Emir of Zurmi in Zamfara State, Atiku Abubakar Muhammad, who was recently dismissed for allegedly aiding bandits in his domain, has been reported dead.

Reports available to us in Greenbareg Reporters online newspaper said that Atiku, who had suffered an undisclosed illness, died at a private hospital in Abu Dhabi in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

A family member, Sani Zurmi, confirmed the development today, August 28. He said that the remains of the deceased is yet to be brought to Nigeria for burial.

“His remains are still in Dubai due to non-availability of plight to bring the deceased back home for burial,” Zurmi was quoted as saying.

Recall that the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle had in June 2021, suspended Atiku from being the Emir of Zurmi over his alleged involvement with bandits‘ activities in the kingdom.

Matawalle ordered the formation of a strong commission to investigate allegations that the suspended king was involved in the escalation of banditry activities in his area.

A statement issued by the acting secretary to the governor, Kabiru Balarabe, had revealed that the commission of inquiry into the suspended Emir of Zurmi would consist of eight members, headed by the state deputy governor, Ibrahim Wakkala, and would submit its report within three weeks.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has articulated his personal commitment to the virtues of integrity, transparency and social justice which he said are also virtues exhorted in the different faiths and religions in the country.
“For me, spirituality connotes values. I came into government with values about what I think is important, especially around transparency, social justice and justice, among others. You are almost always a product of the values you believe in. Fortunately, a lot of these values cut across the different faiths; they are not necessarily restricted to a religion or one faith.
“In societies that are more developed institutionally, you don’t need to be told that you shouldn’t do certain things because you could end up in jail if you do and there is a good likelihood that you could be detected and the process will go through and you will be punished.
“I speak about corruption and all that. But where the institutions are weak, some people have reasons for not doing the right thing.”

Professor Osinbajo, who addressed a group of Harvard Business School students who visited him on Friday, August 26, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that international community can only appreciate the enormity and complexity of some of Nigeria’s challenges if they first understanding the size of the country.
“First, there is a need to appreciate the size of the country, which is crucial to understanding what the issues are.
“For instance, Borno State is about the size of the whole of the United Kingdom plus Sweden or Denmark. So, when it is reported that there is violence in Nigeria, it is probably an incident in one remote area of the country, and many people in Abuja and Lagos may hear about it on social media; such is the size of this country.
“When they talk about economy, we are often compared with smaller African countries, but there are 10 states in Nigeria that have bigger GDPs than those countries, it is a huge target market.”
On some inaccurate characterization of Nigeria in sections of the international community, the Vice President said: “it is important to constantly engage the international community to show them how we feel about the stereotypes. It comes down to the work we do as government and people about the characterization.
“This is why some of the work around the Ease of Doing Business etc. are all initiatives that have behind them, the whole idea that this environment is one that is welcoming to business and people can come and do business.”
The students numbered about a dozen and are currently on an African excursion. They  asked questions about leadership, faith, spirituality, government policies in education, health, economy, and national image, among others.

An elder statseman, Professor Olugbemiro Akerejola has expressed displeasure over the lukeworm attitude of Kogi Central politicians towards the mobilization of Ebira people ahead of the national census scheduled for next year.
Professor Akerejola spoke today,, August 27, at a stakeholders’ interactive, organized and held in Okene in Kogi State by a non-governmental Organisation, De Noble Club 10 Kogi Central.
The elder statesman, who is the Ubuoro of Ogori regretted that politicians, especially those in leadership position are ‘sleeping’ in the area of sensitizing people for the census.
He said that the idea of mobilizing and sensitizing Ebira people should have be in the forefront, but are no where to be found.
“It is regrettable that none of the chairmen of the five local government areas is present here. No notable politicians is in attendance.”
Professor Akerejola, who hailed the traditional rulers and other NGOs for turning up and fully participate, advised the organizer of the program to find the ways of involving such political leaders.

Welcoming the guests, the President of De Noble Club 10 Kogi Central, Malam Abdulrazak Leramo said that the program has been put together to draw attention to the next year census.
“We are all aware of the importance of census in the life of a nation, a state and a community.”
Leramo said that De Noble Club 10 Kogi Central, being well known for mobilizing Ebira people for common cause of action on development, put the stakeholders engagement together to drum it on the people to get ready to be counted.