A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
Austin JJ Okocha Former Super Eagle Captain celebrated his 43th birthday with with children of Internally Display People (IDP) Camp at Kuchigoro Abuja.
Okocha @43: Austin JJ Okocha of Former Super Eagle donating foods items to celebrate his 43th birthday during his visit to children of Internally Display People (IDP) Camp at Kuchigoro Abuja Sunday. Photo by Gbemiga OlamikanOkocha @43: Austin JJ Okocha of Former Super Eagle donating foods items to celebrate his 43th birthday during his visit to children of Internally Display People (IDP) Camp at Kuchigoro Abuja Sunday. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan
By Levinus Nwabughiogu ABUJA-The presidency has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to inventing a new and prosperous Nigeria despite the current economic meltdown in the country.
It also described as unfair the flood of criticisms which it said had greeted the government in recent times.
The presidency spoke through an article by the senior special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, “In Defence of President Buhari: Is This The Change We Voted For? Yes, It Is!”
He said that Buhari’s critics had already forgotten the ruinous years of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
He said “When they ask the question, is this the change we voted for, the critic forgets how far we have come from the scam-tainted years of the PDP rule.
“Unfair criticism of the Buhari administration especially on account of escalating prices of foodstuff and the liberalization of the currency exchange needs to be challenged before it overshadows the commendable job the President has done in fighting terrorism as part of overall effort to secure the country, reducing corruption and yes, arresting the economic slide before it sinks the nation."
According Shehu, Buhari’s government would be commended for its effort to exterminate insurgency in the land and the eradication of corruption.
Donald Trump, clearly angered by news reports that he has grown depressed and sullen over his fading presidential prospects, has issued some of his sharpest attacks on the media.
“I am not running against Crooked Hillary Clinton,” the Republican presidential candidate said in a speech late Saturday in Fairfield, Connecticut. “I’m running against the crooked media.”TRUMP
Trump seemed particularly upset with a New York Times article that quotes unnamed associates of his as saying that in private “his mood is often sullen and erratic.” Republicans close to his campaign were quoted as saying he was “exhausted, frustrated and still bewildered” by the political process.
The real estate tycoon returned to his message on Sunday, tweeting: “My rallies are not covered properly by the media. They never discuss the real message and never show crowd size or enthusiasm.”
Later, amid a flurry of further tweets on the subject, he added: “It is not ‘freedom of the press’ when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!”
Trump has complained for months about media coverage. He has stripped a long list of news organizations — including the New York Times, Buzzfeed, Politico and the Washington Post — of their credentials, and vowed that as president he would make it easier to sue news outlets.
But media monitors say he has received more extensive coverage than any candidate in years.
A prominent American journalist, James Fallows of The Atlantic magazine, suggested Trump’s very criticism reflected a degree of desperation, tweeting on Sunday: “I've seen winning campaigns and losing ones. 100% Iron Law: campaign saying ‘our problem is the media’ is campaign on way down.”
But Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman, pushed back against that notion during an appearance Sunday on CNN, saying, “The campaign is moving forward and very strong. We raised over $132 million in the last two months.”
He noted that Trump had visited key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida repeatedly and was “starting to get traction in those states.”
However, recent polls have shown Trump’s numbers sagging badly in those battleground states, notably hurt by his critical comments about the Muslim parents of a fallen US soldier, and what some saw as his suggestion that “Second Amendment people” — gun lovers — take their dislike for Clinton into their own hands.
Manafort repeated the Trump claim that his Second Amendment remark was meant purely as an exhortation to vote.
But even one of Trump’s top advisers, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, conceded Sunday that the candidate needed to communicate “more effectively.”
“He’s got to wrestle in his own heart, how does he communicate who he is, what he believes, the change he thinks he can bring to America,” he said on ABC.
“He does need to communicate — and I think he can — more effectively.”
The CNN interviewer also asked Manafort about mounting pressure on Trump to release his tax returns after Clinton released hers on Friday.
The channel broadcast video of Trump urging Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in 2012, to release his returns at the time, saying, “If you didn’t see the tax returns, you would think there is almost, like, something wrong.”
Manafort repeated Trump’s explanation that he is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.
“When that’s completed, he’ll release the returns,” Manafort said, adding that Clinton’s returns showed income coming from “people who benefited from her State Department term as well,” referring to her time as secretary of State.
Pope Francis has described his surprise visit to 20 former prostitutes on Friday as some his activities to mark “Fridays of Mercy”.
According to the pope, "Fridays of Mercy” was termed by him to carry out one unscheduled act of mercy a month on a Friday — mainly in or near Rome — throughout the pope‘s Jubilee year, which started in December and runs to November.
Recall that the pontiff, who has repeatedly described the human trafficking behind much prostitution as “a crime against humanity”, sat down with the group, including four women from Albania, seven from Nigeria and six from Romania.
The other three hailed from Italy, Tunisia and the Ukraine, according to a Vatican statement. The women, all aged around 30, are being sheltered by a Catholic association in an apartment in the Italian capital after being rescued from their pimps.
The 79-year old listened for over an hour to the stories of the former sex slaves, “all of whom suffered serious physical abuse and live under protection,” the Vatican said.
In January, he visited a care home for the elderly and people in a vegetative state, while in February he went to a community for drug addicts. In March he toured a refugee centre before visiting asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos in April.
The pontiff then spent time with the seriously mentally ill in May before visiting old and ill priests in June and dedicating his July “Friday of Mercy” to sick children in Krakow after praying for the victims of the Holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp.
The father of one of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped from the remote area of Chibok more than two years ago said he recognised his daughter in a video released by Boko Haram on Sunday.Parent of Dorcas Yakubu who spoke from Boko Haram Video, Mrs Esther Yakubu and Mr Yakubu during press Conference held by #Bring Back Our Girls group at Unity Fountain Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan
A spokesman for the Bring Back Our Girls movement, set up to demand the return of 276 schoolgirls kidnapped in April 2014, said he was “certain” of the identities of 10 other girls seen in the footage.
“When I heard her voice, I realised she is my daughter,” Kanu Yakubu told reporters in Abuja. He was referring to Maida Yakubu, whom he identifies as the girl seen in the video choking back her tears as she describes an air strike by the Nigerian armed forces.
The girl speaks in the Chibok dialect.
Bring Back Our Girls spokesman Abubakar Abdullahi earlier on Sunday said at least one of the girls had been recognised by a member of the movement.
The number of girls identified from the video has now risen significantly, he said. “We’re certain that these are the Chibok girls,” Abdullahi told AFP.
“We recognise up to 10 from the video,” Abdullahi said, adding that he is waiting for confirmation from the Nigerian government and parents of the girls before releasing any more names.
The video shows a masked man holding an assault rifle and dressed in military clothing. In the background, several girls wearing Islamic clothing look visibly distressed and dab their eyes. One is holding a small baby.
The Youth and Sports Development ministry after denying that U-23 captain, John Mikel Obi bailed out the team by paying $4,600 to settle some outstanding hotel bill before they departed to Salvador for their quarter-finals game against Denmark, has refunded him the money.
Captain Mikel
It was reported that some officials who were not captured in the 25-man football Olympic list incured some debt which the hotel demanded before they could let them go and Mikel had to pay the bill to avoid them being embarrassed.
The sports minister, Solomon Dalung however denied it, saying that “Siasia was in my room early this morning (last week) and said the hotel security had refused to allow the team leave the hotel due to unpaid hotel bills. I also lodged in the same hotel with the Permanent Secretary and other members of the National Assembly who came to watch the match against Columbia. I told him to add the bill to the permanent Secretary’s bill so that he can clear it alongside other bills. The amount incurred by the excess officials and players is $4,600.
When we checked out of the hotel, the money was added and the Permanent Secretary paid all outstanding bills. I am surprised to hear and read that Mikel Obi saved an embarrassing situation by paying the bills” However, the NFF yesterday wrote ot is website that "the Ministry of Youth and Sports has refunded to Captain
Mikel Obi the $4,600 he paid for the team in São Paulo on their way to Salvador."
Meanwhile, the permanent secretary Mr Chinyeaka Ohaa who addressed the U-23 team on behalf of the minister after they beat Denmark, said, “I am happy to be a Nigerian, because in spite of all the challenges, you have taken the world by storm, you have, by your performance, given happiness to more than 160 million Nigerians. Football is the biggest unifying factor in Nigeria today. From Mr. President to the average Nigerian you have made everyone proud today.
“I am humbled by your efforts, your commitment, your patriotism. I want to assure you that your sacrifices will not be in vain. Aside whatever the NFF have for you, we will as much as possible make you happy, if only you will be patient with us. Today, with your performance, I am convinced that you will get that gold."
?Parents of the Chibok school girls kidnapped in April 2014, are in anguish and tears, as the Islamist terrorists group, Boko Haram, on Sunday, released a video of some of the girls.
One visible face in the video was Dorcas Yakubu, who addressed concerned parents in the video released by Boko Haram. Dorcas Yakubu’s parents, particularly the mum was in tears as she watched the video during the sit-out of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, in Abuja.
See photos:
?Oby Ezekwesili with parents of Dorcas Yakubu (mother in green, father in white), the girl who addressed concerned parents in the video released by Boko Haram?Oby Ezekwesili with parents of Dorcas Yakubu (mother in green), the girl who addressed concerned parents in the video released by Boko Haram?Oby Ezekwesili with parents of Dorcas Yakubu (mother in green), the girl who addressed concerned parents in the video released by Boko Haram?Oby Ezekwesili with parents of Dorcas Yakubu (mother in green), the girl who addressed concerned parents in the video released by Boko Haram
Prime Minister of Britain, Theresa Mary May has said that the country will uphold the ideals of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat on peace and campaign against extremism.
Theresa May
May who is also the leader of the Conservative party made this known in her goodwill message to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat on its 50th annual convention held at the Hadeeqatul Mahdi, Hampshire London yesterday.
May who was represented by the Minister of Aviation, Lord Ahmad also described the murdered Ahmadi shopkeeper, Asad Shah as a man who was passionate about peace and understanding between communities, adding that Britain will uphold those values that define the Ahmadis.
"This year, we were shocked and sickened by the murder of the British Ahmadi, Asad Shah. He was a man who was passionate about peace and understanding between communities - values that define Ahmadis, but also our country, too. We must continue to uphold those things, and we must do so together. One excellent example of that is your "United Against Extremism" campaign.
Recall that last April, Asad Shah, an Ahmadi Muslim, 40, was stabbed to death outside his store in Shawlands, Glasgow. The murder, Muslim Tanveer Ahmed, 32, from Bradford in Yorkshire has been jailed for life after he admitted the religiously-motivated murder, claiming Shah had “disrespected” Islam.
The Prime Minister, however congratulated the Jamaat on the successful 50th annual convention.
"I congratulate the Ahmadiyya Muslim community as you hold your 50th annual convention here in Britain.
"The Jalsa Salana is an opportunity to celebrate the community's huge contribution to society, whether it is raising money for the Poppy Appeal, holding interfaith iftars during Ramadan, or helping to deliver aid to the poorest people around the world. That is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in action: compassionate, charitable and absolutely committed.
"I am honoured to have met the community's global leader, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, and to have visited the Baitul Futuh Mosque. Your motto - "love for all, hatred for none" - shines from all you do. It is a message we would all do well to live by, especially as we build a stronger, more united future," Prime Minister May said.
ABUJA – The Bring Back Our Girls BBOG advocacy movement has reacted to the second ‘proof-of-life’ video released by the Boko Haram sect on Sunday regarding the travails of the over 200 abducted Chibok girls.
?Oby Ezekwesili with parents of parents of Dorcas Yakubu (mother in green), the girl who addressed concerned parents in the video released by Boko Haram
At a special sit-out of the movement Sunday evening in Abuja, the group in an address signed by its leaders, Oby Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu expressed its resolve to march on the Presidential Villa in the coming days except the federal government scale up efforts at rescuing the girls.
BBOG said, “853 days since the abduction of our #ChibokGirls, we woke up to a video on the state of our girls. We are left with mixed feelings of grief and strengthened hope as the chilling words continue to sink in.
"Our parents please exercise patience. We are suffering here. There is no kind of suffering we haven't seen. Our sisters are injured, some have wounds on their heads and bodies.
The Nigerian state, during the five-year Presidency of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, earned a total of N51 trillion from petroleum resources. The money is part of the N96.212trillion the country earned in 58years of crude oil sales.
Of this princely sum, which accounts for about 80 per cent of the country's revenue, only N12.258 trillion (just about 14% of total) has been paid to the oil producing areas as derivation.
The figure is N35.848 trillion less than the N48.106 trillion the oil-bearing regions should have received as derivation if 50 per cent derivation had not been jettisoned few years after crude oil became the chief revenue earner for Nigeria.
The figures are the outcome of research by Sunday Vanguard, relying on documents from the Petroleum Inspectorate, NNPC, CBN Annual Report and Statement of Account, Nigeria Bureau of Statistics and the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI.
In the face of biting contemporary economic realities Nigerians are contending with, there is a consensus that the different tiers of government – federal, state and local government councils – have indeed squandered the nation's earnings. Even the modest attempts at saving for the rainy day with the creation of, first, the Excess Crude Account, ECA -which suffered mismanagement occasioned by under-hand spending by the Federal Government that was supposed to hold the funds in trust – and, thereafter, the controversial and ineffectual Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF – which became a subject of litigation and high-wire politicking between the Federal Government and the leadership of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, NGF – suffered from the typically Nigerian insincere approach to economic management.
A breakdown of the earnings shows that between 1958 and 2007 (CBN Annual Report and Statement of Account, 2008), Nigeria earned N29.8 trillion from petroleum resources. And between 2008 and June 2016, the country generated N66.412 trillion.
Between 1958 and 1966, Nigeria earned N140 million from crude oil; 1967 to 1975, the General Yakubu Gowon got about N11.03 billion; while the late General Murtala Mohammed/ Olusegun Obasanjo military regime scooped about N25 billion from 1975-1979.
In like manner, the civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari earned N36 billion oil money; Buhari, in his first coming as military head of state (1984-85), earned about N25 billion; General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, 1985 to 1993, N420 billion; the Ernest Shonekan/Abacha regime (1993-1998), N1.6 trillion; and General Abdulsalami Abubakar regime (1998-1999), N350 billion.
With the return to civil rule, Nigeria, under President Obasanjo realised about N27 trillion from crude oil between May 1999 and May 2007. His successor, Umaru Yar' Adua, reaped about N9 trillion in his almost three-year rule before he passed on.
The luckiest of the leaders is former President Goodluck Jonathan, whose administration in five years, between 2010 and 2015, earned about N51 trillion from petroleum resources. Since he came to power on May 29, 2015, the President Buhari administration has been able to earn just about N6 trillion from crude.
However, the huge earnings, since 1958, arguably, have translated to little or no improvement on the welfare of the citizenry, especially the people of the oil-producing areas, whose environment – land, water and air, has been adversely contaminated and, in many cases, devastated and polluted.
DETAILS OF EARNINGS AND IMPACT OF EXPLORATION NEXT WEEK
The Lagos State Government on Sunday shut down and dislodged the cow skin (popularly known as ponmo) processing section of the Oko-Oba abattoir and Lairage Complex in Agege.
File: Abbatoir
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Asst. Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to the statement, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Toyin Suarau, led a team from the ministry in the company of men from the Lagos State Task Force to shut down the cow skin section of the abattoir.
Suarau said “closure of the ponmo section and dislodgment of the processors became necessary because of the health hazards inherent in the unhealthy processing of ponmo.
“The ponmo processors use heaps of burning tyres, thereby, emitting thick toxic smoke into the air endangering residents of the adjoining neighbourhood.
“This bonfire emits a thick toxic smoke which spreads from within the complex to adjoining neighbourhoods, endangering the lives including those of the processors themselves.''
The commissioner emphasised that the toxic smoke and unhygienic way of processing the cow skin was harmful to human health.
“I wish to make it clear that the use of tyres for cow skin processing was reported to the State government sometime ago and was dealt with.
“The return to this unhygienic method of processing in the complex leaves much to be desired and this is why the state government has closed the ponmo section of the complex,” he said.
He noted that the health effects of burning tyres alone were enormous let alone using them to process human food.
According to the commissioner, burning tyres release a toxic soup with hundreds of the different toxic pollutants and small particles.
He said such pollutants settle deep in the lungs while airborne emissions from open tire fires presented serious impact to health and the environment.
Suarau said that the state government would not condone any act of illegality and harmful health practices in any of the abattoirs in the State.
“To this end, the state government has deployed a number of veterinary officers, animal workers to abattoirs to ensure that set standard for animal slaughtering and processing are adhere to.
“The state government would continue to monitor abattoirs and slaughter slabs and would not hesitate to close down abattoirs and slaughter slabs that were unhygienic.
“Also, slaughter slabs and abattoirs which are not compliant with the relevant laws governing meat slaughtering in the state, will be closed down.
“The issue of animal slaughtering and processing calls for serious attention because the animals must be inspected before and after slaughtering according to the meat inspection law,” he said.
Suarau reiterated the state government's commitment to restructure the Oko-oba abattoir, improve operations in the complex and develop the red meat value chain.
He also said that plan was under way to fence the abattoir, remove slums, shanties and markets in and around the complex and ensure solid waste management.
The commissioner gave assurance that the ministry would continue to train butchers, dislodge illegal abattoirs, seize stray animals and monitor the transportation of meat to and from abattoirs and slaughter slabs in the State.
“Currently, the State government and stakeholders in the abattoir are collaborating to harness the Eko Large Ruminant Animal Project.
“This is to enhance the integration of cognate sub projects such as feed milling, animal slaughtering and processing and distribution and marketing of processed beef.''
The commissioner re-affirmed the commitment of government to bring development into the red meat value chain.
He noted that there was a growing recognition that the planned reform was desirable to meet the State's mega city status.
“This will ensure that we move from the traditional way of animal slaughtering to a mechanised system and ensure full utilisation of the abattoir in an efficient, effective and healthy way.
“This reform is focusing on food security, facility and environmental hygiene and processing protection,'' Suarau said. (NAN)
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has said that Nigerians were suffering under the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Muhammadu Buhari because "the country is in the hands of wrong managers who do not know what to do and out of nepotism, not ready to be assisted by those who know."
Fayose and Buhari
The governor said, "presently, Nigerians are suffering, hungry and angry because the APC federal government has run the country aground," adding that, "Nigeria has gone beyond recession, the economy has collapsed completely and painfully, those who should revive the economy do not have any clue as to what to do."
In a statement in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said Nigeria was experiencing the worst form of nepotism in the history of government in the country, saying, "nepotism is the reason our President discarded competent people in his party that should be running the government with him and opted for his relatives, friends, in-laws and very close associates."
“The only qualification to hold key positions in the Presidency is to know a certain nephew of the President or be a member of his family, that’s is nepotism and what nepotism breeds is incompetence.
“The most influential person in the Presidency today is said to be one Mamman Daura, who is a nephew of the President. Personal Assistant to President Buhari is said to be the son of Mamman Daura, while the State Chief of Protocol is said to be married to Mamman Daura's daughter,”
“It is also the height of nepotism that apart from just two, all security chiefs and heads of all the paramilitary agencies in Nigeria, as well as all the political-heads overseeing all the military and paramilitary arms and agencies are from the North of Nigeria,” the governor said.
He said President Buhari was obviously being tormented by fear of the unknown, which he described as the main reason people take to nepotism.
"As a leader, you don't need to fear anything. But the moment a leader peeps into the future, realising that his lack of capacity could have consequential effects on him, such a leader will definitely resort to nepotism to protect himself.
"Also, the moment a government is unable to guarantee the existence of the people, it must resort to nepotism to protect itself and that is exactly what is being witnessed in Nigeria, especially with the lopsided appointments of security chiefs and key functionaries of the Federal Government," he said.
While lamenting the parlous state of the country's economy, Governor Fayose said: "Most of those people that aided the emergence of President Buhari must be having a rethink now, but it is too late!
"Interestingly, political affiliation has nothing to do with hunger, poverty and lack.
"Exchange rate was less than N200 to $1 when President Buhari took over power, as at today, it has gone beyond N400 to $1 and Naira is still undergoing a free fall. One bag of rice was less than N8, 000 as at May 2016, it is now N20, 000. Kerosene is now beyond the reach of the masses.
“Nigerians voted for change because the APC promised them solutions to the country's problems, but all we hear every day from the APC Federal Government are complaints upon complaints as if Nigerians elected a government of complaints.
"Obviously, the APC government has failed Nigerians and the President has resorted to putting his immediate family members and close associates in key government positions to protect himself from the fear of the unknown that has enveloped him."
Abuja – The Nigerian Army on Sunday declared three persons, including a woman, wanted in connection with the over 200 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram since 2014.
They are Ahmed Salkida, Amb. Ahmed U. Bolori and Aisha Wakil.
Ahmad Salkida
According to a statement issued by the Acting Director Army Public Relations,Col. Sani Usman, the wanted persons have information on the conditions and the exact location of those girls.?
“Therefore, the Nigerian Army hereby declares the two gentlemen and the lady wanted for interrogation.
“We are relying on the relevant laws of the land, and in particular the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended) where Nigerians could be punished for failure to disclose information about terrorists or terrorists” activities. ?
?”This becomes necessary as a result of their link with the last two videos released by Boko Haram Terrorists and other findings of our preliminary investigations.
“There is no doubt that these individuals have links with Boko Haram Terrorists and have contacts with them.
“They must therefore come forward and tell us where the group is keeping the Chibok Girls and other abducted persons to enable us rescue them,” Usman said.
He called on all Nigerians and other peace-loving people to give useful information on the whereabouts of the suspects.
“We are also liaising with other security agencies for their arrest if they fail to turn up,” he said.
My Dear Tunji Abayomi: It is said that to err is human. By your letter to me, it seems that you seek to remind me that I am human. Of this I am constantly reminded. I know I have made my share of mistakes. But my progressive inclination remains firmly rooted. However, by your pained and inaccurate letter, you have proven that you are human too.
You have been a friend and will continue to be. Thus, I can dispense with needless formality so that we can get to the crux of the issue. Your career is that of a lawyer and activist. I appreciate all that you have done in the pursuit of a more just and democratic Nigeria. However, your letter to me is an impetuous display unbecoming a man of your status and a man seeking the highest leadership position in his state. And as a lawyer, you well know that one cannot seek equity without having done equity.
In writing the letter, you appear to have been bitten by a bug that often blinds the objectivity of a man. You have been bitten by an ambition that you fear you shall not be able to realize. In your pursuit of office, you have sought my support and influence. When you sought that support, you thought it proper and democratic to do so. If I had signalled my support for you, I am sure that you would never have written this letter alleging that I was undermining the democratic will of the people. You would have been pleased with me, I suppose.
However, because that support has not been forthcoming, you fear that the support you wanted may now go to a rival candidate. In your judgment, my support for you would have been democratic. Should I support another, then that same support is now to be considered dictatorial and unfair? Frankly, dear friend, I do not see the objectivity in your analysis or the merit in what you claim as your injury. If you seek a person’s support, you cannot in good conscience turn around and object that such support should never be given to another person. Your position is more undemocratic and unfair than what you accuse me of. Your words attack me for being undemocratic when in reality your heart attacks me for not giving you what you want.
I have participated in elections for decades for myself and others. Some have been won. Some lost. Never, however, have I asked a friend for support than condemn for giving the very support I sought of them to another person. To do so is not to stand on principle but on bruised pride.
You said I seek to deny your democratic right. It is you who seeks to grab mine. If not mistaken, I believe I am a member of the APC. I have a right and duty to support the candidate who I believe will best represent the party. What your letter is really saying is that if I don't support you, I should keep my mouth shut. You complain of a purported meeting I had to discuss the coming primary in Ondo. Do you deny me and other APC members now the right to assembly and talk. Had you heard that the meeting had anointed you, I doubt you would have written the first word of the letter you sent to me.
But here I want to give you and others a clear assurance that you may rest more at ease. I reserve the right to support any candidate I wish because no one has the right to take this away from me. However, I will also do everything in my power to ensure the primaries are free and fair and that there will be no undue influence on the process. The candidate who can garner the most support and votes will win. Since its inception, the APC has run the cleanest and most transparent primaries in the history of this nation. The just-concluded primary in Edo is further evidence of this. My dear friend, I leave you free to run and win the primary. If you do, I shall congratulate you and support you in the general election. However, you must respect my rights as well and leave me to my own conscience to support who I will support. And to show interest in whom I wish.
I also need to correct what appears to be a mistaken impression on your part about the 2015 election. Your letter seems to indicate that it was on your advice that I backed President Buhari. You assume too much credit and should be more guarded in your assertions. As a veteran in the political arena, I do not make important decisions lightly. I make final political decisions and calculations on my own after deep reflections and consultation with many people from many perspectives. I can assure you, dear friend, that I trust my own political counsel more than yours and that I have numerous other advisors whose advice I weigh more than yours. After all had you so much influence over me in the presidential election, it would mean you surely should have greater influence over me when it comes to the primary in your state.
I do appreciate your passion and concern for the welfare of the people.
Yet, you are not the only one who feels this. The love of the people is not exclusive to you, Tunji. My entire life has been devoted to the betterment of the people and of this nation. Lagos is a much better place because of what we have tried to do, and I pray that it will be better still.
Many worked hard and long and sacrificed much, even more than you, to bring in the new federal government. We did not do this as a sport but to improve the lives of the people. You need not lecture me about the plight of the people. Their right to a better life is what motivates me. I do not doubt your love for the people and this nation. Yet, you have no right to doubt mine for you do not love these people and this place more than I do. Of that, I can assure you.
I am a democrat. I am ready to for the chips to fall where they may after and open and fair primary in Ondo. Instead of welcoming this, it appears you are afraid of it. Instead of fighting me who is but one man with no vote, you should be fighting for votes and support. Your letter to me was woefully misplaced and inappropriate. Still, I wish you the best and may democracy and the people’s will prevail above all else.
The Executive Secretary, Taraba Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Umar Leme, has said that the state government released N288.5 million to sponsor about 166 intending pilgrims for the 2016 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Hajj Pilgrims
He said the gesture of Gov.Darius Ishaku administration was to assist the less privileged Muslims to perform one of the major pillars of Islam.
Leme who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Jalingo, commended Ishaku for his support in ensuring a successful hajj operation.
He said that 1,300 pilgrims from Taraba would perform the hajj, adding that about N1.1billion had already been paid to the National Hajj Commission as fees for the intending pilgrims.
Leme said that 500 additional seats were allocated to the state, adding that people were not forthcoming to pay.
According to him, about 1,080 passports have so far been sent to the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Kano, and that preparations were at advanced stage of completion.
Leme said that the board had secured befitting accommodation for all the pilgrims in both Makkah and Madinah, while new caterers have been engaged.
He warned pilgrims against contravening Saudi Arabian laws. (NAN)
Some lawyers in Lagos on Sunday called for more community service judgments to decongest the prisons and prevent facilities from being overstretched.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that such sentences would also ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
Mr Adindu Ibuzo, a legal practitioner, urged state governments to emulate Lagos State that has embraced delivering of community service judgments.
Community service sentence is a non-custodial punishment for offenders, which aims at preventing overpopulation of the prisons.
Ibuzo said that this type of sentence would also reduce the burden of prison authorities in handling more inmates and prevent the usual stigma of offenders being called ex-convicts.
The lawyer explained that application of jail term on petty crime offenders was capable of disrupting such offenders' social and economic lives.
"Community service, if well implemented, is a good reformatory and punitive measure for petty offences.
"Instead of imprisoning an offender and spending tax payers' money to feed him, let him work for the betterment of the community.
"It is enough shame and suffering for offenders to be seen by people who know them while cleaning the streets or public toilets as punishment for their offences,” he said.
Another legal practitioner, Mr Ihayin Owa, said that community service was a means to de-congesting the prison system without compromising justice administration.
“Community service is a way of helping reform the mind of a petty offender from the crime he has committed.
“As the law says, justice is not a one way traffic. It goes in three ways: justice for the state; the complainant and the offender.
“The welfare of the offender should also be put into consideration, when applying the judgment”.
Owa, therefore, urged state governments to explore the option of community service as a means of reducing overcrowding in prisons.
“Some people go into crime due to poverty and hunger; such offenders should not be sent to prison.
"A first time offender, who stole a chicken and was sent to prison stands the chance of meeting hardened criminals and coming back to commit higher level of crime,” he said.
Mrs Tola Akintunde, a Lagos based lawyer, simply observed that “imprisoning petty criminals is not an efficient way of tackling crime”. (NAN)
The Ebonyi Transparency and Accountability Network (ETAN)– a Non Government Organization- says it will challenge the abandonment of the state's students studying abroad, in a non-confrontational manner.
Gov. Dave Umahi
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the incumbent administration in the state said it had no funds to continue the sponsorship of the students on a programme initiated by its predecessor.
Mr Eze Igwe, Protem President of the organization, who disclosed this on Sunday while briefing newsmen in Abakaliki, noted that it was collaborating with the Ebonyi Union in the United Kingdom to resolve the issue.
"We are faulting the state government in its contention that it has no funds to continue the sponsorship, and we feel that this would amount to wastage of resources.
"The sponsorship by the preceding administration amounts to massive investment in human development, so, abandoning it would amount to serious waste.
"The present government should at least, conclude the sponsorship of the students already studying abroad and can then foreclose subsequent sponsorships," he said.
According to him, the situation is embarrassing to the state and the country as stakeholders have been airing the same views in the media and other sources.
"We believe in constructively seeking solutions to problems; we have met the governor on the issue and he gave us positive responses," he said.
Igwe remarked that the organization has also engaged the government over its inability to 'breakdown' the 2016 budget, as the situation would make auditing impossible.
"We held that, despite the usage of the funds for infrastructural development, due process must, however, be followed in implementing its provisions," he said.
He noted that the organization was formed in January to find solutions to the numerous challenges facing the state since its 20 years of creation.
"We have more than 120 members from the 13 Local Government Areas of the state and membership, which is free, cuts across all sectors of national life, including the government and the private sector," he said.
Also, Mr Hans Offia, an official of the organization and a Commissioner at the State Independent Electoral Commission, allayed the fear of compromise on issues concerning the government.
"We would confront every issue through constructive engagement and without bias, as we would never be seen as 'pro or anti' government.
"We would always stand on the right path and take every measure available to ensure transparency, accountability and effectiveness in the state's management," he said.
The Adamawa State Government has constituted a six-man investigative panel to probe the alleged illegal removal of a patient’s kidney by a physician in a private clinic in Yola, the state capital.
Governor Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State
Malam Abubakar Muhammad, the the Information Officer of state Ministry of Health, confirmed this to newsmen on Sunday in Yola.
He said that one Dr Hassan Yakubu of Jimeta Clinic was alleged to had conducted a surgery on the affected patient.
Muhammad said the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Fatima Atiku, on receipt of the complaint from the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, where the patient was referred to acted without delay.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the patient, Malam Isah Hamma, who is now in critical condition at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, had alleged that his only kidney was removed at the Jimeta Clinic by Yakubu who operated on him.
Hamma, who spoke through his Uncle, Malam Umaru Hammaseyo, said he underwent surgical operation on July 8, at the hospital for abdominal pain where he was charged N50,000.
He said that after the operation his condition continued to worsen leading to his referral to the Federal Medical Centre in Gombe where it was discovered that his kidney had been removed.
Hamma called for justice and support from relevant authorities and the public to save him from the critical condition he found himself where he required N48,000 weekly for dialysis.
The management of Jimeta Clinic was yet to react to the development, just as the nurses on duty said they were not competent to comment on the matter.
By BEN AGANDE ABUJA – Peoples Democratic Party Northern Elders Forum has constituted a sixteen man committee to screen candidates from the region that are aspiring for various positions that have been zoned to the region.
The move is part of strategy of leaders from the zone to present credible candidates and where there are more than one candidates aspiring for a particular position, reach a consensus on the candidate that would be presented for the position.
The screening committee is headed by former Deputy President of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu and is expected to present its report to the committee on the eve of the convention in Portharcourt.
According to sources close to the Forum, delegates from the northern zones are also to present a united front on which candidates from the other zones vying for various offices.
While the southern part of the country is to produce the national chairman of the party, the north is to produce the party’s national secretary as well as one Vice chairman.
Other offices zoned to the North are those of the deputy national chairman 2, ?national financial secretary, ?national publicity secretary, ?national auditor, ?national woman leader, ?deputy national treasurer, ?deputy national organizing secretary, ?deputy national youth leader,? deputy national legal adviser and ?deputy national secretary.
The positions zoned to the south are deputy national chairman 1, ?national treasurer, ?national legal adviser, ?national youth leader, ?national organizing secretary, ?deputy national publicity secretary, ?deputy national woman leader, ?deputy national auditor and deputy national financial secretary.
At the end of its 5th meeting in Abuja, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Northern Leaders Forum? the coordinator, Professor Jerry Gana said the essence of the committee was not to impose any person on the delegates but was borne out of “a strategic guideline” for the Northern delegates to back only good candidates.
Already, five persons from Kogi state have indicated interest in the position of the National Publicity Secretary of the Party which has been zoned to the state.
Among those who have picked nomination form for the position are the Former Special Adviser to the Senator David Mark, Kola Ologbodinyan, a member of the Caretaker Committee from the state, Barrister Usman and three others.
For the post of the National chairman of the party which is zoned to the southern part of the country, five persons have picked nomination forms.
Those who have picked nomination forms are former Deputy Chairman of the party, Chief Bode George, founder of DAAR Communications, Raymond Dokpesi, former governorship Aspirant of the party for Lagos state in the last gubernatorial election, Jimi Agbaje and others.
Members of the 16-man committee inaugurated to screen Candidates of Northern extraction include Senator Ibrahim Mantu Chairman, Hon. Margaret Icheen, Alhaji Y.Y. Suleiman, Alhaji Idris Ibrahim, (former Governor of Kogi state) Ambassador Wilberforce Juta, Mallam Adamu Waziri, Hon. Inuwa Garba, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Governor of Sokoto State, Ambassador Aminu Wali? and Nuhu Bajoga (former deputy governor of Kaduna state.
Others include Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure Emmanuel Jijiwa ?and three women Hon. Zainab Maina, Mrs Laraba Mallam, pharmacists Nana Shehu Suleiman.
As Nigerians continue to celebrate Nigeria's victory over Denmark, Christian Chukwu, former Super Eagles Coach, has advised the Dream Team VI not to be complacent in their semi-finals game against Germany.
Chukwu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos that the U-23 team should not rest on their oars against their German counterparts.
Aminu Umar of Nigeria celebrates with team mates after scoring a goal during the Men’s Football Quarter Final match between Nigeria and Denmark on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Arena Fonte Nova on August 13, 2016 in Salvador, Brazil. (Photo – FIFA/FIFA
NAN reports that the Dream Team defeated Denmark 2-0 in the quarter-finals to qualify for the semi-finals stage of the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The team will take on Germany in the semi-finals the football event.
The former Green Eagles Captain said that the team should be wary of the Germans and should play with the same tempo as they did with Danish team.
“The German team is very quick with the ball and they tend to keep the ball in play always.
“The coach should make sure that the midfield is intact and players should hold their opponents close.
“The defence line should be more firm because in their last game, there were loopholes that made their opponents to penetrate.
“And finally, they should always play like a team,'' he said.
Chukwu hailed the team as they showed determination to win their last game with so much focus on scoring.
“I commend the team spirit with which they played. It was an impressive win; they showed lot of determination and focus.
“It was clear that they listened to the coach and his technical crew.
“They played with ease and dictated the tune of the game even when they felt a little threatened by their opponents.
“I hope that they will put in more of these against the Germans match,'' he said.
Contributing, Friday Ekpo, a former Super Eagles player, urged the Dream Team to remain resolute ahead of the semi-finals encounter.
Ekpo told NAN that the players had performed excellently in spite of all the challenges they encountered in their build up to the Olympics.
“First and foremost, I must commend the team and the technical crew for taking the country this far in the Games.
“We are all aware that it has not been a smooth journey for the team but above all odds, they got this far,'' he said.
He added that the match against Germany would not be an easy task and urged the players to approach it with determination.
Also, Falade Oyekan, a board member of the Lagos State Football Association, lauded the team for their performance so far.
Oyekan urged the players to shun anything that would distract their quest to qualify for the final.
“The team has done very well and we are proud of them and they should not be disturbed or distracted with happenings around them,'' he said.
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