Politicians Used NDDC As Cash Cow And Threw It Into Debts – Minister Akpabio

December 29, 2019

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has blamed politicians,who he said turned the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) into cash cow for campaign funds, for the debts the Commission had incured over the years.

Akpabio, who spoke to The Nation in Abuja today, December 29, said that people who had been charged with managing the affairs of the NDDC over the years had used it as a cash cow and hijacked by politicians to service their electoral funding needs.
He said that the real needs of the people had been abandoned by those who ‘captured’ the Commission in the past, and who spent the funds on projects he described as ‘useless projects.’
“I always say that he who works in the pulpit can eat from the pulpit, but not to steal the pulpit and what had happened in the past was that people go there and steal the pulpit. When you steal the pulpit, the next manager or preacher has nothing to preach from and that’s how you hear about the indebtedness of the NDDC and all that because at any point people just go there, amass wealth, either for electoral purposes or for personal use and the place is abandoned.
“The poverty in the area, the ecological problems, the environmental hazards, the disconnect between the NDDC and the people of the region, all these things collectively, your heart will be bleed what you see what is going on.
“Then you’ll see that a place where they could have intervened like roads connecting two regions, like the Sapele/Warri Road, Benin Road or places like Bayelsa where in Elebele a bridge collapsed and then the people have no drinking water.
“Then go to Ogoniland, because of soil pollution there’s no drinking water and nobody thought of a creative way of providing clean and potable water for the people.
“People are suffering from cancer and other diseases and no one good hospital that one could say was built by the NDDC, equipped for the purposes of a modern day 21st century hospital that people could go and have succor.
“Collectively, those things were the things that made me, when I was a governor, to ignore NDDC. Even the quality of works they call roads, within the first rainy season the roads are washed away. It’s years in year out and for me, because I have the experience and I was able to perform as a governor for eight years.
“Without being boastful, the roads I did between 2007, 2008 don’t have potholes till today, eleven, twelve years after. So today I can say I am in the right place to be able to know the difference between good governance and bad governance.”

Bishop Kukah, Almajiri Empowerment And Chritianisation Agenda In North, By Dr. Abubakar Alkali

Greenbarge Reporters

December 29, 2019

The bishop of Sokoto catholic diocese, Rev Father Mathew Hassan Kukah is not a person who needs a second mention. The reverend father has been involved in political and religious circles in Nigeria, particularly in the Northern part for a very long time. The man Rev Kukah is a very popular and influential clergy in Northern Nigeria. Since his appointment as the archdiocese of Sokoto, Rev Kukah has indeed integrated with the political and traditional institutions within the state. Indeed Rev Mathew Kukah has blended effectively even with part of the grassroots community within the state.

Sokoto state is predominantly Muslims and is rightly termed ‘the seat of the caliphate. As a matter of fact, Sokoto has been the epicentre of the jihad waged by the respected revered reformer sheikh Uthman bin Fodio in 1804 which led to the establishment of the great Sokoto caliphate.

First, It must be stated that Rev Kukah’s religious sojourn in Sokoto is by no means against any law in the country, in fact it is within his unalienable rights as provided in Nigeria’s constitution to preach the gospel in any part of the country. Nigeria is a secular state and there is no state religion as contained in Chapter 1 part 2 section 10 of the 1999 constitution (as altered) hence all citizens have the right to practice their religion anywhere within the nation’s borders.

Rev Kukah is from Kaduna state which has taken the gold medal in religious intolerance in Nigeria. The respected Rev Fr Kukah was a very influential catholic bishop in kaduna state during the gradual metamorphosis of the state into the hub of religious intolerance and orgy of violence which was symbolised by several decades of senseless and needless killings between Muslims and Christians. This is worrisome.

Secondly, what caught the eye the most and raised concerns about Rev Kukah’s presumed religious outreach in Sokoto was his rather mendacious offer to train 10 million Almajiri children in Northern Nigeria in skills acquisition centres the Kukah centre intends to build.

Rev Kukah’s motive for making this conscripted offer is suspicious moreso when juxtaposed with the much talked-about ‘Christianisation agenda. The case of the several children ‘stolen’ from Kano, taken to Onitsha, got their names changed and forcefully converted to Christianity is still fresh in memory.

The Trojan horse a.k.a skills acquisition centres to train Almajiri Muslim children is no less a modest colonialism. Why didn’t Rev Kukah direct such offer to the Christian children in Zangon Kataf, Kaura, Jaba and other Christian communities in his native kaduna state also ravaged by debilitating poverty?

Rev Kukah’s offer is but another attempt to reinvent Christian missions in Northern Nigeria.

During the colonial era, Christian missionaries took advantage of the scourge of the leprosy disease ravaging some Northern Muslim communities. These missionaries offered a cure to the vulnerable leprosy infested Muslim communities only to convert them to Christianity. The rest is history.

Now Rev Kukah seems to be doing a copy cat but this time using poverty not leprosy.

Rev Kukah’s so-called Almajiri training programme and skills acquisition centres are actually missionary centres for possible forceful conversion of Muslim Almajiri children to Christianity. In these centres, one can expect an Almajiri Muslim child trying their hands on furniture design with a bible on their side on the way to possible conscription.

The social media was awash recently with videos of Muslim women in Northern Muslim rural areas being converted to Christianity and given gifts of the bible by a Christian clergy. These conversions though not against the Nigerian laws, are recipes for inter-religious conflict and political destabilisation like the recurring conflict in some states such as Kaduna and Plateau.

Perhaps people plotting to take advantage of the twin scourges of Almajiri and poverty to convert innocent Muslim children to Christianity need to be informed of Surat Al-Hijrah 15:9 where Allah (SWT) said he will guard his religion and his true servants.

‘Indeed, it is WE who sent down the Quran and indeed, WE will be its guardian: (Al-Hijra 15:9).

It is not enough to condemn the suspicious offer of Rev Kukah to empower Muslim Almajiri children. Northern states governors and other political leaders need to move from lamentations to tackling the debilitating and outrageous levels of poverty head-on. The Ulamas and other political leaders in Northern Nigeria must join hands to avert a Christianisation agenda and political destabilisation in the guise of Almajiri training/empowerment programme. It is a danger that anyone can see ahead.

The Northern state governors should pool resources to build skills acquisition centres that will train both Muslim and Christian children.

Figures from the national bureau of statistics have placed Sokoto state at 81.2% poverty rate. This is utterly unacceptable.

Despite its huge economic potentials, Sokoto is rightly referred to as a ‘civil service state’ because the economy of the state revolved entirely around civil servant’s salaries. When one spots a crowd around automated transfer machines (ATM) in Sokoto state, be rest assured that salary has been paid.

The state is endowed with enormous human and natural resources such as limestone for cement production (about 3/4 of the 23 local government areas in the state have limestone in abundance), fadama for rice irrigation, red goat skin, cotton production potentials etc. It has to be stated that industrialisation of the state is the way out of the current astronomical levels of poverty. The precursor to the Almajiri scourge is poverty. Almajiri and poverty are mutually inclusive.

Our Ulamas and leaders must step up effort to avert any ‘backward enchroachment into their values: not by words but by actions. A stitch in time saves generations.

Dr. Abubakar Alkali can be reached at alkalizai@yahoo.com..

Farooq Kperogi, A Professor Of “Lies” And America’s Second Class Citizen, By Maiwada Dammallam

Greenbarge Reporters

December 29, 2019

“I live in a country where I don’t have to worry about electricity and other basic necessities of life. My kids go to the best schools for free. I have a permanent, lifetime, tenured employment with no retirement age, and can choose to live here for the rest of my life because my children won’t even go back to Nigeria.” — Farooq Kperogi
But for the misfortune of knowing the existence of this oaf, courtesy of the social media, I will die believing it’s impossible for an idiot to be a professor. Beside believing life begins and ends with living in America, this fool is under a rather funny impression that Nigerians who are dignified to remain and toil to build Nigeria are less smart than ingrates like him who have no problem getting the best from Nigeria only to abandon it when it matters the most. Not even the fact that most freeborn citizens will never swap their citizenship with a privileged life of “electricity and best schools for the kids” as 2nd class citizens could make sense to him. Idiots like Kperogi could easily find very comfortable, the option of being neither fish nor fowl — just floating in-between. This fool will die trying not to be a Nigerian and doomed never to be the American he’s convinced is the greatest gift one could get from life.
So damn what if Kperogi’s life ambition is to be an American and as far away from Nigeria as a Jet could carry him! Good spirited Nigerians, those grateful for being schooled with proceeds from Nigeria’s resources and the hard labour of its founding fathers will gladly raise money to charter Spacecrafts to evacuate the likes of Kperogi to planets of their choices even if for the minimum consideration of allowing patriotic Nigerians committed to the idea of building a functional country a little room to be more practical rather than the theoretical hopefuls sophisticated idiots like Kperogi are insisting.
Having said that, what’s Kperogi’s obsession with Nigeria if he has made his choice and the choice is America? Are we asking for too much from this accidental marital discharge to allow those who are yet to see the heaven he’s seeing in America to remain in peace and concentrate on building a country they will be proud of — a country that will offer the next generation enough comfort to resist the unpalatable option of the allure of self-imposed slavery? And this fool is yet to even understand that USA is never a permanent home but a temporary abode to treacherous idiots like him who are subjected to periodic re-evaluation which terms are determined by exigencies of the moment. If Kperogi like, let him turn green to compliment his green card, he will forever remain a guest in the USA.
Now that Kperogi has made his status very clear, I think it’s time our security agencies begin to deal with him as they will a foreigner who has reasonably proven himself a clear danger to the peace of Nigeria. I’m sure there’s more to Kperogi’s Facebook post in which he claimed President Buhari has killed Col. Sambo Dasuki while under a lawful government custody. I don’t believe a “professor of journalism” — even a “SUEGBE” like Kperogi — could fail to assess the possible consequences of such unreasonable propagation of dangerous falsehood.
In the usual manner he feeds gullible Nigerians seditious lies, Kperogi claimed a “reliable source” informed him of the death of Col. Dasuki and that the “vindictive, bloodthirsty” President Buhari and his inner circle have decided to conceal the story until after the election. Kperogi concluded his inciting post with a call for civil disobedience. In his words: “Well, I’ve done my bit to call attention to the evil fraud this man (Buhari) represents. It’s up to Nigerians who live in Nigeria to either confront him or live with his evil.”
Considering it’s a highly charged and volatile period of election, it’s agreeable that after losing all hope of pulling President Buhari down using his skills and contacts as a journalist, Kperogi has resorted to use an easier option of manipulating the sentiments of gullible Nigerians to incite them and provoke deadly riots using the volatility of the election period as a convenient tool. The reality is, Kperogi’s“reliable source” which he relied on to write and publish the inciting post under review was nothing more than an undated and unverifiable audio clip that’s there in the phone of any average social media user.
It’s inconceivable that a journalist, a professor of journalism at that, could go this low to fabricate and publish for public consumption, stories that could easily stimulate public sentiments and possibly precipitate an orgy of violence which magnitude is unimaginable. It’s my candid opinion that Kperogi’s deliberate idiocy should be handled with the seriousness it deserve. The USA he proudly flashes at every given opportunity as his earthly heaven will sure disapprove of his constant display of rude and insensitive kind of journalism. I’m sure there are laws that could be exploited to improve if not to reinvent this boofoon.

Culled from Facebook wall.

First Bank Writes Police Over Foiled Armed Robbery At It’s Abuja Branch

Greenbarge Reporters

December 29, 2019

Management of the First Bank has written a letter of commendation to the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Army for foiling a robbery by armed men in one of its Abuja branch yesterday, December 28.
A statement by the Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-mumuney expressed sincere appreciation to the joint security agencies in their valiant effort to stop the robbery attacks.
The statement reads: “We wish to inform everyone that the attempted robbery incident that happened at one of our branches in Abuja has been foiled; customers and staff are unhurt; and the suspects have been apprehended.
“The immediate response by the police and military is very commendable and we truly appreciate them for their doggedness and commitment.”
The four armed robbers had stormed the bank in the early hours of yesterday, after shooting sporadically into the air to scare people away.
They had succeeded in gaining entry into the banking hall but were cut out by the swift response of the police and the Nigerian Army.
Four of them were arrested and one of them was killed.

IMF Ranks Nigeria Second Richest Country In Africa

Greenbarge Reporters

December 29, 2019

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has ranked Nigeria Second Richest Country in Africa after Egypt.
According to the IMF, South Africa came third, based on the amount of dollars in foreign reserves, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
The full list as released by the IMF is reproduced here:

Peak value of GDP (PPP) as of 2019
1 Egypt 1,391.734 2019
2 Nigeria 1,214.827 2019
3 South Africa 813.100 2019
4 Algeria 684.649 2019
5 Morocco 330.381 2019
6 Ethiopia 240.705 2019
7 Ghana 211.127 2019
8 Angola 203.763 2019
9 Kenya 190.970 2019
10 Libya 187.796 2010
11 Tanzania 186.060 2019
12 Sudan 177.678 2018
13 Tunisia 150.834 2019
14 Côte d’Ivoire 117.030 2019
15 Uganda 104.893 2019
16 Cameroon 101.124 2019
17 Democratic Republic of the Congo 77.441 2019
18 Zambia 76.520 2019
19 Senegal 47.335 2018
20 Mali 44.028 2018
21 Madagascar 42.705 2018
22 Botswana 41.556 2018
23 Burkina Faso 38.794 2018
24 Mozambique 38.679 2018
25 Gabon 38.582 2018
26 Equatorial Guinea 37.689 2012
27 Zimbabwe 35.565 2018
28 South Sudan 35.254 2011
29 Chad 30.563 2015
30 Republic of the Congo 29.749 2018
31 Mauritius 29.187 2018
32 Guinea 28.637 2018
33 Benin 27.471 2018
34 Namibia 27.444 2018
35 Rwanda 26.997 2018
36 Malawi 23.682 2018
37 Niger 23.475 2018
38 Somalia 19.568 2018
39 Mauritania 18.119 2018
40 Togo 13.886 2018
41 Sierra Leone 12.619 2014
42 Eswatini (Swaziland) 11.496 2018
43 Eritrea 9.997 2018
44 Burundi 8.184 2018
45 Lesotho 7.231 2018
46 Liberia 6.440 2018
47 Central African Republic 4.293 2012
48 Cape Verde 3.983 2018
49 Djibouti 3.964 2018
50 Gambia 3.884 2018
51 Guinea-Bissau 3.385 2018
52 Seychelles 2.873 2018
53 Comoros 1.384 2018.

Lebanon Boils Again As Protesters Want New Prime Minister To Resign

Editorial staff

December 28, 2019

Lebanon is boiling again as dozens of protesters gathered outside the Beirut home of Lebanon’s new prime minister today, December 28, calling for Hassan Diab’s resignation less than 10 days after he was appointed.

Lebanon is without a cabinet and in the grips of a deepening economic crisis after a two-month-old protest movement forced Saad Hariri to stand down as prime minister on October 29.
Anti-government protests continued after Hariri’s resignation, while political parties negotiated for weeks before nominating Diab, a professor and former education minister, to replace him on December 19.
Echoing protester demands, Diab promised to form a government of independent experts within six weeks — in a country where appointing a cabinet can take months.
But protesters on Saturday were unconvinced by his promise.
“We’re here to bring down Hassan Diab. He doesn’t represent us. He’s one of them,” said one young demonstrator, referring to the country’s ruling elite, who protesters despise collectively.
Lina, another protester agreed, saying: “It’s the revolution that must name the prime minister, not them.”
The 60-year-old Diab, who has a low public profile and styles himself as a technocrat, last week called protester demands legitimate but asked them to give him a chance to form “an exceptional government”.
“We are willing to give him a chance, but let us at least give him a roadmap,” Lina told AFP.
“The names don’t matter to us, we want policy plans, what is his programme?” she asked.
Protesters decry Diab’s participation as a minister in a government deemed corrupt.
The support given to him by powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah also angers many protesters and pro-Hariri Sunnis.
Protesters also gathered in the northern Sunni majority city of Tripoli on Saturday, an AFP photographer said.
The protests and political deadlock have brought Lebanon to its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The international community has urged a new cabinet to be formed swiftly to implement economic reforms and unlock international aid.
Source: AFP.

The Real Face Of Nigerian Musician, Lagbaja, Without The Mask

Greenbarge Reporters

December 28, 2019

Lagbaja, a Nigerian music star, whose real name is Bisade Ologunde, has been off the Nigeria’s musical stage for a long time now.
Bisade, with stage name as Lagbaja (meaning ‘anonymous’ or ‘faceless one’ in Yoruba) is an African Traditions.

Lagbaja’s stage name reflects in his choice of stage attire. Wearing masks indeed makes him ‘anonymous’.

He formed his first small band in 1991 in Lagos after he had taught himself to play the saxophone. The masked musician is now based in Manhattan, New York, USA.
According to Òpátàmèdù (pronounced Òpá tàmèdù), his mask is used as an identity.
Tàmèdù is a Yoruba word that means “nobody in particular”. And the Òpá identifies Talking Drum Stick.
He derived from an icon called Lágbájá. And named himself Òpátàmèdù as a symbol of being majorly an African Traditional performing artist that based mostly on African Talking drums.

FLASH: Armed Robbers Stormed First Bank In Abuja, Police Counter Them

Greenbarge Reporters

December 28, 2019

A group of four armed robbers stormed the premises of First Bank, Mpape, Abuja branch today, December 28 and were promptly countered by the police.
Eyewitnesses said that while one of the robbers had been apprehended, three others have escaped.
It was gathered that one of the Bank’s security guards was shot dead during the exchange of gun shots between the police and the robbers.
Security operatives have since blocked the road leading to the scene.

Lassa Fever Outbreak: Ebonyi Gov Shuts Hospital, Transfers Medical Staff, Patients

Editorial staff

December 27, 2019

Following the suspected outbreak of Lassa Fever in Igbeagu community in Izzi local government area of Ebonyi State, Governor David Umahi, has directed the immediate closure of the affected hospital where treatment of patients suffering from the deadly disease were being diagnosed and treated.

The Governor also directed that all the Staff of the hospital, including patients purported to be victims of disease be moved to the South East Virology Center in Abakaliki.
A statement today, December 27 by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Francis Nweze said that the Governor also directed that all the family members and close relatives of the affected victims shoud be quarantined at the South East Virology Center, Abakaliki for comprehensive medical examination.
“Following the suspected outbreak of Lassa Fever at St. Vincent Hospital, Igbeagu, Izzi LGA, Ebonyi State, the Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Nweze Umahi has directed the closure of the hospital with immediate effect and all the patients and staff of the said hospital are to submit themselves to the virology center at Abakaliki for comprehensive medical examination.
“Furthermore, the Governor directed that all the family members and close relatives of the above be quarantined at the South East Virology Center, Abakaliki for comprehensive medical examination.
“Also, Governor Umahi has directed that the Ministry of Health under the watch of the Commissioner for Health in conjunction with the Staff of Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki to immediately address all issues relating to the lassa fever outbreak including comprehensive examination of all suspects and clean up of St. Vincent Hospital. Place precautionary Announcement in all media houses in the state on preventive measures of Lassa Fever.
“The Governor expects that reports of the progress of the actions of the above directives get to him every two hours.”
At the time of this report, no death has been reported from the suspected outbreak of Lassa Fever in the State.

Killing Of Any Muslim Or Christian By Terrorists Distresses Me – Buhari

Editorial staff

December 27, 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed shock over the killing of innocent hostages, made up of some Muslims and Christians, by the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) masquerading in the garb of Islam, even as he called on Nigerians not to let the terrorists divide the country along religious lines.

Reacting to the killing of the hostages, President Buhari said: “I am profoundly saddened and shocked by the death of innocent hostages in the hands of remorseless, godless, callous gangs of mass murderers that have given Islam a bad name through their atrocities

“We should, under no circumstance, let the terrorists divide us by turning Christians against Muslims because these barbaric killers don’t represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the world.

“As a President, the collective security of all Nigerians is my major preoccupation and the death of an innocent Christian or Muslim distresses me.’’

The President said the terrorists have no clearly defined agenda except the pursuit of evil through indiscriminate murder of innocent people, contrary to the teachings of Islam, which prohibits massacre.

“No true Muslim would be shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while killing innocent people, an evil frequently condemned by the Holy Qur’an.

“These agents of darkness are enemies of our common humanity and they don’t spare any victim, whether they are Muslims or Christians, and therefore, we shouldn’t let them divide us and turn us against one another.

“The goal of these psychopaths is to cause confusion and spread distrust between Muslims and Christians, despite the fact that they aren’t representing the interest of Muslims or Islam.

“While I condemn this evil, I wish to reassure Nigerians that this administration will not lower its guards in the war against terrorism, and we will continue to intensify our efforts towards strengthening international cooperation and collaboration to break the backbone of these evil doers.”

President Buhari called on all Nigerians to be united against terrorists and avoid unhelpful conspiracy theories that serve the interest of Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP.

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