Bakare Wants Buhari To Be Interested In Who Succeeds Him In 2023

January 5, 2020

Founder of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to be interested in who becomes his successor so as to preserve his legacy.

President Buhari has severally said he does not wish to be part of the conversation for his successor when he leaves office in 2023.

But in his state-of-the-nation broadcast on Sunday, Bakare tasked the President to be involved in the process, adding that the dreams of the nation’s founding fathers’ “must keep us awake to our responsibilities as co-builders.”

He said: “We must also run inclusive structures that bridge transgenerational and gender gaps to ensure that the baton of success is passed on from one generation to another.

“…as the government of President Muhammadu Buhari ushers us into the second decade of the 21st century, the third pivotal objective of governance should be to build a strong post-Buhari legacy facilitated by accurate succession.

“Therefore, even as we build institutions of democratic governance, a key responsibility that history has bestowed on President Muhammadu Buhari at this turning point in our journey to nationhood is to institutionalise systems of accurate succession that will build and sustain the Nigeria we desire. This is a task that must be done.”

Bakare had in 2018 said during his church service that he would succeed President Buhari.

Bakare, in the video which resurfaced in 2019, said God had prepared him for the nation’s top job for more than 30 years

170 Percent Salary Increments, Promotions, Recruitments Rock UBA

Editorial staff

January 4, 2020

More than 5,000 staff of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc began 2020 with cheers as the bank announced its promotion to new grades as well as salary upgrades with immediate effect this January.

Those who are beneficiaries of this exercise will receive up to 170% increase in their salaries and benefits, whilst a good number have been moved to higher grade levels.

A statement from the bank said that a planned restructuring which was embarked upon in the last quarter of 2019, had transformed the Bank’s grading system and processes to become one of the most competitive within the industry.

It said that the bank crashed its grade levels to 12 levels from entry level to the top of the pyramid where previously it had been 16 levels. “This means that staff will now find it much easier to attain top leadership management positions at UBA as their careers progress much faster.”

The statement said that over 4,000 new staff members who were recruited had since resumed in the last week of December 2019 in Nigeria alone, adding that the bank currently stands as the highest employer of labour among Nigerian banks with a staff strength of close to 20,000.

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kennedy Uzoka, who announced the bank’s new staff improvement initiatives to the employees, noted that UBA is continually seeking new ways to improve the fortunes of its staff as they are the backbone of the organisation .

Uzoka, who spoke to the staff in a bank-wide live broadcast said: “As a leading financial institution, we do not take issues relating to our staff lightly. We take great pride in being a listening bank that has the ears of our employees as they turn the wheels which make the organisation successful for our customers and shareholders. UBA recruits highly talented staff who perform at the best standards and deserve to be remunerated accordingly.

“We have also taken steps to ensure that our bank remains at the top tier as it relates to talent pool. We want to train the best and we have crashed the grade structure to make it easier and faster for our employees to progress along their careers. With this new grade structure, it will be possible for a new graduate employed at UBA to rapidly chart their own careers and become GMD by the age of 36.”

UBA operates in 20 African countries, with presence in the global financial centres of London, New York and Paris. UBA provides banking services to more than 17 million customers globally through diverse channels

Motor Park Touts, School Dropouts Trying To Take Over Edo State, Gov Obaseki Laments

Editorial staff

January 4, 2020

“How can you have a city and it is only those who refused to go to school and have turned themselves into thugs and touts that want to dominate our polity? How can we have progress?”

These were the questions posed by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, at a meeting with Benin Elders Forum in Benin City, the Edo State capital today, January 4, saying that the political faceoffs currently being witnessed in the state is because of his administration’s fight against warlords and non-state actors, who had controlled the resources of the Edo people.
“You are all witnesses to what is happening and I am sure that you will ask what exactly is going on. When the change occurred in 2016, I had no doubt in my mind to jump into the train to continue the reforms which we had started, but what I didn’t realise is that the rot was so deep and fundamental; it was not just a rot in physical expression but it was becoming cultural.
“You come into Edo and you cannot drive through the city, because we had warlords that had taken possession of everywhere. In fact, when we had to clear Lagos Street, we found out that people had erected stores and shops on the street. It then became clear that there was a lot more work to do.
“I just could not understand why Oredo Local Government Area, for instance, could not earn more than five million naira as taxes monthly, meanwhile, there were non-state actors who were celebrating having billions in their private bank accounts at the expense of government. Once I came in, these non- state actors began to almost physically threaten the state and I had no choice than to dislodge them in good faith.”
The Governor said that the state would not progress if the people struggling to join in policy making are mere touts and school dropouts.
“I thought this was something we had all agreed to do; I thought we were happy that now we can drive through Oba Market; I thought we were all comfortable with the sanity in the city. But today what do we have? A fightback from these characters and they are getting support from sources you can’t believe.”

US, Iran Conflict: Britain Warns Citizens To Avoid Iraq, Iran

Editorial staff

January 4, 2020

British government has warned its citizens against travelling to Iraq or Iran amid heightened tension following the US airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

The British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who issued the warning today, January 4, said: “given heightened tensions in the region, the (foreign office) now advise people not to travel to Iraq, with the exception of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and to consider carefully whether it’s essential to travel to Iran.”

Raab earlier advised all sides to “de-escalate” tension following Soleimani’s death, saying “further conflict is in none of our interests.”

Forget About My Presidential Ambition, Concentrate On Building The Party – Atiku

Editorial staff

January 4, 2020

Presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Atiku Abubakar has advised members to focus on rebuilding a strong party ahead of the 2023 general elections instead of campaigning for his presidential candidacy.

In a tweet today, January 4, Atiku, who is former Vice President of Nigeria, emphasized the need for members of the PDP to concentrate on strengthening the main opposition platform before the 2023 election cycle, saying that the party should channel its resources towards enhancing the party structure rather than play politics when campaign season is still at least 30 months away.
He wrote: “Our preoccupation at this point in the @OfficialPDPNig should not focus on elections, but on rebuilding and strengthening our party for the challenges ahead of us.”
Atiku’s remark is coming at a time the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Walid Jibrin had alleged that some supporters of the former Vice President were after his life.
Jibrin had said: “They said I should say Atiku is the man that I want because I am a leader.
“They should not also forget that the party has a constitution and guidelines which say there must be primary for whoever wants to contest.”

Chad Withdraws Troops From Boko Haram War, Promises To Deploy More If

Editorial staff

January 4, 2020

Chad has ended a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria and withdrawn its 1,200-strong force across their common border.

“It’s our troops who went to aid Nigerian soldiers months ago returning home. They have finished their mission,” spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa, told AFP.
“None of our soldiers remains in Nigeria,” he added, without specifying whether they might be replaced following Friday’s pullout.
“Those who have come back will return to their sector at Lake Chad,” Bermandoa said.
“None of our soldiers remains in Nigeria,” he added, without specifying whether they might be replaced following Friday’s pullout.
“Those who have come back will return to their sector at Lake Chad,” Bermandoa said.
However, Chad’s general chief of staff General Tahir Erda Tahiro said that if countries in the region which have contributed to a multinational anti-jihadist force were in agreement, more troops will likely be sent in.
“If the states around Lake Chad agree on a new mission there will surely be another contingent redeployed on the ground,” Tahiro told AFP.
Boko Haram began the insurrection in Nigeria a decade ago, leading to at least 35,000 deaths with violence spilling over into Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Nigera Police: Too Good To Believe, By Yusuf Ozi Usman

Greenbarge Reporters

January 4, 2020

Men and officers of the Nigeria police sprang pleasant surprise recently with what could be termed superlative performances.

On December 28, 2019, the police not only aborted dare devil armed robbery operations in the premises of the Mpampe, Abuja branch of the First Bank, but gunned down one of the robbers and arrested the rest, after exchange of gun shots.

And on December 31, 2019, about three days later, gallant offers thrilled Nigerians by rising up to their professional calling when they faced the fire power of kidnappers on Abuja-Lokoja road, killing four of them.

In those two incidents, Nigerians rose in unison to collectively hail the police and openly prayed for them. Many Nigerians could not hide their joy in seeing police officers standing up to the men of the underworld and conquering them. The cheers and accolades the Force got were not measured by the number of PR stint its spokespersons put forward.

As a matter of fact, police played the role of the true “police is your friend” mantra.

The police, in the two scenes, presented a clear picture of a re-defined version of the one that had, hitherto, being foisted on the country: the one that reeled in bribe taking, corruption and who, as a consequence, looked the other way when armed robbers, bandits and other criminals were in operation.

To be sure, once upon a time, police officers were in forefront, aiding and abetting armed robberies and other criminal activities.

Two different scenarios are enough to illustrate the rot of the police in the past.

The first was in a state in the Northwestern part of the country, where armed robbers stormed the house of a nursing mother, carted off all the useful family belongs, including cash, warning the woman, whose husband was not around at the time not to report at the police station. But when the husband returned and saw what happened, he promptly reported the incident at the nearest police station, only for the same group of armed robbers to return in the night of that day to confront the husband with question as to why he defied their warning. When the frightened man tried to deny that he did not report the incident, the robbers played back his voice in a carefully tape recorded voice of his which he made at the police station. The man was instantly killed.

Another incident was when a man, whose house was invaded by armed robbers in part of Abuja, managed to hide in a corner of the house to call and inform the police on his cellphone. The police promptly drove their vehicle towards the house but did not enter the compound. They fired shots into the air, obviously to scare away the robbers who were already in the house carrying out their marauding operation.

When they heard gunshots, they packed what they were able to scoop from the house and rushed out through the front gate. As they were running out, the police, who stayed in their parked car close to the gate saw them, but did not do anything. It was when the robbers had driven away that the police entered the compound, asking: where are they (the armed robbers). When the traumatized family told the police officers that they were there watching as the robbers drove off, their excuse was that they thought those scampering out of the compound were innocent residents of the house.

Those two scenarios among several of their kinds in the past, juxterposed with the two scenarios earlier presented, also among many good performances of the police, show that there have always been some kind of snags somewhere within the policing system, either from the point of recruitment or the point of leadership or from the point of operation and or operational methods and the point of equipment to operate or a combination of all such points.

What ever were the factors responsible for the collaborative attitude of the police with criminals in the past might have been subdued by the resurgence in the war against corruption, for, it looked like corruption led to the denial of the police the essential working tools, including welfare packages for the rank and file. It was obvious that leadership of the system used to corner what were meant for the procurement of such tools and welfare packages.

Beyond that, the lower cadres were used as conduit pipe to siphon money from members of the public for the leaders as their primary duties and responsibilities suffer utter neglect.

As a matter of fact, the ability of the Nigeria police to perform well had never been in contention, though there were some bad eggs within, but what has always been in the front burner was the usual rat race by almost all segments of the society to make it quick and big with little or no effort at all.

The superlative performances of the police in recent times, like some officers in other public organizations speak volume about the leadership steering the wheel, the sincerity of purpose and clear direction of what needs to be done.

If the tempo of giving armed robbers, kidnappers, bandits and criminals a run for their money and clever antics, is sustained, time may be near when criminality will disappear into the back door of history.

The prayer of everyone, obviously, is that the leadership being provided in all fronts, which is gradually bringing into positive directions, the public sector systems, will not go away when this season changes.

May we not return to the era of endemic corruption that breeds odorous socio economic and cultural practices. Amen.

2023: Ex PDP Leader, Bode George Will Contest For Presidency

Editorial staff

January 3, 2020

A former Deputy National Chairman, South West, for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has expressed his desire to contest the 2023 presidential election.

A statement by his special adviser, Uthman Shodipe-Dosunmu, said that a group would soon unveil Bode George, who was once the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Board as the right man to chart a new beginning for the country.
However, Shodipe-Dosunmu, who leads a group called the Pathfinder Consortium, did not disclose under which platform the ex-PDP chieftain would pursue his presidential bid.
He said: “We will engage, inform without derogatory withdrawal. We will challenge, debate, instruct without angry, expletive crudity. We will sustain and affirm in deliberate Churchillian supremacy.
“Pretenders and the perennial time-servers shall disappear from the fray. Only the robust and lucid patriotic band shall endure.
“And the dark, disruptive uncertainties shall cease, giving way to renewal and a rebirth of democratic contention.
“It is settled!!! Our vision is stripped of ethnic or sectarian articulations. It is about rebuilding the broken walls, rectifying the festering wrongs, healing the persisting wounds.”

Don’t Laugh Yet, Iran Tells US, Israel Over Killing Of Top Army General

Editorial staff

January 3, 2020

Iran has asked the United States of America and Israel not to laugh yet over the killing of its top army General, Kaseem Soleimani, as they too will soon have cause to mourn.

Spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Brigadier-General Ramezan Sharif, speaking on behalf of the government, said that the United States and Israel will have their momentary joy turned into mourning.

General Kaseem Soleimani, an Iraqi ally was struck down at the Baghdad Airport yesterday, January 2 The US said that it was a decisive defence action, claiming the IRGC commander was planning attacks on American citizens in Iraq.

“Certainly the momentary joy of the Americans and Zionists will not last long and will turn into mourning,” Sharif said.

“The Israelis and Americans have committed a blatant crime at odds with all international regulations and laws and they should rest assured thatt hey will receive a tough response,” he promised.

Iran has always seen Israel as a key enemy, a representation of its hatred for the US in the Middle-East.

It has also blamed the Jewish state for attacks on its territory.

Sharif said although IRGC members are currently in mourning but that “their determination to take revenge on the usurper Zionist and criminal America will be greater.”.

He added that the IRGC will “begin a new chapter” after the death of Soleimani and that there are many eager to carry on his legacy.

Saudi Arabia Calls On International Community To Protect Middle East Region

Editorial staff

January 3, 2020

Against the backdrop of a US initiated attack on Iraq and killing of it’s military commander, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has called on the international community to rise up to protect the region.

In a statement in Riyadh, the Saudi Federal Capital, the government it had followed the events of the fraternal Iraq, which came as a result of the escalation of tensions and terrorist acts that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has denounced and warned against, in the past, of their repercussions.

“With knowledge of the operations and threats exposing the security of the region and the threats posed by terrorist militias that require their cessation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in light of the rapid developments, calls for the importance of self-restraint to ward off all acts that may lead to aggravating the situation, with unbearable consequences.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms that the international community must fulfill its responsibilities to take the necessary measures to ensure the security and stability of such a vital region, to the entire world.”

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