Buhari To CBN: Don’t Give Money For Food Importation

December 29, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has give a strong directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to give any money for food importation.

Speaking at the fifth regular meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council today, December 29 at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, President Buhari directed that the CBN “must not give money to import food. Already about seven states are producing all the rice we need. We must eat what we produce.”

President Buhari wondered where the country would have found itself by now in view of the devastating economic crisis brought about by COVID-19 if the country had not embraced agriculture as a result of his government’s diversification programme, away from over reliance on oil.

“Going back to the land is the way out. We depend on petrol at the expense of agriculture. Now the oil industry is in turmoil. We are being squeezed to produce at 1.5 million barrels a day as against a capacity to produce 2.3 million. At the same time, the technical cost of our production per barrel is high, compared to the Middle East production.”

The President emphasized the place of agriculture in the efforts to restore the economy but agreed that measures must be put in place to curtail inflation in the country:

“We will continue to encourage our people to go back to the land. Our elite is indoctrinated in the idea that we are rich in oil, leaving the land for the city for oil riches. We are back to the land now. We must not lose the opportunity to make life easier for our people. Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t encourage agriculture and closed the borders. We would have been in trouble.”

The meeting, which was for a review of, and reflections on the global and domestic economy in the outgoing year, was attended by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as well as Ministers of Finance and Humanitarian Affairs and agreed on a number of measures.

In specific terms, it noted the sharp deterioration in international economic environment and its impact on Nigeria’s continuing but fragile economic recovery; that Nigeria’s economic growth continues to be constrained by obvious challenges including infrastructural deficiencies and limited resources for government financing. It emphasized the need to make the private sector of the economy the primary source of investment, rather than government.

The meeting reviewed progress towards structural reforms in response to the economic crises, including the institution of the Economic Sustainability Plan, the changes in electricity tariff and fuel pricing regime, the partial re-opening of the Land Borders, the movement towards unification of exchange rates and budgetary reforms through Finance Bill 2020 and 2021.

It agreed that, to prepare the country for the challenges ahead, it is imperative to ensure Macro-economic stability, create certainty and re-build investor confidence in the economy. It emphasized the need to deepen structural reforms initiated by the administration as a basis for stimulating investments from domestic and international sources with a view to raising productivity in key sectors of the economy.

Northern Christians Forum Disown Bishop Kukah

Editorial staff

December 28, 2020

The Northern Christians Forum of Nigeria (NCFN) has disowned the c Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah describing President Muhammadu Buhari as practicing nepotism and that he is institutionalising Northern hegemony.

The group, in a statement signed by its President, Rev. Dr. Josiah Nabut, in Barnawa, Kaduna State, warned Kukah to avoid using the pulpit for political gains.

According to the Northern Christians, the cleric is derailing and shifting from the purpose of serving the laity and has now become a tool in the hands of politicians.

The NCFN noted that most of Bishop Kukah‘s claims against Buhari are rehash from certain political oracles he usually visits.

The group, however, urged Kukah to desist from lending himself to be used by politicians because his gift is to serve all of humanity, not himself.

Read full statement below:

We are concerned that the pulpit which should be regarded and treated as sacred is being used as a platform for political schemes by some clerics from Northern Nigeria

We have decided to intervene to call those who have taken this path of dishonour to desist as it is not in the overall good of the laity and to open the eyes of those who see nothing wrong with this and may want to emulate it.

Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah is a well-educated cleric and highly respected by us who share the same faith with him.

Apart from his deep knowledge of the Bible, he is the man blessed with the power to dissect socio-political happenings around the world and analyse the same for better understanding.

But that has not blinded our eyes to know when he is derailing and shifting from the purpose of serving the laity to serving himself.

A pulpit is a sacred place and anyone gifted by God to mount it should it see as a privilege and use it to serve God and to better humanity; not for selfish or political gains.

This is the difference between Samson in the Bible and other men of God like John The Baptist.

As far as Samson was concerned, the anointing of sheer physical strength that God gave him was for him to flex his muscles, play around and pursue lustful pleasures.

He did not use it for the purpose he was given the power and ended in a most pitiable circumstance.

But John The Baptist for instance knew the purpose of his calling and used it to serve God.

He forsook earthly pleasures, lived in the wilderness and was committed to his divine call until he was rewarded with the honour of Baptising Jesus.

This has seen him hobbling around politicians for most of the time rather than dwell on the spiritual lane of meditation in quietness, spiritual intercession through self-denial and long supplication via the known path of sacrifice.

He rather cherishes being seen at the State House more than attending to the less privileged.

And the Bishop most times fail to live up to the standard he sets for others.

When Kukah was appointed to serve as the Secretary of the Oputa Panel, he betrayed his bias and contradicted his preachments for equity and fairness, when he accepted the position without looking at the composition of the commission which had Justice Chukwudifu Oputa as chairman.

Equity demanded that as Justice Oputa was a Christian, that the next powerful position in the committee which is that of the secretary should have gone to a Muslim. And Bishop would have been the first to scream if both the Chairman and Secretary of such a sensitive commission have been Muslims.

Source: Daily Trust

Group Accuses Bishop Kukah Of Inciting One Section Of Nigeria Against Another

Editorial staff

December 28, 2020

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah | Credit: The Kukah Centre

The Coalition of Northern Group (CNG) has accused the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah of exploiting religion to cause disharmony and facilitate further emasculation of northern Nigerian Muslims.

Reacting to the Christmas message by the Bishop, in a statement by its spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the group said that it is ironic that a Reverend would choose the revered occasion of the celebration of the birth of Christ to needlessly incite hatred against a section of the country.

“We do not contend their claims of the current administrative lapses, nor do we intend to fault the right of people to criticise government’s inadequate, ineffective, exclusive and unfocused policies.

”The northern Muslims, contrary to the deliberate distortions by the Kukahs, happen to be the major casualty of this administration’s serial misgovernance in terms of security, economy, distribution of key federal appointments and essential goods and services, making it unacceptably irresponsible for Kukah and his ilk to hide behind the guise of criticism of the government to attack a whole ethnic or religious group.”

“It testifies to how religious bodies and leaders such as Kukah in more ways than one, attempt to aid the deterioration of the situation in the country by stimulating a form of Islamophobia on the back of the most gratuitous false story of an Islamisation agenda.

“It also furthers the irresponsible and unacceptable practice of preachers using the pulpit to promote falsehood and incite their followers against certain sections of the society by labelling and earmarking them to be targeted irrespective of whether they are part of a crime committed or not.

“History is being shamefully and blatantly reviewed, rewritten and falsified In the process, history is being shamefully and blatantly reviewed, rewritten and falsified. In the process, the consciousness eroded Kukah that the four most violent military insurrections in Nigeria’s history were schemed, spearheaded and executed by non-Muslims, and in most cases, non-Northerners.

”It is important, therefore, to place on record, that the very first and most bloody January 1966 coup was carried out by mostly non-Muslim Igbo army officers including Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, and Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna.”

“Casualties of the coup were mostly northern Muslims including the Prime Minister Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello, Brigadier Abubakar Maimalari and others.

”A palace coup was led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida, a northern Muslim who peacefully overthrew the administration of Buhari. In 1990, Major Gideon Orkar, a northern Christian, staged a violent attempt to overthrow the government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Polaris Bank Partners Women’s Society To Boost Vocational Skills In Its E-Learning Center

Editorial staff

December 28, 2020

Polaris Bank has partnered with the International Women’s Society (IWS) to boost vocational skills and empowerment of women in Nigeria.

At the graduation and anniversary ceremony of Skills Acquisition Center, which the bank established in Lekki Lagos, the former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Oluranti Adebule expressed delight at the level of work that is being done at the center to elevate the socio-economic status of women in the state and country at large.

She said that such exercise would promote the springing up of more micro-enterprises, thereby addressing the scourge of unemployment in the state, especially among the womenfolk.

She extolled the quality of vocational skills provided to empower women, noting: “the IWS Skills Acquisition Center was established to create empowerment opportunities and promote self-reliance, thus alleviating poverty and increasing the level of literacy and vocational skills among women.”

Speaking on behalf of Polaris Bank, the Acting Group head, Customer Value Management & Strategic Communications, Bukola Oluyadi, reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to women empowerment noting that empowering women contributes to economic development and supports the establishment of a prosperous economy.

“Polaris Bank has always been conscious of the challenges women face and is leaving no stone unturned to help improve the lot of the womenfolk.” “This is one of the many initiatives we support to empower women so they can fulfill their aspirations.”

This was even as the President of the International Women’s Society, Mrs. Ibiwunmi Akinnola, congratulated the students and teachers for their persistence and doggedness despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and also thanked Polaris Bank amongst other partners, for their support particularly in the area of helping to facilitate e-learning.

The Chairperson of the Skills Acquisition Center, Mrs. Feyisola Abiru, also appreciated Polaris Bank for the role it played in setting up an e-learning infrastructure for the center and for facilitating the empowerment of vocational skills acquisition for 21 women in catering, fashion designing, beauty, adult literacy and hospitality.

Meanwhile, the bank has rewarded some of its customers with shopping vouchers in it’s ‘MoneyGram for You’ Campaign.

The beneficiaries are customers of the Bank who received transfers in Polaris Bank within the six weeks period of the campaign that ended December 6.

Customers who receive at least two MoneyGram transactions from a Polaris Bank branch every week within the six weeks period of the campaign will qualify to win Shoprite Vouchers valued at N5,000.00 each.

Five of the customers with the highest cumulative value of transactions from those who meet the set criterion will win the vouchers. A total of thirty (30) customers will be selected and rewarded accordingly.

The campaign is aimed at encouraging increased patronage of the services of the wire money transfer franchise and is specifically targeted at customers who receive their transfers in Polaris Bank.

Three of the beneficiaries; Kareem Tomiwa Ademuyiwa from Dopemu branch, Mutiat Kosoko from Ketu Branch and Gloria John from Iwo Road branch, Ibadan, Oyo state were amongst the early winners who praised Polaris Bank for providing them the opportunity to win.

According to Mr. Kareem Tomiwa Ademuyiwa “Polaris Bank will always be my number one Bank, I thank MoneyGram and Polaris Bank for this rare opportunity. I will continue to introduce more customers to the Bank.” On what he would he would use the reward for, he noted that “I was able to use those vouchers for shopping baby items as my wife put to bed few days before I won the prize,” he added.

Another winner, Mrs. Mutiat Kosoko also said she would be taking her kids out for shopping to give them a nice treat during the Christmas season.

Gloria John, a customer of Polaris Bank Iwo Road Branch, Ibadan, Oyo state explained that , “That was my first time of winning such voucher and it encouraged me to use MoneyGram money transfer anywhere I go, thanks to MoneyGram and Polaris Bank for the opportunity and good customer experience at all time.

MoneyGram is the 2nd largest provider of money transfers in the world with a network of over 350,000 agent locations across the globe in over 200 countries. Polaris Bank is a key MoneyGram agent in Nigeria with the service available in its branches across Nigeria.

Polaris Bank is a future-determining bank committed to delivering industry-defining products for individuals and businesses.

Place Bishiop Kukah On Security Watch-List, Northern Youths Advise Buhari

Editorial staff

December 28, 2020

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to place Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, who is the Catholic Archbisiop of Sokoto Diocese on security watch list over what they called his “unguarded and open incitement to military coup and insurrection against the democratically elected government.”

In a statement today, December 28, by its National President, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the group condemned “Kukah’s use of nepotism as weapon of calumny against government and people of Nigeria.”

The group stressed that the Bishop’s Christmas sermon was an open attempt to “set the South against the North in order to destabilize our country and further complicate matters.”

The group took exception to what it described as “Kukah’s latest role in devil’s advocacy, as the North struggles to restore peace and enduring security in the region and indeed Nigeria.

“Such a reckless statement by Kukah betrays something much more sinister against both the North and the nation as a whole because Nigeria is at a stage that it requires responsible advice for attaining peace and stability, not deliberate attempt to mischievously compound our problems.

“If Kukah wants to play politics, he should not do so in the pulpit and he should keep the Bishop’s office aside and chose any Nigerian political party platform to contest for President in 2023 and stop all the pretences.”

The group then reminded the cleric of the rough road tread by democracy heroes to rid the nation of military dictatorship at a time when he was nowhere in sight.

“We will not allow opportunists who did make any contribution to scuttle the democracy achieved through our sweat and toil and the sacrifice of our liberty.”

Legal Practitioner, Barr. Galadima Turns Traditional

Greenbarge Reporters

December 27, 2020

Legal practitioner, Barrister Yakubu Galadima was crowned Makama Toto in Nasarawa State today, December 27, 2020 by His Royal Highness, the Ona of Ogye in Toto Local Government, Alhaji Umar Muhammad Azaki. The new Makama later hosted friends and relations to a festivity in his Chibiri, Kuje, FCT residence.

Makama Toto, Barrister Yakubu Galadima and his wife.

Group Describes Bishop Kukah’s Sermon As Subtle Call For Coup Against Buhari, Says It’s UnGodly

Editorial staff

December 26, 2020

A group known as Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described a sermon delivered by Bishop Matthew Kukah on Christmas Day 2020 as a subtle call for coup against President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement today, December 26, the group noted that this was not the first time the Catholic Bishop had used the pulpit to sow division, discord and fuel an agenda of anarchy.

The statement, signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, said: “we condemn the remarks of Bishop Kukah where he made claims that the President was creating a Northern hegemony and that such could have been the reason for a coup.

“These comments are false, unreasonable and evil. They are anti-Nigeria and have no place in the kind of conversations Nigerians deserve to hear at a time that all are longing for peace and love.

“Time after time, the President Buhari administration has responded with clear facts, numbers and statistics on this allegation of nepotism, showing that in fact, the South-West has the most appointees in the government, while the South has more appointees than the North.

“Yet, no one has produced evidence to the contrary.

“Bishop Matthew Kukah has fallen far below the mark expected of godly leaders, again”, the statement said.

“He has used the pulpit where the messages of peace, of joy, of solidarity, of unity and love should be heard to rather preach messages of discord, disunity, anarchy, fear and worse, to tell blatant lies against the President.

“A man who prides himself as a Bishop of the Church should not be the kind of person that these untruths should be heard from.”

The group said that the sermon delivered by Bishop Kukah on Christmas Day was a contrast against the spirit and message of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

“Bishop Kukah’s Christmas sermon is a contrast against what Christ’s birth and his life on earth symbolise, and continue to be the subject of sermons across the world. They are like light and darkness, they have no meeting point. Christ came to exemplify, teach and show us forgiveness, love, peace and fellowship; Bishop Kukah, who claims to be a servant of Christ preaches hate, anger, violence and disunity.

“This irony is made worse by the very fact that Bishop Kukah is a member of Nigeria’s National Peace Committee. But he constantly continues to be the reference point for trouble and warmongering. We have previously called for him to be sacked from that role as he does not fit in, at all.

“His partisanship and hate for President Buhari has put him in a position of blindness where he can no longer work for or achieve peace.

“It is not surprising that he chose Christmas Day, to deliver an anti-Christian Sermon.”

The group stated that it remained confident in Nigeria’s Armed Forces not to be moved or take any notice of the sermon delivered by Bishop Kukah.

“The Nigerian Armed Forces under President Buhari are not thugs and will not do anything against the Constitution of Nigeria. They are well-trained and are in tune with the President’s agenda for the nation: to tackle insecurity, to fight corruption and to rejuvenate and build a resilient economy for the country. We are sure that, this will be the case even when President Buhari leaves office, at the expiration of his tenure”, the statement added.

Bishop Kukah Never Supported Buhari, Always Singing Nepotism – Federal Govt

Editorial staff

December 26, 2020

Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed

Federal Government has responded to the Archbishop of Sokoto, Hassan Kukah over his accusation that President Muhammadu Buhari is practicing nepotism in governance.

The Government said that while some religious leaders, being human, may not be able to disguise their national leadership preference, they should refrain from stigmatizing the leader they have never supported anyway, using well-worn and disproved allegations of nepotism or whatever.

The Minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement today, December 26, said that whatever challenges Nigeria may be going through at this moment can only be tackled when all leaders and indeed all Nigerians come together, not when some people arrogantly engage in name-calling and finger-pointing.

He asked religious leaders in the country to refrain from stoking the embers of hatred and disunity, warning that resorting to scorched-earth rhetoric at this time could trigger unintended consequences.

”While religious leaders have a responsibility to speak truth to power, such truth must not come wrapped in anger, hatred, disunity and religious disharmony.”

Lai Mohammed said that it is particularly graceless and impious for any religious leader to use the period of Christmas, which is a season of peace, to stoke the embers of hatred, sectarian strife and national disunity.

”Calling for a violent overthrow of a democratically-elected government, no matter how disguised such a call is, and casting a particular religion as violent is not what any religious leader should engage in, and certainly not in a season of peace.”

The minister said that instigating regime change outside the ballot box is not only unconstitutional but also an open call to anarchy.

Bishop Kukah Accuses President Buhari Of Institutionalizing Northern Hegemony

Editorial staff

December 26, 2020

The Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Mathew Kukah, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of institutionalizing Northern hegemony by reducing others in public life to second class status.

He said: “President Buhari deliberately sacrificed the dreams of those who voted for him to what seemed like a programme to stratify and institutionalize northern hegemony by reducing others in public life to second class status. He has pursued this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national cohesion.”

The Bishop who spoke yesterday, December 25 in his 2020 Christmas message titled, ‘A nation in search of vindication,’ said: “every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it.

“There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war. The President may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with these actions.

“He may be right and we Christians cannot feel sorry that we have no pool of violence to draw from or threaten our country. However, God does not sleep. We can see from the inexplicable dilemma of his North.

“This government owes the nation an explanation as to where it is headed as we seem to journey into darkness. The spilling of this blood must be related to a more sinister plot that is beyond our comprehension. Are we going to remain hogtied by these evil men or are they gradually becoming part of a larger plot to seal the fate of our country?”

Anambra CAN Boss Complains: Gov Obiano Against Me Because I’m Not Anglican

Editorial staff

December 26, 2020

Chairman of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Anambra State, Rev. Ndubuisi John has accused Governor Willie Obiano of marginalizing the Christian body in the state because most of them are of Catholic disposition.

Rev John who received the United Nations Peace and Positive Living Awareness Centre award recently, said that Governor Obiano had continually sunned him and his team since he assumed office as the CAN chairman, saying: “one should imagine it is religious bigotry; it depends on one’s perception. If I were to be an Anglican or Roman Catholic Bishop, he would not have treated me that way.

“I think that the government should not abet religious bigotry, it is not wise for the government to abet such. The government should be seen as a neutral body treating everyone equally irrespective of religious denominational differences.

“It is unfortunate that no member of CAN in the state has been given a slot to participate in a pilgrimage to Holy land since the CAN regime came on board.

“In CAN we have five families, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Christians Council of Nigeria, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Organisation of African Instituted Churches and Evangelical Church Winning All, which I belong to and all handled the leadership of CAN in the state before I came in.

“He has been inviting me in many of the public activities and to be candid I have been showing up, honouring his invitation but he has not honoured my invitation to him.

“For the governor to have kept calm in the present CAN regime is not a good story. It is a very big challenge because the government should finance CAN.

“Ebonyi State Government gives N5million every month to CAN in the state to run the office. Imo is doing that and they have built ecumenical centre, area offices and employed people who work there. Delta has done the same, they built lodging centre and people are employed.

“Here in Anambra, we don’t have such. We have not even seen the governor’s face on a formal note. We have not been given that opportunity despite so many letters we wrote following so many channels.”

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