Some Nigerians Are Mocking Change Agenda, But We Are Focused, Lai Mohammed Says

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has admitted that many Nigerians are mocking the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration but that the government is well focused towards actualizing the change Nigerians voted for in 20165.
“Many have said they are yet to see the change we promised. Many more have called the promise a ruse. In fact, they are now mocking us. But we remain undaunted because we know that the change we promised is real.
Lai Mohammed who spoke at a town hall meeting for the South East, organized by the Federal Ministry of Information in Enugu on Monday, said the change said that contrary to the insinuations in certain quarters that the people are not feeling the impact of the government, a lot have been done in moving the country forward.
“In fact, the change we promised is already here and it is manifesting all around us.”
The minister said that the government has successfully stopped the looting of public funds, which was responsible for underdevelopment.
“Before now, public officials simply opened the public till, took as much money as they wanted and walked away without consequences.
“That explains why funds allocated to the military to fight Boko Haram ended up in the piggy banks of many unscrupulous Nigerians
“Today, all those who looted the public treasury are being made to answer for their actions, as impunity gives way to accountability.
“Many have offered to return their loots and many more are facing charges.”
The minister said that with the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), funds meant for the Federal Government were directly paid in and used for development of infrastructure.
He noted that before now, funds accruing to the government were paid into so many accounts and went to private purses.
Lai Mohammed said that the government has successfully identified and stopped salaries hitherto paid to more than 30,000 ghost workers, adding: “we promised to diversify the economy away from oil to ensure that other sectors are able to significantly contribute to sustainable development.
“In June 2016, for the very first time, about 70 per cent of the more than N500 billion raised from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee came from the non-oil sector, while 30 per cent came from the oil sector.
“It was the first time in 2016 that the Federal Government shared more than N500 billion among the three tiers of government.”
In the area of security, Lai Mohammed said that the government has successfully crushed the Boko Haram terrorists and that not a single territory is being administered by them.
On infrastructure, the minister said that construction firms have been mobilized to sites on major roads in the country.
“As they move to site, they are creating thousands of new jobs. No part of the country is left out of this. Where the contractors have not been seen on site, it is because of the rains, not because of lack of mobilisation.”
The minister said that the complaints over perceived or real instances of lopsidedness in appointments are being addressed.
“There are hundreds of appointments yet to be made. It is an evolving scenario and any lopsidedness is being addressed as we progress.”
Lai Mohammed said that the town hall meetings are being held to bridge the communication gap between the government and the people and to carry the people along in the process of governance. [myad]



Nigerian Government has deployed medical teams from the Federal Ministry of Health and Nigerian Airforce to assist in support mission for nutrition emergency response to those in the Internally Displaced Persons’ Camps in the Northeast that has been devastated by Boko Haram insurgents
Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has announced the possibility of closing down sub standard maritime training institutions across the country.
Nigeria’s Federal Government has extended the deadline for the submission of applications for the N-Power online jobs and training for 600,000 young Nigerians to the end of August. applications has been extended till the end of August
A Nigerian journalist, Simon Ateba, who was arrested and detained by the Cameroonian authorities at the Minawao camp on 28 August 2015, having been accused of being a spy for Boko Haram, has called for the immediate release of a colleague, Mr. Ahmed Abba, who was similarly arrested and is now over one year in detention.
Gov. Samuel Ortom And Security Debacle, By Joseph Orjime
The perennial clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farming communities have persisted in Benue state, and some parts of the country.
But it has assumed a new dimension with the recent sacking of communities, large scale killings, and wanton destruction of properties and invasion of farmlands. Particularly worrisome is the fact that many farmers in Benue state (the food basket of the nation), can no longer carry out their usual farming activities due to hostilities visited on them by these marauding herdsmen. They have not only embarked on a killing spree, but also the maiming and raping of women in these communities.
On the 10th of February this year, several villages in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue state were razed and hundreds, including women, children, and the elderly were reportedly massacred by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Former Senate president David Mark who represents the area in the senate, had described the massive killings as genocide. Bitter criticism trailed this high scale massacre with calls from several quarters to end the crisis.
Till date, no word has been heard from the president and commander in chief of the Armed forces, Muhammadu Buhari, either condemning or promising action on the matter. Governor Samuel Ortom himself, being the chief security officer of the state, took so long to visit the affected area, or even comment on the Incident. Thousands of displaced Agatu people currently reside in IDP camps in their home state.
The same trend of killings have continued unabated, in the previous months, in several villages in Logo, Ukum and Kwande Local Government Areas of Benue state, coupled with the destruction of farmlands, razing of houses and displacement of locals, by suspected Fulani herdsmen and their mercenaries.
The rate at which this crime of killing the defenceless local farmers is perpetrated is so alarming that the situation can only be described as a mission for extinction and replacement. The predominantly farming people of Benue have come to believe that there is a deliberate push by the marauding herdsmen and their sponsors, to forcefully take over their ancestral lands for grazing purposes.
When recently, the social media went viral with the number of casualties of a recent attack put at 81,the governor of Benue state, Dr. Samuel Ortom hurried to the office of the minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau, and later to the media, where he copiously denied the claim, asserting that it was an overblown figure. The Benue state police command had also earlier denied the casualty figure of 81, putting it rather at 23.
What is most disturbing in the scenario however, is not the purported exaggeration of the victims. Whether it was 23 people or even 3 that were killed in the state, they were Nigerian citizens, who are supposed to be protected by the law, that were hacked to death, with no arrest made whatsoever.
It is laughable for a state governor who took oath to protect the lives of his people, to treat the security of the same people with such a slight. It should be seen as a total failure of leadership for a chief security officer of a state to watch helplessly while the people, who took pains to vote him into power, are being slaughtered on a regular basis.
Earlier this year, when the same murderous herdsmen invaded Ukpabi Nimbo in Uzo – Uwani LGA of Enugu state, the governor, Mr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, alongside other relevant stakeholders spoke up vehemently against the carnage. This step compelled President Buhari, for the very first time, to direct the security agencies to ‘go after’ the herdsmen, even if it was in pretense. Several outcries regarding security negligence and alleged police complicity eventually led to the redeployment of the commissioner of police, Mr. Nwodibo Ekechukwu.
Since then, the monster has not reared its ugly head again.
The questions a well-meaning Nigerian would want answered are: what moves has the Benue state police boss made to stem the tide of the herdsmen onslaught? What efforts have the legislators representing the people of Logo, Ukum and Kwande Federal and state constituencies made to stop the killings? What is the governor Dr Samuel Ortom doing to secure the lives and properties of the defenceless Benue farmers whose farmlands are ravaged by the activities of herdsmen, and who can’t go to the farm any more for fear of being killed? Whether he will continue to fold his arms and watch aloof while his people are being massacred daily in their scores still remains one question begging for answer.
__Joseph Orjime writes from Abuja Nigeria[myad]