A group operating under the aegis of Concerned Christians of Nigeria has accused the new leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of manipulating election that brought it into being with money.
“We are afraid that money and other forms of manipulations have been used in CAN elections. We are against Christian leadership that abuses both the exegetical and contextual principle of the message of ‘grace’ in other to perpetuate or cover up evil under any guise.” The spokesman of the group, Rev. Luke Shehu who spoke to news men in Jos, the Plateau State Capital on Monday, described as unholy, the acts being perpetrated by the CAN leadership over leadership interests even as he expressed concern over the protracted crises that have bedeviled the association on who succeeds Pastor Ayo Oristejeafor as President. Rev. Shehu said that instead of the leadership of the CAN to rise up and address the challenges confronting Christians, especially victims of terrorism in Northern Nigeria, it is busy soiling its name for parochial interests. “While resisting attempts to resolve the conflict from the election, the CAN leadership is insistent upon ratifying the election at the National Council meeting on Tuesday, 19th July 2016. “The lack of willingness by the CAN leadership to resolve the issue regarding election is further dividing CAN and leading to distrust and insecurity. “This is evident in the various interests, actions and publications for and against each of the parties. “The leadership of the CAN has resisted demand for peaceful resolution that will lead to evolution and transit to a new leadership through due process and in accordance with CAN constitution. Rev. Shehu called on proponents of allies of the CAN president to desist from misleading Christians that the Presidency or the Federal Government is interested in a candidate for the CAN presidency. He warned that should the leadership of the CAN throw caution to the winds, the Northern CAN would be compelled to revert to the pre-independence Northern Nigerian Christian Association (NNCA), which, according to him, was the umbrella body of the Christians in Northern Nigeria since the colonial administration. “We plead with the well meaning Christian leaders, both Lay/Laity and other relevant organizations concerned to prevail on the current CAN leadership and the five bloc in CAN to restrain and desist from the plan to impose a leadership on the CAN as this may lead to disunity and breach of peace.” [myad]
The Presidency has appealed to the National Assembly to hasten work on the budget of the Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of the government which has been submitted to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a chat with news men, the senior special assitant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said that the President has also demonstrated his respect for the parliament, as a principal arm of government in a constitutional democracy.
“Our hope and expectation is that the National Assembly, acting in the best interest of the nation, will allow the immediate operationalization of the MDAs budgets, so that the momentum of growth of the economy which has begun to build up will be sustained.”
Garba Shehu made it clear that Buhari’s government, which came to power on the plank of anti-corruption and good governance, will fully comply with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and other extant laws as they relate to the submission of budget proposals of Federal Government agencies and corporations to the National Assembly.
He said that the President has lived up to this commitment of accountability and transparency with the recent submission of the proposed budgets of CBN, NNPC, Nigerian Ports Authority and others.
“The transmission of budgets for the MDAs to the National Assembly, particularly those regarding the Central Bank and the NNPC behemoth is clearly unprecedented.
“The President is determined to make the budgeting process more transparent and participatory.
“It is all part of the re-engineering of the entire processes of governance for the benefit of ordinary citizens.”
According to Garba Shehu, the President strongly believes that good governance and transparency are integral to the nation’s progress and key to the Federal Government’s programme to revamp the economy.
He said that by responding positively to the demand of the National Assembly that MDA budgets be laid before it for scrutiny, a demand mostly ignored by past administrations.
“President Buhari has indeed given a clear indication of his commitment to an open, transparent and people-oriented government for Nigerians.” [myad]
Remi Tinubu, wife of National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has written to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, seeking police protection.
Senator Tinubu (APC-Lagos), in a letter dated Monday July 18 explained to the IGP that she made the request following threat by Senator Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi).
In the letter, Senator Remi recalled that “during the proceedings on July 14, 2016, I had cause to contribute to a matter of national importance. Apparently dissatisfied with my contributions, Senator Dino Melaye threw caution to the winds, resorted to vulgar abuse of my person and wanted to assault me.
“It was the timely intervention of a number of my colleagues which prevented Senator Melaye from unleashing physical attack on me.”.
Remi Tinubu lamented that the Senate leadership refused to call Melaye to order, adding: “in view of Senator Melaye’s antecedent, particularly in the House of Representatives, where a brawl led by him had led to the untimely death of a lawmaker, I have decided not to ignore his threat to my life.” [myad]
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has given an indication that his ministry is already making efforts to generate electricity from nuclear materials, particularly through the exploration, exploitation and utilization of uranium.
He said that his ministry has invited experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct a one-week training for nuclear practitioners as well as security officers in the country on the extraction, exploitation and utilization of the substance.
The minister, who spoke at the opening ceremony for the national training course on nuclear security for the uranium extraction industry in Abuja, stressed the need for Nigeria to exploit available resources to meet her power needs.
Fayemi, who was represented by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mr. Wuyep Karnap, said: “last week at the National Council on Power conference in Kaduna, the issue of uranium for power generation was actually canvassed as a vital component in the energy mix equation.
“So, this training is coming at the right time where capacity to explore, exploit and utilize uranium for power generation and other uses cannot be overemphasized. And apart from the exploration, exploitation and utilization, the security and health aspects of uranium need to be taken care of, and that is why we have security delegates here.” [myad]
The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Alhaji Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu has declared a total war against Vandals and other criminal in Nigeria.
Gana, who spoke at the prayer session organized in his honour by members of his organization, stressed that he is committed towards moving the corps to an enviable height with qualitative leadership.
“I want to remind the vandals that vandalizing critical infrastructures of government is a criminal offence and I want to tell them to desist because defenders are watching them and would not sit down and watch people doing that.”
He said that the Corps, as a creation of government by an Act of Parliament, is saddled with responsibility of protecting the Nations Critical Infrastructure and National Assets, which include petroleum pipelines, gas installations, telecommunication facilities, transport facilities.
He said that his achievements and kind gestures are multi-faceted ranging from staff welfare, infrastructure, health care among other staff-development programmes even as he promised robust welfare packages for the personnel of the Corps, including promotions for deserving members of the Corps. [myad]
As aviation fuel scarcity bites harder, the flight operations of indigenous airlines continue to experience hitches across the country.
It was learnt that many airlines’ flights have been cancelled even as passengers were said to be grumbling over flight cancelation or delays.
An aviation expert, retired Group Captain John Ojikutu, blamed oil marketers for the development, even as he wondered why there was scarcity of Jet A1 in the face of abundant petroleum products.
He stressed the need for the repair of damaged pipelines supplying fuel from Ejigbo and Mosimi depots to Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, where 70 percent of aviation fuel is being consumed. [myad]
We see them on television screens and on pages of newspapers as well as on social media grinning from ear to ear with mouths as wide as fisherman’s basket. Some of them exhibit decaying teeth with foreheads as broad as the Babalawo (Diviner)’s bowl. You simply wonder why they are laughing or why they should be laughing while being paraded by the fierce looking EFCC operatives or being led to the court room by equally fierce looking armed police men and women.
Could such moments be occasions for jocundity or cheer? Could moments when once powerful and influential individuals are being disgraced and humiliated because of alleged misdemeanours be of celebration and chest beating?
You wonder whether there is no more code of conduct in the land or whether what is popularly and traditionally referred to as sense of shame has disappeared from our lands. I find it baffling that people who are supposed to be remorseful for finding themselves in suspicious circumstances even if their guilt has not been proven should be celebrating. Celebrating what? Celebrating embarrassment?
I may want to excuse those individuals who were fingered for persecution and prosecution occasioned by Obasanjo’s ‘bad belle’ in the better forgotten days of Enforced Fabrication to Cage Competitors. But even at that, such persecuted individuals should not be dancing to the court room or to the jail house or out of prison. Their comportment in such moments should teach a lesson, not frivolity.
What cannot be excused is the bravado of obvious thieves and felons who want to hide under what is called ‘bold face’ in popular parlance. When you see these stiff necks with necks as thick as the mahogany trunk and chests that compete with those of Sumi-tomo wrestlers you feel like wrenching their necks and blowing off their brainless stealing skulls.
There are obvious cases that do not require any legality to prove. A public official who is found to have lodged 500 million US dollars in his secondary school student son’s bank account cannot be excused on any ground. But for the fact that our Constitution provides asses that our laws can sit on, such officials when found should be marched straight to prison or have their brains blown off as the prevailing punishment for rogues in China.
A public official in whose backyard is found millions of naira bulging from pretentious grave cannot be trusted with any face saving excuses. We all know where a piece of meat placed in the mouth disappeared into! Is a fake coffin buried deep in a shallow grave in the master bedroom the bank for billions of US dollars?
Now when the characters in whose custody strange findings of huge public funds are exposed are being led to answer queries, they plaster their faces with artificial smiles and clench their fists in victory as if they are celebrating the idiocy of Nigeria’s criminal laws. I simply cannot understand.
The question is why should people accused of being responsible for the impoverishment of their fellow country men and women be laughing and waving to nobody in particular when they are being paraded as looters? These are people who should be crying. If they are innocent of the charges laid at their feet, they should still be crying and feeling sorry that they are being embarrassed wrongfully. And if they know in their hearts that they are the vultures they say they are, their cries should be louder and deafening that they have been caught in their track and they are on their way to prison. Either way, they should not be laughing.
It is a big shame that those who have hijacked leadership in this country and have made the rest of the populace mere spectators while they stole the country silly have lost all sense of decorum, and with it lost all humanity.
The laughter being exhibited, the swagger being theatrically displayed are all borne out of the ravaging culture of impunity which had stolen the soul of Nigeria. Those who put themselves in charge of the country believe that they are above the laws of the land and indeed above everybody and every institution. They treat Nigeria and Nigerians with absolute contempt and that is why even when they are caught red handed bleeding the country they fear no consequence.
“Who will touch me in this country? Who will dare challenge me or put me in prison? My uncle, a former Governor stole millions and nothing happened to him. My father was a bank robber and he was hailed as one of the greatest men that ever lived. Nothing happened to him. Yes. My uncle was President and he stole every inch of the land and every Kobo of the Naira that belonged to the people, he walked the land free until he died a glorious death. Nobody ever touched him. So why should I not laugh and mock the system?” these are some of the thoughts that usually run riot in the minds of our big-men and big-women criminals any time they are being led to court or to prison for brief detention. Pshaw!
You can now see why they are laughing instead of crying. Add to that the fact that majority of Nigerians are so docile and pathologically stupid in the sense that they see those who are killing them and yet continue to hail these same people who have destroyed the country.
It is pathetic. Someone may want to cite the so-called Human Rights. Do those people who have robbed others of their fundamental human rights deserve any iota of rights? Do people who have taken other people’s lives have any right to keep their own? Did the Scriptures not say that the God of Israel is God of vengeance? Should those who send millions to their unmerited death because of their [the plunderers] plundering of the common pot deserve to be pitied or given any mercy? Do such characters deserve any applause from their victims?
Special courts are needed to curb the excesses of all those who have brought this country to the sorry state it is in now. With such Special Courts and the stiffness of penalties they will impose, and the speed with which they dispense justice, exhibition of decayed teeth on the way to Tribunals will stop.
Or maybe it is the emergence of Ghana’s Rawlings or Ethiopia’s Mengistu that will summarily deal with these laughing villains and silence their clan once and for all.
Let Nigerians for once show some seriousness and self respect and stop applauding those graceless looters.
The Universal Peace Federation, a United Nations’ organization, has warned that Nigeria’s break up as being agitated for by some groups in the South East and South South will be counter-productive and that it is not the solution the country needs. The Secretary General of the UPF in Nigeria, Dr. Raphael Ogar Ojo, said at the presentation of the 2016 Award of Ambassador for Peace to Reverend Father Christian Levi Achinivu by the UPF and the Muslim Inter-religious Peace Foundation, warned also that Nigerians should do away with religious and tribal differences. Dr. Ojo, who spoke in Minna, the Niger State capital, said that no part of Nigeria could stand alone and remain relevant among the comity of civilized and developed nations. Citing the United states of America, which derives its strength from its size and population as well as its human resources, Dr. Ojo insisted that everything should be done to keep Nigeria one. He asked the governments at all levels to do everything possible to address the grievances of aggrieved segments of the country even as he asked the Federal Government to set up Development Commissions in all the geopolitical zones of the country as is being done for the North East region, which had been ravaged by by the activities of insurgents. “These Commissions should be well empowered financially to the level that they would address the shortcomings in all the zones of the country saying that with such a policy Nigeria would witness the much desired peace and development.” Dr. Ojo also called for a review of the nation’s education curricula to the extent that graduates would be creators of employment instead of white collar job seekers. On the awards, he said Father Achinivu “was found worthy in deeds and character and he is ready to live his life for the sake of others.” The Catholic Bishop of Minna Diocese, Most Reverend Dr. Martin Uzoukwu, commended the resilience and hard work as well as devotion to the service to humanity of the recipient and urged him not to relent. The recipient expressed gratitude to God for counting him worthy for such award and pledged to continue to devote his life to the service of mankind. [myad]
Former Senior Special Assistant to the ex- president Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has disclosed that he has been inflicted with a non disease based slowness of the heart known as sinus bradycadia.
“I was born with sinus bradycadia, a non disease based slowness of the heart. It precluded me from vigorous exercise from childhood but I have by God’s Grace been able to live a normal and active life.
“With age the slowness grew worse and life threatening. I sought medical help and went through a procedure at the Arrhythmia cardiac Research center in Atlanta, where this defect was corrected. It’s just a year ago and I am still under satellite monitor from the USA.”
In a statement he signed, Okupe blamed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for leaking to the media his health status which he had revealed to the commission’s operative in confidence, designed for it to understand his special needs.
According to him, for not getting clearance or authorization from him before the information was revealed to the media, was not only a breach of confidence reposed on the anti- graft agency, but designed to embarrass him as a person.
“I confided in the officers of the commission about my health situation for them to understand why where and how I sleep was important to my overall well being. Without clearance or authorization by me this information was revealed to the media.
“I woke up to hear it on radio broadcast nationwide and was published in many newspapers. This is a sad development and a definite breach of the confidence I reposed on the commission as an institution of government.” [myad]
The Chief Whip of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of Representatives, Alhaji Alhassan Doguwa, has described the rumour making the rounds about plans to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari as street talk.
He made it clear that the House of Representatives had no single evidence of impeachable offence against the President.
Doguwa, who spoke to news men, said that there is no such issue that was contemplated in the House of Representatives.
The Chief Whip who is representing Doguwa/Tudun Wada Constituency in Kano State, said: “as far as I am concerned, I am a member of House of Representatives and a principal officer of the House; the National Assembly is a twin institution; we have the House and we have the Senate.
“If there is any insinuation or speculation about the impeachment of Mr. President in any chamber rather than the House of Representatives, that, I don’t know. But I want to be very straight forward to you that we don’t have such a consideration before us; that matter is not even being contemplated; it was not even at any point in time thought of..
“After all, we do not have any evidence of impeachable offence with which to use against Mr President.”
He described as unfounded, speculations on purported impeachment plans, adding, “it is mere speculation on the street and should be left at that level. (NAN). [myad]
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A group operating under the aegis of Concerned Christians of Nigeria has accused the new leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) of manipulating election that brought it into being with money.
Those Who Should Be Crying, By Abiodun Komolafe
Could such moments be occasions for jocundity or cheer? Could moments when once powerful and influential individuals are being disgraced and humiliated because of alleged misdemeanours be of celebration and chest beating?
You wonder whether there is no more code of conduct in the land or whether what is popularly and traditionally referred to as sense of shame has disappeared from our lands. I find it baffling that people who are supposed to be remorseful for finding themselves in suspicious circumstances even if their guilt has not been proven should be celebrating. Celebrating what? Celebrating embarrassment?
I may want to excuse those individuals who were fingered for persecution and prosecution occasioned by Obasanjo’s ‘bad belle’ in the better forgotten days of Enforced Fabrication to Cage Competitors. But even at that, such persecuted individuals should not be dancing to the court room or to the jail house or out of prison. Their comportment in such moments should teach a lesson, not frivolity.
What cannot be excused is the bravado of obvious thieves and felons who want to hide under what is called ‘bold face’ in popular parlance. When you see these stiff necks with necks as thick as the mahogany trunk and chests that compete with those of Sumi-tomo wrestlers you feel like wrenching their necks and blowing off their brainless stealing skulls.
There are obvious cases that do not require any legality to prove. A public official who is found to have lodged 500 million US dollars in his secondary school student son’s bank account cannot be excused on any ground. But for the fact that our Constitution provides asses that our laws can sit on, such officials when found should be marched straight to prison or have their brains blown off as the prevailing punishment for rogues in China.
A public official in whose backyard is found millions of naira bulging from pretentious grave cannot be trusted with any face saving excuses. We all know where a piece of meat placed in the mouth disappeared into! Is a fake coffin buried deep in a shallow grave in the master bedroom the bank for billions of US dollars?
Now when the characters in whose custody strange findings of huge public funds are exposed are being led to answer queries, they plaster their faces with artificial smiles and clench their fists in victory as if they are celebrating the idiocy of Nigeria’s criminal laws. I simply cannot understand.
The question is why should people accused of being responsible for the impoverishment of their fellow country men and women be laughing and waving to nobody in particular when they are being paraded as looters? These are people who should be crying. If they are innocent of the charges laid at their feet, they should still be crying and feeling sorry that they are being embarrassed wrongfully. And if they know in their hearts that they are the vultures they say they are, their cries should be louder and deafening that they have been caught in their track and they are on their way to prison. Either way, they should not be laughing.
It is a big shame that those who have hijacked leadership in this country and have made the rest of the populace mere spectators while they stole the country silly have lost all sense of decorum, and with it lost all humanity.
The laughter being exhibited, the swagger being theatrically displayed are all borne out of the ravaging culture of impunity which had stolen the soul of Nigeria. Those who put themselves in charge of the country believe that they are above the laws of the land and indeed above everybody and every institution. They treat Nigeria and Nigerians with absolute contempt and that is why even when they are caught red handed bleeding the country they fear no consequence.
“Who will touch me in this country? Who will dare challenge me or put me in prison? My uncle, a former Governor stole millions and nothing happened to him. My father was a bank robber and he was hailed as one of the greatest men that ever lived. Nothing happened to him. Yes. My uncle was President and he stole every inch of the land and every Kobo of the Naira that belonged to the people, he walked the land free until he died a glorious death. Nobody ever touched him. So why should I not laugh and mock the system?” these are some of the thoughts that usually run riot in the minds of our big-men and big-women criminals any time they are being led to court or to prison for brief detention. Pshaw!
You can now see why they are laughing instead of crying. Add to that the fact that majority of Nigerians are so docile and pathologically stupid in the sense that they see those who are killing them and yet continue to hail these same people who have destroyed the country.
It is pathetic. Someone may want to cite the so-called Human Rights. Do those people who have robbed others of their fundamental human rights deserve any iota of rights? Do people who have taken other people’s lives have any right to keep their own? Did the Scriptures not say that the God of Israel is God of vengeance? Should those who send millions to their unmerited death because of their [the plunderers] plundering of the common pot deserve to be pitied or given any mercy? Do such characters deserve any applause from their victims?
Special courts are needed to curb the excesses of all those who have brought this country to the sorry state it is in now. With such Special Courts and the stiffness of penalties they will impose, and the speed with which they dispense justice, exhibition of decayed teeth on the way to Tribunals will stop.
Or maybe it is the emergence of Ghana’s Rawlings or Ethiopia’s Mengistu that will summarily deal with these laughing villains and silence their clan once and for all.
Let Nigerians for once show some seriousness and self respect and stop applauding those graceless looters.
KOMOLAFE, AMNIM
+234 803 361 4419 / +234 809 861 4418. [myad]