The Area Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Calvary Parish, Oshodi, Lagos, Pastor Jeff Agambi, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of President Barak Obama’s trick in luring him to accept the concept and practice of same-sex bill on Nigeria in the course of his current official visit to that country.
Agambi who spoke during the church’s free medical outreach in the Oshodi area during the weekend, insisted that same-sex marriages were against biblical doctrine and that Buhari should not bow to pressure and compromise Nigerians’ stance on the matter.
“Men having sexual affection for fellow men are not natural. God did not create man and man, but man and woman. Same-sex marriages are basically against biblical belief. I enjoin the president to hold Nigeria dear in his heart and not bow to the pressure of the world.
“President Buhari should not compromise. He should not look at what he alone stands to gain. He should stand by what the majority of Nigerians want.”
On the medical programme he said: “The directive for this programme is from our General Overseer, Pastor E.A. Adeboye. We must impact our society. We believe we must also give back to the society we live in. This is the 16th anniversary of the church, which is also the number of the years that we have been having this programme.”
The doctor at the outreach, Cosmas Odoemena, advised Nigerians to imbibe the culture of regular medical check-ups.
“This programme is also a public health enlightenment. We were supposed to have breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings. Medical check-ups are supposed to be six months, which translates to twice a year,” he added.
The programme, which included HIV test, Blood Pressure test, Sugar Level test, and the distribution of free drugs, had about 100 participants. [myad]
Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Usman, has called on the state government and other stakeholders to take immediate measure to curb what he called the rising incidences of illicit and narcotic drug consumption by youths in the state.
The traditional ruler who spoke during Sallah festivities at the weekend while paying homage to the Governor Aminu Masari, said that the state is currently leading others in the North in the area of illicit and narcotic consumption of drugs.
Usman, who described the situation as disturbing, called on parents and other stakeholders to monitor their children and wards even as he noted that recently, about 17 trucks loaded with illicit drugs meant for distribution in the state and beyond, were seized by Customs officials in the state.
He said the drug situation was a disturbing trend that needed urgent intervention by the state government among other stakeholders.
He called on the state government to set up more centres for training of youths in different handcrafts to minimise unemployment.
Responding, Governor Masari said a meeting between state government and management of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, had been held on the issue. [myad]
The United States of America has formally renewed diplomatic ties with Cuba, as the two nations opened embassies in their respective capitals. This was seen in diplomatic circle as a powerful move toward burying decades of enmity between the Cold War foes.
A foreign policy legacy for President Barack Obama, the historic turnaround between two bitter foes has come about at breakneck pace, in just a matter of months since the two sides agreed to bury the hatchet and work together as equals.
The shift came after Washington acknowledged that its policy of trying to affect change in tightly controlled communist Cuba through isolation and trade restrictions had failed, and that engaging Havana directly was a better way to nudge it towards democracy and prosperity.
For the first time since 1961, the Cuban flag will fly over Havana’s newly upgraded embassy in Washington, just a stone’s throw from the White House.
The standard with a white star inside a red triangle against white and blue stripes will also take its place among a row of flags from around the world adorning the State Department’s imposing marble entrance in the US capital.
In yet another historic gesture, US Secretary of State John Kerry will formally receive his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez for talks Monday, before holding a joint press conference around 1:45 pm (1745 GMT).
Earlier, Rodriguez will preside over a ceremony to mark the upgrading of the Cuban interests section to a full embassy.
The rapprochement was announced on December 17, as Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro agreed to end their countries’ estrangement and put them on track towards a full normalization of ties.
After a series of negotiations in Havana and Washington, the restoration of diplomatic relations has come about just seven months later. [myad]
Founder of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr Fredrick Fasehun has threatened to drag the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to court over what he called, its failure to pay it members the sum of N1.9 billion as debt accruing for the protection of pipelines contract terminated over a month ago.
Although report indicated that NNPC under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had cancelled the contract but Fasehun said the decision to take legal action against the oil corporation came on the heels of breakdown in communication by NNPC to reach out to the OPC after series of letters sent to it.
According to him, the contract was awarded to the OPC to keep surveillance on the NNPC’s pipeline from Mosimi in Ogun to Oyo State to prevent acts of vandalism.
He however debunked the claim that the contract was awarded to the OPC for political reasons by the immediate past government of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The contract was drafted by the NNPC and both parties signed it. We began on March 16, 2015 and the contract was for three months. I put 4,020 youths on the pipeline and for three months, we did the job with utmost integrity and righteousness. There was no complaint of pipeline vandalism. We were not mobilised but we went ahead to do the job because we felt concerned that the lifeline of the country was being threatened.
“While the contract was on, there was a change in government but I believe government is continuum and any contract signed on behalf of one government should be honoured by its successor.” [myad]
The Chief Security Officer (CSO) to immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan for five years, Gordon Obua is been arrested and detained by the State Security Service (SSS). Reports have it that he was arrested on Thursday in connection with ongoing investigations by the secret police on the alleged movement of large sums of “security money” in the last administration as well as oil theft in the Niger Delta. It was gathered that he went on hunger strike since Thursday to protest the conditions of his detention, including a lack of access to lawyers and his family members. He was arrested after honouring an invitation from the agency. Obua, appointed CSO by Jonathan in 2010, left his position at the end of the former president’s tenure on May 29, although he remains in active service at the security agency. It was learnt that Obua is being detained at the Abuja headquarters of the SSS, also known as the Department of State Services (DSS). The specifics of the investigations were not immediately known but an insider said Obua “is not co-operating” and could spend a longer period in detention. Obua is best remembered for expelling a German radio correspondent from Aso Rock in the dying days of Jonathan’s administration. The reporter had sought to verify from the visiting Chadian president, Idriss Derby, the truth of claims that South African mercenaries were helping in the fight against Boko Haram. President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to recover monies believed to have been stolen in the last administration as part of his anti-corruption campaign. The investigation is being led by the SSS, whose leadership was changed early July with exit of Ita Ekpenyong and the appointment of Lawan Daura as the DG in acting capacity. [myad]
David Atoza Ihindan was my primary school teacher at Harga, his home village. Trained at a Teachers Training College, TTC, established by Christian Missionaries at Mkar, he was one teacher that made an indelible impact on me at that formative stage. I often told him that he taught me things that no other techer taught me even at Nigeria’s premier university in Ibadan where I later earned a degree. And I meant it. He was a man of extraordinary intellectual courage and ambition. He went to school late in life and the teachers college he attended never offered French as a subject. Still, in his ambition to study French, he taught himself the language while teaching us in the village primary school where there were no French speakers. Unbelievably, he took the entrance examinations to study French at the Advanced Teachers College (ATC) in Zaria and passed. After his studies at ATC Zaria, he gained admission into Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), again to study French. By the time he graduated in 1976, he was far above the age of participating in the NYSC scheme so he took a teaching job. With the return of politics in 1978, he joined the NPN and was elected into the Benue State House of Assembly. He and Audu Ogbe were few of the articulate and active members of the house. We shared political beliefs and were often collaborators in politcal causes. During the Abacha government, we formed the movement for the creation of Katsina Ala State out of some Local Governments in Benue and Taraba – he was the National Chairman while I was National Secretary. Our movement believed that the new state would bring to an end the perennial Tiv/Jukun ethnic wars in Tarba. We were somehow alone in our thinking because the popular thinking amoung the Tiv and Jukun did not share our optimism. We fought on regardless, appearing before the Mbanefo panel set up by Sani Abacha at it’s sittings in Makurdi and Jalingo. Atoza Ihindan was an excellent debater; few Nigerian politicians are gifted with his oratorical skills. At the Mbanefo sittings in both Makurdi and Jalingo, he made powerful representations that moved everybody, including Mbanefo himself who was visibly shaken. But the creation of additional states in Nigeria, especially the kind of controversial state of our dream called for more than strong arguments and excellent speech delivery which were the only things going for us. We did not have the political clout. When Abacha announced his new states, we were left in the lurch. In 1999, Nigeria returned to democracy. In 2001, the Jukun/Tiv wars in Taraba that motivated our demand for a Katsina Ala state broke out in full force. This time, the carnage spread from Tarba into Benue, leading to the brutal butcher of some soldiers in Zaki Biam and the even more brutal and unjustified massacre of innocent civilians by the army in a whole senatorial zone of Benue state, erroneously reffered to as the Zaki Biam massacre by the media. Somehow, Atoza Ihindan believed that this was an opportunity for us to press ahead with our demand. I felt we were doomed to fail again. His interest in the Katsina Ala state project got a boost with the election of Gabriel Suswam as governor of Benue State in 2007. Suswam and Atoza Ihindan come from the Shitile clan of the Tiv tribe, half of whom are trapped in Taraba and have been persistently subjected to ethnic cleansing. He felt Suswam was in a position to find a solution to the problem and sent endless messages to me to revive our movement since as the National Secretary, I had in my custody all the relevant documents of our demand. I balked, watching Suswam. By December 2009, I drove to his village for a meeting on the way forward. It was a stormy meeting as for the first time in my life, I took a strong stand against my former teacher whom I had all along held in awe. He repeated his demand that we should work with Suswam. I replied that in my short experience with governance, I have been associated with some governors beginning from Adekunle Ajasin of Ondo state, Bamanga Tukur of Gongola, some military governors in Kano and David Jang in Gongola. I told him that I was happy to be associated with these governors because they possessed clarity of thought and their governments had set objectives which were pursued. I told him I had watched Suswam’s government for two years and he was a very elementary man whose reasoning did not go deeper than his pocket. Working with Suswam would not get us anywhere. But my teacher was too far gone. He went to etxraordinary lenghts in his relationship with Suswam, a relationship I believed was wrong headed and unproductive. In this years election, he staked all to support Suswam who had Barnabas Gemade as a formidable opponent. Atoza Ihindan was married to Dinah – a sister to Gemade. Now parading himself as Suswam’s ‘father’, he mounted the soap box several times to denounce Gemade in very vitrolic terms. I felt this was wrong and even if every voter in Benue was against Gemade, Atoza Ihindan should have stood by him. We met at public functions but I avoided him because I did not want to talk to him in a way that will be construed as disrespect. But I was hoping to meet him one day and ask him where he placed Dinah and her children who are cousins to Gemade in his vitrolic attacks on the Senator. This will never be. Atoza Ihindan is the latest political victim of an assassins bullet in Benue State. Many others a being killed in a senseless wave of political killings that his hit Benue. While he was alive, we disagreed politically. Still I believe he and the other victims do not deserve the extra judicial killings. [myad]
Nigeria secret security organisation, the State Security Services (SSS) has come out with damning revelation of how the immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Mohammed Sambo Dasuki stocked his house with five bullet proof cars and various lethal weapons of destruction for the purpose of allegedly committing treason. At a new briefing to explain why its men and officers last week, stormed the residences of Dasuki, who was appointed NSA by the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, a senior officer in the Service, Tony Opuiyo said that among the items recovered from his house were some incriminating items. “These include seven (7) high calibre rifles, (high assault weapons), several magazines and military related gears. “The team also recovered twelve (12) new vehicles, out of which five (5) were bullet proofs. These vehicles which are all exotic vehicles were retrieved from SAMBO’s residence having failed to produce evidence of ownership. For instance, what could he be doing with five (5) bullet proof cars as a retired NSA? These cars which from all available evidence were purchased with tax payers money, were being kept for possible sinister enterprise. “The Service would want to state categorically that this search operation is not a witch hunt. The Service decided to move at this time in line with current Management resolve to be proactive and pre-empt individuals with penchant for impunity and lawlessness from putting back the nation to the dark days.” The text of the news briefing titled: “Preventing Attempts To Commit Treasonable Felony: The Search On The Residences (s) Of Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (Col Rtd), Immediate Past National Security Adviser (NSA),” reads: “On 16th July, 2015, about 1650 hours, based on credible intelligence linking the immediate past NSA, Mohammed Sambo DASUKI (Col Rtd) with alleged plans to commit treasonable felony against the Nigerian State, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) conducted a search on the properties belonging to the former NSA, Mohammed Sambo DASUKI (Col Rtd). The properties are on Nos. 13, John Khadya Street, Nos. 46, Nelson Mandela Street, both at Asokoro, Abuja, and Nos. 3 Sabon Birni Road, Gwiwa Area, Sokoto, Sokoto State. The search operations was planned to be simultaneously conducted, but DASUKI, refused the operatives entry into his main residence located at No. 13 John Khadya Street, Asokoro, despite being presented with a genuine and duly signed search warrant. Consequently, what was to last not more than two (2) hours, lasted more than ten (10) hours, up till the early hours of 17th July, 2015. Indeed if not for the sense of maturity and professionalism of the officers and men assigned this task and the very good understanding and timely intervention of the new Chief of Army Staff, Tsukur Y. BURATAI (Maj Gen), there would have been a clash between the Army operatives guarding the house and Service operatives, as SAMBO directed the soldiers on duty not to allow any movement into his house, despite the subsisting court order. SAMBO thereafter raised a false alarm to the military authorities to come to his aid as he failed to correctly tell the military that his property was about to be legitimately searched. Gentlemen, please recall that SAMBO retired from the Army as a Colonel, and therefore not entitled to have military guards, if not for the fact he was NSA. Even as NSA, such guards should have been withdrawn after his removal as NSA since he would not have been entitled. The search was thoroughly conducted, and several items recovered, among which were some incriminating items. These include seven (7) high caliber rifles, (high assault weapons), several magazines and military related gears. The team also recovered twelve (12) new vehicles, out of which five (5) were bullet proofs. These vehicles which are all exotic vehicles were retrieved from SAMBO’s residence having failed to produce evidence of ownership. For instance, what could he be doing with five (5) bullet proof cars as a retired NSA?. These cars which from all available evidence were purchased with tax payers money, were being kept for possible sinister enterprise. The Service would want to state categorically that this search operation is not a witch hunt. The Service decided to move at this time in line with current Management resolve to be proactive and pre-empt individuals with penchant for impunity and lawlessness from putting back the nation to the dark days. The Service is also aware that the lethal arms and the vehicles recovered were not reflected in SAMBO’s handover notes or what could a former NSA be doing with destructive weapons and bullet proof cars which put together could disrupt the peace of any city in Nigeria for a while. On the search of his three (3) properties, including the Sokoto residence, the Service is aware that in his capacity and given his antecedents, he might decide to use any of his residences for such diabolical plans, rather than his main residence. Gentlemen of the press, the Service Management would want to assure members of the public that it would not trample on the freedom of individuals or groups as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and emphasized by the current administration’s position on transparency, and probity underlined by justice and equity for all Nigerians. This is the driving force for all DSS operations. However, the Service would not hesitate to go after any person or group of persons, no matter how highly placed once such individual (s) breach or attempt to breach the laws of the Federation. The days for impunity and indecisiveness in the face of unpatriotic acts by individuals operating against the State are over. The Service hereby appeal to all Nigerians to be law abiding and partner with it in ensuring a peaceful and secured nation. In the same vein, those that are bent on breaking the rules governing our peaceful co-existence due to either the huge ill gotten wealth they have acquired or imaginary hold they think they have on our nation’s survival, are being warned to rethink. The DSS will use all constitutional means as defined by its mandate to deal decisively with such unpatriotic individuals. The Management want to seize this opportunity to appreciate Nigerians for the tremendous acts of goodwill that is being extended to the new dispensation. The Management also wish to assure Nigerians that the gesture and confidence being expressed will be reciprocated with more dedication and service to our dear country Nigeria. Happy Eid-el-Fitri to you and indeed, all Nigerians. Thank you. sgd Tony OPUIYO.” [myad]
Adamawa State governor, Mohammadu Bindow, has said the country’s constitution is unfair to traditional institution for not assigning constitutional responsibilities to it.
Bindow who made the remark today in Yola when the Lamido Emirate Council paid him Sallah homage, said that the constitutional recognition of the role of traditional institution would have prevented some of the security challenges and other social vices currently confronting the country.
He pledged that his administration would give due recognition to traditional institution in the state, saying: “the neglect of traditional institution has caused us what we are passing through today.
“The institution is the closest contact with the people and they required to be given constitutional role. We in Adamawa will continue to recognise traditional institution.”
The governor announced that his administration had already purchased 30,000 metric tons of fertilisers to be distributed to farmers in all the 21 local government areas of the state.
“The fertilisers cost N3.5bn even without transportation cost,” he said, adding that the gesture was aimed at boosting agricultural production.
Earlier, Dr Barkindo Musdafa, the Lamido of Adamawa, who led the council, promised that the people of the emirate would support the administration to improve their standard of living.
Musdafa, who is also the Chairman, Adamawa State Traditional Rulers Council, said that the policies of the new administration would alleviate poverty and reduce youth restiveness in the state. [myad]
The Senate and the House of Representatives have extended the date for resumption plenary sessions, which was earlier scheduled for Tuesday, July 21. Members are now expected to resume July 28.
This was made known by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Mohammed A. Sani-Omolori, who released an official notice of the postponement.
“This is to inform all Honourable members of the House of Representatives of the postponement of resumption of plenary session from adjourned date of Tuesday, 21st July to Tuesday, 28th July 2015,” Mr. Sani-Omolori said in his statement.
Plenary session was adjourned at both chambers of the National Assembly on Thursday, June 25, in the wake of fracas that ensued on the floor of the House between members of the All Progressives Congress loyal to the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and those loyal the party.
Also in defiance of the leadership of APC same day, Saraki named Ali Ndume, Senate Leader; Francis Alimikhena, Deputy Whip; and Bala Na’Allah, Deputy Senate Leader, in spite of stiff opposition from APC Senators loyal to the ruling party.
Dogara had rejected his All Progressives Congress (APC’s) position on the choice of the principal positions, citing Federal Character principle.
He made a new proposal which would see the North West produce the Majority Leader, thereby blocking Femi Gbajabiamila, South West, who is being favoured by the APC leadership.
The APC is yet to respond to Dogara’s proposal.
But Gbajabiamila’s group has vowed to ensure Dogara obeys the party’s directive. [myad]
An Ojo Customary Court in Lagos is set to dissolve a 10-year-old marriage between a 48 year old Pastor, Onyekwere Osondu and his wife who the husband suspected to have eloped to Liberia with another man since last year.
The Court President, Chief Joseph Ogunmola has ordered the court bailiff to contact any member of Ogechi’s family to witness the final judgment dissolving the marriage as all reconciliation measures had been exhausted and failed.
Pastor Osondu had told the court that the wife, Ogechi, travelled to Liberia over a year ago under the guise that she went to stay with her brother,but he had cause to believe that she had found comfort in the arms of another man.
“Prolonging this matter is not pleasing to me; although the court made several efforts to get my wife or someone from her family to appear before the court, there was no positive response”, the petitioner said.
“I am a man of God and I must maintain my moral status; her absence has made me to live like a bachelor for over one year and that is becoming more unbearable.
“Since my wife abandoned me and went to Liberia, I need to move on with my life. I cannot remain single forever; I need to remarry”.
“It was in trying to search for her that her mother invited me to come to the village and that was when I learnt that she had joined her brother living in Liberia”, Osondo stated..
“Her family members summoned me and claimed that I maltreated her because she had no child for me, but this is not true”.
The petitioner explained that Ogechi later sent him a text message, which read: “God has delivered me from you and I have changed my name to my maiden name”.
“When I informed her that I had filed a divorce suit, she responded by saying, ‘thank God. I am a man of God and I have carried out all traditional settlement required,” he said.
He alleged that his wife must have found comfort in the arms of another man in Liberia and prayed the court for a divorce.
“She is, obviously, fed up with the union and her refusal to return should not prolong the judgement of this court,” Osondu said. [myad]
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