The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has donated medical equipment worth $1million (about N450 million) to Nigeria to battle Covid19.
The Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom to Nigeria, Ibrahim H. Alghamedi, in a statement today, April 20, said that the donation is part of the Saudi’s effort, at international level, to combat Covid19 epidemic
The medical equipment for Nigeria, according to the Deputy Ambassador, comprised surgical sterile gown, non sterile surgical gown, masks, surgical masks,ventilators and Nitrile.
TOPSHOT – Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno (C) casts his ballot at a polling station in N’djamena, on April 11, 2021. – AFP via Getty Images)
The newly re-elected President of the Republic of Chad, Idriss Déby has died of wounds he received while commanding his army in battles against rebels in the north.
In a swift change of fate, after news had come in that Chad’s veteran president, Idriss Déby had won a sixth term in the latest provisional results on Monday by 79.3%, an announcement broadcast on national radio today, April 20, announced his death.
According to the army spokesperson of the army, General Azem Bemrandoua Agouna, the military had been pushed back by a column of insurgents who were advancing on the capital, N’Djamena.
Déby, was expected to give a victory speech after receiving the provisional results, but opted instead to visit Chadian soliders on the front lines, said his campaign director Mahamat Zen Bada.
Chairman of the Nigeria Government Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has given assurance that full implementation of financial autonomy for the Judiciary and State legislatures will commence, latest May this year.
speaking to newsmen today, April 19 after a meeting of stakeholders on financial autonomy for the judiciary and legislature, Dr. Kayode, who is Governor of Ekiti State said “not later than May, you will start seeing the implementation of the agreement that we have reached.”
He said that the implementation of the financial autonomy had never be an issue because governors, speakers and judges are on the same page, as far as this issue is concerned.
“We just emerged from a meeting with the Solicitor-General of the Federation, the representatives of the judiciary, the representatives of the Conference of Speakers, and House of Representatives and we are on all fours. An agreement has been reached.
“First, the issue is about implementation. There has been no objection from governors on judicial and legislative autonomies, as a matter of fact, it would not have passed if governors were not in support in the first instance, in the state Assemblies.
“So that issue has been fully and holistically addressed, but we don’t just want to agree to something on paper without working out the modalities for implementation. Thankfully, the meeting we have just emerged from, with the Chief of Staff to the President chairing, has worked out the modalities to the satisfaction of all parties.
The NGF stressed that implementation will commence as soon as the final document that is being cleaned up emerges, “that is preparatory to implementation.
“We are not going to put a timeframe in the air, but it will be implemented as soon as possible, definitely not later than the end of May 2021.”
The governor then called on the judicial workers to call off the strike and return to work in the interest of the nation.
He said that all the parties, from the President, through the Chief of Staff, are at a position “where whether you speak to the Conference of Speakers’ chairperson or you speak to me or you speak to the representative of the judiciary or you speak to the Solicitor-General of the Federation, you will hear that we’re speaking with one voice on the implementation.”
No fewer than eight Niger Delta militants and kidnappers have now become pastors in the Omega Power Ministries (OPM) where they are undergoing rehabilitation after they repented.
The General Overseer of the church, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) today, April 19, said that the repentant militants and kidnappers turned over a new leaf after a divine encounter through evangelism organised for some of them in their various camps.
“I preached to them and many of them hearkened to salvation call and gave their lives to Jesus Christ.
“Before I embarked on this move, I bought some estates to relocate them.
“Initially, when I preached to them, because I could not relocate them out of their place, it was easy for them to go back to their old ways.
“So, I decided that the best way to approach them is to change their environment and that became the first step of their healing process.”
He said that he took them to the estate, got them baptized and began to teach them the words of God form complete liberation from crime.
“These kidnappers have wives and children, so what we did was to put their children in the free school operated by the church and at the same time established businesses for their wives.
“We started teaching them different skills and by the grace of God, after they acquired the skills, some said they wanted to be pastors.
“And, currently we have eight of them that are full time pastors in OPM branches.
“Others are into different skills like carpentry, pipeline wielding, scaffolding, mechanic and so on.”
According to him, about 10,000 youths have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society under the OPM rehabilitation programme for youths especially for repentant militants and commercial sex workers.
The OPM General Overseer said that some of the repentant militants had been gainfully employed in different oil companies in the country, while some got jobs abroad.
“The Nigerian Police have been cooperating with us; some of these youths have been in crime for many years and they were not caught, but they came with their arms to surrender.
“The police decided not to go after them since they surrendered willingly as long as they don’t go back to crime again; there is somebody that submitted three AK-47 riffles.
“We took them to police headquarters in Rivers, located at Moscow Road and they took their biometrics, pictures and fingerprints as well as record of guns submitted and the crimes they committed.
“With this, the police have their full data in case they go back to crime. However, I know they won’t go back to crime.” .
The cleric also said that the programme had recorded 95 per cent success as the repentant militants and kidnappers had not returned to crime since they surrendered.
Chinyere said that efforts were on to ensure that children of the less privileged, who were not in school, get the desired education through the church’s 15 free schools located in Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Akwa Ibom, and Lagos states.
“My target is to have this rehabilitation centres in every state of the federation to help people who roam about, because the school is free,” he said.
No fewer than 400 persons have been arrested in series of arrests in Kano, Borno, Abuja, Lagos, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna and Zamfara in connection to the financing of the criminal activities of proscribed Boko Haram and other criminals in Nigeria.
According to information reaching us, in Kano, a major focus for the operation, traders at the foreign exchange open market in Wapa, Fagge Local Government, were picked up on March 9th, 15th and 16th this year.
Prominent among the BDC operators arrested in the state include Baba Usaini, Abubakar Yellow (Amfani), Yusuf Ali Yusuf (Babangida), Ibrahim Shani, Auwal Fagge, and a gold dealer, Muhammad Lawan Sani.
Four of the arrested BDC operators were related to two persons that were jailed in Dubai last year on similar charges.
Those arrested are said to be kept in military and DSS facilities in Abuja and other places, even as their families and lawyers decry the continued detention of the suspects without trial or informing them of their offences.
According to security source, the arrests and detention of the suspects are parts of the ongoing inter-agency operation, being led by a top intelligence officer, with an army general leading a task team comprising military personnel and staff from intelligence services.
The closely-guarded operation is being coordinated by Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
As part of the operation, billions of naira traced to businesses belonging to persons of interest have been blocked in banks in series of “post no debit” letters sent out to banks by the CBN and NFIU. The apex bank has also lately obtained court orders directing freezing of dozens of accounts flagged for suspicious transactions.
The source said that the operation started last year with massive gathering and analysis of financial intelligence and drawing uplink analysis, leading to initial marking of some 60 businesses and individuals.
The operation was said to have received presidential nod last year, and approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the exercise to be conducted out of the established bureaucracy.
“With the presidential approval, a task team was composed made up of personally selected senior officers who were deployed under the DIA to carry out the special assignment,” a senior government official told Daily Trust.
One official involved in the operation, who however craved for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the operation has recorded immense success with the arrest of key persons with “direct” link to bandits and insurgents.
“The main person coordinating the funding ring for Boko Haram is in our custody, he and his closest ally in the business,” he said.
According to the source, about 19 BDCs owned by persons with “direct connection with Boko Haram” were uncovered, while over N300 billion was found to have been pumped into the funding of terrorism in the country.
The source disclosed that from one person in Borno State and another in Zaria, Kaduna State, over N50 billion were traced in funding to the armed groups.
“A number of those arrested have divulged vital information including operational details of bandits and Boko Haram insurgents. But they are being kept to aid further arrests,” he said.
According to him, not all the affected businessmen arrested were members of the criminal gangs but many of them were involved in it as a business.
Dr Mahmud Tukur who died recently in Abuja held many prominent offices of state but no post defined him like his spirit of nationalism and patriotism. In his adult life, he was Principal Secretary Northern Nigeria Civil Service; Principal of the Institute of Administration, Kongo, Zaria; an affiliate College of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Principal and later Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano and although appointed Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, he refused to accept the post on account of impropriety and violation of the rules. He was also Minister of Commerce and Industry in General Buhari’s Government of 1984-85.
Mahmud Muhammad Tukur was born in 1939 in Yola to Aishatu (Adda) and Muhammad Tukur, Wakilin Chamba, District Head of Jada, who played a prominent role in ensuring that the Northern Cameroons plebiscite went Northern Nigeria’s way. His mother taught him to read and recite the Qur’an. His father taught him discipline.
By his elders account, he grew up as a brilliant and precocious young man. It was not a surprise, therefore, that he topped the class in Bauchi Secondary School coming out with a Grade 1 in the West African School Certificate in 1957.
I first set eyes on Mahmud Tukur in August 1958 when a group of us were assembled in Kano to be flown to the UK for further studies. The Sardauna, Premier of the North (may ALLAH rest his soul) personally selected six boys, all top of their class in their respective secondary schools: Mahmud Tukur, Tiamiyu Salami, Abubakar Alhaji, Augustine Yange (now Abdullahi Yange), Shehu Ibrahim and myself were told to drop whatever we were doing and prepare to go to England.
We were taken to London, thence to Bournemouth and placed in Bournemouth Municipal College. The Sardauna’s instruction was that we were to be given a “liberal education”. The subjects in the curricula were: History, Geography, English Literature, Latin, Logic and Mathematics. We enjoyed our studies although Mahmud complained that Logic was jolly uninteresting. He and I shared rooms in our digs and have been sharing views, advocating causes and defending interests ever since.
In quick succession, Mahmud passed his O and A levels and was admitted to Aberystwyth campus, University of Wales, where Prince Charles, the eldest son of the Queen of England also studied. He came out top of the class there too being awarded the Elizabeth Morris memorial prize. He graduated with Honours Degree in International Relations. His tutor, the distinguished academician, Professor P. A. Reynolds held Mahmud in such high regard that on occasions he would ask Mahmud to review a new book and would present it for publication under his name. No higher praise from a teacher to a student.
His academic performances were outstanding, proceeding to the University of Pittsburgh, US and to North Western University to do a Masters Degree in International Relations. There he was with an old friend, Professor John Paden, author of books on Nigeria including biographies of Ahmadu Bello (1976) and Muhammad Buhari (2015).
On returning home from America, he joined the Northern Nigeria Civil Service with stints in the Premiers Office as District Officer (D.O.) in Niger Province and at the newly created Ministry of Water Resources. He learnt the rudiments of government under great civil servants like Ali Akilu, Liman Ciroma and Sunday Awoniyi.
In view of his academic leanings, the Northern Nigerian Government seconded him to ABU to head the Institute of Administration, Kongo, Zaria. There he shaped the themes and curricula of the College to suit the developmental requirements of the North.
It was in fact at Kongo that he came into national prominence by organizing prestigious seminars on the state of the nation and future course of development and politics. The seminars kicked off with major contributions by Ahmadu Coomassie, Dr Ishaya Audu, then Vice Chancellor of ABU and Ali Akilu. From Lagos, Allison Ayida, Philip Asiodu and Ime Ebong, the celebrated and influential so-called super Permanent Secretaries in General Gowon’s government were regular participants over the years.
Mahmud Tukur undertook the task of systematizing all the aggregates of viewpoints and proposals into workable policy options and forwarded the conference consensus to Federal and State Governments.
After the war, the Federal Government appointed him Principal, later Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano. Mahmud Tukur brought to bear his intellect and energy to fashion a university which will be in harmony with its environment. The idea of a University differs from society to society. Mahmud Tukur believed that a university in Northern Nigeria must adapt and conform to the overall theme and direction of the founders of the Sokoto Caliphate: Shehu Usman Danfodio, Abdullahi Gwandu and Sultan Muhammadu Bello. He avidly read and taught books of these great masters.
Alas his tenure in BUK was cut short as a result of a bizarre decision by General Obasanjo who abruptly posted Mahmud Tukur as Vice-Chancellor of Lagos University and Professor Akinkugbe to ABU. Mahmud refused and resigned his offices.
This abrupt end did not result in complete distance from the Academia. Mahmud set to work and adapt his Doctoral thesis to write his stupendous “Leadership and Governance in Nigeria: the relevance of values.” It was a major work of scholarship and understanding.
During, in between and even at the end of his formal public service, he was called upon to assist the Government in different ways. He was a member of, first the Adebo and then the Udoji Salaries and Wages Commissions after the Civil War, he helped draft many of the recommendations in the two committees. Both Adebo and Udoji held him in high esteem.
We served together in the Constitution Drafting Committee set up by General Murtala Muhammed in 1975 under the Chairmanship of the veteran lawyer Rotimi Williams. Mahmud Tukur always argued during deliberations that a Constitution should not be just an abstract, not to say abstruse, legal document but a living document in tune with the social system of the polity. That way, we were able to simplify and clarify many opaque chapters of the Draft Constitution. This 1976-77 draft is what is currently in use today with few major changes.
Throughout my 60 odd years of knowing Mahmud, I never knew him to shirk an assignment or duck a challenge. He was forthright, honest, a stickler for doing things in the right way. A student of society he believed in the traditional institutions of Northern Nigeria and in the oneness of Nigeria. He championed the cause of the North and Nigeria. He was a true patriot and a scholar for the ages.
The University of Abuja has raised a voice of protest against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which named it as one of the institutions involved in “illegal admissions” exercise simply for failing to upload the list of its admission on Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).
The University insisted that it has not conducted any illegal admissions, and has nothing to hide as far as its admission exercise is concerned.
In a statement today, April 18 by Dr. Habib Yakoob Head of information and University Relations, the institution stressed that, at the moment, the University has one of the best and most transparent systems of admission in the country.
“This, indeed, is the only federal university which catchment area is the whole of Nigeria, and truly and practically admits from all states of the country, while simultaneously upholding the principle of merit and excellence!
Our rules are clear and transparent.
“As long as candidates have taken the UTME, scored 180 and above, met the University’s cut off points and some other stringent criteria set by JAMB, the University ensures, within the limit of its capacity, that such candidates stand a chance of getting admitted.
“In other words, nobody who has not taken the UTME, nor failed to meet JAMB or University guidelines, can be admitted in the University of Abuja now.
“In any case, the University is familiar with the operation of CAPS, and has since, largely embraced it as part of its contributions to ensuring that the university system serves and protects the interest of all Nigerians in the search of quality tertiary education.
“For instance, the Merit List for the 2020/2021 admissions was proposed on CAPS and all queries issued on same were replied to accordingly.
“It is important to note that candidates have been directed to ensure that they upload their “O” Level results and accept their offer of admission on CAPS. This is the clearest proof, if any is needed, that the University is not opposed to or in violation of CAPS and what it represents.
“However, the University is careful that in following this operation, it is not hindered to effectively deliver the service for which it was created, in the first place.
“After all, it is not outside the powers of the University to conduct admissions of our students. The Universities Miscellaneous Provisions, (Amendment) Act 2003 7a (ii) states that “The Senate shall have powers in all academic matters including the organization and control, teaching and research, admission of students…”
“What this means is that the university, not any external body, is guaranteed the power of admissions.
“At this moment that the UofA is very cautiously, deliberately and efficiently working towards strengthening and perfecting its own system, it is in desperate need of all the cooperation and understanding it can garner from all well-meaning Nigerians and institutions.
Let us assure JAMB, candidates and relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian educational project that the University of Abuja is engaged in honest, transparent and open admissions in all its various programmes, and certainly, it will continue to uphold these virtues which have been its defining hallmark, especially in the last couple of years.”
The Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, has said that those who accused him of having links to extremism are the criminals and other entrenched interests who are afraid of losing out in the ongoing linking of the National Identity Number to telephone SIMs.
In an interview, the minister said that based preliminary investigation had shown that, many people are not happy with what he has been doing – “linking National Identification Number with SIM. Because a situation will come that all the people using SIM to commit crime will not be able to do that.”
He stressed that the allegations against him are being peddled by forces that are against the federal government policy of compulsory national identity registration for all Nigerians and those residing in the country.
“I have no doubt about this. It has to do with the National Identification Number. Do you know one thing? This policy was started in 2011, it was not successful. Why? It was fought.”
Pantami said that the issue of linking NIN with SIMs had been on since 2018 during when there were meetings between government and mobile network operators.
“And it was actually announced that the deadline was January 2018. It is there online, I will share it with you if you like. By January 2018, it was not implemented, because there are forces against it. There are forces!
“Now they have started coming with the news that people are coming from neighbouring countries to register. What they fail to understand is that the National Identification Number is not only for Nigerians; anybody in Nigeria can obtain it. Section 16 and 17 of the Act mention the registrable people in the country – citizens, legal residents, legal permanent residents, and legal residents for a minimum of two years.
“So, it is not only for citizens. And it is also important to know that this is not just an indication that they are citizens of Nigeria. It is rather an indication that you presented your biometric data, so government has control over your data. And that data of NIMC (National Identity Management Commission), nobody has an access to it in any way he likes. Getting access to it illegally is 10 years in prison. It is there in the law. But people will like to discredit it, because they don’t like it.
“As long as it is implemented by government, it will go a long way in reducing crime and based on the statistics we have been seeing now, it’s really encouraging.
“As government, our priority is the protection of lives and property of our citizens. Security is our priority as a government – whether in agric, digital economy, education or in health, in whatever. President Muhammadu Buahari is so passionate about security, and he directed me to do that because he knows I try to persevere despite challenges and do what is right in the interest of our citizens and humanity.”
Pantami said that despite the attacks on him, he would remain focused on his job.
“You know as a government appointee, and at this level, if you say you are going to be intimidated by everything, then you cannot do the work. You cannot do the work. I was with the Minister of Foreign Affairs this week, on April 12. I was with the minister. I was with the ambassadors of the U.K., the U.S., South Korea, and many other countries.
“We had an official meeting with them. We explained to them, even the wisdom behind the National Identity Number. One of the representatives of the development agencies said ‘your work is excellent, but you should be patient, you will encounter many attacks’. This was said to me in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He said ‘you answered all our issues convincingly based on the wisdom and usage of NIN number, because criminals do not like it, criminals do not like it’.
“Even this issue that we are talking about, based on our findings, preliminary investigation, many people are not happy with what we have been doing – linking National Identification Number with SIM. Because a situation will come that all the people using SIM to commit crime will not be able to do that.
“If they do that government will be able to intercept them easily. This is what they don’t want to happen. And this is a mandate given to me by President Muhammadu Buhari. He personally signed the letter that ‘you are mandated to do that’.
Founder and Presiding Bishop of the megachurch Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, and Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners’ Chapel International Bishop David Oyedepo has prayed to God to save humanity from the hands of the wicked, against the backdrop of authorities forcing people to take Covid19 vaccines.
Responding to the news that some companies told their workers that if they didn’t take the Covid-19 vaccine, they might lose their jobs, the Bishop said that there is no connection; if one works, he must be compensated.
“Today is the end of any evil trap set by the wicked to take a person’s life.
“They told them, ‘If you don’t take the injection, you won’t get your paycheck,’” according to a lady. My God, is that in the constitution or somewhere?
“That you won’t get paid if you don’t use marijuana? You won’t get paid if you don’t take this poison? Man is descending deeper and deeper into the dungeon of evil.
“Listen to me, if anybody saw that story from Kaduna State and he’s an official, he won’t let anybody inject his children. We need a heart for humanity.
“In a system that is sensitive to the need of mankind, they will stop that immediately and observe to see what’s happening.
“I sincerely hope that there is no plan in place to reduce the population of this country. I sincerely hope there is no worldwide plot against mankind. Save and deliver humanity from the hands of the wicked, wherever they may be gathered.”
Profiling. Targeting. Scapegoating. In Nigeria, you are more likely to effectuate wry remarks and suspicious stares if you are the prototypical Muslim with full-bred beard, a ‘’decimal point’’ on your forehead – a sign of your devotion to Almighty Allah, and apparelled in modest trousers that stand aloof from the ankle than if you are a Bible-wielding evangelist piercing the dawn quietude of a drowsy neighbourhood with screams and shrieks of ‘’repentance’’.
We live in a country that is autochthonously Christianised. Our ways are Christian. It is commonplace to profile Muslims who hold strong beliefs as ‘’extremists’’ but not Christians who arrogantly profess their beliefs anywhere and everywhere, even commanding obeisance to their faith. I have never heard any Christian described as an extremist – even when some church leaders make galling and inflammatory statements.
In the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, Bishop Oyedepo vowed to open the floodgates of hell on the opponents of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Is this not an incendiary statement – by a man of god? This pastor also physically assaulted a penitent who came to his church for deliverance. But it was excused because he is a Christian leader. Christians are not extremists even when their actions vouchsafe this fact – but any Muslim can be summarily tagged an ‘’extremist?’’ When a Christian leader makes extremist comments, we call it ‘’holy anger’’. It is hypocrisy.
In 2017, the DSS attempted to arrest Pastor Johnson Suleman after he publicly said he asked his security guards to kill any Fulani intruder around his church. He also threatened the government after state agents swooped in on a hotel he took residence in Ekiti. In addition, Pastor Enenche and others in the same phylum have made ungodly threats that border on bigotry and extremism. But they were all palliated – because they are Christian leaders. It is hypocrisy.
Our society is subliminally attuned to certain precepts and ways that are predominantly Christian. Any otherness sets off an alarm. It is societal conditioning. Our society has been conditioned to readily see some people in one divide as ‘’extremists’’ and others in another category as ‘’devotees’’. A conditioning in hypocrisy.
The avalanche of attacks – both sponsored and taxied – against Isa Ibrahim Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, accents some Nigerians’ atavism and aboriginal hypocrisy. I would not want to dwell on the contents of some videos and abstracts rippling on social media because they have been politically ammunitioned for not kosher ends.
Pantami’s only offence could be that he is a Sheikh heading a vital government ministry. Yes, some bigoted interests find his being a Sheikh in a sensitive public office exasperating. They cannot stand the fact that a notable Muslim leader is the superintendent of a key ministry. But Pantami is not just any Sheikh. He is a technocrat who knows his onions. He is not fish out of water at the ministry of communications. He trained as a computer scientist, obtaining a PhD from Robert Gordon University in Scotland. He bagged sterling credentials from Ivy-league schools like Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also attended Cambridge in the UK. But bigotry clouds the mind of those who see him as a Sheikh who has no business in the communications ministry.
As a matter of fact, the kindler of the current social media blitz against the minister is beyond “what he said or did not say in the past’’. Some interests in the communications industry who perceive him as impervious to inducement, a non-conformist and a strong character are working in the shadows. Pantami has taken some hard-line-decisions against the industry vultures that are desperate to draw blood. The controversy is a smokescreen to exact vengeance. Nigerians should not unwarily cavort on the playground of this horde.
The truth is for every of Pantami’s detractor, the cause for grouse are interests not being served. The minister is not playing ball, hence, veiled daggers drawn.
Those calling for Pantami’s resignation do not mean well for Nigeria. I believe he should be judged by his stewardship at the ministry of communications — not by his faith. If the social media blitzkrieg against the minister is because of his performance at the ministry, that will be a different matter. But it is not. Pantami is perhaps one of the most resourceful and responsive communications ministers Nigeria has ever had.
Again, the minister should be judged according to his work at the ministry. And he has done a good job of that.
I will not join the multitude to commit murder.
By Fredrick ‘Mr OneNigeria’ Nwabufo, Twitter @FredrickNwabufo
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No fewer than 400 persons have been arrested in series of arrests in Kano, Borno, Abuja, Lagos, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna and Zamfara in connection to the financing of the criminal activities of proscribed Boko Haram and other criminals in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, has said that those who accused him of having links to extremism are the criminals and other entrenched interests who are afraid of losing out in the ongoing linking of the National Identity Number to telephone SIMs.
Islamophobia: Pantami And Hypocrisy Of His Detractors, By Fredrick Nwabufo
Profiling. Targeting. Scapegoating. In Nigeria, you are more likely to effectuate wry remarks and suspicious stares if you are the prototypical Muslim with full-bred beard, a ‘’decimal point’’ on your forehead – a sign of your devotion to Almighty Allah, and apparelled in modest trousers that stand aloof from the ankle than if you are a Bible-wielding evangelist piercing the dawn quietude of a drowsy neighbourhood with screams and shrieks of ‘’repentance’’.
We live in a country that is autochthonously Christianised. Our ways are Christian. It is commonplace to profile Muslims who hold strong beliefs as ‘’extremists’’ but not Christians who arrogantly profess their beliefs anywhere and everywhere, even commanding obeisance to their faith. I have never heard any Christian described as an extremist – even when some church leaders make galling and inflammatory statements.
In the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, Bishop Oyedepo vowed to open the floodgates of hell on the opponents of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Is this not an incendiary statement – by a man of god? This pastor also physically assaulted a penitent who came to his church for deliverance. But it was excused because he is a Christian leader. Christians are not extremists even when their actions vouchsafe this fact – but any Muslim can be summarily tagged an ‘’extremist?’’ When a Christian leader makes extremist comments, we call it ‘’holy anger’’. It is hypocrisy.
In 2017, the DSS attempted to arrest Pastor Johnson Suleman after he publicly said he asked his security guards to kill any Fulani intruder around his church. He also threatened the government after state agents swooped in on a hotel he took residence in Ekiti. In addition, Pastor Enenche and others in the same phylum have made ungodly threats that border on bigotry and extremism. But they were all palliated – because they are Christian leaders. It is hypocrisy.
Our society is subliminally attuned to certain precepts and ways that are predominantly Christian. Any otherness sets off an alarm. It is societal conditioning. Our society has been conditioned to readily see some people in one divide as ‘’extremists’’ and others in another category as ‘’devotees’’. A conditioning in hypocrisy.
The avalanche of attacks – both sponsored and taxied – against Isa Ibrahim Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, accents some Nigerians’ atavism and aboriginal hypocrisy. I would not want to dwell on the contents of some videos and abstracts rippling on social media because they have been politically ammunitioned for not kosher ends.
Pantami’s only offence could be that he is a Sheikh heading a vital government ministry. Yes, some bigoted interests find his being a Sheikh in a sensitive public office exasperating. They cannot stand the fact that a notable Muslim leader is the superintendent of a key ministry. But Pantami is not just any Sheikh. He is a technocrat who knows his onions. He is not fish out of water at the ministry of communications. He trained as a computer scientist, obtaining a PhD from Robert Gordon University in Scotland. He bagged sterling credentials from Ivy-league schools like Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also attended Cambridge in the UK. But bigotry clouds the mind of those who see him as a Sheikh who has no business in the communications ministry.
As a matter of fact, the kindler of the current social media blitz against the minister is beyond “what he said or did not say in the past’’. Some interests in the communications industry who perceive him as impervious to inducement, a non-conformist and a strong character are working in the shadows. Pantami has taken some hard-line-decisions against the industry vultures that are desperate to draw blood. The controversy is a smokescreen to exact vengeance. Nigerians should not unwarily cavort on the playground of this horde.
The truth is for every of Pantami’s detractor, the cause for grouse are interests not being served. The minister is not playing ball, hence, veiled daggers drawn.
Those calling for Pantami’s resignation do not mean well for Nigeria. I believe he should be judged by his stewardship at the ministry of communications — not by his faith. If the social media blitzkrieg against the minister is because of his performance at the ministry, that will be a different matter. But it is not. Pantami is perhaps one of the most resourceful and responsive communications ministers Nigeria has ever had.
Again, the minister should be judged according to his work at the ministry. And he has done a good job of that.
I will not join the multitude to commit murder.