Ogun state governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has said that Nigerian governors must think out of the box to in order to survive the harsh economic situation in the country.
Governor Amosun, who spoke to State House Correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, acknowledged that the prevailing economic situation in the county is affecting all stakeholders.
Asked how he is managing to survive, Amosin said “Yes, I know things are tough and I am saying these with all sense of responsibility, all the states in Nigeria are affected. We are part of the larger context called Nigeria ‎ and because of that challenge, people must think out of the box and I am happy to report that in Nigeria today, maybe not in the quantum of what we generate l, but we are number one.
If you check the indices that have been released, we doubled our revenue with about 97.8%, the next state to us I think was 41% we are working hard and we are doing well but they is still lot more to be done.”
Commenting on the effect of Investment Summit he organized in his state, the governor said “It’s the fourth in our series of investors forum and this year we believe we had to zero in on three key areas that is agriculture, Environment and transportation and the reason is not farfetched.
“Everybody believes that there is no alternative except for diversification and even before this crisis we realize that the only to go is to diversify into agriculture.
“It will employ our people, it will create wealth for them. Those nations that have got it right if you see them, you will discover that they have their cottage industries; they are the enablers. That’s why we believe those ones we zero in on these three grey areas of course we will get it right.
“I am happy that we got several investors, particularly those that are not even from Nigeria and so many people that are in Nigeria, that operate here and that’s why we showcased everybody.
“I know within the next maybe two years‎ you will see. Ogun state is the industrial hub of Nigeria, there is no state that has the kind of resources we have,in terms of numbers and value.
“We are not limiting it at that; we want to take it forward.  Not agriculture alone, we want to take full advantage of the full value chain that agriculture offers and what do I mean by that? That whatever we grow we must process, and whatever we have processed we must package and whatever we package we must market, we must transport it to the final consumer. You know everybody is working that is what we are trying to do.
“ln the area of transportation, we need to see how many people we can get on the roads, we need to introduce rails, waterways. If you go to these other nations, you will see that all their agriculture produce they are being moved either by the rail or water system and in other  areas they use air.
“I went to a place in California, if you move for five hours maybe left and right, you will see plantation and in those plantation you will see air fields. If you have the need for it, of course you must have it. So we are looking at all of those areas and the environment.
“Environment is living now, if you want to live well, we must be conscious of our environment, particularly the climate change, we must reduce carbon dioxide.
“We can use our waste to generate wealth and in doing that we employ our people. Like I said we are the most industrialized state, we want green industrialization. The ara of emitting dangerous hazardous smoke is over.
“There are new ways of doing things, new engineering solutions that are in place and that are what we are trying to do. We are even generating electricity with our waste that is what I call using waste to generate power and waste to wealth. Those are the areas we are focusing on.” [myad]

President Muhammad Buhari has been advised to disregard calls on him to sack the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. The advice was given by the national coordinator of a group, Stand Up Nigeria (SUN), Philip Agbese, at a news conference  in Abuja on Sunday.

“We appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to disregard the calls for him to sack the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), and Minister of Justice, Malami Abubakar (SAN)

“Contrary to the lies being told, falling for propaganda to fire Mr Abubakar will signifying a policy U-turn on the part of his government and it will lead to loss of international goodwill and local support for the anti-corruption drive.”

The group said that the agitation for the removal of Malami was indeed evidence that corruption has continued to fight back.

Though SUN refused to address the allegations raised against the AGF, Agbese however said “we will tell these groups for free is that it is not an ethical choice or a popular stand to be seen as the advocate in chief for corrupt entities. The strategies they adopted in trying to bring the AGF down clearly gives indications as to who they speak for.

“We are instead appealing to Mr. Malami Abubakar SAN to disregard all such calls as the distraction that they are. The calls for his sack is an indication that he is taking actions that are hitting the corruption industry really hard, hence the desperation to get him out of the  way so that a pliable person that will not lift a finger against sleaze could be planted in his place.

According the National coordinator  of SUN, “In the short time Abubakar has been at the helms as AGF and Minister of Justice, we have seen enough proof that he embodies President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision of justice.

“We have seen an anti-corruption crusade that is yielding results without resorting to jungle maneuvers. The conviction and jailing of the ex-NIMASA Director General, Raymond Omatseye is enough testament that the AGF is up to speed with his job description. Nigerians also did not lose sight of the pace at which trials of persons arraigned for corruption are going as opposed to the past when suspects are charged and the trials get stuck for months. We are also mindful of the several cases we once thought were lost but that have been revived today.

“These no doubt are among the reasons Mr Abubakar has become the subject of petitions and letters demanding for his sack. It takes someone that has proven himself as the engine house of President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade to make such powerful enemies. The knowledge that the AGF gives the fillip to the anti-graft agencies to go after looters is unacceptable to his detractors.

“As those calling for Mr. Malami Abubakar’s sack go about writing the next chapter in their failed project: We hereby caution all those behind the call for the AGF’s sack; whether as the main client, foot soldiers or minions, to desist forthwith as Nigerians have zero tolerance for corruption and they have even lesser tolerance for those encouraging graft.

“We urge the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr. Malami Abubakar SAN to increase the onslaught on persons indicted for corruption and to the fight against graft to the next level. The assets and funds to be recovered from this exercise is sorely needed at this point in time that the economy is struggling.”

The group also described the call for Malami’s sack as laughable  and defended why it would not go into the allegations thus:”Let us state from the onset that we find these calls laughable.

“We will not try to counter the allegations raised against Mr Abubakar. That will be dignifying the groups that made those frivolous accusations and be helping them publicise their lies since their so called letter was never submitted in the first place. In the same vein we will not go into the identities of the groups making the calls since we are not an advertising agency to embark on image branding for them.” [myad]

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has warned that his people may resort to fighting back if Fulani herdsmen continue to attack the people in the state.

Fayose said that herdsmen’s invation of Oke Ako in Ikole local government area of the State on Friday, killing two residents of the town and injuring others, would be regarded as “agents of the devil that must be fished out and punished accordingly.”

Governor Fayose, who commiserated with the people of Oke-Ako, especially the family of the deceased, made it clear that everything humanly possible would be made to forestall the reoccurrence of such attack and safeguard the lives of Ekiti people.

According to a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said the Fulani herdsmen are becoming major threat to the unity of Nigeria and its people.

“I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands at will as they have done in other States.

“I have directed the police and other security agencies in the State to fish out the killer herdsmen. I am in constant touch with the security agencies and I hope that the killer herdsmen will be fished out wherever they are and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“The people of Oke-Ako should therefore remain calm while the security agents do their job. However, the security agents must be mindful of the fact that the people’s patience has a limit and they must therefore act promptly and decisively.”

The governor, who described activities of the Fulani Herdsmen as inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country said: “farmlands costing billions of naira have been destroyed in States in the South-West, South-East and North-Central zones of the country. One wonders how Nigerians can go back to farming when those already in the farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not doing anything about it.

“I am sounding a note of warning to the Fulani herdsmen and those who can talk to them should also do so now. If they continue with these wanton attacks, killing of the people and destruction of farmlands in Ekiti, I cannot guarantee that there won’t be reprisal attacks.

“I can also not guarantee the level that the reprisal attacks can get to because as a governor, it is my responsibility to defend and protect my people.”

He called on President Mohammadu Buhari to stop paying lips service to the Fulani herdsmen’s menace, saying “as patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), President Buhari has the capacity to call the herdsmen to order.

“President Buhari should therefore call his people to order because this is Ekiti; our people have the rights to defend themselves.

“Most importantly, President Buhari must be reminded of how he was so concerned about the killing of Fulani herdsmen in Saki, Oke Ogun Area of Oyo State such that he, as a private citizen led Arewa to Ibadan on October 13, 2000, to confront the then Governor of Oyo State, late Alhaji Lam Adesina.” [myad]

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has accused the new militant group in the Niger Delta region, “Niger Delta Avengers” of sinister agenda to destabilize President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

The MEND said in a statement also that it had dissociated itself from Avengers’ secessionist ambition of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) even as it made it clear that it is still observing ceasefire which remains in place in order to give President Buhari regime more time to stabilize Nigeria.

MEND said that after a rigorous and robust analysis, debate and review of political events in Nigeria within the past 12 months; particularly as they affect the Niger Delta region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has resolved to continue to respect the unilateral ceasefire of hostilities declared May 30, 2014 against key economic interests of the Nigerian State.
“The painful but necessary resolution to respect the ceasefire was borne out of MEND’s belief that as President Muhammadu Buhari marks his first year in office, he deserves more time to stabilize the country that was ran aground by the ill-fated, corrupt and visionless immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan which pauperized the Nigerian people to the alarming degree we all experience today.

“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to condemn and dissociate itself from the recent activities carried out by a group known as the “Niger Delta Avengers.

“Their sudden emergence has absolutely nothing to do with the Niger Delta struggle but rather a tool by certain elements to destabilise the current government. Going by their actions and subsequent statements, it has become very apparent on who the sponsors of these group are.
“MEND serves notice to the International Community that the Niger Delta region shall NOT be part of a secessionist Biafran State. Rather, the group believes in one strong united Nigerian federation where the principles and ideals of Resource Control; True Federalism; Rule of Law/Respect for Human Rights; Democracy; Free Enterprise and a Vibrant Civil Society are well entrenched in the grundnorm and put to practice.
“However, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) remains vehemently opposed to the fraudulent and unsustainable Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) headed by Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd) which still runs on the corrupt bureaucratic and operational template of the past administration. We have always made it very clear that unless the root issues which gave birth to the agitations in the Niger Delta region are addressed, in the form of a sincere dialogue, this programme will only continue to remain a mere cesspool of corruption.
“In order to create an enabling environment for dialogue on the Niger Delta question, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) urges President Muhammadu Buhari to release the Okah Brothers – Henry and Charles who were arrested in 2010 on trumped-up charges. The release of Henry and Charles Okah will be key to any form of dialogue in helping to bring stability to the volatile region.” [myad]