The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akure, Ondo State has smelt foul play as fire broke out today, September 10 at its head office in the state.
National Commissioner, Barrister Festus Okoye, who is in Ondo State in connection with preparations for the Ondo State Governorship election scheduled for 10th October 2020, said that investigation into the cause of the fire will commence promptly.
The fire gutted the container housing Smart Card Readers. Men of the Fire Service swung to action to contain the fire.
Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have confirmed the gunmen attack on Tungamaje, a suburban village along Zuba road last night, September 9, where they kidnapped some people and robbed them of their valuables.
Spokesperson for the FCT Police command, Anjuguri Manzah, said that police have rescued five out of 10 people that were confirmed to have been kidnapped by the gunmen.
Manzah Said in a statement today, September 10 that the FCT Police Command is assuring the public that protection of lives and property remains their core of the policing mandate and that they “will continue to inject fresh strategies that will place the security of the Federal Capital Territory at its optimum.”
Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the road to effective development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria is long and arduous, but that it is a task that must be accomplished.
Speaking today, September 10 at a food security summit in Abuja, Professor Gambari said: “agriculture is a major priority for this administration and the crucial driver for the development of the nation. Therefore, the growth of the sector leaves no room for complacency.
“There is still a long arduous road to go before achieving those goals. However with determination, coordination and hard work, we have the capacity and will therefore, demonstrate the wherewithal to our exceed our expectation.”
The Chief of Staff, who noted that the recent surge of national food prices is gradually evolving to a food crisis with the ability to threaten the nation’s food security, expressed happiness that reports reaching him indicated that prices are actually on the decline as new grains have been introduced to the market.
“For example, new maize which was previously sold for N25,000 per bag is now being sold between N12,000 and N17,000 and it’s expected to fall between N7,000 and N8,000 per bad by November 2020, according to the various leaders of agricultural commodity association.
“The price decline has also been experienced in millet, beans and sorghum. The hike therefore is to be seen as a transient situation.
“With Mr. President being among us, as somebody who knows about farming and agriculture, perhaps more than many of us in the room, we believe his presence is very instructive in addressing not just this hike and transient nature and pricing of foodstuff but also to underscore the importance he personally and as Mr. President and his administration, attaches to the issue of national food security.
“However, it is important to note that the most prevailing concern of the various leaders of the agricultural commodity association, was their demand that there should be better coordination, synergy and cooperation across the sector. This has been largely accounted for the gross misinformation and nationwide speculation which is being experienced.
“Not disregarding the impact of other value triggers such as the clinical off season period phenomenon, the COVID-19 pandemic and infrastructure challenges, the importance of collaboration can still not be overemphasized.
“As I welcome all participants to this crucial gathering, I urge that we all work hand in hand to ensure the protection of our nation’s food basket.”
The newly re-elected President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said that he is proud to be a citizen of Nigeria.
Dr. Adesina, who paid a thank-you visit to President Muhammadu Buhari today, September 10, at the presidential villa, Abuja, said: “home is where dreams are born. Home is where nurturing is provided. It is where support is given for realization of dreams. I am glad to belong here.
“When I came in June, you received me, and I shared my successes, and the difficulties facing me. You listened, and said you would stand by me. And you did.
“You not only stood behind me, but also beside me. No greater honour for a man than for his Commander-in-Chief to be his Supporter-in-Chief, and his Defender-in-Chief.”
The AfDB President noted that Nigeria gave him air, “when I badly needed it in my lungs.”
He pledged to always support the country in his private capacity, and as AfDB President.
He then asked for a round of applause for the President, which was truly resounding.
President Buhari congratulated Dr. Adesina on his second and final term in office, adding: “nothing succeeds like success.
“I have told so many people why I backed you,” President Buhari said.
“In 2015, at your first term, you were a Minister with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government, and I was of the All Progressives Congress (APC). But you are a good Nigerian. So I recommended you the first time. You proved to be competent, you made us proud, and I recommended you the second time.”
The President commended Dr Adesina for his support for Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular, stressing that the infrastructural deficits the country has in roads, rail, power, could not be overcome without support.
“There can’t be sustainable development without infrastructure. Our efforts should be seen in the context of lack of resources, but you do your best to support us. I wish you all the best in your final term.”
Dr Adesina had overcome stiff opposition last month to win an unprecedented 100% votes from the regionals and non-regionals that make up the Bank, and was inaugurated for second term of five years as AfDB President on September 1.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria not to grant any request from anybody for grants the country’s reserves for the importation of food items and fertilizer.
At a meeting of the National Food Security Council at the State House, Abuja, today, September 10, the President restated his earlier verbal directive to the apex bank, saying he will pass it down in writing that ”nobody importing food should be given money.”
He mphasized the need to boost local agriculture, even as he said: “from only three operating in the country, we have 33 fertilizer blending plants now working. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign reserves to import fertilizer. We will empower local producers.”
President Buhari also directed that blenders of fertilizer should convey products directly to State governments so as to skip the cartel of transporters undermining the efforts to successfully deliver the products to users at reasonable costs.
He advised private businesses bent on food importation to source their foreign exchange independently, saying: ”use your money to compete with our farmers, instead of using foreign reserves to bring in compromised food items to divest the efforts of our farmers.
”We have a lot of able-bodied young people willing to work and agriculture is the answer. We have a lot to do to support our farmers.”
The meeting, chaired by the President with other key members of the Council in attendance, was briefed on the food security situation prevailing in the country.
The Vice Chairman of the council and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and a Governor from each of the six geo-political zones – Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba, Ebonyi, Lagos and Kebbi, made presentations.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, outlined measures introduced by the administration to tackle the unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation as contained in the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).
Among others, the Minister highlighted that the government will facilitate the cultivation of 20,000 to 100,000 hectares of new farmland in every State and support off-take of agro-processing to create millions of direct and indirect job opportunities.
She also listed the creation of 774,000 direct jobs for a minimum of 1,000 young Nigerians in each local government, the construction of 300,000 homes every year to give a boost to jobs through the construction industry, as well as the connection of 25 million new users of electricity with the installation of Solar Home System (SHS) targeting 5 million households.
Dr Ahmed also briefed on the joint investment with the World Bank to provide intervention fund to States to improve health infrastructure.
She said to ease existing financial hardships among the people, the government is also coming up with low-interest loans for mechanics, tailors, artisans, petty traders and other informal business operators.
The Minister added that the Federal Government will equally provide support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to help them keep their employees and boost local manufacturing.
Dr Ahmed explained that from the recently approved N2.3 trillion stimulus recommended by the NESP, there will be expansion of broadband connectivity to boost job opportunities in the digital economy, a planned expansion of the National Social Investment Programmes including increase in the number of beneficiaries such as the cash transfer beneficiaries, N-Power Volunteers, the Market Moni and Trader Moni schemes.
In his presentation, the Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono told the Council that the nation expects a bumper harvest of food items despite floods in the north and drought in the south.
He quoted the latest market surveys to show that the recent hike in the price of commodities is being reversed.
On his part, Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, reported the negative impact of the pandemic on the lives and livelihood of citizens, while the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (Rtd) expressed the hope of an early reopening of the partially closed borders given the progress made with neighbouring States in joint border patrols – one of the key conditions by Nigeria for reopening of the borders.
I read on one of the social media platforms an open letter to Malam Adamu Adamu, the Honorable Minister of Education by our Ambassador in Mexico, to which I think I should make a contribution that may interest the minister in addressing the issues at stake.
In February 1971, almost 50 years ago, I became the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education. When I entered the office, I found two files on the table. One was the handing over note by the departed Permanent Secretary, the other was a very thick file that contained four sets of documents: the first was a report from the Federal Scholarship Board describing the processes that led to the selection and recommendation of awards of the Federal Scholarships and Bursaries for the 19171/72 Academic Year. The second was the full list of the names of the successful candidates and third, the Council Memorandum by the Federal Minister of Education recommending the Federal Executive Council to approve the list and the fourth, the Council Conclusion giving its approval.
All that was required of me was to sign for the public announcement of the awards for that academic year. Even if I was of the mind to go through the three thousand names on the list, I could not have changed anything because all the necessary processes had been complied with and the highest authority in the land had approved.
The awards were duly published and all hell was let loose. In 1971, the Federation of Nigeria had 12 states; the six northern states and six southern states. There were 3000 awards. These were shared about 2,750 to the six southern states and 250 to the six northern states. When further analyzed, more than 500 went to the two North Central states of Kwara and Benue Plateau. No one analyzed what the figures for the two main religions were.
There was an angry outburst at the “lopsidedness of the Award” for the North. The anger was targeted at me personally, because I was the Permanent Secretary who signed the “Release Document” and because as a northerner just having “crossed the Carter Bridge and drank the lagoon water”, I had forgotten my roots. The governors, the Kaduna press and radio were unanimous in calling for my immediate removal.
While I was trying to understand the situation I had found myself in, I received a midnight call from the Head of State who asked me whether I had been reading the northern press and listening to their radio. And whether I had any satisfactory explanation to give.
At that point I realized that although the attacks were directed at me personally, any response must be the government’s response and must be based on all the available facts. I requested 48 hours to prepare the response.
Within those hours, the facts were gathered and subjected to detailed analysis. The conclusions were inescapable. The defunct government of Northern Nigeria and the successor governments of the six Northern states bear the full responsibility for what they were now complaining about. Not the Federal Government of Nigeria. Why is this so? Because of the following:
a) Under the Constitution of Nigeria, Primary and Secondary Education including Teachers education is the responsibility of the Regional/State Governments NOT that of the Federal Government. It is also not a responsibility that is shared between the two tiers. The class of students in consideration are candidates who have completed their secondary education
b) Only those who apply in response to invitation to apply for Federal Government scholarships and who qualify can be considered. In some of the Northern states only very few applications were received. The official explanation was that newspapers did not circulate in the North generally and that, in any case most northern students either did not have access to newspapers or did not have the reading culture of newspapers
These points were obviously not taken into account by the board. In subsequent years, action was taken to remedy the situation, but it did not lead to increased numbers of applications from the northern states. The reason given was that the northern governments’ scholarships were more attractive than the federal ones.
The federal offer to northern students who receive federal awards, for them to accept the federal awards, accept the federal allowance and receive the difference from their states, was rejected. This incident led the Federal Ministry of Education to undertake a critical examination of the educational imbalance in the country. It was recognised that it was a time bomb, which must be quickly defused.
While the political and social implications of the education crisis could be foreseen, it was difficult for most to appreciate that it is not an issue that has a political solution. It is an issue that is determined by the natural development of the human being. That it is the physical and mental development of the human child that we are dealing with.The child must be born. He must attain the school going age of six years. He must spend six years in primary school, six years in secondary school and at least four years in the University etc. This time period cannot be compressed.
At this time in 1971, Lagos State was enrolling nearly 100% in primary schools, the Mid West was recording about 90%, the West well over 60% while the North West, North East and Kano were enrolling less than 5%. It would take at least two decades to draw parallel and draw level for the whole country. But account must also be taken of the fact that the more educationally advanced states would not be standing still. They would be galloping forward. Taking all these factors into account the Federal Ministry of Education made far reaching recommendations to prepare for a giant leap forward in the development of education for the whole country.
First, it was decided that immediate steps be taken to expand the teacher training effort. A crash programme for teacher training was initiated using expanded facilities in Teacher Training Colleges around the country.
Three Advanced Teacher Training Colleges were to be immediately set-up. Three polytechnics were also established. Grants in Aid were approved and disbursed to all secondary schools, which ran Sixth Form Classes and the Colleges of Preliminary Studies run by the Ahmadu Bello University campuses in Zaria and Kano.
The federal government also approved special grants to expand all existing State Secondary Schools in the six Northern States. On top of all of the above, the federal government with the assistance and collaboration of UNESCO and the involvement of all the five existing universities in Nigeria, embarked on the ambitious project of introducing Universal Primary Education beginning 1st January 1976 that would ensure education of every Nigerian child born after the official end of the Nigerian Civil War in January 1970.
I have gone over the history of the education crisis from 1971 when I became involved to today in order for us to understand where we are coming from. The figures in the Open Letter to Adamu Adamu have similarities to the situation I found in 1971. I do not know what level of studies these awards were. But the distribution is somewhat similar, suggesting that the situation now remains somewhat the same to that of 1971.
We need to relate these figures to what we know to be the education crisis in Nigeria today. In about 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan lamented that there were 10 million out of school children in Nigeria. Obviously meaning that these out of school children are in Northern Nigeria. He set out to build Almajiri Schools in the belief that that would address the situation.
His successor, President Muhammadu Buhari has been quoted as saying that the figure of out of school children in the country is now 12 million, meaning the figure has grown and is likely to continue to grow. I know that from 1973, funds for the preparation for the UPE were being paid to every state in the country not only for building the schools that would be needed but the expansion of teacher training facilities and the provision of teaching materials.
After the elections that brought President Obasanjo, the Universal Basic Education was introduced and money was being transferred to every state of the federation. It is now 20 years since the introduction of the UBE Programme and that much money has been expanded.
We must ask the question, where are those millions of out of school children to be found? Obviously in Northern Nigeria! We have been spending money in the belief that we are providing education for every one of the children we bear for 50 years without making progress.
Who is to account for what has been happening and is continuing to happen? Surely the fault lies with us. And by us I mean us in Northern Nigeria. Both the leaders and the led.
Ahmed Joda, an elder statesman and former Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, wrote in from Yola, Adamawa State.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has advocated the development and adhering to a set of ethical codes of conduct in the nation’s universities and other higher educational institutions against rampant rape cases and sex for marks.
“To ensure that both faculty and students are sufficiently clear about the issues and rules, there is a need for a code of conduct or ethical guidelines based on best practices in appropriate student/lecturer interactions.
“It is important that these are clearly defined in ethical guidelines that are contained in some documents that people can refer to and see. It is important both for the lecturer and the student that there is some reference to some code of conduct.”
Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi made these points yesterday, September 9, at a webinar on anti-sexual harassment with theme, “Finding Safe Spaces for Female Students in Nigerian Universities,” organized by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. The event was based on the book authored by notable journalist and former presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, titled, “Naked Abuse: Sex For Grades In African Universities.’’
The Vice President is not comfortable with people saying that sex for mark is the same as bribe for the same thing, saying: “there is also the comparison sometimes made between demanding bribes for service and sex for grades. Sometimes people will argue that a bribe is a bribe and there is no reason why the punishment for sex as the currency of the bribe, should be stricter than an ordinary bribe,’’
Professor Osinbajo said that the search for answers to creating safe spaces for female students in universities must begin from the question as to why is it that such an evidently rampant crime is so under-reported.
According to the vice-president, there are obviously many cases of people who share their anecdotal experiences without necessarily reporting to the authorities.
“I think the answer is clearly that this low reportability is on account of the fact that many victims do not feel confident that they will get redress, or that they will be treated fairly or that they will not be visited with the same fearful consequences that was the subject of the demand in the first place.
“The fear that they will neither get a sympathetic nor understanding hearing, let alone justice, and that they will end up suffering the same consequences the predator had threatened would occur if they did not submit to their demands. Then there is of course, the shame and stigma that could attend speaking up.
“I think that in ensuring that we create safe spaces, we must do at least the basics, which is providing the support and resources they need to report abusers.
“Every institution must make it easy for victims or potential victims to report perpetrators to trusted formal structures or secure channels created specifically for the purpose of resolving such cases.”
Osinbajo also recommended the adoption of a mandatory “well thought-out whistleblower process emphasizing confidentiality, professional legal and medical help for victims or potential victims.”
“I believe I was about the only African among the less developed countries the President of United States (Donald Trump) invited, and when I was in his office, only myself and himself, only God is my witness, he looked at me in the face, he said, ‘why are you killing Christians?’ President Muhammadu Buhari made this off-the-cuff statement yesterday, September 8 at the end of the ministerial performance retreat at the presidential villa, Abuja. He said that his response to the American President’s question was: “I wonder if you were the person how you will react. I hope what I was feeling inside did not betray my emotion. So, I told him that the problem between the cattle rearers and stagnant farmers I know is older than me not to talk of him (Trump). I think I am a couple of years older than him. With climate change and population growth and the culture of the cattle rearers, if you have 50 cows and they eat grass, any root to your water point, they will follow it, it doesn’t matter whose farm it was. The first republic set of leadership was the most responsible leadership we ever had. I asked the Minister of Agriculture to get a gazette of the early 60s which delineated the cattle routes where they used meagre resources then to put earth dams, wind mills even sanitary department. “So, any cattle rearer that allowed his cattle to go to somebody’s farm is arrested, taken before the court, the farmer is called to submit his bill and if he can’t pay, the cattle are sold, but subsequent leaders, VVIPs (very very important persons) they encroached on the cattle routes, they took over the cattle rearing areas. So, I tried and explained to him, this has got nothing to do with ethnicity or religion. It is a cultural thing in which the respective leadership was failing the nation.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has charged his team players to defend the government vigorously and not allow irresponsible and politically motivated activists to keep spreading patent falsehoods about this government.
“I have to charge all of you to defend the Government vigorously and not allow irresponsible and politically motivated activists to keep spreading patent falsehoods about this government. Information to the public should be better packaged. Go on the offensive. We are proud of our achievements and we should blow our own trumpets.”
The President, who spoke today, September at the close the ministerial performance review retreat in Abuja, announced that he had directed that a Central Delivery Coordination Unit at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation should be revived to ensure the much-needed synergy and focus on results.
“The Secretary to the Government of the Federation is to ensure regular reports on progress are submitted.”
The President, who stressed that the aim of his government is to gradually close the gap between the different classes to bring joy to a greater number of the citizens, emphasized the importance of those top government official to work as a team.
“I charge us all to play as a team, because that is what we are. A convoy is however only as strong as its slowest vessel. To this end, the days of insufficient collaboration, coordination and synergy among implementing Ministries, Departments, and Agencies should be over.”
He reiterated that all submissions for his attention or meeting requests should be channeled through the Chief of Staff, while all Federal Executive Council matters should be coordinated through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“I have directed the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and all other responsible Agencies to ensure speedy and timely release of funds to MDAs for implementation of the N2.3Trillion Economic Sustainability Plan and the Capital Projects in the 2020 Budget.
“I also enjoin Ministers to ensure that funds released are utilized efficiently and transparently in implementing the programmes and projects along the Nine Priorities of Government.”
President Buhari charged Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and all Heads of Parastatals to be continuously conscious of their commitments and responsibilities, saying: “on behalf of the people of Nigeria, I demand the uttermost level of performance, deliverables, and results. I look forward to a result-oriented year, with tremendous benefits that will continue to change the lives of our people positively.”
“So this is how we will just adjust to the new fuel price at the petrol stations, and government will get away with the imposition of greater hardship on the people?”
“No. Government is very clear. The fuel subsidy regime is not sustainable. The PPMC, NNPC and the PPPRA made that clear in April. What they said was that the Federal Government can no longer pay subsidies on petrol and that prices will be determined by market forces. In any case, there is no provision for subsidy payments in the 2020 budget”
“How about the billions that were paid in July? About N535. 9 billion”
“That payment was for the backlog of subsidy before the Government announced a new policy. And Nigeria is not alone. In March, Saudi Aramco made a similar announcement. If you live in Saudi Arabia, you will buy petrol at market rates. In fact, by the 10th of every month, Saudi Aramco announces new fuel prices.”
“I beg. Spare me that. You people are always comparing apples and oranges. Suddenly so many people have become emergency economists. Market forces that have no human face. Selective market forces. Go and check the Saudi Arabia that you are quoting. What is the GDP or minimum wage there compared to Nigeria’s? What kind of leaders do they have? Are their refineries working or not? If our policy makers love market forces so much, so why are we not allowing market forces to determine the true value of the Naira? Why has the CBN not taken the bold step to unify the foreign exchange rates?”
“You see this is the problem with our people. Nigerians like to talk from both sides of the mouth. You are criticizing the deregulation of the downstream sector, and the end of the subsidy regime, and yet you are saying the Naira should be allowed to find its own market value. If government does that, you will be one of the first to start protesting that the Naira was stronger in 2015, and that devaluation is punishing the people and businesses. I think we should just praise the government for its courage, and capacity to take bold decisions.”
“They have not done anything new. It is the timing that is bad. In 2012, the Jonathan administration did exactly the same thing. Offered the same explanations. But you people went and set up camp in Ojota to ask for freedom from high fuel prices. And what did the Jonathan administration do. Exactly the same scenario. And yet it was an increase from N67 per litre to N97 per litre. When the price of crude oil dropped internationally, the government at the time then announced a downward review from N97 to N87. And yet you people went on to the streets. “Occupy Nigeria!” The Buhari government raised petrol price in 2016 from N87 to N145. Nobody protested. Today, we have jumped from N148 per litre to N161 per litre. If care is not taken by December we may hit N200 per litre. And yet nobody is in Ojota. Where are the Ojota democrats?”
“Nobody is stopping you from going to Ojota. You can also go there and organize your own protests. Just be ready for the consequences.”
“What I even find shocking is that Nigerians are now begging the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress and other unions to speak up”
“NLC and TUC have issued statements.”
“Which statements? Only yesterday, some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) went to picket the NLC Secretariat in Abuja. They called on the NLC President to declare a nationwide protest.”
“They could have been arrested. I hope they know that. For disrupting the public order, for inciting organized labour against the government of the day and seeking to sabotage government.”
“This is the thing about you APC sympathizers. Are you now looking for a government appointment?”
“That’s hate speech. This government has warned many times that people should avoid hate speech.”
“But in 2012, nobody talked about hate speech. The PDP government engaged stakeholders. The House of Representatives investigated the payment of petrol subsidies to petroleum marketers. Fraud was uncovered. The Federal Government set up its own probe and technical committees. The payments were reviewed. Suggestions were made as to what should be done. The refineries for example. If we get the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna working at optimal capacity, we would increase local refining and we won’t have to import refined petrol from offshore refineries. We can create jobs here and put an end to the inefficiency of the NNPC, and break its needless monopoly.”
“Forget it. Those refineries are better sold off as scrap. Did you not read the NNPC financial statements which indicated that those refineries lost over N423 billion in 2018, and over N50 billion in 5 months this year? Nothing will change.”
“But how about the Dangote Refinery that will process 650, 000 barrels of crude per day? I understand the Bua Group is also setting up a refinery in partnership with the French conglomerate, Axens.”
“Yes, that will address the issue of more supply and create jobs. But the technology for setting up those refineries you talk about is not locally made. Even some levels of expertise would have to be procured from abroad. Dangote and Bua will also buy crude at international market rates. So local refining does not mean fuel will be necessarily cheaper. Simple economics. Market reality.”
“Keep talking until people begin to die inside this your market of cruel forces. You people have increased VAT. You have increased electricity tariffs by over 100%. Inflation is 12.82%. Interest rate on savings is a miserable 1.25%. Prices of rice, beans, pepper and tomatoes have jumped up. A bag of rice that used to be N20, 000 is now N35, 000. Transport fares have increased. I hear even prostitutes and side chicks these days are also quoting market forces! They too are thinking of deregulating their market. Demand and supply.”
“Well, these are unusual times. COVID-19 has distorted everything. Nigeria has a revenue problem and a debt problem. But I am sure everything will be fine because Nigerians trust this government. Every Nigerian should be prepared to make a sacrifice.”
“Did you just talk about trust and sacrifice? And if I may ask: what sacrifice are Nigerian leaders making? Name one or two that you know.”
“Every conversation with you is always a wrestling match. I beg. Na you sabi. You can go to Ojota, if you like. I have said my own.”
“There is no point. They won’t listen. By the way, are you going to Benin to vote in the Gubernatorial election on September 19?”
“No. I have no such plans. I ain’t going nowhere.”
“You don’t want to go and support your brother?”
“Nope. I don’t want to be caught in any crossfire. The way those guys are going, I foresee serious outbreak of violence if not on election day, then may be after.”
“You know after the Oba of Benin summoned a peace meeting in the palace last week, I thought all the gladiators will sheathe their swords. In Oredo last weekend, I was surprised when the papers reported that Governor Obaseki threatened to bury Comrade Adams Oshiomhole politically on September 19. The PDP Campaign Council Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih also attacked Oshiomhole and accused him of having organized a fire incident in 2012 to hide the truth about the Primary Six Certificate that he claims he has. This election is a contest with Oshiomhole, Obaseki said.
“They should leave Oshiomhole alone, I beg. He is not a candidate in the election. And all of them should know what it means to disobey the Oba of Benin. They could be tagged an enemy of the palace!”
“Meaning what? Is this the first time a Bini man will be tagged Oghion Oba? Leave that matter. These politicians don’t care. Wasn’t that how Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu went to Akure, Ondo State to announce at a rally on Saturday that the PDP in the state is dead? Or how did he put it, something about a corpse inside a coffin.”
“That’s just political talk. How can an opposition party that has a candidate in the election, duly recognized by the Electoral Commission be said to be dead? We’d know which party is alive and which one is dead on election day. Ondo is October 10, right?”
“Yes. But the politics in Ondo State is likely to be as hot what we are seeing in Edo State. I don’t know whether you watched the interview the Governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu had on Arise TV on Monday.”
“Aketi?”
“Yes. He was firing from every cylinder in his system. He had very harsh words for Agboola Ajayi and former Governor Mimiko.”
“Was he also talking about death?”
“Well he said Mimiko is politically dead in Ondo State. He called him a spent force. But incidentally, the same day, some thugs stormed the Ondo State House of Assembly and took it over. That is not a good sign.”
“Don’t worry. It is all politics. It will pass.”
“I think we should worry about violence in politics and the rhetoric of hate. Especially now that Pastors are also beginning to sound and talk like the politicians, turning the pulpit into a bully arena. Any expression of intolerance should be monitored and checked.”
“And who is the Pastor who is now sounding like a politician?”
“Have you not been following the news? Have you not seen that trending video in which Pastor David Ibiyeomie of the Salvation Ministries abused and attacked the broadcaster, Daddy Freeze for criticizing Bishop David Oyedepo whom he calls his Daddy. He asked: who is his father?”
“Pastor Ibiyeomie must have been listening to DJ Cuppy’s music… Oh Gelato!…Who is your Daddy?..”
“Except that Pastor was not joking. He called Daddy Freeze a bastard. He cursed the day he was born and threatened that if he ever dared to disrespect his own Daddy, his Papa in the Lord, Bishop Oyedepo again, he will die”
“I thought that was too much. It was so distasteful, the way the Pastor went on and on. What did Daddy Freeze do? He merely expressed an opinion. He disagreed with Bishop Oyedepo’s advice that women should be totally submissive to their husbands. (Ephesians 5: 22). There are others who responded in the same fashion and quoted other sections of the Bible. Women wrote on twitter that a couple should both be submissive to one another. After all, the Bible asks men to also love their wives as Christ loved the church. (Ephesians 5: 25)”
“Bishop Ibiyeomie apparently thinks that is blasphemy. He thinks, a Daddy Freeze, a broadcaster, should not disagree with a Prophet of the Lord. For his effrontery, he is now being threatened with a death sentence. Touch not my anointed. Daddy Freeze touched the anointed. He should report Pastor Ibiyeomie to the Inspector-General and ask for protection.”
“Really, so what is the difference between what Pastor Ibiyeomie has done and the death sentence passed on the musician in Kano State, I mean Yahaya Sharif-Aminu? I understand some people are even saying Aminu cannot be defended on appeal by a Muslim lawyer. It is the same thing.”
“Did you listen to that part where the pastor even said “broadcaster… he doesn’t even have a good job”
“I laughed… Broadcasting is not a good job, the gospel according to Pastor Ibiyeomie! I think he owes all broadcasters an apology. How can he just dismiss a noble profession like that?”
“But the truth is that Pastor Ibiyeomie is himself a broadcaster. He probably doesn’t realize it. I used to attend the Salvation Ministries in Abuja. The main sermon from Port Harcourt, with Pastor Ibiyeomie ministering was delivered through a broadcast channel. I just hope the Pastor is not going to turn around and claim that this particular video has been doctored, and does not truly reflect what he said. I just hope so.”
“Men of God should not use the pulpit to sound like politicians or play God. Pa-si-tor, ewo n ti epe?”
“If you are the owner of the pulpit, I guess you can pretty much say what you like. The real problem are the members of the Congregation. People get so carried away, they don’t critically analyze what their Pastors say. They allow themselves to be held spell-bound. Did you not notice when the pastor said: “I curse the day you were born!”, how the congregation chorused in approval?”
“I was shocked. But this is probably why a law like the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, Section 839 (1), (2) is important. A part of it talks about public interest. It is certainly not in the interest of the public for religious leaders to turn their pulpits into a platform for intimidation, defamation, and harassment.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“The law speaks for itself and there are circumstances that may justify it, despite the objections of some people.”
“Please, please, p-lease. I don’t want to get into that conversation with you. I don’t want any Pastor to turn me into a target. I was born on a truly blessed day… Only God knows what some of these Pastors have on their tongues.”
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Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have confirmed the gunmen attack on Tungamaje, a suburban village along Zuba road last night, September 9, where they kidnapped some people and robbed them of their valuables.
Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the road to effective development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria is long and arduous, but that it is a task that must be accomplished.
The newly re-elected President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said that he is proud to be a citizen of Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria not to grant any request from anybody for grants the country’s reserves for the importation of food items and fertilizer.
President Muhammadu Buhari has charged his team players to defend the government vigorously and not allow irresponsible and politically motivated activists to keep spreading patent falsehoods about this government.
“So this is how we will just adjust to the new fuel price at the petrol stations, and government will get away with the imposition of greater hardship on the people?”
Education: How The North Got It All Wrong, By Ahmed Joda
In February 1971, almost 50 years ago, I became the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education. When I entered the office, I found two files on the table. One was the handing over note by the departed Permanent Secretary, the other was a very thick file that contained four sets of documents: the first was a report from the Federal Scholarship Board describing the processes that led to the selection and recommendation of awards of the Federal Scholarships and Bursaries for the 19171/72 Academic Year. The second was the full list of the names of the successful candidates and third, the Council Memorandum by the Federal Minister of Education recommending the Federal Executive Council to approve the list and the fourth, the Council Conclusion giving its approval.
All that was required of me was to sign for the public announcement of the awards for that academic year. Even if I was of the mind to go through the three thousand names on the list, I could not have changed anything because all the necessary processes had been complied with and the highest authority in the land had approved.
The awards were duly published and all hell was let loose. In 1971, the Federation of Nigeria had 12 states; the six northern states and six southern states. There were 3000 awards. These were shared about 2,750 to the six southern states and 250 to the six northern states.
When further analyzed, more than 500 went to the two North Central states of Kwara and Benue Plateau. No one analyzed what the figures for the two main religions were.
There was an angry outburst at the “lopsidedness of the Award” for the North. The anger was targeted at me personally, because I was the Permanent Secretary who signed the “Release Document” and because as a northerner just having “crossed the Carter Bridge and drank the lagoon water”, I had forgotten my roots. The governors, the Kaduna press and radio were unanimous in calling for my immediate removal.
While I was trying to understand the situation I had found myself in, I received a midnight call from the Head of State who asked me whether I had been reading the northern press and listening to their radio. And whether I had any satisfactory explanation to give.
At that point I realized that although the attacks were directed at me personally, any response must be the government’s response and must be based on all the available facts. I requested 48 hours to prepare the response.
Within those hours, the facts were gathered and subjected to detailed analysis. The conclusions were inescapable. The defunct government of Northern Nigeria and the successor governments of the six Northern states bear the full responsibility for what they were now complaining about. Not the Federal Government of Nigeria. Why is this so? Because of the following:
a) Under the Constitution of Nigeria, Primary and Secondary Education including Teachers education is the responsibility of the Regional/State Governments NOT that of the Federal Government. It is also not a responsibility that is shared between the two tiers. The class of students in consideration are candidates who have completed their secondary education
b) Only those who apply in response to invitation to apply for Federal Government scholarships and who qualify can be considered. In some of the Northern states only very few applications were received. The official explanation was that newspapers did not circulate in the North generally and that, in any case most northern students either did not have access to newspapers or did not have the reading culture of newspapers
These points were obviously not taken into account by the board. In subsequent years, action was taken to remedy the situation, but it did not lead to increased numbers of applications from the northern states. The reason given was that the northern governments’ scholarships were more attractive than the federal ones.
The federal offer to northern students who receive federal awards, for them to accept the federal awards, accept the federal allowance and receive the difference from their states, was rejected.
This incident led the Federal Ministry of Education to undertake a critical examination of the educational imbalance in the country. It was recognised that it was a time bomb, which must be quickly defused.
While the political and social implications of the education crisis could be foreseen, it was difficult for most to appreciate that it is not an issue that has a political solution. It is an issue that is determined by the natural development of the human being. That it is the physical and mental development of the human child that we are dealing with.The child must be born. He must attain the school going age of six years. He must spend six years in primary school, six years in secondary school and at least four years in the University etc. This time period cannot be compressed.
At this time in 1971, Lagos State was enrolling nearly 100% in primary schools, the Mid West was recording about 90%, the West well over 60% while the North West, North East and Kano were enrolling less than 5%. It would take at least two decades to draw parallel and draw level for the whole country. But account must also be taken of the fact that the more educationally advanced states would not be standing still. They would be galloping forward.
Taking all these factors into account the Federal Ministry of Education made far reaching recommendations to prepare for a giant leap forward in the development of education for the whole country.
First, it was decided that immediate steps be taken to expand the teacher training effort. A crash programme for teacher training was initiated using expanded facilities in Teacher Training Colleges around the country.
Three Advanced Teacher Training Colleges were to be immediately set-up. Three polytechnics were also established. Grants in Aid were approved and disbursed to all secondary schools, which ran Sixth Form Classes and the Colleges of Preliminary Studies run by the Ahmadu Bello University campuses in Zaria and Kano.
The federal government also approved special grants to expand all existing State Secondary Schools in the six Northern States.
On top of all of the above, the federal government with the assistance and collaboration of UNESCO and the involvement of all the five existing universities in Nigeria, embarked on the ambitious project of introducing Universal Primary Education beginning 1st January 1976 that would ensure education of every Nigerian child born after the official end of the Nigerian Civil War in January 1970.
I have gone over the history of the education crisis from 1971 when I became involved to today in order for us to understand where we are coming from.
The figures in the Open Letter to Adamu Adamu have similarities to the situation I found in 1971. I do not know what level of studies these awards were. But the distribution is somewhat similar, suggesting that the situation now remains somewhat the same to that of 1971.
We need to relate these figures to what we know to be the education crisis in Nigeria today. In about 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan lamented that there were 10 million out of school children in Nigeria. Obviously meaning that these out of school children are in Northern Nigeria. He set out to build Almajiri Schools in the belief that that would address the situation.
His successor, President Muhammadu Buhari has been quoted as saying that the figure of out of school children in the country is now 12 million, meaning the figure has grown and is likely to continue to grow.
I know that from 1973, funds for the preparation for the UPE were being paid to every state in the country not only for building the schools that would be needed but the expansion of teacher training facilities and the provision of teaching materials.
After the elections that brought President Obasanjo, the Universal Basic Education was introduced and money was being transferred to every state of the federation. It is now 20 years since the introduction of the UBE Programme and that much money has been expanded.
We must ask the question, where are those millions of out of school children to be found? Obviously in Northern Nigeria! We have been spending money in the belief that we are providing education for every one of the children we bear for 50 years without making progress.
Who is to account for what has been happening and is continuing to happen?
Surely the fault lies with us. And by us I mean us in Northern Nigeria. Both the leaders and the led.