Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar has accused the embattled Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki of intimidating him even as he dismissed Saraki’s application asking that he disqualifies himself from the case of alleged falsification of asset declaration.
In his ruling today, Thursday, on Saraki’s application that he he should disqualify himself, Justice Umar held that the Attorney General’s office had the legal prerogative to institute a suit against anyone found to have a case of fraud.
He said that it was within the powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to investigate him, saying that since no case was found against him, his trial could not have been ordered by the Attorney General.
He said that it was a matter of undue intimidation on the part of the defence to have come up with such application which he had earlier described as rubbish.
“The tribunal holds that the application of counsel to the accused lacks merit and is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” Justice Umar held.
One of the Saraki’s counsel, Rapheal Olueyede, had on April 20, applied for the disqualification of Justice Umar, accusing him of being biased and having a case of bribery against his name.
Oluyede was almost thrown out of the tribunal after the application led to a heated exchange between him and Justice Umar who, at that time, described the application as utter rubbish and dismissed it immediately.
He however later allowed Oluyede to make the same application on Wednesday even as he said that the tribunal would rule on the application today, Thursday. [myad]
They have been tagged Fulani herdsmen and they are on a killing spree never before known in the country. It appears to me that these merchants of death are happy to be referred to as Fulani herdsmen because it plays into ethnic fireworks that may eventually blow up on everyone face.
It is possible that the initial confrontations and killings may have been between farmers and real Fulani herdsmen. But the scale and modus operandi of the recent killings are clearly indicative that another death horseman is galloping across the country while government looks on. These attacks have nothing to do with cattle rustling. They are well planned and executed wars gradually spreading across Nigeria. And government is complicit. It is very difficult to think otherwise. There is no display of outrage. There are no condemnations of these obnoxious acts as you should expect. In fact, it is fast becoming the new normal. Indeed, everyone is beginning to beg the issue. One minute, we are told about cattle rustling. Another minute we are told that these people are not even Nigerians. They are either from Niger or Chad. Yet another minute, we hear of a grazing reserve across the country to take care of the herdsmen.
If the herdsmen are Nigeriens and Chadians, when did our country become a game reserve for foreigners who are blood tasty? If these cold killers are indeed foreigners, why are we treating them with kid gloves as if they are a special breed of people with international license to kill anywhere they wish?
Again, government subtle justification for the killings as a revenge for cattle rustling is even more frightening. Are we saying that the victim of any robbery has the express permission of the state to kill the robber as well as everyone in the robber’s community?
Why are the security forces scared to even investigate who these killers are? Why are they afraid to go after them to make arrest? What is really going on here? How can Arase, the IG of Police be issuing a fatwa on petrol hawkers who are providing beneficial downstream services to stranded motorists instead of mobilizing his men after the cold and serial killers invading our communities? Does Arase even know that police officers also buy or sometimes steal petrol from hawkers. Does he understand that artisans buy petrol in kegs to power their generators and households do same to power their homes? By the way, under what law will Arase prosecute hawkers of petrol? No wonder twenty four hours after Arase’s empty threats, hawkers of petrol are going about their normal duties.
Nevertheless, returning to this article’s main concern, who on earth authored that vexatious and inciting statement from the department of state security about the killing of some Fulani herdsmen in Eastern Nigeria? Is Marilyn Oga still there or has another strange fellow taken up her ignoble role?
Is there something Nigerians should know about Mr. President’s lethargy over the death of thousands of Nigerians slaughtered in their home land? Why would a President who is pained about inheriting an insurgency and is doing all he can to put a stop to it, allow another form of insurgency to take root right under his watch? Haven’t we had enough distractions already?
How come the National Assembly is just waking up to acknowledged an issue which has endured over the years? Are they just realizing that the people they represent are dying like fleas? Why would the governor of Enugu, the chief security officer of the state simply resort to weeping and declaring two days of mourning as a proper and adequate response to the killing of the people he has sworn an oath to protect. How come communities around the country are simply waiting to be the next victims? These are the questions bugging the minds of Nigerians at the moment.
Just how much is the life of a Nigerian really worth? Across the country, on a daily basis, Nigerians are raped, kidnapped or killed. Most of the perpetrators of these crimes just walk away to commit the next crime. In some cases, they even get help from security officers, especially the Police. A friend told me that when his brother was kidnapped and he reported the matter to the Police, he overheard one of the officers calling someone to ask “na una do am”, meaning are you the ones that did the kidnapping.
What manner of a country are we building? Those who think they are protected because they go around with a horde of security men should think again. There have been several unsolved high profile killings too. Those maltreated, over worked and dejected security personnel they depend on for security often turn to be their betrayers. Everyone will live in peace when and only when we build a society were every life counts. The culture of violence and killings that has become normal will eventually terrorize everyone and we will one day all become victims directly or indirectly. Government must act now against these merchants of death dubbed herdsmen and and all other groups that are wantonly taking the lives of Nigerians.
Adjekuko, an economist, wrote in from Abuja. [myad]
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has announced the release of the sum of N76.5 million being the counterpart fund for the execution of various projects in the Territory by Japanese government. It was a grant to Nigeria, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The Minister, who spoke today when he recieved a delegation of JICA in Nigeria led by its Country Senior, said that N46.5 million out of the N76.5 million is counterpart funding for integrated solid waste management system in the Federal Capital Territory under the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). Musa Bello said that the balance of N30 million is to serve as its share for the water sub-sector projects including metering of water consumers in the FCT, adding that the project would greatly reduce water leakages on the main trunk line. The Minister stressed the importance of the Abuja city to have a comprehensive waste management system for the benefits of all residents. He said that the FCTA is working to expand access to the dumpsites and also create more access roads into the sites so that the refuse disposal trucks can go in simultaneously from three different entry points. According to him, this will ensure that waste is properly disposed at the dumpsites. He lamented that the absence of enough entering points to site has made some trucks to dispose wastes on the site indiscriminately. The Minister stressed the need for waste to be properly sorted in the Federal Capital Territory for recycling and other purposes, thereby improving their economic values, saying that waste is wealth. “It is very clear that for us to achieve proper waste management in the city, we have to have a system of sorting that will clearly differentiate between the plastics, glasses, metals, the soft waste that you can make into biomass as well as the other solid wastes. This as you know, we don’t have in the system.” Musa Bello expressed the desire of the FCT Administration to also partner with JICA on waste management in the FCT Area Councils and satellite towns; saying it would serve as blueprint for practical waste management system in the entire Territory. “In the satellite towns, the waste is just being dumped on the streets in the water drainage systems. I have tried for the last eight weeks to move round the satellite towns to work on public awareness, to explain that you don’t just pick your waste and put it in the drainages. The municipal agents are not collecting it and the waste is just solidifying and piling up on the drainage system. Then the rains come, the drains are over flooded.” The Minister thanked JICA for the solar powered project it is carrying out at the Lower Usuma Dam water treatment plants; stressing that it is a big relief to the Administration. “We spend a lot of money to buy diesel for the generators there, since they have to work for 24 hours. If we can get some reliefs by using the solar system, that is a welcome development.” Speaking earlier, the JICA Country Senior Representative, Mr. Hiroshi Kodama noted that JICA has several knowledge and skills, particularly in the area of agriculture that it is willing to share with the people of the FCT. Mr. Kodama recalled that last year, JICA organized a workshop in Gwagwalada on rice cultivation technology especially on improved parboiling technology aimed at improving the quality of rice production in the Territory. “For the farmers, we at JICA have a new marketing technology that we call SHEP, which stands for Small Holder Horticulture Empowerment Project. In that project, we develop a model of marketing by farmers so that they can start marketing their products and become better traders.” [myad]
Nigeria Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has thumbed up for Nigerians in churning out beautiful ideas about how to move the nation forward, but regretted that when it comes to doing it, they are lacking.
Osinbajo, who recived in audience at the Presidential Villa, a delegation of Nigerian Chief Executive Officers who attended the Indian Manufacturing Conclave-an industrial conference- last month in New Delhi said: “almost all of us are certain about what the country needs to do but the critical problem is the capacity to get things done. What is important is what we do with all the ideas.”
Professor Osinbajo who commended the business leaders for their efforts and the visit to his office, said: “Nigerians know what to do, but the time has come to really work on getting things done. The problem has been on how to really get things done.”
He called on all Nigerians in their different callings and endeavors to work together, even as he said that it is the intention of the Buhari presidency to look for ways that the important sectors of our national life will work together, and also get key sectors to work together with the government.
The Vice President said that the government is determined to encourage the use of ‘Made in Nigeria’ products, including electric meters needed for billing, even as he encouraged linkages between federal research agencies and industry in order to develop local technological innovations.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Osaro Eghabamen (SAN), commended the government for facilitating a public and private sectors’ collaboration regarding the Conclave in India which he said, enabled the delegation to learn a lot, especially in the areas of ICT, ship building and the use of SMEs to grow the economy, among others [myad].
Last week, Dino Melaye, the delinquent senator from Kogi West, traveled to the farthest possible extreme of the continuum of sycophancy. He sketched his own obituary in lieu of fealty to his tarnished idol. He vowed that he would sooner die than live to see Bukola Saraki, the career thief standing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, ejected from the office of the senate president.
Melaye wrote on his Facebook page: ‘’My brother and friend Sen. Bukola Saraki, if you have one trillion supporters, I’m one. If you have one billion, I’m one. If you have one million, I’m one. If you have one thousand, I’m one. If you have ten, I’m one. If you have only one supporter, I’m one. And if you have no single supporter, it means I’m dead. No shaking. Four years too sure.’’
For starters, Dino has mostly been one liability of a citizen and a ubiquitous irritation as a politician. He would not be missed when he is gone. If he forces his own expiration today, the Nigerian senate would lose a man without values, his constituents will lose a narcissistic wastrel, and the country would be poorer by one exuberant buffoon!
And he will be survived by his collection of exotic cars and the valid question that provokes his feet to flight – what source of livelihood supplied him his countless automobiles!
Dino’s declaration of his readiness to sacrifice himself for Saraki is downright shameful. It’s an overreach in obsequiousness. A gesture of admiration for the other that purports to validate itself with the claim of self-derision.
It is appalling that Melaye trivialized his life in cyberspace, a place where a quick click on a search engine enables séances with all specters of the past. His display of his personal devaluation of his soul on social media with the same level of flippancy with which he exhibits his cars on the streets of Abuja is the coming out of the closet of a hedonist who has lost himself.
The scriptures conceive of healthy love as the balance of self-love and love of the other. Dino projects his love for the man he is in bromance with as the equivalent of his own dislike for himself. He says he has bankrupted himself in loving Saraki: His breast contains only the lucre of self-hate!
Melaye wished himself dead for a strategic reason. He had sought to earn recognition as the most ardent ‘supporter’ in Sarakiworld. He played a trump card that bested the watery promise of loyalty of other ‘supporters.’
The lyrics of his I-will-die-for-you love song says: Don’t count me as one of the senators who accompany you to your court trials. I am more than your fan. I am your devotee. I would volunteer to serve your own jail term. I would offer my neck to spare yours from the hangman’s noose!
This suicidal fawning is abominable. But it is not pathetic because Melaye prized his life far below the piece of furniture Saraki sits and farts on. The vow is dismal because it represents the oath of allegiance of a supposed parliamentarian to a richly laurelled thief!
That oath of allegiance, a paraphrase of the marriage vow of ‘till death do us part’, is radically different from the oath of allegiance he took on June 9, 2015. On that day he was swore to ‘’be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’’
Melaye is oblivious to the irony that he publicly renounced his covenant with his constituents and introduced himself as the bond-slave of a disgraced politician. He did not figure that he had disqualified himself by publishing that he had transferred his allegiance to the country to an individual.
His brazen declaration buttresses a fact of life in Nigerian politics: Those who campaign to represent the people have no bond with the people. They have no disregard for the suffering or the sensibilities of the people. They condescend to glad-hand on the stump because they must garner votes to secure power. They constrain themselves to interact with the people because it’s the only path to victory.
But once declared winner, they sever their tenuous link with the community and preoccupy themselves with advancing the political industrial complex.
The tragedy of Melaye is that his abandonment of the pretension that he was in Abuja to serve the Nigerian people is unprecedented. The Nigerian political class traditionally maintains the charade that they are in government to better the lives of the folks at the grassroots. But Dino Melaye, a passenger in the vehicle of his own exhibitionist instinct, cannot regulate himself. He would vent his stream of consciousness shticks to convince everybody… that he is a fool!
That the braggart parades as a ‘’distinguished senator’’ is symptomatic of a prostitute political system that lends itself to be ravished by any individual that proves his desperate desire to penetrate it!
‘Senator’ Melaye in his earlier incarnation was ‘Honorable’ Melaye. While in the House of Representatives, he achieved notoriety by doing the selfsame infamous thing he is doing now. He fought for the continuation of the tenure of the scandal-tarred Speaker Patricia Etteh. He fought physically to obstruct her impeachment: He got beaten and stripped half-naked for it!
His pathetic representation lost him his re-election. The defeat rendered him jobless.
But it wasn’t too long before the need to pay his bills inspired him to start some ‘NGO’ and transfigure into an ‘anti-corruption activist.’
That makeover and the associated hustles fetched him the money he invested in a comeback political bid. He won Smart Adeyemi, a far more reasonable adult. The tide of popular hunger for ‘change’ swept him into the senate.
But his membership of the senate has added value only to himself and his idol. He has made zero compelling contribution during debates. All the times he has spoken in the senate, his words were either forgettable for their banality or quotable for their crass ridiculousness!
During a debate on the need to promote domestic patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods, it was Dino Melaye who strayed from the point of the economics of the issue to counseling Nigerians to “patronize made-in-Nigeria women” He humored himself by mocking Edo Governor, Adams Oshiomole, for marrying a non-Nigerian.
Melaye, the windbag, had not reflected on whether his marital history qualified him to offer people unsolicited advice on what kind of woman to marry. He had married two ‘‘made-in-Nigeria women’’ and was divorced twice. Both ladies left for the same reason: His assault and battery regime threatened their lives!
But the misogynist chivalrous when EFCC invited Saraki’s wife for interrogation. He ‘escorted’ her to the premises. He explained that he became her knight because he was ‘’a private investigator and anti-corruption crusader.’’ He was interested in discovering ‘’the extent of the culpability of my sister and friend.’’
The 13 count charges against Bukola show the scope of his culpability. His trial is throwing up incontrovertible evidence of his thievery. The 70 cash deposits made by Bukola’s aides into his private bank account confirm that Bukola is the rogue he was cracked up to be. But Melaye continues to fight for Saraki to complete ”four years” as senate president.
It’s noteworthy that Melaye rationalized his bodyguard parade for Toyin as his fulfillment of his responsibility to chaperone ‘’my sister and friend.’’ In swearing to die for Bukola, he used the terms ‘’my brother and friend.’’ The foregoing implies that he counts himself an adopted member of Saraki family and a partaker of their fortune.
If a Saraki teen was arrested and prosecuted for pilfering, Melaye would feel duty-bound to ‘escort’ the chap to court. Melaye would assert that he was under obligation to accompany ‘’my nephew and friend’’ to the inquisition!
Melaye’s unflinching support for the Sarakis is not altruistic, though. It’s a product of selfish calculation. Melaye is cognizant that he is liable to Bukola’s fate. He knows that someday anti-graft agencies would spotlight his incredible possessions. His defense of Saraki is an insurance against that eventuality. It would make Saraki return the favor.
But Melaye is a self-deluded man. The text of his death wish betrays his stupidity. He starts on the impossible hypothesis that Saraki might have one trillion supporters!
World population is 7 billion. Nigerian population is about 175 million: In that number are Kwarans, Saraki’s own constituents, who would seize any opportunity to boo him and stone him!
In plotting the graph of the exponential reduction of that fictive one trillion supporters, Melaye divulges that even if the entire human race reached a unanimous guilty opinion on Saraki, he –Melaye –would not discontinue supporting Saraki. Melaye undertakes to keep ‘supporting’ Saraki even if Saraki quits supporting himself!
Someone had opined that Nigeria was infested with lunatic ‘leaders’. Dino Melaye competently dramatizes the correctness of that notion.
His disappearance, by and large, would be a national relief. So he should be encouraged to rid this country of his demented self.
He should drive to River Lokoja at midnight. Tie a millstone around his neck. And leap into the waters!
He would find one trillion fishes ready to ‘support’ him!
The Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested a pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church, identified as Moses Abiodun for burying fetish item, suspected to be human head inside his church located at Ikota in Ifedore Local Government Area of the state.
The 34-year-old suspect who hails from Esa Oke in Osun State was arrested by men of the state command of NSCDC following information that the cleric allegedly used human being for rituals in the church.
The State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Fasiu Adeyinka told news men today, Thursday, that the suspect was the founder of the C.A.C ‘Dagunro’ and that he was suspected to have buried something suspected to be human head inside his church.
Having got the information, the NSCDC boss explained that his men went to Abiodun’s church where some fetish items were exhumed. Consequently the pastor was arrested.
”He (the pastor) was asked to dig some spots inside the church where various items such as cow head, pigeon head tied with kolanut, big clay pot wrapped with white clothes and other fetish items and charms were exhumed from the ground both at the entrance and inside the church.”
The commandant said that the command had begun investigation on the matter while the pastor is cooling off in the NSCDC’s custody. [myad]
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria ( MACBAN ), another set of Fulani herdsmen have described the call in some quarters for the crucification of all Fulani herdsmen in the country for the simple reason that they were the ones responsible for the recent attacks in Enugu as stereotyping.
“Short of shielding anybody or group of people or absolving the so-call herdsmen, it is imperative and incumbent upon the authorities especially security agencies to look into these pathetic developments beyond appearances, stereotyping and profiling”, the group said in a statement.
The statement which was issued today, Thursday by the National Secretary of the association, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said that the attacks were horrifying, condemnable and reprehensible.
According to the association, widespread attacks of these sorts and the quick apportioning of blame on the herdsmen without concrete proofs smacks of a possible diabolical grand design by some hidden vested interests in the country or beyond, who are bent on fomenting trouble and setting one ethnic tribe or region against another. [myad]
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has threatened to mobilize the organized labour, civil society groups and the masses to occupy the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) if within the next seven days from today, Thursday, the ministry of Petroleum Resources does not bring to end, fuel queues cross the country.
In a statement jointly issued in Abuja by its National Chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, who was the Second Republic Governor of old Kaduna State and the Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the political group said that both the Minister and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources have shown a track record of undeniable and monumental ineptitude in resolving the problems associated with fuel scarcity in the last 11 months.
“While the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has kept double talking on the issue, the Minister and President Muhammadu Buhari on his part has maintained relative silence.
“About seven months ago, Kachikwu had confessed: “Personally, I will have chosen to sell the refineries, but President Buhari has instructed that they should be fixed.
“After they are fixed, if they still operate below 60 per cent, then we will know what to do. A 90-day presidential ultimatum for the refineries to be fixed ended in December and the deadline was not met.
“In the same vein, the government set April 7 deadline to end the fuel queues being experienced across the country, again, the deadline was not meet.
“After blaming some people who rather than sell products send them into hinterlands where they can sell at ridiculous prices to make quick returns on their investments wrongly, the Ministry few days ago blamed the scarcity on 30% of supply allegedly diverted outside Nigeria.
“The government should be reminded that it has all the security apparatus and personnel to tract the saboteurs and bring them to justice.
“Enough of all the blame games and lack of will to tell Nigerians the truth about the lingering fuel scarcity. If by the end of seven days, and the situation is not addressed, the CNPP shall have no choice but to lead the organized labour, coalition of civil society groups and the Nigerian masses to occupy NNPC until the minister and minister of state resign their positions in the Ministry”, the statement read. [myad]
The Enugu State Police Command has described what it called, the rumours of herdsmen invasion of Umuchigbo Abakpa Nike community by herdsmen as false, baseless and unfounded.
In a press statement today, Thursday, by the command’s spokesman, Ebere Amarizu, said that the rumours were engineered by those wishing to cause disaffection in the state.
“The attention of the Enugu State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to the rumours making the round that some violent herdsmen have invaded Umuchigbo Abakpa Nike.
“The rumour has it that the community and others closed to it have been deserted, but the command wishes to make it clear that this is not only false but baseless and unfounded,” the statement said.
It advised members of the public, particularly residents and people of the state, to go about their normal pursuits without fear even as the police command warned rumour peddlers to desist forthwith.
The statement stressed that the command, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies, have fortified security along Umuchigbo axis to prevent any breach of the peace. [myad]
The Nigeria Federal Government has declared Monday, May 2nd as public holiday to mark the 2016 Workers’ Day Celebration.
The Minister of Interior, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), who made the declaration today, Thursday, on behalf of the government, congratulated Nigerian workers for “their resilience, hard work and commitment to the change mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari, despite current challenges.”
A statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Bassey Akpanyung, quoted the minister as asking the workers to continue to support the President in his desire to fight corruption, ensure security of lives and property and stabilize the economy through creation of jobs and diversification of the economy.
Dambazau further called on Nigerian workers to re-dedicate themselves to the service of the nation and remain productive for the growth and development of the country. He added by wishing all Nigerian workers a joyful and peaceful celebration. [myad]
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Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar has accused the embattled Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki of intimidating him even as he dismissed Saraki’s application asking that he disqualifies himself from the case of alleged falsification of asset declaration.
These Are Not Herdsmen, Please! By Philemon Doro Adjekuko
It is possible that the initial confrontations and killings may have been between farmers and real Fulani herdsmen. But the scale and modus operandi of the recent killings are clearly indicative that another death horseman is galloping across the country while government looks on. These attacks have nothing to do with cattle rustling. They are well planned and executed wars gradually spreading across Nigeria. And government is complicit. It is very difficult to think otherwise. There is no display of outrage. There are no condemnations of these obnoxious acts as you should expect. In fact, it is fast becoming the new normal. Indeed, everyone is beginning to beg the issue. One minute, we are told about cattle rustling. Another minute we are told that these people are not even Nigerians. They are either from Niger or Chad. Yet another minute, we hear of a grazing reserve across the country to take care of the herdsmen.
If the herdsmen are Nigeriens and Chadians, when did our country become a game reserve for foreigners who are blood tasty? If these cold killers are indeed foreigners, why are we treating them with kid gloves as if they are a special breed of people with international license to kill anywhere they wish?
Again, government subtle justification for the killings as a revenge for cattle rustling is even more frightening. Are we saying that the victim of any robbery has the express permission of the state to kill the robber as well as everyone in the robber’s community?
Why are the security forces scared to even investigate who these killers are? Why are they afraid to go after them to make arrest? What is really going on here? How can Arase, the IG of Police be issuing a fatwa on petrol hawkers who are providing beneficial downstream services to stranded motorists instead of mobilizing his men after the cold and serial killers invading our communities? Does Arase even know that police officers also buy or sometimes steal petrol from hawkers. Does he understand that artisans buy petrol in kegs to power their generators and households do same to power their homes? By the way, under what law will Arase prosecute hawkers of petrol? No wonder twenty four hours after Arase’s empty threats, hawkers of petrol are going about their normal duties.
Nevertheless, returning to this article’s main concern, who on earth authored that vexatious and inciting statement from the department of state security about the killing of some Fulani herdsmen in Eastern Nigeria? Is Marilyn Oga still there or has another strange fellow taken up her ignoble role?
Is there something Nigerians should know about Mr. President’s lethargy over the death of thousands of Nigerians slaughtered in their home land? Why would a President who is pained about inheriting an insurgency and is doing all he can to put a stop to it, allow another form of insurgency to take root right under his watch? Haven’t we had enough distractions already?
How come the National Assembly is just waking up to acknowledged an issue which has endured over the years? Are they just realizing that the people they represent are dying like fleas? Why would the governor of Enugu, the chief security officer of the state simply resort to weeping and declaring two days of mourning as a proper and adequate response to the killing of the people he has sworn an oath to protect. How come communities around the country are simply waiting to be the next victims? These are the questions bugging the minds of Nigerians at the moment.
Just how much is the life of a Nigerian really worth? Across the country, on a daily basis, Nigerians are raped, kidnapped or killed. Most of the perpetrators of these crimes just walk away to commit the next crime. In some cases, they even get help from security officers, especially the Police. A friend told me that when his brother was kidnapped and he reported the matter to the Police, he overheard one of the officers calling someone to ask “na una do am”, meaning are you the ones that did the kidnapping.
What manner of a country are we building? Those who think they are protected because they go around with a horde of security men should think again. There have been several unsolved high profile killings too. Those maltreated, over worked and dejected security personnel they depend on for security often turn to be their betrayers. Everyone will live in peace when and only when we build a society were every life counts. The culture of violence and killings that has become normal will eventually terrorize everyone and we will one day all become victims directly or indirectly. Government must act now against these merchants of death dubbed herdsmen and and all other groups that are wantonly taking the lives of Nigerians.
Adjekuko, an economist, wrote in from Abuja. [myad]