugboajah, a researcher in presidential studies, wrote from Abuja. [myad]