The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has condemned Ijaw National leader, Chief Edwin Clark and other leaders for being silent over a series of attacks on oil installations by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
MEND specifically questioned Chief Clark over his position on the restructuring and ongoing militancy, saying that the elder statesman lacks the moral authority to be championing for restructuring of the country.
In a statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, MEND said that Chief Clark and other leaders of the region kept quiet during the six-year administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan even as it called on the federal government to ignore the resolution reached at Friday’s Niger Delta stakeholders consultative meeting held at the PTI Conference Centre Effurun, Delta State.
The statement accused the leaders of the region for failing to categorically condemn the criminal and treasonable activities of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) which has claimed responsibility for series of attacks on oil facilities in the region.
MEND reiterated its support for the use of military against the militants in the region, even as it said that those who attended the meeting lacked the capacity to persuade the people of the Niger Delta to support the current efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to bring peace and development to the region. [myad]
Solid Minerals Development Minister Kayode Fayemi has said that Nigeria is looking for investments of $7 billion in mining and steel over the next decade as it seeks to develop gold and iron ore extraction industries to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
He said that one of the government’s priorities is to meet its annual steel demand of 6.8 million metric tons, from a current output of a third of that, produced mainly from scrap iron.
“About $5 billion will kick-start the mining sector,” Fayemi stated. “In two to five years, we want to have started production of iron ore, lead, zinc, bitumen, nickel, coal and gold at a serious scale.”
Companies considering investments in Nigeria’s mining sector include Lagos-based Multiverse Mining & Exploration Plc and Kogi Iron Ltd., based in West Perth, Australia, he said.
Boosting mining output, along with developing agriculture and infrastructure, is part of plans to broaden the economy.
Crude oil export accounts for around 70 percent of Nigeria’s revenue and for 13 percent of gross domestic product, according to Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun.
Slumping global oil prices, from over $100 a barrel of Brent crude in 2014 to under $50 a barrel currently, and reduced output due to militants attacks on pipelines in Niger Delta, have squeezed state finances and caused a chronic dollar shortage. [myad]
At least 50 people were killed on Saturday evening when a suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosives among people dancing on the street at a wedding party in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.
The local governor’s office said in a statement 50 people were killed in the bombing, and more wounded were still being treated in hospitals around the province.
“The celebrations were coming to an end and there was a big explosion among people dancing,” said 25-year-old Veli Can. There was blood and body parts everywhere.”
Blood stains and burns marked the walls of the narrow lane where the wedding party was attacked while women in white and checkered scarves cried sitting crosslegged and waiting outside the morgue for word on missing relatives.
At least 12 people were buried on Sunday, but other funerals would have to wait because many of the victims were blown to pieces and DNA forensics tests would be needed to identify them, security sources said.
President Tayyip Erdogan said that it was likely that Islamic State militants had carried out the late-night attack, the deadliest bombing this year in Turkey.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, said in a statement that the wedding was for one of its members, and women and children had been among those killed.
Mahmut Togrul, an HDP lawmaker from Gaziantep, around 40 km north of the border with Syria, told Reuters it was a Kurdish wedding.
Islamic State has been blamed for suicide bombings on Kurdish gatherings in the past as militants try to stir ethnic tensions.
“It was carried out like an atrocity,” witness Ibrahim Ozdemir said. “We want to end these massacres. We are in pain, especially the women and children.”
Turkey is still tense after an attempted coup on July 15 which Ankara blames on U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. He has denied the charge.
The American University of Nigeria has offered 67 scholarships to new students only for the 2016/2017 academic session. The scholarships are in three categories.
A statement from the Institution said that the categories including National Scholarship for the overall top scorer (one scholarship), Regional Scholarships for the top five scorers in each region (30 scholarships) and State Scholarships for the top scorer in each state (36 scholarships).
The statement said that apart from the national scholarship that covers all costs of attendance, each scholarship in a category covered 50 per cent of tuition.
“A candidate could win in up to two categories (50 per cent state and 50 per cent regional) if he or she was one of the top five highest scorers in his or her region and also the highest scorer in the state for a combined win of 100 per cent coverage on tuition.
“A total of 45 students won 64 of the scholarships, while two state scholarships were not awarded because two states did not feature a contestant.
“The 67 scholarships were awarded as follows: One student won the National Scholarship; 20 students who won a regional scholarship each and also were the highest scorers in their states and won 20 of the 36 state scholarships offered, making a total of 40 scholarships awarded in this group; 10 students won the remaining 10 Regional Scholarships; and 14 students won 14 of the remaining scholarships in the State Scholarships category.
“Two scholarships were not awarded in the state category because two states did not feature a contestant.
“The names of the successful candidates are listed on the University website: www.aun.edu.ng.” [myad]
Kano Pillars on Sunday, defeated Rivers United 1-0 in the Nigeria Professional Football League game decided in Kano, thanks to Gambo Mohammed’s close range shot.
The veteran attacker swept home Adamu Mohammed’s low cross from the right in the 23rd minute after Rabiu Ali initiated the attacking move with an incisive pass.
The big news before kickoff was the decision of the Rivers United technical manager, Stanley Eguma, to drop Sunday Rotimi, Bernard Ovoke and Guy Kuemian from the starting line-up.
Gambo had come close to scoring moments earlier when he swivelled in the box only to watch in frustration as his deflected strike off Markson Ojobo’s outstretched leg clattered against the cross bar.
Rivers United had their moments in the first half too, most notably in the 43rd minute when Idris Aloma’s well-struck volley flew narrowly wide with the Kano Pillars goalkeeper, David Obiozor, beaten.
Frederick Obomate’s smartly-taken volley earlier in the half threatened to see the visitors make their mark in hot and humid conditions at the Sani Abacha Stadium.
Gambo had another opportunity to add to the scoring late in the half with Prince Aggrey also threatening for the home side.
United started on the front foot after the break with the introduction of the club’s top scorer, Ovoke, for the tiring Felix Benjamin in the 52nd minute, acting as the catalyst for wave after wave of attacking incursions.
Two minutes before Ovoke’s introduction, United had an opening via the right hand channel, but Ojobo Markson opted to shoot rather than cross into the penalty area and skied his effort into the stands.
The visitors continued to boss possession and create the better goal scoring opportunities in the opening moments of the second half.
Christian Weli narrowly headed over from close range in the 56th minute and a minute later, the same player fired wide after he was played in by Obomate Frederick.
United continued to dominate with Weli heading Ojobo’s cross from the right just wide in the 68th minute.
Rivers United’s Godwin Obinze received a red card following a second yellow card bookable offence and the hosts exploited their numerical advantage to close out the win.
Afterwards, Pillars’ left back, Jonathan Zikiye, claimed players of United showed them too much respect.
Zikiye told Rivers United Media after the match: “Rivers United is a very good team but I think they showed us too much respect.
“We deserve respect but it was a factor.
“Our ability to convert one of our chances in the first half was the major difference today.”
On his part, United forward, Chinonso Okonkwo, blamed his side’s inability to convert numerous chances as chiefly responsible for the defeat.
Okonkwo said: “We failed to take any of our chances and it cost us today.
“Hopefully, we will make up for this disappointment with positive results in subsequent matches.” [myad]
In his recent article titled: “This is the Change,” presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, embarked on an arduous but unsuccessful task of attempting to justify the economic hardship, biting hunger, political retrogression, judicial rascality, executive recklessness, electoral inconclusiveness, etc which have all become the indelible insignia of the Buhari-led administration. Reading through the essay, one would have no choice but to have pity on a spokesperson who has nothing positive to write about his boss but must still write something positive all the same in order to help shore up his diminished rating. Honestly, I feel for the president’s spokespersons; this is not the kind of president anyone would want to speak for as evidenced in Shehu’s and Femi Adeshina’s futile attempts to always want to ‘squeeze water from stone’ in order to convince Nigerians about President Muhammadu Buhari. Expectedly, Shehu started that essay rather lamely by reminding Nigerians of how they are now being asked after Buhari in London, Dubai, Beijing, Washington, New York or Tokyo. According to him: “Nigerians get the good feeling of being asked the question, how is President Muhammadu Buhari?” There is no gainsaying the fact that this is very far from the truth. In Atlanta where the Dream Team VI were left stranded and got to the Rio Olympics same day they had their opening match in a Games of the Olympics magnitude says much about how other countries view our president. Rather than ask how is President Buhari, Americans, Brazillians and indeed the world, who have never in the history of the world heard about a contingent arriving the Games the same day they have a match, would rather ask, what is wrong with President Buhari? It is such a shame and smacks of excessive executive irresponsibility to allow athletes representing our great country to fend for themselves. Not even Syria or Iraq or any of the war-torn nations treated their athletes in such a shabby manner. As if that was not enough, it took a patriotic John Obi Mikel to take up the responsibility of a highly over-rated federal government to settle the hotel bills of the country’s football team to the tune of £4,600 singlehanded. This should not be a surprise to anyone, it is only a reflection of how bad things have gone back home, so bad citizens of other countries now ask if there is a government in Nigeria. Shehu in that his brazenly bizarre essay alluded to the fallacy that the current perception of Nigeria is the type that can lead to attracting foreign investments to the country. With such falsehood, one need not wonder why our economy is as bad as it is now, for while the economy is officially in recession, our stock market has lost close to a whopping N2 trillion within just 15 months, while foreigners are running away in droves, yet, Shehu has the temerity to talk about attracting foreign investments into Nigeria? What this simply means is that people who are closest to the president have detached themselves from the reality on ground, no wonder they are driving Nigeria remorselessly into economic oblivion and political obliteration. It is laughable that Shehu and his ilk still bask in the false euphoria of a non-existing support for Buhari “among the lower segment of the local population.” Such support which, in truth, did exist in mass at the early life of this administration has since faded into thin air. The fact of the matter is that in the days leading to the general elections and the ones immediately following, a good part of Nigeria’s populace supported Buhari even up to a fanatical point. Taxi drivers, commercial tricycle operators, shopkeepers, okada riders etc, did not only chant “Sai Buhari”, a majority of them proudly tied the broom which is the ruling party’s symbol and had APC and Buhari’s stickers wantonly displayed on their wares, their vehicles and every other place possible as a sign of solidarity and support for the president. In fact, one embarked on the needless and self-inflicted punitive journey by foot from Lagos to Abuja just to celebrate his ‘hero’ in the aftermath of that election. A few others soon joined, trekking from one far city to another as it created a bandwagon effect. But just 15 months after his inauguration, the people have realized that Buhari’s promises to them during the campaigns were nothing but a mere mirage and hoodwink; these same set of people who just 15 months ago chanted “Sai Baba” with reckless abandon have hurriedly and angrily removed anything that has to do with Buhari and APC from their wares and vehicles and have since dissociated themselves from the president and his obviously incompetent party. The urgency with which they have done this is akin to the urgency needed to remove a cancerous growth from the body. The song has since simply changed from “Sai Baba” to “Chai Baba.” To make matters worse, Garba Shehu in his frustration, inferred that the press has given more prominence to the activities of Boko Haram, the same one they claimed they have defeated, and “pipeline vandal from the Delta region…than the Minister of Labour, Governor Ngige or the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, talking about job creation in the economy”. Shehu should know that there is nothing new in this as a good section of the media is already used to this line of reportage having been used by the APC to spin and report only negative stories and falsehood against the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan while under-reporting or even ignoring his achievements, all in a bid to score banal political points. The presidential spokesman should stop complaining about this; he and his principals are only naturally reaping whirlwind today from the wind they sowed yesterday! The deserved criticism of the government of the day has, as usual, been placed at the door step of officials of the last administration as its sponsors. Nothing can be further from the truth. Nigerians do not need anyone to tell them how biting the current hardship on them is. No matter how much the Buhari administration tries to cover up its mess, they should know that you can only tell a blind man that there is no oil in the soup but you cannot tell him that there is no salt in it. In trying to further vilify the past administration as is their practice, Shehu claimed that the ‘war on corruption’ “has forced the return to the treasury of billions of Naira and millions of Dollars stolen by past officials,” yet, Buhari keeps telling Nigerians that we are broke and uses this as a reason for his obvious economic incompetence. What then happened to the billions of Naira and millions of Dollars always gleefully claimed to have been returned by suspected ‘looters?’ Have they also been re-looted? What has also happened to the N2 trillion claimed by Garba to have been saved annually by this government from the removal of fuel subsidy? Does this not mean that some good money must have been saved between when the subsidy was removed and now? What is happening to those funds? What about the money Garba also said have been saved from reducing the number of ministries from 46 to 24? The height of sophistry is when in one breath you say Nigeria has recovered and saved billions of naira and millions of dollars from various sources but also say that the country is broke because oil prices have dropped! Garba Shehu and his masters speak from both sides of the mouth and seem to also have a case to answer! The continued excuses that low oil price is a major factor militating against Buhari’s performance is nothing but a frequently rehashed story concocted to cover up the failure of this government. Does it mean that if per adventure Nigeria’s oil dries up today, Buhari would be justified for making Nigerians hungry and leaving many more die needlessly? Even in the face of prosperity, Buhari and his men have proved to be bad managers of resources. Or, how else can one explain the avoidable death from malnutrition and other health factors of over a thousand Nigerian children and women placed in the direct care of government in internally displaced persons, (IDP) camps in the northeast despite the abundance of resources, some from international agencies and donors? Just like Prince Deji Adeyanju, an aspirant to the office of National Publicity Secretary in PDP’s last convention at Port Harcourt, said in one of his facebook posts, before this government came to power, they had all the solutions to all our problems but now that they are in power, they have only excuses for all our problems. How apt! The likes of Garba Shehu should not think they can succeed this time in deceiving Nigerians. One is sure that APC and their goons now realize that it was easier to lie to the people when they were in opposition than now that they are ruling. The lesson in all this is that propaganda, lies and deceit may get you power, but performance, and not excuses, is required to remain there! Buhari and APC now know better. The people have also come to realize that the change agenda of the federal government is nothing but a ‘one chance’ agenda! Someone should tell Garba Shehu that this is certainly not the change!
. Ndukwe writes from jrndukwe@yahoo.co.uk; Twitter: @StJudeNdukwe. Tweet. [myad]
Essential elements of intelligence and the intelligence cycle in overseas relations include what is better described as “the cover story”. It is an old conundrum referring to the story that is put out to the public and sustained as a narrative to mask far more strategic interests in government-to- government relations. It is based on that established thin line between the right to know and the need to know and indeed in diplomatic relations, if ordinary people are allowed to know everything, there will be utter chaos on the streets around the world. I make this point in the light of the excitement that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit appears to be generating. He will visit Nigeria, August 23-24, after Kenya, 22-23, and from here, he will jet off to Saudi Arabia, 24-25. The cover story is that he will hold talks with President Muhammadu Buhari, Northern Governors and religious leaders, give a speech on “countering violent extremism” in Sokoto, and thematically focus on “counter-terrorism efforts, the economy, the fight against corruption and human rights issues” during the trip. Nicely, correctly crafted cover story! America loves Nigeria. America wants to help Nigeria. And once we are told this story, even our foreign ministry officials get really excited. They tell the President: “this is big! It shows America is supporting the administration. Mr. President, America loves you, don’t mind those tweeps on social media.” They would have forgotten most conveniently that Secretary John Kerry has been visiting Africa since 2014, and before him, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did so too. We tend to be overly impressed by the recognition, but we often fail to look beyond the cover story. The Americans don’t consider a visit such as this the circus that we think it is. And that is why the Foreign Affairs Ministry must put up its thinking caps in preparing the briefing notes for President Buhari. They must anticipate one critical question that the cover story does not cover: what does America want? What is in this visit for the United States? And what does Nigeria want? And what should the Nigerian President say to Mr. Kerry at that critical moment when he suddenly requests for a one-on-one and all Presidential assistants are asked to leave the room? That is usually where the rub is, that critical moment when the Nigerian President is left alone with a strategic guest and he may not know exactly what to say to messages and statements for which he had not been prepared. And when the American envoy makes requests, what should he say at that very moment? We have a lot at stake, and it is important that this particular visit is not treated as another opportunity to have a nice dinner party and showcase Nigerian culture and arts. John Kerry attended President Buhari’s inauguration in May 2015. This is what he wrote, inter alia, after the visit: “Last May, I shared in an extraordinary moment. I had the privilege, together with many leaders from across Africa, of bearing witness to the first peaceful, democratic transition of power between two parties in Nigeria. I traveled to Lagos earlier this year to emphasize that for the United States, Nigeria is an increasingly important strategic partner with a critical role to play in the security and prosperity of the region. I also said that it was imperative that these elections set a new standard for democracy in the continent. There is no doubt that this is a decisive moment for democracy in Africa…In Africa, as elsewhere, there is a deep hunger for governments that are legitimate, honest and effective….” Secretary of State Kerry will be visiting Nigeria tomorrow I believe, to carry out a year-after, on-the-spot, hear-see-for-yourself assessment. He must have heard that a year after his last visit, so much has happened in Nigeria, and the rest of Africa. Africa itself is at a tipping point, growth has slowed down tragically, commodity prices have declined, old problems and wounds have resurfaced, and democratic renewal has not resulted in “honest and effective” governance, and in all this, Nigeria faces special challenges; it is at the outmost edge of that tipping point. The threat level in the country has gone up, policy uncertainty is high, the people’s voices are not being heard and generally, things are hard: unemployment, security issues, human rights, and an economy in recession capable of exacerbating social crisis and so on. America will expect President Buhari to defend his administration. The briefing notes must take care of that, but let no one be fooled: no one may have talked about behind-the-scene meetings, the truth is that the American team will not listen to only one side of the story. There will be undeclared meetings with civil society, the opposition, the business community and other interest groups, who in typical Nigerian fashion will speak their minds. Right now, that may not be complimentary. Non-state actors are perhaps more important sources of intelligence because intelligence is neither mere information nor publicity or a strictly state-based activity. Take this: John Kerry may be visiting to enable the American government make up its mind about the Buhari government. But why should anyone care about what America thinks? We are after all, a sovereign nation, and Secretary of State John Kerry should not even be talking to President Buhari, he should meet with his counterpart in our own foreign ministry. Hold it. The difference is that America remains the world’s superior power and it does not joke with its self-assigned role of the world’s police, even if at the centre of that mix, is the paramount element of America’s national interest. Nigeria, being the most populous country in Africa, and an oil-rich country with international investments, is of strategic interest to the United States. We are, by that fact also, a threat to America’s interest in a number of ways. The first is the threat of Nigeria becoming a festering spot for terrorism, and home of the world’s deadliest terror group. Since May 2015, the Buhari administration has made efforts to curb terrorism in the problematic parts of the North, but in the past few weeks, with the re-appearance of Abubakar Shekau, the factionalisation of the Jama’t Ahl as-Sunnah lid Da’wah wa’l Jihad with a faction led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, and the further confirmation of a linkage with the ISIL, it seems obvious that the threat of terrorism in Nigeria is far from being resolved. The potential of that threat getting worse is even far more evident now more than ever. The second threat is the Niger Delta, and the resurgence of violence in that volatile part of the world. America may have discovered Shale oil and its reliance on Nigerian Brent crude may have reduced, but American multinationals still have significant investments in Nigeria. America has every reason to protect American investment and citizens. The third threat is Nigeria’s continuing romance with China. The Jonathan administration did not hide its interest in China and Sino-Nigerian relations. I believe his administration paid dearly for this open, and well-intended friendship with America’s rival in Africa. The Buhari administration continued in this regard, where the Jonathan administration left off, since in any case, Nigeria is non-aligned, but the sub-text is that the United States may not be too comfortable with the Chinese encroachment on spaces it once occupied and the open complicity of traditional allies in undermining American interest. President Buhari should be briefed to listen very carefully to both what is spoken and that which is unspoken. The fourth threat is the security situation in the country. In the last month alone, both the United States and the United Kingdom have released, perhaps the most damaging travel warnings to their nationals living in or doing business in Nigeria. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel by British nationals to 11 states of the Federation, and strictly essential travel to another seven states. The United States warns against travel to about 20 states. Both countries cite “high threat from terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime and demonstrations/civil unrest.” What is left? It is as bad as both major partner-countries alleging that Nigeria is not safe for anyone. Their European allies and other countries may not have issued any travel warnings, but the disclaimers from the US and the UK can be taken as a reflection of the assessment of the Nigerian situation and international reaction to Nigeria’s change agenda since 2015. Whoever is preparing the briefing notes for President Buhari should take this into consideration. And may I advise that the briefing should avoid the initial reaction by Information Minister Lai Muhammed. He dismissed the travel warnings as untrue and advised the Nigerian media to ignore and not promote the story. It actually seems as if the local media acted as directed. Which is stupid. What has been overlooked is that foreign embassies in Nigeria from where intelligence about local situations is sourced are non-partisan. Ahead of the visit by Secretary of State John Kerry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry should have engaged the relevant embassies and assured them of the administration’s efforts. They could have issued ahead of John Kerry’s arrival, a reasonable account of what has been done so far, in a manner that does not compromise the sovereign, but which deals with the perception issues thrown up by the pre-Kerry visit build up by America and its allies. And of course, whatever the tone of the diplomatese, always look beyond the cover stories. John Kerry’s visit may be the tipping point for the Buhari administration and it may well not be, considering the fact that the United States is itself in transition, but if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton becomes President, we would be dealing from January 2017 with someone who knows Nigeria too well. In the meantime, President Buhari should have something specific to say to the United States through Kerry. It’d be wrong to treat this as a farewell visit by a lame-duck American administration. Not yet and certainly not so. President Barack Obama will leave office in November without ever visiting Nigeria! [myad]
Flood is reported to have destroyed 120 houses and washed away farms and other valuables worth million of naira in Jahun Local Government Area of Jigawa.
According to a member of the House of Representatives, Sai’du Yusif (APC-Jahun/Miga), who visited the affected area, the victims confirmed that other valuables lost to the flood include foodstuffs and domestic animals.
The lawmaker who was accompanied on the visit by Chief Whip in the House of Representatives, Alasan Doguwa and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) official, sympathized with the victims and mobilized immediate succor for them.
The chief whip donated N500,000 to the victims to assuage their sufferings even as Yusuf would not disclose how much he had given out, saying: “it is between me and God.”.
He however promised to move a motion of urgent national importance when he return to the house to find lasting solution to the flood that has been ravaging many parts of the council annually. [myad]
A group of parents of students in the Federal Government-owned secondary schools across the country, under the aegis of Unity Schools Parents Forum (USPF), have raised alarm over alleged diversion of over N1 Billion meant for undefined insurance scheme which was diverted for the Residential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 election.
The aggrieved parents have urgently called on the Federal government and the Economic Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) to investigate the questionable insurance scheme that was facilitated by NICON Insurance, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education. According to the spokesperson of the group, Kingsley Akindele, the entire parent body is yet to understand the nitty-gritty of the contract and the facts about the actual arrangement the unity schools through the Federal Ministry of Education have with NICON Insurance. The group said that the concern was initially raised last year by the National Association of Parents and Teachers of Federal Government Colleges, an affiliate body of the Parents Teachers Association, through a press release, which was available in the media as well as the communiqué of the National Association of Parent Teacher Association of Federal Government Colleges, South West Zone, at her quarterly meeting held at the Federal Government Girls’ College, Akure, Ondo State in March 2015. Akindele said that despite the fact that the two groups through their respective medium, rejected what they described as the imposition of an unnecessary insurance policy scheme on students of unity colleges and called for the standardisation of education in the country, the Federal Government-owned secondary schools have gone ahead to include levies for the scheme in the current school levy to be paid by the students at resumption in September this year. The statement said: “We want to again call the attention of the Federal Government, through the ministry of education and especially the Economic Financial Crime Commission to look closely at the scheme which no parent seems to understand. This issue have been raised consecutively by the National Association of Parents and Teachers of Federal Government Colleges, an affiliate body of the Parents Teachers Association, through Mr. Ehis Ogbeide, the former Chairman of PTA, Federal Government College, Kwali and North Central Zonal Coordinator of National Association of Parents and Teachers of Federal Government Colleges, and Parent Teacher Association of Federal Government Colleges, South-west Zone through, Akin Ashimolowo, the PTA Chairman of FGC Akure, who then spoke respectively at different forum confirmed the reservations of the parents about the scheme.” The group alleged last year that a political party used money from the scheme to fund its presidential campaign in the 2015 presidential election. The statement by Akindele added: “It was alleged last year by Concerned Parents of Unity Schools in Kwara state as reported by a national newspaper that money from the scheme might have been used to raise campaign funds for PDP as the NICON insurance company is owned by Jimoh Ibrahim, who is a notable PDP stakeholder. “What the parents deserve to know now, is the genuineness of the scheme. We want to ask the insurance company to provide the contract papers between them and the parents/their wards, we want to know how many children that have been assessed so far, since the inception of the scheme 3 years ago and we want to know how many parents they have given the forms to and how many have returned theirs for the company to have the data of the students they are insuring.” NICON Insurance scheme was introduced to all students in the Federal Government owned secondary schools otherwise known as the unity secondary schools throughout the country in 2014. Since then, it has continued to generate abysmal controversy. The majority of the parents claimed that the annual N5,000 per child insurance scheme is of the high side. Based on a calculation of over 200,000 students in the 104 unity schools nationwide, the scheme will be generating over N1 billion for NICON Insurance. The statement by Akindele said: “most importantly, the parents have never in any way contacted or contracted into the scheme by the insurance company, the school authority or the federal government.” NICON Insurance is owned by controversial businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim. It was one of the businesses Ibrahim bought from the Federal Government through the Bureau of Public enterprises during the privatization exercise of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. [myad]
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has described the bronze medal won in the ongoing Rio Olympic Games in Brazil by Nigeria’s Dream Team VI as the last minute redemption of the nation’s pride.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, Dr. Saraki extolled the doggedness of the Coach Samson Siasia-led boys and their ability to bounce back from defeat to claim a bronze medal for the country.
“I am excited about this last minute redemption of the nation’s pride by the Dream Team VI. The game against Honduras was no doubt a make or mar cracker. But we are happy to have emerged victorious. Thanks to the team and their technical crew.
“You have made the country proud by winning the third place match against all odds and we are proud of you and your superlative outing. All those who prayed and supported the team to the end also deserve special commendation. We were not disappointed.”
Senator Saraki said that the fact that the nation’s delegation did not perform as expected in the Rio Olympics Games billed to end on Sunday, should not be a reason to engage in a blame game.
He asked sports authorities in the country to immediately put their house in order and ensure that the country’s athletes have better preparations for the next Olympics and other major sports meets in the world.
“We must immediately reappraise our participation and ensure that the factors that set us back in the various events are identified and immediately redressed in order to aid our planning and preparation for the next edition of the games.” [myad]
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Kano Pillars on Sunday, defeated Rivers United 1-0 in the Nigeria Professional Football League game decided in Kano, thanks to Gambo Mohammed’s close range shot.
Garba Shehu, This Is Definitely Not The Change Buhari Promised, By Jude Ndukwe
Reading through the essay, one would have no choice but to have pity on a spokesperson who has nothing positive to write about his boss but must still write something positive all the same in order to help shore up his diminished rating. Honestly, I feel for the president’s spokespersons; this is not the kind of president anyone would want to speak for as evidenced in Shehu’s and Femi Adeshina’s futile attempts to always want to ‘squeeze water from stone’ in order to convince Nigerians about President Muhammadu Buhari.
Expectedly, Shehu started that essay rather lamely by reminding Nigerians of how they are now being asked after Buhari in London, Dubai, Beijing, Washington, New York or Tokyo. According to him: “Nigerians get the good feeling of being asked the question, how is President Muhammadu Buhari?”
There is no gainsaying the fact that this is very far from the truth. In Atlanta where the Dream Team VI were left stranded and got to the Rio Olympics same day they had their opening match in a Games of the Olympics magnitude says much about how other countries view our president. Rather than ask how is President Buhari, Americans, Brazillians and indeed the world, who have never in the history of the world heard about a contingent arriving the Games the same day they have a match, would rather ask, what is wrong with President Buhari?
It is such a shame and smacks of excessive executive irresponsibility to allow athletes representing our great country to fend for themselves. Not even Syria or Iraq or any of the war-torn nations treated their athletes in such a shabby manner. As if that was not enough, it took a patriotic John Obi Mikel to take up the responsibility of a highly over-rated federal government to settle the hotel bills of the country’s football team to the tune of £4,600 singlehanded.
This should not be a surprise to anyone, it is only a reflection of how bad things have gone back home, so bad citizens of other countries now ask if there is a government in Nigeria.
Shehu in that his brazenly bizarre essay alluded to the fallacy that the current perception of Nigeria is the type that can lead to attracting foreign investments to the country. With such falsehood, one need not wonder why our economy is as bad as it is now, for while the economy is officially in recession, our stock market has lost close to a whopping N2 trillion within just 15 months, while foreigners are running away in droves, yet, Shehu has the temerity to talk about attracting foreign investments into Nigeria?
What this simply means is that people who are closest to the president have detached themselves from the reality on ground, no wonder they are driving Nigeria remorselessly into economic oblivion and political obliteration.
It is laughable that Shehu and his ilk still bask in the false euphoria of a non-existing support for Buhari “among the lower segment of the local population.”
Such support which, in truth, did exist in mass at the early life of this administration has since faded into thin air. The fact of the matter is that in the days leading to the general elections and the ones immediately following, a good part of Nigeria’s populace supported Buhari even up to a fanatical point. Taxi drivers, commercial tricycle operators, shopkeepers, okada riders etc, did not only chant “Sai Buhari”, a majority of them proudly tied the broom which is the ruling party’s symbol and had APC and Buhari’s stickers wantonly displayed on their wares, their vehicles and every other place possible as a sign of solidarity and support for the president.
In fact, one embarked on the needless and self-inflicted punitive journey by foot from Lagos to Abuja just to celebrate his ‘hero’ in the aftermath of that election. A few others soon joined, trekking from one far city to another as it created a bandwagon effect.
But just 15 months after his inauguration, the people have realized that Buhari’s promises to them during the campaigns were nothing but a mere mirage and hoodwink; these same set of people who just 15 months ago chanted “Sai Baba” with reckless abandon have hurriedly and angrily removed anything that has to do with Buhari and APC from their wares and vehicles and have since dissociated themselves from the president and his obviously incompetent party. The urgency with which they have done this is akin to the urgency needed to remove a cancerous growth from the body. The song has since simply changed from “Sai Baba” to “Chai Baba.”
To make matters worse, Garba Shehu in his frustration, inferred that the press has given more prominence to the activities of Boko Haram, the same one they claimed they have defeated, and “pipeline vandal from the Delta region…than the Minister of Labour, Governor Ngige or the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, talking about job creation in the economy”.
Shehu should know that there is nothing new in this as a good section of the media is already used to this line of reportage having been used by the APC to spin and report only negative stories and falsehood against the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan while under-reporting or even ignoring his achievements, all in a bid to score banal political points. The presidential spokesman should stop complaining about this; he and his principals are only naturally reaping whirlwind today from the wind they sowed yesterday!
The deserved criticism of the government of the day has, as usual, been placed at the door step of officials of the last administration as its sponsors. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Nigerians do not need anyone to tell them how biting the current hardship on them is. No matter how much the Buhari administration tries to cover up its mess, they should know that you can only tell a blind man that there is no oil in the soup but you cannot tell him that there is no salt in it.
In trying to further vilify the past administration as is their practice, Shehu claimed that the ‘war on corruption’ “has forced the return to the treasury of billions of Naira and millions of Dollars stolen by past officials,” yet, Buhari keeps telling Nigerians that we are broke and uses this as a reason for his obvious economic incompetence. What then happened to the billions of Naira and millions of Dollars always gleefully claimed to have been returned by suspected ‘looters?’ Have they also been re-looted?
What has also happened to the N2 trillion claimed by Garba to have been saved annually by this government from the removal of fuel subsidy? Does this not mean that some good money must have been saved between when the subsidy was removed and now? What is happening to those funds?
What about the money Garba also said have been saved from reducing the number of ministries from 46 to 24? The height of sophistry is when in one breath you say Nigeria has recovered and saved billions of naira and millions of dollars from various sources but also say that the country is broke because oil prices have dropped! Garba Shehu and his masters speak from both sides of the mouth and seem to also have a case to answer!
The continued excuses that low oil price is a major factor militating against Buhari’s performance is nothing but a frequently rehashed story concocted to cover up the failure of this government. Does it mean that if per adventure Nigeria’s oil dries up today, Buhari would be justified for making Nigerians hungry and leaving many more die needlessly?
Even in the face of prosperity, Buhari and his men have proved to be bad managers of resources. Or, how else can one explain the avoidable death from malnutrition and other health factors of over a thousand Nigerian children and women placed in the direct care of government in internally displaced persons, (IDP) camps in the northeast despite the abundance of resources, some from international agencies and donors?
Just like Prince Deji Adeyanju, an aspirant to the office of National Publicity Secretary in PDP’s last convention at Port Harcourt, said in one of his facebook posts, before this government came to power, they had all the solutions to all our problems but now that they are in power, they have only excuses for all our problems. How apt!
The likes of Garba Shehu should not think they can succeed this time in deceiving Nigerians. One is sure that APC and their goons now realize that it was easier to lie to the people when they were in opposition than now that they are ruling. The lesson in all this is that propaganda, lies and deceit may get you power, but performance, and not excuses, is required to remain there!
Buhari and APC now know better. The people have also come to realize that the change agenda of the federal government is nothing but a ‘one chance’ agenda!
Someone should tell Garba Shehu that this is certainly not the change!
. Ndukwe writes from jrndukwe@yahoo.co.uk; Twitter: @StJudeNdukwe.
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