In separate outings last night, I paid a courtesy visit to my brother, the Yobe State Governor, H.E Mai Mala Buni and also to our father, an Elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark in their residences in Abuja.
The Director of Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of Environment, Borno State, Mr Peter Ayuba, has confirmed the killing of a lion by hunters in the Konduga Local Government Area of the state.
Ayuba, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the incident on Tuesday in Maiduguri, the state capital, said the lion might have strayed from Waza Game Reserve in Cameroon.
“We have similar incidents of elephants from the game reserve entering villages in Kala-Balge Local Government Area.
“There is also an incident of some hyenas killing a man in the bush in Kaga Local Government Area.
“Absence of human activities in some rural communities for several years has transformed many farmlands to thick forest,” Ayuba said.
He explained that the several years of absence of human beings made the animals in reserves to start wandering into the villages.
He added that the villages hitherto had been without humans until now that people were returning to base with the gradual return of peace.
Ayuba urged resettled communities to be careful and vigilant, pointing out that the lion killed on Sunday could have other pride members lurking.
Also speaking on the incident, the Information Officer of the local government, Mallam Asheikh Chabbol, said the lion chased some irrigation farmers in Malari village who had to invite hunters to engage it.
“Hunters engaged the lion, which injured two of them before it was killed.
“The injured hunters are receiving treatment while the carcass of the lion was taken to the Ministry of Environment,” Chabbol said.
Deepthoughts: what you failed to point out is that,yes Alaska is a US territory but it's far away from the US main land as it is sandwich by Canada n the US main land,as a matter of fact the US bought Alaska from Russia n now serves as the US defense post on Russian East with radar n missile bases giving the US huge edge over Russia.
But is still US land and so any Russian attack on Alaska is as good as attack on US Mainland.
Is 2023 the 11th hour for the 11th Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to become the president of the most populous black nation in the world?
Alhaji Atiku, who has made five unsuccessful attempts at the number one position, is expected to throw his hat in the ring once more in 2023 – probably his last.
Media mogul, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, the leader of the Technical Committee of Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign, is touring the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to solicit support for Atiku in the Fourth Republic.
Atiku, who ran for the governorship of Adamawa State in 1990, 1997, and later in 1998, was elected before becoming Olusegun Obasanjo’s running mate during the 1999 presidential election, is arguably one of the formidable candidates to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
However, Atiku, who contested against Chief MKO Abiola and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe for the presidential ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993, has some storms to calm if he is to be successful in the 2023 presidential election.
Rotational presidency
It is believed in many circles that power should go to the South in 2023 after President Muhammadu Buhari, a Northerner, must have completed his eight-year reign.
In 2021, the 17 governors from Southern Nigeria under the aegis of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF), insisted that the next president of the country must come from the region. They were backed by socio-cultural groups in the region, including Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), which maintained that this would ensure fairness and justice. Some governors and opinion leaders from the North have also expressed support for the notion.
How will Atiku convince the people of Southern Nigeria to forgo their “turn” in the rotational presidency idea? How will he get the people of the region to vote for him, though, it is argued that if on the ballot, he is the likely candidate to get the most votes from the North in 2023.
However, Dokpesi believes that the presidential ticket of the PDP should not be influenced by the decision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), stressing that the APC produced a Northern candidate in 2015 when the PDP presented a Southern candidate.
“In the PDP, you are aware of the fact that President Obasanjo had a full eight years as a Southern candidate; he was succeeded by Umaru Yar’adua, a Northern candidate. Yar’adua used two and half years during his tenure and the remaining of his tenure was used by Jonathan who did another four years, making a total of six years for Jonathan. And since then, we have not had a candidate from the North. So, the North is still in deficit if we are to look at it,” he said in a recent interview with Daily Trust.
Chief Dpkpesi promised recently that if elected, Atiku would rule for a single term of four years, which would pave the way for the South, especially the South East, to produce the president in 2027.
Will these arguments resonate with the majority of Nigerians at the poll in 2023?
Perennial contestant
A former Deputy Director in the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Atiku is seen as a perennial contestant after five unsuccessful attempts.
In 1993, Abubakar contested the SDP presidential primary, losing to MKO Abiola. He defied all the hurdles initiated by then President Obasanjo to run as the presidential candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in 2007.
He came distant third behind Umaru Yar’Adua of the PDP and Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He returned to the PDP and contested the party’s primary, losing out to the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
In 2014, he joined the APC ahead of the 2015 presidential election and contested the presidential primary, losing to Buhari. In 2017, he returned to the PDP and was the party’s presidential candidate during the 2019 presidential election, again losing to incumbent President Buhari.
Pundits and critics believe that Atiku should take a break and support others in their political pursuits. One of the spokespersons of the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation during the 2019 elections, Kassim Afegbua, recently urged the Waziri of Adamawa not to make himself a “perpetual candidate” for the presidency.
How will Atiku be able to convince Nigerians that his presidential bid is not a lifetime ambition but a genuine love for the country and humanity?
Age
While Atiku has not shown any sign of health challenge, at least, to public knowledge, age is not on his side, especially at a time that there is popular yearning for younger leaders to take over the affairs of the country. If elected, Atiku will be six months shy of his 77th birthday by May 29, 2023.
Seyi Makinde, one of the governors and leaders in his party, recently charged Nigerians to choose wisely in 2023 by electing people that had the required physical and mental capacity to run the affairs of the country.
“We have seen a lot of elder statesmen who want to run this country at age 75 or 78. I want them to think twice, and I am saying to the people of Oyo State and Nigeria that this world is not easy.”
“We are in election season, basically and what I will say to us as a people is that we need to choose wisely and elect the people who have the energy to truly serve the country,” said the Oyo State governor.
Is this a direct message to Atiku who is 75?
Questions over wealth
Alhaji Atiku is seen as one of the wealthy politicians in Nigeria. Sadly, in Nigeria, politicians are seen as corrupt. This has made critics of the former VP question his source of wealth. Although he has not been convicted of any corruption charge, the perceived toga of corruption is another storm he must be ready to navigate ahead of the 2023 electioneering campaigns.
Critics are always quick to reference some of the uncomplimentary statements and corruption allegations levelled against him by his former boss, Obasanjo.
Atiku, who recently divested from the country’s largest logistics company, Intels Nigeria Limited, a company he co-founded, must find a way to counter this narrative to win the hearts of the neutrals.
The governors’ obstacle
The 13 PDP governors are the most powerful bloc within the party. They control the structure of the party. This was demonstrated during last year’s convention where they ensured the emergence of their candidates, getting 18 of the 21 positions through consensus.
With this, pundits say the governors have taken over the soul of the main opposition party ahead of the 2023 politicking. This powerful bloc is expected to have a major say in the emergence of a presidential candidate in the party. Eight of the governors are from the South and were part of the resolutions of the SGF; that the region must produce the next president.
In the build-up to the 2019 elections, it took the last-minute intervention of the “generals” for Atiku to beat Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who was the preferred candidate of the PDP governors, to the presidential ticket during the primary in Port Harcourt. To register their displeasure against the decision, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti, publicly displayed their ballot papers, showing they voted for Tambuwal despite the order from the “generals”.
Can Atiku woo Wike and others to support his ambition this time? This is seen as the major storm he needs to sail through.
However, a stalwart of the party, said Atiku would enjoy the support of the governors to pick the ticket.
“Politicians are very smart and calculative. Who among the governors has declared or shown interest in getting the party’s ticket? A Northern candidate is their best bet of defeating the ruling APC,” he said.
He hinted that what the Southern governors from the party were doing was how one of them would pick the vice president slot by ensuring that Atiku does not unilaterally decide his running mate as he did with Peter Obi in 2019.
Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe, who said that Nigeria was facing an existential threat owing to insecurity, joblessness, among other challenges, said an unusual leadership was needed in unusual circumstances.
“What is important is for everyone to understand where we are in our history – we are facing historical monumental challenges. When you are faced with unusual circumstances, you need someone who can provide unusual leadership. Leadership that will get to work from day one, leadership that will unite everybody.
“Does Atiku have these values? Yes, he is an experienced and committed leader. A detribalised leader who can bring everybody together, a creator of jobs who has demonstrated his expertise in his business, among others. He is visionary,” he said.
Unlike most people living with disabilities who easily go into street begging to earn a living, a few invest their talents wisely, endure the challenges and even impact on the lives of normal people. One individual in the latter group is Dahuru Abdulhamid Idris.
Dahuru Abdulhamid Idris, 28, was born with visual impairment (blindness) in the Kofar Dawanau area of Dala Local Government in Kano State but despite the disability, Idris discovered his passion for teaching and went all out to obtain a National Certificate in Education (NCE) in English/Political Science from the Aminu Kano College of Islamic and Legal Studies.
He did not stop at that, but has been serving as a volunteer teacher in a community school in his area since 2014.
In an encounter with Daily Trust, Idris said with the support of his parents, who are also poor, he was able to obtain his National Certificate in Education (NCE) and is now pursuing a degree in Political Science at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
“I was born blind, and all this while my parents and I have been struggling for me to be educated. I had my primary and secondary school education at Special Education School Tudun Maliki and from there I started my voluntary teaching job,” he said.
He said it was the society’s negative perception of the physically challenged people that forced him into teaching to make a difference and prove to the world that they can do what normal persons can do and sometimes even more.
Life as a student
Idris explained that it was not easy studying among normal people who have no disability, especially that he was blind and had no one to take him to school. He said the good friends he met at school usually help him to get into school and classes during lectures.
“I was the only person with a disability in our class during my NCE program and it was not easy at all. Even though I had good friends there to help me, still I had to battle with the lectures. So, I had to record the lectures on my phone and listened later for exams and so on. In addition, the lecturers were very supportive; they gave me special care.”
He said that was how he managed to finish the NCE program with the N6,000 he earns as monthly transportation allowance from the school he was volunteering with, adding “I teach my students English and Government and it’s going well.”
Scholarship for degree programme.
Idris said he finished his NCE with the passion to further his studies, but couldn’t due to financial challenges until he got a scholarship from the NOUN courtesy of a radio interview he had in Kano.
Featured in a radio program of Vision FM, Idris’ fluency in English language attracted the immediate past Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Professor Abdallah Uba Adamu, who phoned in during the program and offered him a scholarship and admission into the department of his choice in the university.
“I was honoured and overwhelmed when I got the admission as it has always been my dream to further my studies. When I got to the school, I received my admission letter and chose to study political science. I am still running my studies successfully.”
How I teach my students
Idris said none of his students has any disability and that he teaches in ways they understand easily, adding that it has been going well as none has ever complained about his job.
He said “I teach them through dictation and they copy it down. Afterwards, I will explain the lesson to them and they will understand because I test them by giving them assignments or asking them to do presentations in class.”
Why I chose not to beg
From childhood, his parents and teachers made him to understand that begging is prohibited in Islam, unless in certain circumstances, which disability is not included.
Apart from that, Idris said the act of begging subjects one to shame and affects their reputation, to the extent that whenever people see the person coming, they will think he is there to beg.
“I chose not to beg because I know its position in Islam and how it will affect me. I know that through studies and other struggles I can make an impact in my life and change other peoples’ lives. So, I want to change the narrative about people with disabilities. That is why I chose to study rather than begging,” he explained.
My aspirations in life
With an ‘eye’ on the future, Idris said he has many things to achieve in life and is making great effort towards accomplishing that; one of which is investing in education.
For him, the peak of what he wants to achieve in life is to be independent and to support his parents who are not rich enough to cater for their needs and that of the entire family.
He said he is also determined to go the whole hog in pursuing his studies so that he can become a lecturer in either a university or any other tertiary institution.
“Though I am facing challenges in my life, especially with the issue of financing my studies and other daily needs, I still feel encouraged and determined to achieve these goals. I know it’s difficult, and I have a long way to go, but I am still optimistic.
“My parents are poor and yet they managed to finance my studies up to NCE level. After my NCE, I applied for jobs but wasn’t lucky to get one. Despite furthering my studies now, I am still looking for a job that will at least help me finish my studies successfully. I’m still hopeful,” he said with a heavy sigh.
He also has a lot of business ideas because he believes there is a lot that a visually impaired person can do, so he says whenever he gets the right capital, he will venture into them.
“I can go into animal rearing like fish farming, poultry and so on. My problem is the capital or getting the job from which to raise the capital.”
StagethemTVee: While we are asking for SARS to be scrapped, we should also be suggesting alternatives to armed robbery menace. This has to a be a balanced discussion since many people are against its reforms. This campaign is very similar to what happened in the US when protesters were asking the police be defunded. When you defund the police, how will they perform their duties of protecting the citizens?
some of these protesters are armed robbers or thieves
Chiedu4Trump: I think nobody can deny that Buhari hates Igbos
I think Igbos hate Buhari more than Buhari hates Igbos.
Twice he fielded Igbo running mates in 2003 and 2007, but due to the hatred they have for Buhari, they rejected him and their own brothers as running mates to Buhari. What a shame.
truthfulparrot: Chai nothing works in Nigeria again. Granted things are not easy worldwide but misrule and clueless leadership is making Nigeria case worst. PMB is taking Nigeria Bank to the 1980s
you see your life.
1980s was better than now. PMB should hurry up and send us back to good old days
orion7: They should establish secondary schools too, so they should stop disturbing secular and christian schools with obnoxious dress codes. In their school they re free to wear ninja attires
they have secondary school established in wuse zone 3, opposite road safety HQ
ExpertNLer: No relationship between them, although the usual pattern is that PTDF releases the list after Ramadan
This assertion I dont think is correct because Ramadan follows lunar month, while PTDF uses solar month. Lunar month is 11or 12 days shorter than a solar year. So next year's Ramadan for instance ends around 12 or 13th May 2021.
Politics / Re: "Nigeria Reaping The Benefits Of Reform" - Ministry Of Information by mmb(m): 8:21am On Feb 26
