President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi as his Special Assistant on Digital/New Media.
Ogunlesi, who is a renowned blogger and journalist, graduated from the University of Ibadan in 2004, and obtained an MA in Creative Writing from University of East Anglia, UK, in 2011.
Before his appointment, Ogunlesi had worked as a Features Editor and Editorial Board member of NEXT Newspaper. He also worked as a West Africa Editor for The Africa Report magazine from 2014 to 2015.
Ogunlesi is a two-time winner of the CNN Multichoice African Journalism Awards, and a 2015 New Media Fellow of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP).
Ogunlesi will be assisted by Bashir Ahmad, who is a Personal Assistant to the President on New Media. [myad]
Lagos State Government has expressed readiness to use the Austria’s vocational study model to reduce unemployment in the State. This will be through partnering with that country to create investment opportunities, jobs and reduce unemployment.
The State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade disclosed this at a meeting with the visiting Austrian Vice Minister for Foreign Economic Policy and European Integration, Mrs. Bernadette Gierlinger at the Secretariat, Alausa.
He said that the opportunities inherent in solid waste management and transportation, especially the need for the development of rail and water modes of transportation to complement road transport system can jointly be harnessed.
According to the Commissioner, other areas of mutual interest include investments in waste to energy programme which is aimed at encouraging Lagosians to sort and sell their waste products rather than dumping them indiscriminately to degrade the environment.
Ashade said that about $3billion was required for water development projects in the state, even as he highlighted the potentials in waste water management which requires huge investment.
The Commissioner said that the plan by the present administration to increase electricity supply to every part of the state using solar, wind and hydro plants will go a long way to unbundle the potentials of Lagos.
He called on the Austrian Government to make haste to partner with the State Government as the investment world is already focusing on the State.
Earlier, Mrs. Bernadette Gierlinger said that Nigeria is one of the economically promising nations, stressing that as soon as electricity and transportation problem improves in the country, Nigeria will be best hub for investment and production activities.
She said that her visit was to explore ways to diversify the produce of Austria as well as partner with the Lagos State Government in such areas of mutual interest like construction, tourism, environmental technology, energy efficiency and vocational training which has made Austria one of the countries with the least unemployment rate.
The Vice Minister said she was impressed by the Lagos State Development Plan (LSDP), describing it as a detailed visionary document capable of hastening the development of the State if implemented faithfully.
She commended the Eko Atlantic project as a worthy investment, adding that Lagos and Austria have a lot in common and as such both can share in the experience of each other in the areas of urban migration, urbanization and climate change. [myad]
The Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Umahi, has made it clear that he was responsible for a fatal accident along Kubwa Expressway in Abuja which led to the death of one Mukaila Inakakana as reported report by an Abuja-based national newspaper.
In a statement today by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya, governor Umahi described it as unfortunate that his convoy was linked to the accident on account of the it occurred a few seconds before the vehicles in the convoy entered the highway.
The statement reads:
We read with utter disbelief, a report in the Thursday edition of the Daily Trust linking a Tuesday accident near Setraco on the Kubwa Expressway to the convoy of His Excellency, Engr. David Umahi.
We state clearly that no vehicle in the convoy obstructed any vehicle on the said road much less of causing the said accident.
For purpose of clarity, the said crash happened some metres away from His Excellency’s convoy.
Going by a police account as reported by the newspaper , the vehicle driven by the occupant skidded off a bridge and fell into a ditch, it would be clear to those who know the route well that the governor’s convoy could not have been responsible for the crash. This is so because the convoy was linking the Kubwa Highway from Katampe through an inter section almost under the flyover bridge.
We deny that a Protocol officer in our Abuja office spoke with The Daily Trust correspondents. If the paper insists, it should name such officer.
We state clearly here that we are being linked circumstantially to the accident simply because we were a few seconds away when the accident was happening.
His Excellency is however saddened that the occupant of the vehicle, Mallam Mukaila Inakakana, died. [myad]
Mrs. Dolapo, wife of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, today gave a toast to Mrs. Aisha, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, with a shout of Alleluya.
Dolapo wrote in her intergram account: (@dolapoosinbajo) to Wife of President, Mrs. Buhari:
“Say a prayer for Her Excellency Mrs. Aisha Buhari, it’s her birthday today. May God grant her many more years in good health, peace and joy in Jesus name, amen. #lovenigeria #lovenigerians” Happy birthday to her. [myad]
The Nigeria Police Force has warned the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group agitating for the Republic of Biafra, the Igbo nation not to dare it.
The police made specific reference to a recent publication credited to the Indigenous People of Biafra ‘to carry guns in self defence’ and sternly warned members of the IPOB to reconsider their stand or face the wrath of the extant laws on bearing of firearms.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olabisi Kolawole quoted the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase as further warning that anybody who dares security agencies in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities, and make life difficult for law abiding citizens, will face dare consequences of their actions.
The police boss cautioned the IPOB members to follow appropriate avenues in ventilating their grievances as anybody who steps out of bounds will be decisively dealt with.
“Members of the group should therefore note that it is an offence punishable under the criminal Law of the Federation of Nigeria for a person to have in his possession or under his control any prohibited firearms without licence or permit. The IPOB are advised to be guided in respect of the above as the Police Force is poised to uphold the existing restriction over the use of firearms.”
The statement said that all Zonal Assistant Inspectors General and State Commands’ Commissioners of Police have been directed to strictly enforce the laws against the use of illegal firearms across the length and breadth of the country.
It said that the Inspector-General of Police has assured that the Nigeria Police Force, complemented by other security agencies in the country, will tirelessly and assiduously work towards eliminating any threat to internal security and social disorder.
“He has reassured Nigerians of his commitment to their safety and security.” [myad]
The Director General (DG) of the National Centre for Women Development in Abuja who had just been sacked by the government, Onyeka Onwenu, has recounted the hell she went through as head of the centre for over two years. In a statement, the musician-turned-politician recalled that when she was appointed on September 13, 2013, she did not inherit funds to operate even as the place was badly run down. Worst of all, Onyeka said, there was low morale and lack of commitment among the Staff, saying that while most of the staff spent the day loitering and gossiping others would not show up for work or would arrive 11 am, only to leave before 3 pm. She said that in extreme cases, some staff were in the habit of not coming to work for months but would collect their salaries at home. “My administration changed all that. Most Staff were turned around and became passionate about the work, appreciating also the changes they thought were not possible but were happening right before them. “There remained though, a remnant who felt that the Center was their personal preserve and that the position of Director General should only go to someone from their part of the country. I was initially dismissed as just a Musician. When that did not work, I was targeted and abused for being an Igbo woman who came to give jobs to and elevate my people while sidelining them. “When these detractors could not provide answers to the spate of improvement we were bringing, they resorted to sabotage and blackmail. The first such salvo was fired when a Senate Committee visited on an oversight mission a few months after my arrival. All three Generators at the Center were cannibalized, overnight, just hours to the visit.” Onyeka Onwenu said that she managed to get over that incident and trudged on which she said led to modest accomplishments. “I have never in my life been an unfair person. I never favored any group I carried everybody along. But I did not put up with deliberate incompetence and a refusal to learn, an attitude of entitlement which some people displayed. We brought back a level of professionalism and commitment to deliver on our mandate. Without these attributes, the Center would have fallen apart.” The embattled former DG said that when the call came for her to disengage from the Center, she took it in good faith and with thanksgiving to the Almighty. She recalled how some stakeholders were upset and tried to make a case for her to continue, saying that efforts of such people was a testimony of God’s grace on her administration. “But I also knew that it was time to go. God who sent me there was taking me to a higher level of service. His infinite wisdom is unassailable. That is my faith. Besides, I was exhausted and had abandoned many personal projects to devote myself, 200% to the Center. The abuses and lack of cooperation from a mother Ministry, from those who felt that the Center overshadowed them, to the extent that they tried to discourage others from working with us, were just a bit much for my comfort. I did not lobby for the job in the first place and I was not going to lobby to keep it. I actually looked forward to leaving. “But some people were going to exact their pound of flesh. They organized some staff, mostly Northerners, invited the Press and set about to disgrace themselves. By mid afternoon, while the Heads of Departments were putting together the handover notes, they seized the keys to my official car, even with my personal items still inside. Threats began to fly. “That Ibo woman must go,” “we will disgrace her.” She said that the Chief organizer of such antagonistic group, an Acting Director General, went about whipping up ethnic sentiments against her. “Late 2015, the same officer had gone to the Center’s Mosque to ask for the issue of a Fatwa against me, claiming that I was working against the interest of the North. We nipped that in the bud by calling a townhall meeting and asking that proof be provided. The Fatwa was denied and peace reigned for a while. “Police was called in to the Center to escort me out and avoid bloodshed as I disengaged. Eventually, in the midst of insults and name calling, with an angry baying crowd, some of whom were brought in from outside, I entered my official car and left. “At no time during this melee did I threaten to sue Mr. President for asking me to disengage. Why would I? Is it not within his authority. Even if it were not, is the Center my personal property? I had done my best and if it was time to go, it was that simple, life continues. “I had a thriving career before my appointment. The Center did not make me. I have so much to do. I am a multitalented, multifaceted and multitasking child of God. By His grace, the future is greater. So what is the problem? “Let me say here that The Federal Government should really look into the Parastatals and take note of the fact that many people who work on them do not have the requisite qualification. Many contribute nothing and many see their jobs as personal entitlements. They are owed because Nigeria belongs to them and them alone. Somehow, these people were given the impression that they could attempt to do what they did to me and nothing would happen. That is very sad indeed. “The Ministry also has a case to answer. They helped to creat that impression. A situation where the Ministry could invite a Management Staff to a trip abroad without informing the DG and the Staff would only inform her principal via txt message, from the Airport as she is leaving the country, creates an atmosphere of indiscipline and anything goes. The Ministry should restrain itself to its spelt out function and not undermine the authority of the DG. “Finally, I declare that I am a Nigerian citizen who should enjoy the rights attendant to that privileged. I am Onyigbo and proud of it. “I respect myself and I love and respect all for who they are. We are all God’s children. No one has the right to insult or abuse me or deprive me of my rights. Nigeria will not hold unless and until we all come to that realization.” [myad]
“We do not need Sheriff to reform PDP. And he cannot actually lead the party for some obvious reasons. He is not a team player and he has many controversies surrounding his style of politics. This is the position of a group of leading members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who are loyal to former President Goodluck Jonathan after a meeting in Abuja overnight to review the current development in the party. The group, made up of mainly ministers who served under Jonathan vowed to resist the imposition of Modu Sheriff on the party, warning: “we are parting ways with ex-President Jonathan if he is adamant on Sheriff. The battle line is drawn. We respect our principal, but he got it wrong this time around.” The spokesman for former ministers in Jonathan’s administration, Dr. Suleiman Abubakar, in a terse statement in Abuja, said: “Our rescue mission has failed, the redemption boat has capsized and our journey to recovery has come to an end. “Jonathan can afford to take the risk with Sheriff because he has reached a dead end politically. We will not allow the ex-President to ruin our own future. Public perception does not favour Sheriff.” “Whosoever partook in the decision does not mean well for the party and democracy in Nigeria. It is obvious the fifth columnists have hijacked the party and they are hell bent on sinking it deeper into irrecoverable level of the pit. “Some of us would rather review our membership than subject ourselves to selfish interests of a cabal whose main goal is political profiteering. After all our umbilical cord is not tied to any party. “We knew the NWC and the governors have a different agenda. With Sheriff, the PDP cannot go far in 2019. Jonathan and these leaders should listen to the Board of Trustees (BOT) members.” Meanwhile, the new chairman of a once largest party in Africa has said in Umuahia during the thanksgiving service by Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu that he will lead the party to victory in 2019. “We are here today, we are starting from here, and we are going to Aso Rock, Insha Allah by 2019. “We will head from here and we will do it together. This my long cap is prepared to lead my colleagues and brothers to Aso Rock, Insha Allah. “By the grace of Allah, nothing will deter this party from going to Aso Rock in 2019. By the time we put down our master-plan I am sure they (APC) will go back to where they came from. And Insha Allah, nothing will stop us. ”From what I have seen in the stadium, it is clear that his (Ikpeazu’s) election is the election of the people. It is election that God has destined. It is not election that we call it election by air, election by writing. This is the election of the people.” [myad]
I ended the Part 1 of this piece by saying that Muhammadu Buhari is not a friend of chiefs, and the first time he was here as C-in-C, he gave the chiefs long jail-terms; and, funny enough, they carried their National Honours and Medals along! And so history seems to be repeating itself. It is as if anytime the chiefs mess things up with their unbridled thieving, or every time our nation-wide community chiefs gorge themselves on our commonwealth to the point of suicide, Providence sends the ascetic general to come and do some house-cleaning. And because Buhari is also a chief, but one of a different kind, any time the chiefs see him, they scamper. As in 1984 when the Umaru Dikkos, the Joseph Wayas, the Uba Ahmeds and the Adisa Akinloyes ran away, today too the Mainas, the Adokes, the Kukus, the Alison-Maduekes, and the Sambos…have taken off. But where Buhari became burdened with Umaru-cargo then because of his reliance on non-state actors, today he is tempered by the demands constitutional correctness: he is, therefore, banking on Interpol, an international actor. In 1984, he came with gun-powder; this time, he has come with Broom-power. While gun-powder maybe explosive, fast and furious, broom-power is slow, but steady and thorough. It is now sweeping the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). From there, it is moving gradually, but steadily to the ministries, beginning with Defence. It will proceed thence to ATM machines like the NNPC, Petty-Cash points like SURE-P and cash-cows like Customs, NPA, FIRS etc. Already, 26 DGs of Federal agencies, commissions and departments, some of them chiefs in their own rights, have been shoved aside. Put another way, since some of these Dasuki-gate chiefs are versatile and rapaciously avaricious, it is very possible that many of them will also have mention in SURE-P-gate, NNPC-gate, NNDC-gate, Customs-gate, Immigration-gate, FIRS-gate, Maina/Pension-gate …. Everywhere one turns now, there is a gate of some kind or a potential gate waiting to open and assault our already over-tortured imagination with its ugly skeletons. And mind you, these are not the type of gates that keep criminals out; these are the types of gates constructed by thieves, sorry, chiefs, who love themselves immeasurably far above their neighbours, their oaths of office, their country, their generation and their God! This means there are many more chiefs waiting to be unveiled or unmasked, to be exposed for whom they really are. We may then discover that they may be knights, but there is no “K” in their “knights.” Meaning: They are people of the night: I am not saying they are thieves, although like thieves, the chiefs like operating in the night. In the end, only the courts can authoritatively say whether or not a chief is also a thief. You can call that Combined Honours! But these are chiefs, so even when they are convicted, we cannot call them common thieves or petty criminals. We must, therefore, show some respect by calling them: executive thieves, posh criminals, stylish shysters, expensive crooks, classy hypocrites…. And likewise, the “hoods” in their knighthoods may be closer to the “hood” in hoodlums. This makes them modern-day Robinhoods! (And by the way, Robinhood, the legendary English criminal, was not convicted too! In other words, many of these our chiefs in resplendent attires and bombastic dictions may not be real Knights – despite their GCON, GCFR, OON, CON, CFR… – but people of the night who are closer to hoodlums than knighthoods. The worry is that they are so everywhere. My landlord is a chief! The chairman of the Security Committee in our estate is a chief! The school my daughter attends is owned by a chief! And the school is located near a massive estate said to be the property of a chief! There is a filling station adjoining it: it as owned by a chief! Everywhere I turn, I am assaulted by the sight of a chief! And crime statistics are on the rise. So is there any connection between chiefs and thieves? Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, while he lived, used to say the only thing distinguishing a Chief from a Thief is the C. Does this mean the “C” in “chief,” most times, stands for “Criminal?” In Tiv language, the “T” in “Thief” can mean “Tchough Kwagh!” Meaning: The Thief who is no ordinary criminal, but a con-artist! Although every financial scandal under the Jonathan government staggers the imagination, given that they always run into billions, even trillions, the Dasuki-gate, with its emerging details, is especially numbing. Dasuki allegedly collected money in the name of Boko Haram, and then commenced pumping it, wholesale and full-scale, into President Goodluck Jonathan’s Re-election “Logistics.” If his office were not clearly advertised as that of the NSA, one might think he was PDP’s Director of Contacts-cum-Mobilization-cum-Logistics. And after Contacting and Mobilizing PDP chieftains, whatever “Change” that was left therefrom, Dasuki reportedly committed same into the building his personal estates and hotels in commanding locations across the country. And it seems whatever “Change” that remained of the “Change,” he went shopping with it in Dubai or any place that caught his fancy! So as the APC shouted itself hoarse with its “Change mantra,” Dasuki, sitting pretty on $2.1billion, knew better! CHANGE may be an English word, but it had different meanings to John Oyegun and Dasuki. And so, it had to the array of chiefs in the Dasuki army: Dokpesi, Kuku, Amosu, Badeh, Obaigbena, Yuguda, Falae, Obanikoro, Muazu, Tompolo, Segun Osoba, Ayu, Metuh, Yarkin Bello, Bode George, Odili, Tom Ikimi, Nwobodo, Yerima and, wait for it, Bafarawa & sons Ltd. You can also add: Haliru Mohammed & Sons etc, etc, etc, etc…! It is a long list indeed, and it is growing. Bafarawa may not be a lion, but when it came to the Dasuki-Bazaar, he allegedly took the lion-share! Besides netting N100million from Yuguda and another N100 from Chairman Muazu, he is said to have grossed a hefty N4.6 billion for “Prayers and Spiritual purposes.” Since the Jonathan crowd was paying for endorsements (according Falae), and the Association of Nigerian Witches and Wizards endorsed Jonathan’s re-election bid, was settling the Witches/Wizards also part of Bafarawa’s brief? And since Bafarawa knows the efficacy of prayers in electoral victories, did he also pay for his election wins in 1999 and again in 2003? If Yes, how much? And if No, why did he collect billions from Jonathan for “prayers?” Was he really Jonathan’s helper or a buccaneer, preying on Jonathan and his vacuity? And what about Chief Olu Falae, ex-banker, ex-Federal Permanent secretary, ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ex-Finance Minister and ex-double Presidential candidate? He collected money from Jonathan, on behalf of his party, the SDP, so the party would support Jonathan. But he kept mute and the party did not know about it until Dasuki started singing like a canary! How long has Falae been collecting money to endorse aspirants/candidates…for Senate, for governor, for president? Is the SDP a party or a shop? If it is a party, is it in the public space to secure political power or to secure lucrative endorsement deals? If it is a business, a limited liability company, how long has Falae been trading with the SDP? So much honour! So much transparency! And so much for integrity! If Falae became president in 1992 or 1999, is this the baggage he would bring to the Presidential Villa? Even Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, the World Bank technocrat, could not resist the temptation of joining the merry-go-round of corruption. She admittedly “loaned” Dasuki over $2billion! It defies logic or the international best practices she claimed to have brought from the World Bank! Is the Finance Ministry a Bank or a Finance House to loan people money out? How come some of us did not know about these “loans?” Was this how she was “loaning” out money at the World Bank? If it is a bank, which collateral did Dasuki give Okonjo-Iweala, the bank’s CEO? How many other chiefs did she “loan” public funds to? There is not even a letter that Dasuki wrote to her, requesting for the “loan!” And the money she illegally “loaned” to Dasuki was not even appropriated in the budget! But then, when you give out a loan, there is something called “commission.” And such other sweeteners like COT, banking charges, percentages etc. Well, this $2.1billlion “loan” was not captured in the budget. This was the recovered Abacha loot! Meaning: There was money already appropriated for Dasuki’s office – close to N1Trillion. And this was outside the $1billion loan President obtained to “buy arms/prosecute” the Boko Haram war! Plainly put, Dasuki creamed off his N1Trillion budget for the year; cleaned out the $1billion “Boko Haram loan,” and turned voraciously on the Abacha loot! Truly, only a Locust-Army could have achieved this rapacious feat so effortlessly – and all the while, mouthing patriotic slogans of “Transformation, Continuity and Consolidation!” And our Mrs. World Bank was, sadly, part of this army! Of course, she was neither the Commander nor the Quarter-Master nor even the Chief of Logistics of this despoiling army, but she was a Matron, a Coordinator, of sorts. So she was, besides being the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, perhaps, also Minister of Corruption and the Coordinating of the Dasuki Bazaar! An authentic African High Chief, Field Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga told his chiefs (ministers and party Delegates in 1971: “If you steal, do not steal too much at a time: you may be arrested. Steal little by little.” With the benefit of hindsight, President Jonathan did not so advise members of his entourage. May be he did not know or read about Mobutu, the promising Congolese nationalist, who left the French Army for Journalism: that is one benefit of scholarship – reading. Although the chiefs started their looting schemes with millions, they graduated to billions of Dollars! Today, the bubble has burst, and the veneer of innocence has been washed away. To paraphrase a poet from another country and civilization, we can say: “Things have fallen apart; the centre can no longer hold; the pretense of innocence has been washed away; even as the Dasuki-tide threatens to drown many….” Imobo-Tswam, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja. He can be reached at: simonpita2008@yahoo.com
A group group called G-16 has accused the All Progressive Congress (APC) of a plot to make Taraba state ungovernable for the winner of the recent Supreme Court verdict, Governor Darius Ishaku. In a statement by the coordinator, Israel Ndatse, the group which claims to be an umbrella body of democrats from the 16 local councils in the state, alleged that the APC is not taking its defeat lightly. “As democrats, we are shocked that the APC did not even congratulate the governor after the Supreme Court verdict in the spirit of brotherliness and good sportsmanship. Rather, a statement emerging from the APC camp recently alluded that the party would perpetually keep the governor on his toes. “What do they mean by that? And when they said they would continue their struggle to emancipate Taraba, what do they mean? Is Taraba in any bondage? Are they not the ones who wanted to drag Taraba 100 years backward? Is it not Governor Darius that is now trying hard to rescue the state? “We don’t find such statements funny or take them as mere prattling of a wailing loser. We believe the party is simply plotting to make Taraba ungovernable. This tactics is a common one. This was how Atiku once said Jonathan would not sleep well at the Villa. Before you knew it, the Boko Haram insurgency went into full throttle and started consuming everyone.” The group said that the recent invasion of the state by militias forces was another indication of the APC plans to make the state difficult to govern, adding: “since the victory of Governor Darius, we have noticed an increase in the influx of strange looking militia into the state. “There have been kidnappings and all sorts of violent attacks on innocent citizens. These attacks are clearly coordinated and designed to frustrate the governor’s efforts at fostering peace and unity. Already, almost the entire Central zone is getting heated with the Fulani attacks. Never a day goes by without hearing of one case or the other. More so now that the governor wants to consolidate on all his efforts. “Another plan of the party is to continue to encourage ethno religious diversity through the sponsoring of hate speeches and slanted sermons in places of worship. The plot is to continue to castigate and interrogate the motives of government in its appointments and other public functions. The main objective of this is to continue to deepen disafections that may lead to a break down of law and order. “We urge the security apparati in the state to step up its game. This can be done through unrelenting periodic and round the clock surveillance, improved intelligence, sting operations, and a robust Information gathering system put in place. Right now, we don’t feel the security agencies in Taraba are taking these measures. “We are also aware that the Darius administration would soon come under a heavy artillery of media attacks sponsored by the opposition to cast aspersions on the work of the governor. This is to alert the public to take with a pinch of salt any APC-inspired criticism. The government would of course welcome any constructive and genuine criticism based on verifiable truth. “But any crusade to paint the administration black deliberately shall be reasonably resisted. We are therefore calling on all our supporters to beware of such media attacks that would soon be unfolding. The government, we can assure all, would be furnishing us with details of its activities through various periodic platforms. After all, APC doesn’t have a monopoly of the mass media.” [myad]
Dangote Foundation is set to offer Micro Grants to Lagos women with a committee inaugurated to select the beneficiaries. The programme is coming under the state Poverty Alleviation programme , in collaboration with Dangote Foundation.
Speaking at the inauguration of the committee at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, the state commissioner for women affairs, Lola Akande said the committee will be responsible for selecting, nominating and presenting eligible candidates as prospective beneficiaries from Ward Level to the State Government for final approval before they can access the Dangote Foundation Micro Grants.
While commending Dangote Foundation for its magnanimity in its move to reduce poverty among women by empowering them, Akande disclosed that the programme was aimed at boosting the household income generation of disadvantaged women such as widows, divorcees and special people, adding that each beneficiary will be awarded the sum of N10, 000 and a Mobile Phone.
“In view of Government’s commitment to raising the standard of living of the people and its attempts to reduce the level of poverty among residents in the State, the present administration is appreciative of the collaborative gesture from corporate bodies such as Dangote Foundation and would welcome more of such.”
In his remark, the Program Manager of Dangote Foundation, Musa Bala, said that Lagos State is the sixth beneficiary of the N10 Billion nationwide programme by the company having done the same in five other states before, adding that the N400 million Lagos project was meant for the economic empowerment of vulnerable widows and socially disadvantaged women in the State.
While enjoining members of the committee to be fair in selection of beneficiaries, Bala urged them to make equity and fairness their watch words in the selection process.
The Eight Member Committee include representative of Executive Secretaries of Local Government and Local Council Development Areas, representative of Traditional Institution in the benefitting Community, one representative each from the Islamic and Christian Organisations, Representative of Youth groups from community based organizations, two non- partisan, non- religious community members, and Community Development Officer/Welfare Secretary while the representative of the Executive Governor, Hon. Lola Akande will chair the Committee. [myad]
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President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi as his Special Assistant on Digital/New Media.
So, Is Every Chief A Thief? By Simon Imobo-Tswam
And so history seems to be repeating itself. It is as if anytime the chiefs mess things up with their unbridled thieving, or every time our nation-wide community chiefs gorge themselves on our commonwealth to the point of suicide, Providence sends the ascetic general to come and do some house-cleaning. And because Buhari is also a chief, but one of a different kind, any time the chiefs see him, they scamper. As in 1984 when the Umaru Dikkos, the Joseph Wayas, the Uba Ahmeds and the Adisa Akinloyes ran away, today too the Mainas, the Adokes, the Kukus, the Alison-Maduekes, and the Sambos…have taken off. But where Buhari became burdened with Umaru-cargo then because of his reliance on non-state actors, today he is tempered by the demands constitutional correctness: he is, therefore, banking on Interpol, an international actor.
In 1984, he came with gun-powder; this time, he has come with Broom-power. While gun-powder maybe explosive, fast and furious, broom-power is slow, but steady and thorough.
It is now sweeping the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). From there, it is moving gradually, but steadily to the ministries, beginning with Defence. It will proceed thence to ATM machines like the NNPC, Petty-Cash points like SURE-P and cash-cows like Customs, NPA, FIRS etc. Already, 26 DGs of Federal agencies, commissions and departments, some of them chiefs in their own rights, have been shoved aside. Put another way, since some of these Dasuki-gate chiefs are versatile and rapaciously avaricious, it is very possible that many of them will also have mention in SURE-P-gate, NNPC-gate, NNDC-gate, Customs-gate, Immigration-gate, FIRS-gate, Maina/Pension-gate ….
Everywhere one turns now, there is a gate of some kind or a potential gate waiting to open and assault our already over-tortured imagination with its ugly skeletons. And mind you, these are not the type of gates that keep criminals out; these are the types of gates constructed by thieves, sorry, chiefs, who love themselves immeasurably far above their neighbours, their oaths of office, their country, their generation and their God!
This means there are many more chiefs waiting to be unveiled or unmasked, to be exposed for whom they really are. We may then discover that they may be knights, but there is no “K” in their “knights.” Meaning: They are people of the night: I am not saying they are thieves, although like thieves, the chiefs like operating in the night.
In the end, only the courts can authoritatively say whether or not a chief is also a thief. You can call that Combined Honours! But these are chiefs, so even when they are convicted, we cannot call them common thieves or petty criminals. We must, therefore, show some respect by calling them: executive thieves, posh criminals, stylish shysters, expensive crooks, classy hypocrites….
And likewise, the “hoods” in their knighthoods may be closer to the “hood” in hoodlums. This makes them modern-day Robinhoods! (And by the way, Robinhood, the legendary English criminal, was not convicted too! In other words, many of these our chiefs in resplendent attires and bombastic dictions may not be real Knights – despite their GCON, GCFR, OON, CON, CFR… – but people of the night who are closer to hoodlums than knighthoods.
The worry is that they are so everywhere. My landlord is a chief! The chairman of the Security Committee in our estate is a chief! The school my daughter attends is owned by a chief! And the school is located near a massive estate said to be the property of a chief! There is a filling station adjoining it: it as owned by a chief! Everywhere I turn, I am assaulted by the sight of a chief! And crime statistics are on the rise. So is there any connection between chiefs and thieves?
Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, while he lived, used to say the only thing distinguishing a Chief from a Thief is the C. Does this mean the “C” in “chief,” most times, stands for “Criminal?” In Tiv language, the “T” in “Thief” can mean “Tchough Kwagh!” Meaning: The Thief who is no ordinary criminal, but a con-artist!
Although every financial scandal under the Jonathan government staggers the imagination, given that they always run into billions, even trillions, the Dasuki-gate, with its emerging details, is especially numbing. Dasuki allegedly collected money in the name of Boko Haram, and then commenced pumping it, wholesale and full-scale, into President Goodluck Jonathan’s Re-election “Logistics.” If his office were not clearly advertised as that of the NSA, one might think he was PDP’s Director of Contacts-cum-Mobilization-cum-Logistics. And after Contacting and Mobilizing PDP chieftains, whatever “Change” that was left therefrom, Dasuki reportedly committed same into the building his personal estates and hotels in commanding locations across the country. And it seems whatever “Change” that remained of the “Change,” he went shopping with it in Dubai or any place that caught his fancy!
So as the APC shouted itself hoarse with its “Change mantra,” Dasuki, sitting pretty on $2.1billion, knew better! CHANGE may be an English word, but it had different meanings to John Oyegun and Dasuki. And so, it had to the array of chiefs in the Dasuki army: Dokpesi, Kuku, Amosu, Badeh, Obaigbena, Yuguda, Falae, Obanikoro, Muazu, Tompolo, Segun Osoba, Ayu, Metuh, Yarkin Bello, Bode George, Odili, Tom Ikimi, Nwobodo, Yerima and, wait for it, Bafarawa & sons Ltd. You can also add: Haliru Mohammed & Sons etc, etc, etc, etc…! It is a long list indeed, and it is growing.
Bafarawa may not be a lion, but when it came to the Dasuki-Bazaar, he allegedly took the lion-share! Besides netting N100million from Yuguda and another N100 from Chairman Muazu, he is said to have grossed a hefty N4.6 billion for “Prayers and Spiritual purposes.” Since the Jonathan crowd was paying for endorsements (according Falae), and the Association of Nigerian Witches and Wizards endorsed Jonathan’s re-election bid, was settling the Witches/Wizards also part of Bafarawa’s brief? And since Bafarawa knows the efficacy of prayers in electoral victories, did he also pay for his election wins in 1999 and again in 2003? If Yes, how much? And if No, why did he collect billions from Jonathan for “prayers?” Was he really Jonathan’s helper or a buccaneer, preying on Jonathan and his vacuity?
And what about Chief Olu Falae, ex-banker, ex-Federal Permanent secretary, ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation, ex-Finance Minister and ex-double Presidential candidate? He collected money from Jonathan, on behalf of his party, the SDP, so the party would support Jonathan. But he kept mute and the party did not know about it until Dasuki started singing like a canary! How long has Falae been collecting money to endorse aspirants/candidates…for Senate, for governor, for president? Is the SDP a party or a shop? If it is a party, is it in the public space to secure political power or to secure lucrative endorsement deals? If it is a business, a limited liability company, how long has Falae been trading with the SDP? So much honour! So much transparency! And so much for integrity! If Falae became president in 1992 or 1999, is this the baggage he would bring to the Presidential Villa?
Even Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, the World Bank technocrat, could not resist the temptation of joining the merry-go-round of corruption. She admittedly “loaned” Dasuki over $2billion! It defies logic or the international best practices she claimed to have brought from the World Bank! Is the Finance Ministry a Bank or a Finance House to loan people money out? How come some of us did not know about these “loans?” Was this how she was “loaning” out money at the World Bank? If it is a bank, which collateral did Dasuki give Okonjo-Iweala, the bank’s CEO? How many other chiefs did she “loan” public funds to? There is not even a letter that Dasuki wrote to her, requesting for the “loan!” And the money she illegally “loaned” to Dasuki was not even appropriated in the budget! But then, when you give out a loan, there is something called “commission.” And such other sweeteners like COT, banking charges, percentages etc.
Well, this $2.1billlion “loan” was not captured in the budget. This was the recovered Abacha loot! Meaning: There was money already appropriated for Dasuki’s office – close to N1Trillion. And this was outside the $1billion loan President obtained to “buy arms/prosecute” the Boko Haram war!
Plainly put, Dasuki creamed off his N1Trillion budget for the year; cleaned out the $1billion “Boko Haram loan,” and turned voraciously on the Abacha loot! Truly, only a Locust-Army could have achieved this rapacious feat so effortlessly – and all the while, mouthing patriotic slogans of “Transformation, Continuity and Consolidation!” And our Mrs. World Bank was, sadly, part of this army! Of course, she was neither the Commander nor the Quarter-Master nor even the Chief of Logistics of this despoiling army, but she was a Matron, a Coordinator, of sorts. So she was, besides being the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, perhaps, also Minister of Corruption and the Coordinating of the Dasuki Bazaar!
An authentic African High Chief, Field Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga told his chiefs (ministers and party Delegates in 1971: “If you steal, do not steal too much at a time: you may be arrested. Steal little by little.” With the benefit of hindsight, President Jonathan did not so advise members of his entourage. May be he did not know or read about Mobutu, the promising Congolese nationalist, who left the French Army for Journalism: that is one benefit of scholarship – reading.
Although the chiefs started their looting schemes with millions, they graduated to billions of Dollars! Today, the bubble has burst, and the veneer of innocence has been washed away. To paraphrase a poet from another country and civilization, we can say: “Things have fallen apart; the centre can no longer hold; the pretense of innocence has been washed away; even as the Dasuki-tide threatens to drown many….”
Imobo-Tswam, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja. He can be reached at: simonpita2008@yahoo.com