Agitation For Yoruba Nation: Gov Akeredolu Bans Igboho From Ondo State

March 22, 2021

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has warned Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, and other agitators for Yoruba Nation to stay away from Ondo State.

He made it clear that the people of the state have chosen to stay in Nigeria as presented constituted.

The Governor, who spoke today, March 21, while swearing in Princess Catherine Oladunni Odu as the new Secretary to the State Government and other Special Advisers, said that no part of the entire state, known and delineated as Ondo State, would permit any gathering or agitation which may suggest, however remotely, that the people are in support of what he termed ‘unthinking rabble rousing.’

He emphasized that the state would not subscribe to banditry and recklessness in putting forth its demands, adding that the right of citizens to discuss, agitate and even fight to right perceived wrongs, culminating in self-determination, must be done within known and acceptable parameters and that all concerned must agree to pursue the same objectives to achieve a desirable or desired end.

According to him, reasons for the declaration of hostilities must not be fleeting fancies of disaffection engendered by perceived politics of exclusion for personal benefits.

President Buhari Adjudges Tony Elumelu, At 58, As Large-Hearted

Editorial staff

March 22, 2021

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated a renowned economist and philanthropist, Tony Onyemaechi Elumelu, on his 58th birthday.

In a birthday message today, March 21 by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari commended the economist for his foresight and large-heartedness in setting up the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) “which has consistently inspired highly talented African youths into entrepreneurship, helped many to acquire business skills, enhanced positive social networks and provided start-up funds, within the larger goal of reducing poverty.

According to the President, Tony Elumelu, who is the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, United Bank for Africa and Transcorp, had demonstrated resilience and relentlessness in dream realization, following his antecedents as a young banker who saw opportunities in the economy and worked hard to climb the ladder of success, receiving Nigeria’s National Productivity Order of Merit in 2019.

The President prayed for more wisdom, good health and longer life to Tony Elumelu, as he spreads investments into energy, real estate, agribusiness, health care and hospitality, creating more opportunities in the real sector.

He joined family and friends to rejoice Tony whom he described as entrepreneur, whose interests continue to create opportunities for growth and development in the country.

Saudi Arabia Initiates Peace In Yeme’s Political Crisis

Editorial staff

March 22, 2021

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has initiated peaceful resolution to the lingering political crisis bedeveling Yemeni crisis.

According to Saudi authorities, the peace moves as part the of the Kingdom’s concern for the security and stability of Yemen and the region.

The authorities said that the move is aimed at ending the human suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, even as the Kingdom emphasized it will support efforts at reaching a comprehensive political resolution between the Yemeni parties in line with discussions in Biel, Geneva, Kuwait and Stockholm.

“The initiative includes the following proposals a comprehensive ceasefire across the country under the supervision of the United Nations; depositing taxes and custom revenues for ships carrying oil derivatives to the port of Hodeidah in the joint account of the Central Bank of Yemen in Hodeidah, in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement on Hodeidah, the reopening of Sanaa International Airport to a number of direct regional and international destinations; the start of consultations between the Yemeni parties to reach a political resolution to the Yemeni crisis under the auspices of the United Nations based on the references of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanism, and the outcomes of the Yemeni national dialogue.”

Parts of the statement are that:

This initiative comes within the framework of the continuous support for the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Mr. Martin Griffiths, the US envoy to Yemen, Mr. Timothy Lenderking, along with the positive role of the Sultanate of Oman, and the push to reach a political resolution to the crisis under the auspices of the United Nations.

The Kingdom calls on the Yemeni government and the Houthis to accept the initiative, which gives the Houthis the opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen, address the humanitarian and economic conditions that the brotherly Yemeni people are suffering from, and gives them the opportunity to become partners in achieving peace.

The initiative gives the Houthis an opportunity to uphold the interests of the brotherly Yemeni people first, and the Yemeni people’s right to their sovereignty and the independence of their homeland over the Iranian regime’s expansionary ambitions in Yemen and the region. The Kingdom calls on the Houthis to declare their acceptance of the initiative, which is to be implemented under the supervision and monitoring of the United Nations.

The Kingdom also affirms its full right to defend its land, citizens and residents from the systematic attacks carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia against civilian areas and vital installations that not only target the Kingdom’s national interests, but also target the core of the global economy and its supplies, as well as global energy security.

The Kingdom also affirms its total rejection of Iranian interference in the region and Yemen. The Iranian regime’s support for the Houthi militias through smuggling, developing , supplying missiles and weapons, provision of military experts, and violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, remains the main reason for the prolonging of the Yemeni crisis.

The Kingdom and Coalition countries affirm their continued support for the Yemeni people and their legitimate government.

The Kingdom also affirms that it will remain committed to its humanitarian role in alleviating the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, by supporting all efforts for peace, security and stability in Yemen and moving towards a new stage for the development and improvement of the Yemeni people’s livelihood.

Insecurity: People In Other Parts Of North Flooding Kano – Gov Ganduje

Editorial staff

March 22, 2021

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state has said that people in other parts of the North have been flooding the state to escape lingering insecurities in those states.

“Kano is a mega city and because of security situation, many people are coming into Kano now, traffic is increasing, buildings are increasing because people from the Northeast, people from even Northwest are coming to settle in Kano.”

Governor Ganduje, who spoke to news men today, March 21 at the presidential villa in Abuja, gave a run down of measures his government had taken to make the state the most peaceful in the country, despite the influx of people.

“We introduced the command and control centre; the CCTV where we are viewing the whole Metropolitan Kano. We have the most powerful tracker vehicle and equipment in Kano.

“Falgore Forest where bandits usually inhabit, we said no, not in Kano State. We established a military training ground in Falgore Forest and therefore bandits cannot inhabit it. Our border with Kaduna, we have a forest and where we are establishing ruga programme, we discussed with nomadic Fulani, they agreed to be settled there. In fact, other Fulani are even coming.”

Ganduje said that his government had established a security training institute where young men and women are being trained on community policing.

“Even yesterday, I graduated 200, while 500 are under training there, with the advice of the security agencies in Kano.

“All these efforts are in order to keep Kano in peace, apart from other policies in education, free and compulsory education, reforming the Almajiri system.”

The Governor, who described the lingering insecurity in many parts of the country as unfortunate, expressed gratitude to the security agencies for their full cooperation.

He said that his government is conscious of the traffic mess into which the state capital can be thrown and had therefore, commissioned experts to design interchange system for the state.

“We revised the master plan of Kano state and all those areas where we have holdups, we either build underpass or we build a bridge, and now we have resorted to putting the three together in one place; that is flyover, bridge, and underpass, all at one point so that there will not be any traffic jam.”

APC Converts, Ex Reps Speaker, Bankole, Ex Ogun Gov, Gbenga Daniel In Aso Rock

Editorial staff

March 22, 2021

New converts to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), former Speaker of the House of Representatives and a strong member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dimeji Bankole and former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel have stormed Aso Rock Presidential villa, Abuja.

They were received today, March 21 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dimeji Bankole and Gbenga Daniel recently defected to the APC.

The two leaders were accompanied to the Presidential Villa by the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the APC, and Governor of Yobe, Mai Mala Buni, Governors of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru and that of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.

Gbenga Daniel was governor of Ogun State from 2003 to 2011 while Dimeji Bankole was Speaker of the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2011, on the platform of the PDP).

Details later…

Cross River Gov Fumes, Says He’ll Dump PDP If He’s Not Respected

Editorial staff

March 20, 2021

The Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade, has threatened to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on which platform he is in power, stressing that he is now standing on the fence and ready to dump the party if he is not accorded his due respect and recognition.

Speaking in Calabar, the State capital yesterday, March 19 during a visit by the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, Governor Ayade said that it is time for him to put down his foot and take a decision on the bases of what would prosper the collective well-being of the people of Cross River.

He said that because he played politics with ethics, his style was being mistaken for weakness, adding: “I cannot blind myself to the challenges of PDP and decide not to know what to do at the right time for their [Cross River people] sake. I know you are somebody that doesn’t take injustice. One single injustice they will see a new Cross River state.

“And I say it as a warning because it does appears that your party seems to celebrate people who threaten and stress them.

“All councillors [in the state are PDP, council chairmen are PDP, all House of Assembly members are PDP, all commissioners are PDP, and all the National Assembly members except one are PDP: all of them are under my leadership.”

He assured Governor Bala Mohammed that wherever he goes he would follow him because they both have the same cause of direction for the people.

“I am happy you have created an opportunity for a melodrama. So today I am seated and dancing on the fence. Indeed that’s true. And so I speak with righteous anger for the continuous annoyance and nuisance orchestrated on our innocence by external factors. But I just hope this ends today.

“So please as I leave you with some holy whispers, which will be very strong, firm and clear, it’s a harbinger of trouble. While I believe in ecclesiastics of peace, I believe in the catechism of good faith but I also believe in respect for the supremacy of an office.”

2023: I’ll Support Presidential Candidate Of PDP Even If He’s From North – Gov Wike

Editorial staff

March 20, 2021

Rivers State Governor, Nyeson Wike has said that he will support any Presidential candidate produced by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election even if such candidate is from the North.

He said: “I am from Southern part of Nigeria. I will be happy if power returns to the South, but if PDP will win the 2023 presidential election by zoning the presidential ticket to the North, I will not be opposed to it.

“If President Jonathan is given the All Progressives Congress (PDP) Presidential ticket, he knows that I will not support him. I will not engage in anti-party activity. Even if he is from the South, I will not endorse him. What is paramount is my party’s interest.”

Governor Wike, who spoke to news men today, March 20, said however, that if President Jonathan secures PDP presidential ticket, Rivers State will overwhelmingly support him.

According to him, the APC has ruined the Nigerian economy and only PDP can pull Nigeria out of the brink of socio- economic collapse.

He said that his the next decision on his political future will be taken by July 2022 when he must have completed all the projects started by his administration.

I Would Have Been A Dead Man If Not For My Security Men And God – Benue Governor

Editorial staff

March 20, 2021

“If not for my security men and God I would have been dead by now. I ran over 1.5 kilometers to escape while my security men repelled the herdsmen.”

The Benue State Governor made the statements after escaping from gunmen who opened fire on his convoy along the Makurdi/Gboko road in the Makurdi local government area of the state today, March 20. He was returning from to Makurdi from Gboko.

Governor Ortom said that the assailants who attacked the convoy close to his farmland were about 15 in number with the chief aim of killing him.

According to the governor, from intelligence received from security agents, the attack came just a few days after he was described by the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal in Yola, as a thorn in the flesh.

He vowed to send a letter of petition to President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria’s military heads against the herders’ group on the incidence.

During the attack, the gunmen and the governor’s security personnel exchanged gunfire.

Buhari Sacked Me On Rumor That I Met Atiku In Dubai – Ex Chief Judge, Onnoghen

Editorial staff

March 19, 2021

Former Chief Judge of Nigeria (NJC), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari sacked him because of the rumour that he met the Presidential candidate of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubaka rin Dubai.

Onnoghen, who was accused of failing to declare his assets and operating foreign accounts, was suspended weeks before the 2019 general elections. He was subsequently convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and barred from holding public office for 10 years.

Speaking today, March 19, at the book launch of Ogwu Onoja, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in Abuja, Onnoghen said that he was never confronted with any of the allegations before he was suspended, saying: “I wasn’t given a chance to defend myself.”

He said that after the allegation of meeting with Atiku, he was removed from office without given the chance to defend himself.

“There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai. But as I am talking here today, I have never met Atiku one on one in my life. As if that was not enough, I was also accused of setting free, some high-profile criminals, whereas I ceased to be a high court judge as far back as 1978,” he said.

“In supreme court, I did not sit alone, we sat in panel. In all these rumours and outright accusations, I was not given the opportunity to defend myself.

“Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen, but for all Nigerians who swore to guide and protect the constitution of the federal republic.

“As I have said severally, judicial officers must be courageous. And I want to beg all serving judicial officers not to be discouraged by what happened to me in the hand of the executive arm of the government.

“Let me sound this note of warning that the appointment of judicial officers must never be allowed to be politicised, otherwise, democracy and democratic governance will be dead.

“During my tenure, the problem of Nigeria was not the Nigerian judiciary, but those who had no regard for the rule of law. We must therefore be committed to the rule of law and dispense justice without fear or favour. Truth stands. Crush it, it will still stand because it is truth.”

President Buhari, who hosted some Southern leaders at Aso Rock, had justified the removal of the chief judge by saying: “some of them swear to the Almighty God that their property doesn’t belong to them until we show them their bank accounts and their companies, right then we have some peace.

“Anybody who cannot account for what he has and for refusing to declare, we will have to do something about it. I will tell you Afenifere leaders that that was why I had to deal, though reluctantly, with the former Chief Justice of Nigeria because there were millions of dollars, euros not to talk of naira which were not declared.

“I wonder what sort of conscience some of us have. How can you seat and preside and lock people up for years and even sentence some to death and yet you are not doing what the constitution says you should do by occupying that vital institution?”

Source: Daily Trust

Katsina Approves 5,000 Hectares Of Land For Ranching

Editorial staff

March 19, 2021

The Katsina State Government has approved 5,000 hectares of arable farmland for ranching as part of efforts to curb the herders and farmers’ clashes in farming villages and communities across the state.

Governor Aminu Bello Masari, who disclosed this during the 46th annual conference of the Nigerian Society for Animal Production at the Federal University Dutsin-ma (FUDMA), Katsina, said that ranching system will enable the children of herders to have qualitative education.

He said that the only solution to the herdsmen and farmers crisis bedevilling some parts of the country is the establishment of ranches in the states, hence the provision of the 5,000 hectares of land.

Masari, represented by his Special Adviser on Livestock and Grazing Reserve, Dr. Lawal Bagiwa, explained that apart from the 5,000 hectares set aside for the pastoral development, he also earmarked 2,000 hectares for infrastructure and homestead farming in the ranches.

He said: “We also identified and beaconed over 3,000 kilometre stock routes across the state in order to provide pathways for herders. It is worthy to note that in the past farming season, we have not experienced conflict between the farmers and herders in the state.

“In view of the federal government approval for the establishment of ranching programme, about 5,000 hectares is set aside by the state government for the system and 2,000 hectares for infrastructure and homestead farming in the ranches”.

Earlier, the National President of Nigerian Society for Animal Production (NSAP), Prof. Francis Abeke, identified improvement in livestock production as a sustainable measure that will revamp the country’s economy.

“The value of the naira keeps decreasing in relation to other major currencies, leading to high cost of goods and services including livestock products. Food, especially animal protein, is fast disappearing from our tables, resulting in poor mental and physical development of many Nigerians.

“If there is a time to redouble our efforts and channel our energies and resources to improving livestock production with a view to accelerating growth of the economy, it is now,” he added.

On his part, the FUDMA Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu Bichi, urged the conference to come up with recommendations that will end the prevailing cases of herders’ and farmers’ crisis in the country, saying that the crisis constituted a threat to national unity and harmonious coexistence and social integrity.

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