Power has returned to its rightful repository – the people. Our liberators did not come from the north, the south or the east and west of Nigeria. They emerged from the ruins of the country; they broke free from the noxious culture of silence and shattered the substructure of generational complicity and conspiracy. They are the youth of Nigeria; the deliverer of the colony of slaves – from the fowler’s snare and deadly pestilence.
The #EndSARS protests did not only end a ferocious unit of the police and constrained the capricious hands of the government into making pledges of initiating reforms in the force; it also galvanised Nigerians, particularly the young, across religions and ethnic groups to put the government to task. Government should be in the service of the people and not the other way around. Really, there is no mortar that can crush a people forged into a fist; when the people kill fear, the government becomes afraid.
#EndSARS could be the beginning of the end of all Nigeria’s maladies. Citizens – of all ages — have realised their voice counts. They have seen the government tremble in trepidation of a united assemblage of people. Just like Xerxes, the god-king, bled from the spear of King Leonidas, they have seen the very intransigent regime bleed. Nigerians have been unplugged from the matrix by a legion of young resistance. It may never be the same again. Power has returned to the people. The government should be afraid.
The youth have pointed us to a path out of darkness, state repression and oppression. They have given us hope in the possibility of a new country where possibilities are not impossible. They have seized the baton on the relay race to a contemporary Nigeria. It could be a dawn of new beginnings.
I have seen arguments on the need to be cautiously optimistic about the fruits of the recent agitation. Some say the old order of things could return as soon as the #EndSARS protests peter out. Well, I do not want to be cautiously optimistic. I am very optimistic about the far-reaching and indelible impact of this movement. It may never be the same. A new precedent has been set upon which other exemplars will follow.
I do not think there has been anything of this magnitude in our recent history. When any government becomes insouciant about the plight of citizens, the #EndSARS protest will be an aide-memoire – to remind that government of citizens’ wrath. No sane government will want to be on the testy side of the people.
Again, the protest could be the beginning of the end of all Nigeria’s maladies. Yes, I am pushing it. I know. From #EndSARS, the demand has dovetailed to #RECONSTRUCTNIGERIA and #ENDBADGOVERNANCE. #EndSARS was just the needed spark to stir a whirlpool of changes in the system.
Deji Adeyanju agrees. He told me SARS is only but a metaphor of the general societal malaise.
Hear him: ‘’You know SARS is a metaphor …SARS is just one end of all the societal ills….
It’s not really the main issue; yes it’s one of the issues, one of the challenges we’re having as a country and as a people, however, it has become the single, the common rallying point for every other thing we are passing through. So, as many of us have been saying. We have been praying for that thing that will create a spark. So, the EndSARS campaign is that spark that we have all been waiting for. That is my view. I believe that this is the spark; the right spark that we have been waiting for and we are extremely glad that it ignited.’’
Also, Aisha Yesufu, a passionate advocate of good governance, says #EndSARS can be a catalyst to the struggle for a better future for the country.
Here is what she told me: ‘’Like I stated a few days before, I said EndSARS can be the catalyst to fight for a better future and ensure the culture of bad governance, lack of accountability, lack of transparency is once and for all taken away. We are at a tipping point and I hope we are able to tilt towards the good part. What I think is that this government doesn’t understand that this protest is not like any other protest. This is a protest for survival. There has been a culture of silence over the years; over the decades, people have been in pain, people have been oppressed and suppressed; people have gone through so much pain and have kept it in, and now it’s bubbling to the surface.’’
‘’I think Nigerians have been pushed to the wall, most especially the Nigerian youths. They’re trying to fight back; they are not interested in discussing, and the more they are killed, the more they are coming out because they’re saying, ‘it’s better you kill us here in public and the whole world is seeing you kill us than the one where you’re killing and wasting us one after the other under the cover of darkness where nobody is seeing it and nobody can now talk’. and I think if we don’t handle this with care, especially if the government doesn’t handle this with care, when they think they will do what they normally do before which is to first of all intimidate people, harass them, send in police, send in the military, send in thugs, stop the protest and all of that, and think it will work? It’s most likely would not because this cause is different; they are fighting for a right to live and nothing else, and we need to understand that particular bit of it.’’
Really, Nigerians are on a fight for survival, and nothing else matters. By the time this night is over, I believe a dawn of healthy government-citizen relationship will set in. It is a fight to the finish. The government should fear the people.
President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized the dispatch of special teams to deliver urgently, needed assistance to 12 states that are most ravaged by the seasonal rains.
The states to receive the teams conveying reinforcement of reliefs and other equipment through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), are Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Edo, Anambra, Delta, Kano, Jigawa, Rivers, Bayelsa and Adamawa.
A statement today, October 17, by the Senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that some of the states that
have been reached with the first wave of support from the Presidency are Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Sokoto, Jigawa and Kaduna.
The statement said that President Buhari expressed the nation’s sympathy to the victims of the floods, many of whom had lost family members, homes and valued investments in agricultural crops and livestock.
The President underscored the need for additional coordination between the federal and state government agencies dealing with the issues, and for improved forecast and warning systems to avert similar calamities.
Thousands of youths under the cover of #EndSARS protest, have converted the ever-busy Benin-Lagos Expressway into a kitchen.
The protesters, in a relaxed mood, cooked and ate jollof rice under the pedestrian bridge in front of the main gate of the Federal Government-owned University of Benin (UNIBEN).
The protesting youths, today, October 17, blocked the expressway from the old toll gate to Uselu Market in Benin, a distance of about 10 kilometres, making many commuters stranded with complete standstill for over five hours.
One of the protesters, who simply identified herself as Joy, said that the bags of rice and other items were donated by an unnamed supporter of the protest.
She called on the Federal Government to quickly ensure comprehensive reforms of the police for the protest to end.
A female teacher with Concordia College, Jimeta, Yola, Adamawa State, Oluwabunmi Adani, has emerged the winner of this year’s Maltina Teacher of the Year (MTOY) award. She went away with N6.5 million.
She was announced the winner today, October 16 at the grand finale of the 2020 MTOY award ceremony held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos with the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Uwajiuba, Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo and Registrar of the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, among others in attendance. It was a low key event.
With her emergency as a current MTOY Award winner, Mrs Anani, who teaches the English language in her school becomes the sixth teacher to win the award which is free and open to all secondary school teachers nationwide
Messrs Collins Ezem and Olasunkanmi Opeifa, both from FCT schools won the 2019 and 2018 edition, respectively.
MTOY award, an annual event with this year’s edition sixth in the series, is an initiative of Nigerian Breweries Plc domiciled under its humanitarian arm- Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund- to identify and showcase committed and hardworking secondary school teachers nationwide and consequently lift the education sector and the economy as a whole.
File photo: President Buhari and Lee Engineering CEO at the State House, Abuja
Executive Chairman of the Lee Engineering Company’s fabrication plant in Warri, Delta state, Dr Leemon Ikpea, has called on the Federal Government to grant import waiver and tax relief for indigenous fabrication companies to enable them continue to support the government in job creation and boosting the economy.
Speaking today, October 16, when the minister of State for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva, toured the company’s facilities of the company, Dr. Ikpea said the importance the organization places on Nigeria, informed its decisions to continue to invest in the country despite the devastating effects of Covid-19.
He said that Lee Engineering and other indigenous companies who have supported the government over the years, in the areas of job creation deserves support in the form of tax holiday and import waiver on imported materials for fabrication.
“We seek for waiver on import duties and tax relief for indigenous companies like Lee Engineering that are contributing immensely to the economy. Despite the adverse and devastating effect of COVID19 on business and the economy, we deliberately refused to reduce of workforce because of our commitment and support for the government.”
Ikpea said Lee Engineering ventured into the multi-million dollars fabrication project in Warri “as a firm believer and champion of the Federal Government Local Content Initiative to grow local capacity and develop in-country technological advancement disclosing that “when fully operational, this facility will create more employment for Nigerians, reduce cost of importation and conserve foreign exchange for the nation and improve foreign exchange earnings for our nation and eventual advanced technology transfer to the nation.”
The Lee Engineering boss said since the 30 years of the company’s existence, they have “been committed to the development and success of the Oil & Gas Industry“ adding that the company has made its “marks and left giant footsteps in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.
“From major projects in all the refineries, with direct impact on plant capacity utilization and on-stream availability to major projects with the IOCs and NNPC. All these had been engineered and constructed to world standards and remain devoid of any clients’ dissatisfaction or complaints. We are already at advance stage of works on the Assa North Ohaji Project which is the first of the 7 Critical Gas Development Projects of the Federal Government for Domestic Gas improvement. We have also progressed work on the Gbaran Nodal Gas Compression Project in Bayelsa state.”
He emphasized the company’s contributions to the development of local participation in the growth of the oil and gas industry nothing that “our strength lies in our uncompromising stance on best practices in our work standard, quality control procedures, work compensation policy, total compliance to safety standards and the experience of our workforce whom we hold in very high esteem.”
Ikpea stressed the cordial and harmonious relationship the Company maintains with all stakeholders in the industry and the host communities of the areas of our operations coupled with as well as its robust Corporate Social Responsibility.
The ultra-modern manufacturing and fabrication workshop with state-of-the-art equipment has a capacity for manufacturing heat exchangers, pressure vessels, process skids, tanks and other very important oils and gas tools.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has recommended the sack of 37 former operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and prosecution of 24 others for various acts of professional misconducts.
These were the highlights of the Report of the Presidential Panel on Reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad set up by the Federal Government in 2018.
Presenting the report to the PSC Chairman, Musiliu Smith in Abuja today, October 16, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, called for a speedy implementation of the panel recommendations.
A statement by the PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, quoted Ojukwu as saying: “We have come to see a PSC determined to play a leading role in the reform of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Ojukwu said at the end of the public hearing, the panel recommended 37 police officers for dismissal and 24 were recommended for prosecution.
“The panel also directed the Inspector -General of Police to unravel the identity of 22 officers involved in the violation of the human rights of innocent citizens.”
Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that at least 79 out of 164 member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have so far endorsed her bid to lead the crisis-hit organization.
Okonjo-Iweala, at a virtual press conference today, October 16, promised to champion reform in the agency, even as she expressed delight that the 55-member countries of the African Union had also officially supported her over South Korean Yoo Myung-hee.
“I feel the wind behind my back,” adding that a group of Caribbean and Pacific states had also said they would back her candidature for the WTO top job.
She is also optimistic that countries in Latin America and the European Union would support her bid for WTO director-general’s position which became vacant in August after Brazilian diplomat, Roberto Avezedo, stepped down from the position.
“We have had very good traction and good support in Asia so far. I feel quite confident that across the regions, we will be able to attract support.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has threatened to seek legal redress against Saharareporters and Nairaland over the stories they published alleging that it paid bribe to the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and provided funds for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to buy votes in the just concluded Ondo State gubernatorial election.
In a statement today, October 16 by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, the Corporation described the reports as mischievous and contrived allegations, without any substance in truth, ostensibly designed to serve the selfish ends of their sponsors to bring NNPC to disrepute and tarnish the Corporation’s image.On the alleged bribe or Covid-19 palliative to NANS published by Saharareporters, NNPC confirmed that it received a letter dated April 22, 2020, from NANS signed by one Comrade Danielson Akpan, requesting for financial support to enable the association provide palliatives to students who were stranded at various schools during the lockdown, a request the Corporation could not honour due to the peculiar circumstances and financial constraints thrown up by the global oil market meltdown.
Concerning the allegation of providing funds to support a political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in buying votes during the Ondo State gubernatorial election published by Nairaland, the Corporation explained that the NNPC is owned by the Federation and indeed, all Nigerians, hence, it is non-partisan and does not engage in sponsorship of political parties or causes.
“NNPC called on Saharareporters and Nairaland to retract the reports failing which it would be forced to seek legal redress as appropriate.”It also urged members of the public to discountenance the reports, stressing that they were a crass display of unprofessionalism with predetermined conclusions aimed at serving the selfish purposes of their sponsors.”
The 85-member State House Press Corps (SHPC) has unanimously passed a vote of no confidence on its leaders, led by Alhaji Ubale Musa of the Hausa Service of German Radio, known as Deutche Welle Radio. At its Congress today, October 15, held at the FCT Press Centre in Abuja, the SHPC said that the vote of no confidence and dissolution of the entire executive was as a result of the fact that crisis had long enveloped the executive which has been unable to hold exco meetings in the past two years. Overwhelming majority of the over 50 members who attended the congress, voted in favour of dissolution of the executive. Congress then went on to set up an interim executive as transition committee, with Mr. Tony Ailemen of the Businesday as chairman “for a period not more than two weeks within which the next election will hold. In the transition committee also are Mrs. Raliat Asenikan of the Classic FM and Adegboyega Arogbodo of Lagos Television (LTV) This was even as an electoral committee was also constituted, with Felix Onuah of the Reuters as chairman. Other members are Shade Abdulsalami of MITV, Sani Tukur of the Premium Times, Ebuwa Osagie of AIT, Philip Nweli of Wazobia Fm.
The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the nomination of a Presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie, as a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The apex Christian body described the nomination of Onochie, who is a serving aide to President Muhammadu Buhari as “an executive recklessness, a dirty slap on the populace, and a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended)..”
A statement signed by the CAN President, Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, the association said that Onochie lacks objectivity, justice and fairness that are mandatory for every member of INEC as a result of her partisan membership of a political party and by being an appointee of the ruling party. “We hereby call on the Senate to reject the nomination of Lauretta Onochie as a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for these reasons.
“According to Section 156 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) Act No 1, 2010, a member of the INEC “shall not be a member of a political party.” Whereas Onochie is reportedly said to be a card carrying member of the ruling party. That disqualifies her from being nominated and appointed to serve in INEC.
“Furthermore, although the president has power to appoint members of INEC whenever there are vacancies, he is expected to abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in doing so. He is required to consult with the Council of State as stated in section 154 (3) of the Constitution and we have no record that this had been done before forwarding Onochie’s name to the Senate.
“If this observation is correct, then the President erred in law by forwarding her name to the Senate as demanded by Section 154 (1) of the Constitution which says the appointment of the members of the Independent National Electoral Commission shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.”
Ayokunle said that as far as CAN was concerned, Onochie lacks objectivity, justice and fairness that were mandatory for every member of INEC as a result of her partisan membership of a political party and by being an appointee of the ruling party.
He added that CAN was equally opposed to Onochie’s nomination because of her unguarded remarks, public insults on credible individuals and the use of vulgar language and unprintable words against people who expressed their displeasure with some actions and policies of the government of the day.
CAN president said that the association and her leadership had been a victim of the woman’s unguarded statements since her appointment as the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media. “A person like her by her utterances does not have the character to occupy a position of unbiased umpire in national elections in Nigeria.”
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President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized the dispatch of special teams to deliver urgently, needed assistance to 12 states that are most ravaged by the seasonal rains.
Thousands of youths under the cover of #EndSARS protest, have converted the ever-busy Benin-Lagos Expressway into a kitchen.
A female teacher with Concordia College, Jimeta, Yola, Adamawa State, Oluwabunmi Adani, has emerged the winner of this year’s Maltina Teacher of the Year (MTOY) award. She went away with N6.5 million.
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has recommended the sack of 37 former operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and prosecution of 24 others for various acts of professional misconducts.
The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the nomination of a Presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie, as a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
After #EndSARS, No Government Will Ignore Nigerians Again, By Fredrick Nwabufo
The #EndSARS protests did not only end a ferocious unit of the police and constrained the capricious hands of the government into making pledges of initiating reforms in the force; it also galvanised Nigerians, particularly the young, across religions and ethnic groups to put the government to task. Government should be in the service of the people and not the other way around. Really, there is no mortar that can crush a people forged into a fist; when the people kill fear, the government becomes afraid.
#EndSARS could be the beginning of the end of all Nigeria’s maladies. Citizens – of all ages — have realised their voice counts. They have seen the government tremble in trepidation of a united assemblage of people. Just like Xerxes, the god-king, bled from the spear of King Leonidas, they have seen the very intransigent regime bleed. Nigerians have been unplugged from the matrix by a legion of young resistance. It may never be the same again. Power has returned to the people. The government should be afraid.
The youth have pointed us to a path out of darkness, state repression and oppression. They have given us hope in the possibility of a new country where possibilities are not impossible. They have seized the baton on the relay race to a contemporary Nigeria. It could be a dawn of new beginnings.
I have seen arguments on the need to be cautiously optimistic about the fruits of the recent agitation. Some say the old order of things could return as soon as the #EndSARS protests peter out. Well, I do not want to be cautiously optimistic. I am very optimistic about the far-reaching and indelible impact of this movement. It may never be the same. A new precedent has been set upon which other exemplars will follow.
I do not think there has been anything of this magnitude in our recent history. When any government becomes insouciant about the plight of citizens, the #EndSARS protest will be an aide-memoire – to remind that government of citizens’ wrath. No sane government will want to be on the testy side of the people.
Again, the protest could be the beginning of the end of all Nigeria’s maladies. Yes, I am pushing it. I know. From #EndSARS, the demand has dovetailed to #RECONSTRUCTNIGERIA and #ENDBADGOVERNANCE. #EndSARS was just the needed spark to stir a whirlpool of changes in the system.
Deji Adeyanju agrees. He told me SARS is only but a metaphor of the general societal malaise.
Hear him: ‘’You know SARS is a metaphor …SARS is just one end of all the societal ills….
It’s not really the main issue; yes it’s one of the issues, one of the challenges we’re having as a country and as a people, however, it has become the single, the common rallying point for every other thing we are passing through. So, as many of us have been saying. We have been praying for that thing that will create a spark. So, the EndSARS campaign is that spark that we have all been waiting for. That is my view. I believe that this is the spark; the right spark that we have been waiting for and we are extremely glad that it ignited.’’
Also, Aisha Yesufu, a passionate advocate of good governance, says #EndSARS can be a catalyst to the struggle for a better future for the country.
Here is what she told me: ‘’Like I stated a few days before, I said EndSARS can be the catalyst to fight for a better future and ensure the culture of bad governance, lack of accountability, lack of transparency is once and for all taken away. We are at a tipping point and I hope we are able to tilt towards the good part. What I think is that this government doesn’t understand that this protest is not like any other protest. This is a protest for survival. There has been a culture of silence over the years; over the decades, people have been in pain, people have been oppressed and suppressed; people have gone through so much pain and have kept it in, and now it’s bubbling to the surface.’’
‘’I think Nigerians have been pushed to the wall, most especially the Nigerian youths. They’re trying to fight back; they are not interested in discussing, and the more they are killed, the more they are coming out because they’re saying, ‘it’s better you kill us here in public and the whole world is seeing you kill us than the one where you’re killing and wasting us one after the other under the cover of darkness where nobody is seeing it and nobody can now talk’. and I think if we don’t handle this with care, especially if the government doesn’t handle this with care, when they think they will do what they normally do before which is to first of all intimidate people, harass them, send in police, send in the military, send in thugs, stop the protest and all of that, and think it will work? It’s most likely would not because this cause is different; they are fighting for a right to live and nothing else, and we need to understand that particular bit of it.’’
Really, Nigerians are on a fight for survival, and nothing else matters. By the time this night is over, I believe a dawn of healthy government-citizen relationship will set in. It is a fight to the finish. The government should fear the people.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist
Twitter @FredrickNwabufo