No fewer than 22,948 Nigerian pilgrims who performed this year’s hajj in Saudi Arabia are already back to Nigeria.
Information on the website of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), indicated that the homeward journey, which commenced on September 17, has three airlines that have so far airlifted the pilgrims in 51 flights. They are Flynas Air, Medview and Max Airline. They have so far airlifted pilgrims from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kaduna, Kano, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara and Lagos States. It is expected that three separate flights of Max Air, FlyNas and Medview would convey other pilgrims who have already complied with their 32kg baggage stipulations tomorrow, Tuesday. Meanwhile, NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, has reiterated the determination of the commission to conclude the in-bound operation before the October 17 deadline set by the Saudi authority. According to him, the available human and machine resources at the disposal of the commission are adequate enough to achieve the commission’s objective of meeting up with the deadline. Commenting on the development, Alhaji Abdurrahman Balogun, the President of the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, described the feat by NAHCON within a week as unprecedented in the history of Hajj in Nigeria. Balogun said with the pace at which pilgrims were being transported back to Nigeria, the commission would finalise the hajj operation before the set deadline by Saudi Arabia authorities. In a related development, the Nigeria Charge d’Affairs to Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Muhammad Sani Umar, has called on state officials and pilgrims to adhere strictly to the official luggage policy stipulated by NAHCON. Speaking during an inspection visits to Borno, Nasarawa and Katsina States pilgrims in Makkah, Umar said that any contravention of the standard rules set by the International Association of Travel Agency could attract sanctions. He, therefore, urged the state officials to enforce the 32kg main luggage and 8kg rules for carry on to fast track the airlift operation. [myad]
Co-founder and Executive Director of MD Nursery and Primary School, Lagos State, Omolara Adedugbe, has said that the school has succeeded in erasing the stigma of special children from those with disability. She said that the school which was started as a school for students with special needs was founded in the bid to prove that challenged children could also ive normal lives.
Adedugbe founded the school along with her husband, late Dr. Anthony Bamidele Adedugbe, 30 years ago.
Adedugbe, who spoke with newsmen at the 30th anniversary thanksgiving of the school at its Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State complex, said the objective of the school has been achieved though it has been very challenging.
She said the vision of the school was that of her husband, a specialist doctor in dealing with children with disabilities, who wanted to enable parents see that they do not have to keep their children with special needs at home.
She said that some of the special needs children have grown to become prominent members of the society, with one teaching in the Special School of MD Nursery and Primary school, having obtained a National Certificate of Education.
“The whole idea was to erase the stigmatisation of being a special child.
“We were the first in Lagos, but after the success we recorded, many others have also followed suit. We initially had challenges with parents who had regular children allowing them to mix with the special children.
“I must say the journey in 30 years has been challenging, but with lots of successes.
“One special child is now a teacher in the school here. So also are the regular children also doing well. Many are professionals in different fields.”
Adedugbe advised parents with special children not to lock them up at home but give them the opportunity to develop their God-given talents, adding: “If they mix with regular kids, they will overcome their challenges.
“We are happy that a lot of parents are now coming out with their special children.
“And those with regular children have seen that being a special child does not come with anything contagious.”
Adedugbe said that structures have been put in place for the sustenance of the initiative, saying that the fact that the school continues to thrive after the death of her husband showed that the structures have been created.
“With or without me, the school can go on. The vision is now being run by others.
“I started the school with my husband who had the vision. He died 10 years ago and 20 years after, we are still standing.” [myad]
A judge trying the case involving detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nanmdi Kanu, has withdrawn from the continuing with the hearing of the suit after being accused by Kanu of being biased.
Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja announced his withdrawal today, Monday, saying that the case file has been returned to the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for reassignment. Kanu’s lawyer, Chuks Mouma, had accused the court of acting in line with the suggestion of President Muhammadu Buhari that the incarcerated IPOB leader will not be released under any circumstance. According to Mouma, the court should hands off the proceedings in line with a petition written to the National Judicial Council protesting the handling of the trial. “We are only asking the court to hands off. My client has lost confidence in this court. “I understand that there is a letter to NJC, though I haven’t seen it, and the CJ has replied saying that the matter will be investigated. I would urge you that you transfer the matter. “I would suggest that it be sent back to the CJ.” Justice Tsoho said: “I have no interest in trying your matter and I will return it to the CJ, but I will condemn the attitude of that counsel. I do not care if you take your case to another planet. “This case is hereby transferred to the CJ.” [myad]
Nigerians are in for change; change that is working, one that is capable of bringing about the country of our collective destination. The tenets of this CHANGE mantra are premised on the fact that this great nation of great people has been conducting – or having – her affairs conducted with reckless abandon, which portends ill for the prosperity of the giant that we are. We, as a people, have been kept at a point of low attitude for long, owing to the conduct or misconduct of a few, and the time for change has come.
When I addressed a World Press Conference on 23 February 2015 under the subject, “The Dice is Cast,” I mentioned in clear terms within the text of that statement, “whosoever the (PDP) government patronised turned out to be dishonest, or turned into a mediocre; thus making dishonesty and mediocrity take the centre-stage of government and politics in the country. We painfully endured it for long hoping that with leadership change, things would change too. But from Obasanjo, to late Yar’adua and to Jonathan, nothing changed; if anything, the situation kept getting worse.
“Obviously, things cannot continue like that, lest society collapses. It is therefore the responsibility, nay the duty, of all God-fearing citizens and men of good standing in our country to do something so as to get us out of the present national quagmire. As the famous philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, ‘Evil thrives when good men do nothing.’ I believe what Burke said and, therefore, we cannot continue to sit by and do nothing when all around us things are falling apart.”
President Muhammadu Buhari symbolises the change that we have earnestly asked for and this is our chance for true change as Nigerians. Like childbirth, the beginnings of most good things come with pains, but afterwards, there is always a reason to be happy for the pains. Like the biblical children of Israel, Nigeria has stood at a dark valley of maladministration and rape of her own people for too long and our Moses came in the person of Buhari and we are on a journey to our promised destination of greatness.
Since the administration came on board, those who are sincere with their conscience would accept that the national scheme of things has not remained the same: there has been a marked difference in the approach to governance, a shift from serving selves to serving the nation. There has been a steady assault on graft and a reinvention of government as a means to serving the people; there has been a continuous barrage on insecurity, with the menace of Boko Haram curtailed to the barest minimum, and there has been whole-hearted commitment to the task of securing the socio-economic lives of the people.
When Buhari recently launched the Federal Ministry of Information’s initiative, “Change Begins With Me,” it was a reflection of the conviction of the administration to steer national consciousness towards a greater country. By the central theme of the orientation campaign, the government has appreciated the desire of the people for greater destiny. This very campaign has the potential to reinvigorate this genuine desire, regardless of what naysayers might want us to believe.
Let it be reiterated again that this government has shown considerable commitment to changing the lots of Nigerians for the better beyond the lip service paid to national development in the past. The administration’s success in securing our lives and property in the months since Buhari’s assumption of office, the drive towards ridding our nation of the evils of corruption and abuse of office that had been the bane of national development, and the prospects of a greater and more prosperous country that has a diversified source of foreign exchange earnings have been the prelude to what can be achieved with this change mind-set.
Instructively, Buhari possesses the needed wherewithal to bring about the desired change that Nigerians, and indeed, the international community yearn for.
The very idea of change has always come with pockets of opposition at first, before the usually worthwhile outcome brings smiles on the faces of the expectants. Change has always met stark resistance, especially from quarters that have exploited the status quo to their nefarious advantage.
The truth is that when God intends to bless his people, He takes them to the height He has prepared for them, to effect a change through someone He anointed for His purpose. God has prepared a greater destiny for Nigeria but the lamentations, wailings and murmurings of some disgruntled elements, who are intent on holding Nigerians to ransom, tend to blur the visions of the people.
Unfortunately, these murmurings are being orchestrated from the disgruntled opposition whose only aspiration is to cast aspersions on the genuine intentions of Buhari and the progress of the country. The Peoples Democratic Party, a party that is obviously bereft of any moral standing and cannot, in all honesty, govern Nigeria when they cannot effectively administer a local government from what we are seeing today. The murmurs we hear are at the forefront of this clandestine campaign of calumny and sheer mischief.
The recent resort to calling for the resignation of Buhari is another needless prank to distract the president from the beckoning work of salvaging a battered economy from their iniquities of fraud and large-scale corruption. Until PDP purges itself of the iniquities committed against the progress of the country, problems await them and those still remaining should honourably join Buhari in APC, as they say, “a stitch in time saves nine.” PDP is a party of injustice, corruption in all facets of the party, stealing and a trademark of murmuring against that which is good.
The Almighty God gave a clear injunction against murmurings when He reprimanded the children of Israel from murmurings against those He chose to administer them in the wilderness. Our national situation today is likened to the circumstances at the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness. In the book of Numbers (Numbers 14 verses 26 to 28), the Almighty God came down hard on those who murmured.
“How long will I bear with this evil generation who complain against me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in my hearings, so will I do.’”
For their evil murmurings, the children of Israel had an entire generation roam the wilderness for 40 years. This is a clear message to those who rather use their energy to wail and grumble against change that God originates for Nigerians. Murmurings hinder our progress as a nation and engender corruption that hinders our economic growth. It did not pay the people of old, and can certainly not pay us as a country today.
It behoves all compatriots of goodwill to rally round Buhari and the APC-led government in their bid to turn around the economic fortunes of Nigerians for the better. It shall surely be well with Nigeria under Buhari’s vision for change and progress.
––Mbadinuju (ODERA) is a former governor of Anambra State. [myad]
The Nigerian Army has dismissed a video clips by the factional leader of the Boko Haram insurgents, Abubakar Shekau in which he said that he was alive and healthy. The Army described Shekau as being mental and is no longer practicing Islam.
In a statement by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, the army said that the purported leader of the group, “in his usual insane manner made all sorts of assertions to the point of threatening various towns, groups and individuals. He also tried albeit failingly to deny the air raid by the Nigerian Air Force in which he was wounded.
“The army said that the video showned beyond all reasonable doubts, the earlier suspicion that the purported factional terrorists group leader is mentally sick and unstable. The ranting is also another sign that the end is near for him which is part of the signs of all wicked people.”
The Nigerian Army therefore, asked the public that not be bothered by the contents of the video clip, adding that this is because the facts on the ground speak for themselves.
“It is public knowledge that the military has been making concerted efforts to clear the remnants of the terrorists and rescue all persons held hostage by them especially the abducted Chibok Secondary School girls.
“This is a task that will be accomplished, no matter how long it takes. We are determined in this regards. Already thousands of persons have been rescued by troops from the terrorists.
“The video has further shown that he has derailed and no longer believes and practices the Islam he professes to follow; as he was absent at the last Eid prayers video. It is equally reported that he could not even lead prayers. The public should not be fooled by this individual.
“No nation or society would believe him or any Boko Haram terrorist based on antecedent and as he has shown over times to be irrational and therefore unreliable especially when it comes to negotiations on the release of the abducted girls.
“Therefore he must release them unconditionally. We want to assure Nigerians especially the residents of Maiduguri, Kano, Kaduna and Zaria not to panic as we have more than what it takes to defend them and deal decisively with the remnants of the terrorists group.
“We would like to reiterate that Boko Haram terrorism as it was known, is gone for good. We are just counting down to the day when all the few remnants will be totally wiped out or brought to justice.
“However, a window still exists for the repentant ones among them to lay down their arms and surrender to justice.” [myad]
All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to resign, accusing him of bending the party’s internal democratic rules in the recently concluded Ondo state governorship primary.
A statement by Tinubu’s media office today, Sunday accused Oyegun of sabotaging the will of democracy in Ondo State by overriding the decision of the appeal panel that asked for a fresh governorship primary following investigations that showed that the delegates’ list used had been tampered with.
Michael Olusegun Abraham, an aspirant for the governorship ticket of the APC in Ondo State, had in a statement at the weekend, expressed disappointment at Oyegun over the again the emergence of a former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, as candidate.
Tinubu said: “The APC, a party born of the quest for democratic good governance, is under critical threat by those who managed to be in the party but never of it. From the party’s inception, the principles of democratic fairness and justice were to guide APC internal deliberations. Party founders realized that only by intramural fair dealing could the party remain faithful to the progressive ideals that we presented to the Nigerian electorate as our governing creed. If the party could not justly govern itself, it would find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation.
“In essence, the party was the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public. Evidently, some errant members believe promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken. Chairman John Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display. In doing so, Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira. The party was supposed to buttress APC members elected to government at all levels. Because of Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it was meant to help.
“Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primary will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order. In early September, the state primary was held. A purported winner was named. Having faith in the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly accepted what he assumed to be a verdict honestly derived. As a democrat, one must face the possibility of defeat and accept such as outcome with as much grace as one would embrace victory. One of the few bright spots during the conduct of the primaries was Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar. He chaired the primary convention with decorum and impartiality. He was unaware that a tampered list had been slipped into the process.
“Indeed within hours of the announcement, news began to filter in that gravely disturbed me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the waters. The delegate list had been materially altered by someone in a strategic position to so do. The names of over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors. This was not a clerical error. The alteration was willfully executed that the primary would be directed toward a chosen end that bore nothing in common with the will of most state party members. A cunning few had tried to deceive the many into believing they were outnumbered. “A conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had been uncovered.
“Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had been unable to cover its tracks fast enough. Truth began to cry for justice. Several candidates filed petitions contesting the result. The party established an investigative board to review the evidence. In a two to one decision, the panel found the delegate roster had suffered tampering. The panel recommended that a new primary should be held using the valid delegate list. This recommendation was tabled before the National Working Committee (NWC).
“After many hours of deliberations spanning several days, a final vote was held by the NWC. Before hand, NWC members agreed that the decision of the majority would become the stance of the party. Such is the way of democracy. The NWC voted six against five to cancel the fraudulent results and hold an honest primary. For a moment, it seemed the party would restore its integrity by giving democracy a chance. However, those who sought to scam an entire state would not let the vote of 11 people spoil their enterprise.
“After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated Chairman Oyegun proposed the NWC engage in prayer before concluding the meeting. Adhering to this chairman’s request, NWC members began to pray. Seeing that the others had taken his bait, Oyegun used the prayerful interlude to secretly excuse himself from the meeting. Contravening the NWC decision and in violation of all rules of fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun arrogated to himself the right to submit the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the candidate of the party.
“Truth has finally come to light. There exists a regressive element in the party that cares nothing for the progressive ideas upon which this party was founded. They joined the APC because it was the best ride available at the time. Now they want to guide the party into the ditch. They want to turn the party into a soulless entity incapable of doing good, just like they are. When such a person tastes power, they shed all good restraint. They come to abuse the trust given them as if they are the owners of that trust and not its mere custodians. These people did little to build the party but now will do much to wreck it.
“Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun and his fellows seem to be on a different wave length. They are the cohort of Unchange. The APC wants to guide Nigeria into a better tomorrow. Oyegun and the cohort of unchange want to pull Nigeria back into the past where rigging and vote stealing were the old and new testaments of politics. They want the people to think that there is no alternative to their reactionary system of skewed politics and imperious government.
“Thus, they seek to turn the APC into a factory of the very political malpractices the people soundly rejected in the past election. To choke the APC in this manner is to kill the chance for progressive reform for the foreseeable future. Much more than the Ondo primary is at stake. Oyegun has revealed his team’s game plan: It is the destruction of progressive politics and governance on behalf of the people.
“As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to protect our internal processes and be an impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had confidence. Instead, he donned the garment of a confident man, duping the NWC, the party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has robbed APC members in Ondo State of the chance to pick in a fair manner who they believe is the best candidate.
“As such, he has broken faith with the party and probably has broken a few laws. The consequences of what he has done are more expansive than a man of his scope can fathom,” Tinubu said as he said that Oyegun must have been under some major sinister influence as to allow what happened. “With strong expectation, we await a response to Oyegun’s wrongdoing from those who clamored so long and loudly about Tinubu’s alleged role in the Ondo primary.
“Leading into the primary, a prominent lawyer from Ondo published lengthy missives alleging that Tinubu was a malicious hand intent on rigging the primary. His letters spoke of his great love for democracy and justice. Though Oyegun has assaulted democracy in a most public and vulgar way, this lawyer’s prolific pen will remain stilled. He dare not publish a word about this travesty. His silence will be sign for all who care to decipher its meaning.
“The plan was to point the accusing finger at Tinubu. With everyone focused on Tinubu, they would have distracted all attention from the heist they had set in motion. As fate would have it, the trickery they hoped to conduct in the shadows has come to light.
“Those who so actively attributed imaginary wrong to Tinubu now stand dumb and mute in the face of confirmed impropriety. They remain silent for reasons they cannot divulge. Oyegun and his ilk turn out to be gangsters adorned in the tunic of party authority.
“Oyegun has engaged in the strange math where five is greater than six. This smacks of how the PDP conducted its affairs and orchestrated its own downfall. Tinubu disparaged such malpractice when it was not in his party. Tinubu surely disowns it now that it has invaded the party he helped bring to fruition.
“Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any official position with the party to avoid the perception that he was trying to control all and sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace for some time despite many things that happened within the party that were not quite right. He exercised this forbearance because the party is young. A collective endeavor cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of organizational newness and evolution.
“Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had nothing to do with newness or the mistakes occasioned by the path of reform. His actions are in the nature of the old wrongs that have afflicted our national politics much too long. If Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past, he has every right to it. However, he has no right to drag the party or any of us with him. Against our choosing.
“The informal title of national leader of the party was given to Tinubu at the onset which he accepted it as a sign from those who wished to recognize my contributions to the party’s formation. It is an honorific title which he has been proud to wear until today. I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honors democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honors me but that treats justice with indecency. I find greater honour and comfort where democracy and fairness are found and respected.
“Oyegun has done the irredeemable. His coup is an insult to party and to patriot, to reason and to the reform agenda of this government. To remain silent would be to admit the defeat of the reform and progressive change many have labored to bring forth. While the forces resistant to change and reform are strong, Tinubu dare not submit to them. Tinubu encourages all party members not to submit to them. If we acquiesce in this wrong, the one greater than this shall cascade upon us.
“Oyegun’s transgressions are a warning. He is but the mercenary of forces that seek to return the nation to the old ways. If they get away with this infraction, no telling what or whom they will undermine tomorrow. Much is at stake. On the chopping block, lies the future of the political party in which the majority of voters had placed their confidence. To rescue the party, Oyegun must go. He has shown that he and democratic fair play cannot exist in the same party at the same time.
“If Tinubu is to choose between John Oyegun and progress toward a better Nigeria, the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.” [myad]
Former Nigeria military leaders; Generals Yakubu Gowon, Abdulsalam Abubakar; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, Cardinal John Onaiyekan are expected to converge on Abuja, the Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for a summit on inter-religious understanding among Muslim and Christian communities in Nigeria on Tuesday. The Summit, organized by a Vienna, Austria based International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), is expected to run from Tuesday September 27 to 29, and will also be attended by traditional and religious leaders from various sections of the country. The event, according to a statement today, Sunday by KAICIID’s Nigeria Country Expert, Joseph Atang, is aimed at creating “effective platforms towards promoting inter-religious understanding among Muslim and Christian communities in Nigeria. The statement said that apart from creating a platform for exchange and engagement among Nigerian religious leaders, the Summit will also feature two intra-religious meetings prior to an inter-religious event offer religious leaders from Christian and Muslim communities throughout Nigeria, an opportunity intensive dialogue. The Summit is coming on the heels of a parallel meeting aimed at fostering greater interaction between the intra-religious meetings. KAICIID Director General Fahad Abualnasr, who is expected to open the conference said: “a group of selected representatives from each meeting already engaged in inter-religious meetings will also meet for one-day preparatory workshop to formulate aligned agendas, including objectives for both intra-religious meetings.” Abualnasr expressed hope that the world’s only inter-governmental organization dedicated to promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, will to produce a positive outcome for the country. The statement said that KAICIID Senior Adviser, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, a professor at the School of International Service at American University, will also attend the Summit, among other senior officials from the organization. Abu-Nimer is renowned to have conducted inter-religious conflict resolution training and interfaith dialogue workshops in conflict areas around the world, including Chad, Egypt, Niger, Iraq, Palestine, Philippines (Mindanao), and Sri Lanka. The statement described KAICIID as an inter-governmental organization that promotes dialogue to build peace in conflict areas and that it does this by enhancing understanding and cooperation between people of different cultures and followers of different religions. The Centre was founded by Austria, Saudi Arabia and Spain. The Holy See is the Founding Observer even as its Board of Directors is made up of prominent representatives from five major world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism). The Board has the responsibility of designing and supervising the Centre’s programs. [myad]
Jose Fernandez, 24, a pitcher for the Miami Marlins baseball team, has died in a boat crash five days after he shared a picture on Instagram which appears to show his girlfriend, Carla Mendoza was pregnant. The message on the picture was caption reads: “I’m so glad you came into my life. I’m ready for where this journey is gonna take us together. #familyfirst.” The US Coast Guard said that Fernandez was one of the three people killed in the crash today, Sunday, off Miami Beach, Florida. A scheduled Marlins home game against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday was consequent on his death, cancelled and the club said it was devastated by the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time”. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Todd Garofalo told local news station WSVN: “They found a boat that was up against the jetties. They did do an initial search and they found three victims – two on top of the water, one underneath the boat and they had unfortunately passed away.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the 32-foot vessel had a “severe impact” with large rocks that form part of the jetty. The names of the other two individuals are being withheld until their relatives can be informed, the Coast Guard said. Fernandez Rick Scott, the governor of Florida, shared on Twitter a picture of he and Fernandez and wrote: “I had the opportunity to meet Jose Fernandez in 2014. Our prayers are with his family and the Miami Marlins.” Boston Red Sox pitcher, David Price said: “Hands down one of my favourite guys to watch pitch! He brought nothing but intensity and passion.” The Major League Baseball organization released a statement saying it was “stunned and devastated” by the news. Fernandez was the club’s first-round draft pick in 2011 and was finishing up on his finest season in the major league, the Miami Herald reported. He was born in Santa Clara in Cuba and attempted to defect to the US three times – once ending up in jail – before making it to Florida when he was 16. He made his debut for the Marlins in 2013. [myad]
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, is expected to be in Nigeria from tomorrow, Monday to offer helping hands in turning the fortunes of the nation’s economy that has gone into recession. He is expected to spend three-day day to discuss how to stimulate the comatose economic.
According to the statement obtained from the bank’s official website today, Sunday, Adesina will meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emiefele, to find quick ways of strengthening the economy and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.
According to the statement, the AfDB President will meet government/policy-makers, the private sector and development partners to discuss the challenges facing Nigeria and highlight the AfDB’s commitment to further strengthen its partnership with Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Edo state election for next week, Godwin Obaseki has said that the present economic recession in the country is a lesson for Nigerians to think fast and secure a brighter future.
Obaseki, who spoke in Benin today, Sunday at a forum where some members of students union in tertiary institutions across the state endorsed him as their candidate for the state governorship election slated for Sept. 28 said: “to me, I will say the present economy crisis is a good omen for us. We need to think and act fast.
“Spending more than17 billion dollars on food importation yearly should not be for country such as Nigeria because we have the resources. We have the land and human resources that can produce same food we import, only if we can evolve policies that will make it for the youth to be effectively deployed to production.”
He said that the youth constituted the larger productive segment, insisting that policies that would engage the youth productively was necessary to fight crime and improve the economy. Obaseki said that he wanted to be the governor of the state to make the state better and improve the standard of living of the people.
“I am not in the race to acquire more wealth, because am already blessed. I want to be successful by translating what I have attained to those who need it. We are in a race against time, population is growing rapidly, but infrastructure is not growing in a corresponding way.
“There is need for us, as a state and people, to plan ahead before we are caught in the web. I want to be part of this plan, which account for the reason why am seeking to be governor of this state.” [myad]
A 3-year old baby whose name was given as Tserin Dopchut was said to have wandered into the remote part of Siberian forest, spent three nights in the forest and was recovered unhurt, with only one chocolate bar and a dry makeshift bed under a larch tree to keep him alive
Tserin Dopchut was said to have, on September 18, wandered into the woodland of Tuva Republic and disappeared after playing with dogs near his family home, according to The Siberian Times. The young boy may have followed a puppy into the woodland despite being watched by his grandmother, according to reports. “There are wolves and bears in the forest. The bears are now fattening for the winter. They can attack anything that moves. In addition, it is warm during the day, but at night there are even frosts,” regional emergencies chief, Ayas Saryglar, told the outlet.
“If we consider that the kid disappeared during the day, he was not properly dressed – only a shirt and shoes, no coat.” The child, who wasn’t injured during the ordeal, was near the River Mynas, which is fast and cold, he added. “If a small child fell in, it would be certain death,” he said. More than 100 people searched for Tserin, but it was his uncle’s voice that he responded to. “Once his uncle hugged him, the little boy asked if his toy car was okay. He said that he had some chocolate, which he ate during the first day,” regional head, Sholban Kara-Ool, said. His hometown of 400 people will be throwing a party to celebrate his survival. [myad]
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Former Nigeria military leaders; Generals Yakubu Gowon, Abdulsalam Abubakar; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, Cardinal John Onaiyekan are expected to converge on Abuja, the Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for a summit on inter-religious understanding among Muslim and Christian communities in Nigeria on Tuesday.
Jose Fernandez, 24, a pitcher for the Miami Marlins baseball team, has died in a boat crash five days after he shared a picture on Instagram which appears to show his girlfriend, Carla Mendoza was pregnant.
Buhari Change And Condemnable Murmuring, By Chinwoke Mbadunuju
Nigerians are in for change; change that is working, one that is capable of bringing about the country of our collective destination. The tenets of this CHANGE mantra are premised on the fact that this great nation of great people has been conducting – or having – her affairs conducted with reckless abandon, which portends ill for the prosperity of the giant that we are. We, as a people, have been kept at a point of low attitude for long, owing to the conduct or misconduct of a few, and the time for change has come.
When I addressed a World Press Conference on 23 February 2015 under the subject, “The Dice is Cast,” I mentioned in clear terms within the text of that statement, “whosoever the (PDP) government patronised turned out to be dishonest, or turned into a mediocre; thus making dishonesty and mediocrity take the centre-stage of government and politics in the country. We painfully endured it for long hoping that with leadership change, things would change too. But from Obasanjo, to late Yar’adua and to Jonathan, nothing changed; if anything, the situation kept getting worse.
“Obviously, things cannot continue like that, lest society collapses. It is therefore the responsibility, nay the duty, of all God-fearing citizens and men of good standing in our country to do something so as to get us out of the present national quagmire. As the famous philosopher, Edmund Burke, once said, ‘Evil thrives when good men do nothing.’ I believe what Burke said and, therefore, we cannot continue to sit by and do nothing when all around us things are falling apart.”
President Muhammadu Buhari symbolises the change that we have earnestly asked for and this is our chance for true change as Nigerians. Like childbirth, the beginnings of most good things come with pains, but afterwards, there is always a reason to be happy for the pains. Like the biblical children of Israel, Nigeria has stood at a dark valley of maladministration and rape of her own people for too long and our Moses came in the person of Buhari and we are on a journey to our promised destination of greatness.
Since the administration came on board, those who are sincere with their conscience would accept that the national scheme of things has not remained the same: there has been a marked difference in the approach to governance, a shift from serving selves to serving the nation. There has been a steady assault on graft and a reinvention of government as a means to serving the people; there has been a continuous barrage on insecurity, with the menace of Boko Haram curtailed to the barest minimum, and there has been whole-hearted commitment to the task of securing the socio-economic lives of the people.
When Buhari recently launched the Federal Ministry of Information’s initiative, “Change Begins With Me,” it was a reflection of the conviction of the administration to steer national consciousness towards a greater country. By the central theme of the orientation campaign, the government has appreciated the desire of the people for greater destiny. This very campaign has the potential to reinvigorate this genuine desire, regardless of what naysayers might want us to believe.
Let it be reiterated again that this government has shown considerable commitment to changing the lots of Nigerians for the better beyond the lip service paid to national development in the past. The administration’s success in securing our lives and property in the months since Buhari’s assumption of office, the drive towards ridding our nation of the evils of corruption and abuse of office that had been the bane of national development, and the prospects of a greater and more prosperous country that has a diversified source of foreign exchange earnings have been the prelude to what can be achieved with this change mind-set.
Instructively, Buhari possesses the needed wherewithal to bring about the desired change that Nigerians, and indeed, the international community yearn for.
The very idea of change has always come with pockets of opposition at first, before the usually worthwhile outcome brings smiles on the faces of the expectants. Change has always met stark resistance, especially from quarters that have exploited the status quo to their nefarious advantage.
The truth is that when God intends to bless his people, He takes them to the height He has prepared for them, to effect a change through someone He anointed for His purpose. God has prepared a greater destiny for Nigeria but the lamentations, wailings and murmurings of some disgruntled elements, who are intent on holding Nigerians to ransom, tend to blur the visions of the people.
Unfortunately, these murmurings are being orchestrated from the disgruntled opposition whose only aspiration is to cast aspersions on the genuine intentions of Buhari and the progress of the country. The Peoples Democratic Party, a party that is obviously bereft of any moral standing and cannot, in all honesty, govern Nigeria when they cannot effectively administer a local government from what we are seeing today. The murmurs we hear are at the forefront of this clandestine campaign of calumny and sheer mischief.
The recent resort to calling for the resignation of Buhari is another needless prank to distract the president from the beckoning work of salvaging a battered economy from their iniquities of fraud and large-scale corruption. Until PDP purges itself of the iniquities committed against the progress of the country, problems await them and those still remaining should honourably join Buhari in APC, as they say, “a stitch in time saves nine.” PDP is a party of injustice, corruption in all facets of the party, stealing and a trademark of murmuring against that which is good.
The Almighty God gave a clear injunction against murmurings when He reprimanded the children of Israel from murmurings against those He chose to administer them in the wilderness. Our national situation today is likened to the circumstances at the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness. In the book of Numbers (Numbers 14 verses 26 to 28), the Almighty God came down hard on those who murmured.
“How long will I bear with this evil generation who complain against me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in my hearings, so will I do.’”
For their evil murmurings, the children of Israel had an entire generation roam the wilderness for 40 years. This is a clear message to those who rather use their energy to wail and grumble against change that God originates for Nigerians. Murmurings hinder our progress as a nation and engender corruption that hinders our economic growth. It did not pay the people of old, and can certainly not pay us as a country today.
It behoves all compatriots of goodwill to rally round Buhari and the APC-led government in their bid to turn around the economic fortunes of Nigerians for the better. It shall surely be well with Nigeria under Buhari’s vision for change and progress.
––Mbadinuju (ODERA) is a former governor of Anambra State. [myad]