₦airaland Forum

By Opeyemi Ola

In Nigeria today, it can be safe to say that the Nigerian Military has been stretched beyond its constitutional recognized mandate. It is interesting to note that for every internal security operation in the country, there is always the input of the Nigerian Military and which in most cases, provides the needed solution to the situation.

The list is endless and replete with acts of bravery and an infectious commitment to protecting and preserving the territorial integrity of the country, regardless of location, so long such places fall within the Nigerian space. This feat has elicited accolades from home and abroad for the Nigerian Military for its high display of professionalism in the task of protecting Nigeria from threats of terrorism and other criminal activities.

However, there is an irony that has pervaded the public space so much so that it is depicting a comical situation. As humorous as this might sound, it is what it is and somewhat a comic relief for some of us that are stressed from the hustle and bustle of our everyday life.

It is on the strength of this that I believe that the members of the National Assembly have not committed any sin against Nigerians by calling for the sack of Service Chiefs in the country. Maybe they also need some comic relief from the tedious task of legislative affairs, given the fact that the Nigerian legislatures are amongst the busiest sets in the world. Those in favour say Aye and those against say no. The Ayes have it, gbam.

This also explains why they were compensated continuously with all manners of allowances, including sleeping during plenary allowances in times but not anymore with the renewed accountability and transparency drive of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. I am sure this grudge is responsible for the comical acts emanating from the nook and cranny of the National Assembly, as evident in the call for the sack of Service Chiefs.

Money has stopped going to the National Assembly members. I gathered that some were even angry that the paltry sum given to them for Christmas wasn't enough to travel home. Yes, everyone understands the new era that PMB is not sharing. I think PMB is quite stingy. Sai Baba, please temper justice with more money to the members of the National Assembly. For we would not agree with your excuse that Ghana Must Go Bags have not been able to come into the country with the closure of our borders.

I think the Service Chiefs are also stingy because they have somewhat refused to patronize these distinguished and honorable members with the much-needed family support programme. Please, I make a passionate appeal to our Service Chiefs to retrace their steps and do the needful in the interest of doctrine of necessity.

But in all, I won't wholly blame the Service Chiefs because most of them spend their time in the trenches and theatre of operation. So it's understandable when you go to the Armed Forces Complex to look for patronage, and they are not found on seat. Please let us beg our parliamentarians' to forgive President Muhammadu Buhari and the Service Chiefs. They will not stay beyond 2023 after they must have ended the scourge of terrorism and other militant activities across the country.

In all of these, I am aware, as most parliamentarians' in the country know that the Nigerian Military has done well. That the Nigerian Military has been awarded home and abroad for its sacrifices to humanity is a known fact. It is the fault of the new system.

To go back to the crux of this piece, retaining the Service Chiefs to finish the good work is a doctrine of necessity. No one can advise the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria better than the Commander-in-Chief himself who rose to the rank of a Major General in the Nigerian Army.

To do otherwise would be like a mechanic advising a surgeon in the theatre. Well, in Nigeria, anything is possible. But not everything that is possible is right under the Muhammadu Buhari lens. Have you ever seen President Muhammadu Buhari without his glasses? It is for the reason that it is aimed at scrutinizing everything that concerns national interest.

This is a hard fact, and there is a need for the commissioning of research on why the thinking pattern of a General always differs from that of your everyday politician and why he has indeed elected to retain the Service Chiefs. I am sure the research work would indeed reveal to them why President Muhammadu Buhari has retained the Service Chiefs. Please, I beg to give an expo; don't change horses in midstream and don't fix it when it isn't broken. I hope this expo helps a great deal. Please don't thank me for this; it is my little contribution to unraveling the mystery.

If not for anything, I am convinced the outcome of the research work will reveal to them that the Service Chiefs have done well, and there is still more to be done. And in parliamentary parlance it is called "doctrine of necessity" and if they want to find out more, they should dial the numbers of former Senate President David Mark or Senator Bala Muhammad.

In conclusion, it must be stated that what is being experienced in Nigeria is a manifestation of a resolve to leave Nigeria in good stead for socio-economic development where all Nigerians would be proud of. Are we familiar with the famous word on marble that states that "These generations of Nigerians, and indeed future generations, have no country other than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together." Remembering the author of this word on marble is a first step to understanding the doctrine of necessity. Those in favor say Aye and those against say no. The Ayes have it. Gbam!

Ola is a former member of the National Assembly and wrote this piece from Ekiti State.

A group of Nigerian professionals in 44 European countries have passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe (ANPE) made this known in a communique after its extraordinary emergency assembly, held at The Hotel Urdanibia Park conference hall in Spain on Monday.

In the communique co-signed by President, Dr. Agwu Onyeke and 13 country heads, ANPE said there is need for all to support President Buhari and the military in the fight against terrorism.

As part of the issues identified and resolved, the Nigerian professionals frowned at the “ despicable killing of clergies and humanitarian workers by the Boko Haram/ISWAP group” which it described as “politically motivated”.

While acknowledging the efforts of the gallant troops, the group hinged the escalation of the crisis in Nigeria on foreign conspiracies and local actors to trigger ethno-religious war in Nigeria.

After extensive deliberations, however, the ANPE passed a vote of confidence on the Buhari-led administration in tackling the various security challenges in the country.

While hailing the Service Chiefs for raising to the occasion amidst conspiracy from desperate politicians, it further urged Nigerians to unite in the fight against terrorism.

Read full communique below:

Introduction:

The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe is an organization consisting of Nigerians from all works of life in from the 44 European countries. Its strategic objective is to serve as that think tank for the cross-fertilization of ideas that would lead to the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria.

The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe boasts of its members in strategic industries and holding strategic management positions in blue-chip companies, the academic, as well as the government and organized private sector across Europe.

It has, over the years, contributed to the socio-economic development of Nigeria by proffering policy support to critical sectors of the Nigerian economy through the wealth of experience of its members in the countries in Europe.

This Extra-Extra Ordinary Assembly was principally converged to assess the efforts of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in the fight against terrorism and other violent crimes in Nigeria a routine exercise in fulfillment of its core mandate.

The Issues:

At the Emergency Extra Ordinary Assembly of the Association of Nigerian Processionals in Europe that had members from various European countries, deliberated on the spate of insecurity in Nigeria and the efforts by the relevant authorities in tackling the situation appropriately.

The members deliberated on the issues raised, and at the end of the assembly, suggestions were made. Policy advice congregated for onward delivery to the relevant organs of government in Nigeria.

The following issues were identified and resolved:

The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe condemns the despicable killing of clergies and humanitarian workers in Nigeria by the Boko Haram/ISWAP group.

That most of these killings were politically motivated aimed at destabilizing the relative peace enjoyed across the country.

Acknowledges the efforts by the Military and the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in the rebuilding of the North East, the provision of jobs for youths across the country as well as its display of an unalloyed commitment to the unity of Nigeria.

That the bulk of the pockets of violence might still be hinged on the outcome of the 2019 general elections whose outcome did not go down well with some politicians and as such, they have been sponsoring pockets of violence to discredit the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari

That the effort of the Nigerian Military in the fight against terrorism is indeed brilliant and must be commended by all well-meaning Nigerians.

That most highly placed Nigerians always put their interest above national interest and which is responsible for the increased criminality experienced in some parts of the country.

Our resolution:

That the Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe after extensive deliberations passed a vote of confidence on the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in tackling the various security challenges in the country.

That the efforts of the Service Chiefs in this regard are indeed commendable and an indication that in a matter of time, the war against terrorism would be over in Nigeria.

That Nigerians from all walks of life should extend their support to the government's quest to making Nigeria secure and safe for all concerned.

That the Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe condemns the attempt by some politicians to politicize the operations of the Nigerian Military.

That the Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe is in support of the giant strides of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in its efforts at making Nigeria a secure and prosperous country.

By Nkechi Odoma
 
“Look at what we have on the ground before May 2015, the Boko Haram were even in Abuja,they were in Kano, they were in Kaduna. They were penetrating down to the south, we had to stop them. And for the past one and half years, we’ve not had any attack in Jos, neither in Abuja, in Kano, or in many other places, even as close as in Gombe.--- Gen. TY Buatai, Nigeria’s Army Chief and Leader, counter-insurgency operations in an interview recorded and aired by BBC’s Hard Talk show, in January 2017 and rebroadcasted by The News in January 2020.
 
In very conspicuous bias, premeditated motives and partisan undertones during plenary sessions on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, National Assembly (NASS) slammed the gavel in approval of negative resolutions on the President and our Security Chiefs.
This was after intensive debates which reviewed the state of insecurities in the country as manifest in the spate of renewed attacks and killings in parts of the country.     
Some members noted the 2020 resumed pockets of onslaughts by Boko Haram/ Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists and suspected Fulani herdsmen, which resulted in killings of innocent Nigerians. Therefore, in their selfish thinking, they have passed a vote of no-confidence on the entire security architecture in Nigeria and senselessly endorsed their ouster.
Their sword and venom spared none. All were unfairly pulled down by NASS, from  the topmost  echelons in Nigeria’s security apparatus like the National Security Adviser (NSA), Military Chiefs, Director-General (DG), Department of State Security Service, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and other security outfits in the country in the age of Nigeria’s multifarious battles with insurgencies and insurrections.

To my mind, their deliberations on the security situation was not a bad idea. But the tenor of the debates in both chambers mesmerized me. It was not tailored towards solutions, but undisguised vindictiveness.
Only a few legislators attempted to discern the problems underneath the renewed acts of terror of different dimensions in Nigeria. None of the Heads of Nigeria’s security deserved a word of commendation and encouragement from NASS for the priceless sacrifices they have continued to make for the peace, security and progress of Nigeria.  NASS simply wished everybody goodbye for “failing” the nation.

What else could anyone expect from a congregation of national lawmakers, who are least concerned with public good outside their personal benefits? It stinks that NASS is more interested in siding the enemies of Nigeria against Nigeria.
 But what do you expect, when internal emotions, personalized pursuits of objectives, hatred, ethnic and religious agendas infiltrate the chambers of a national parliament? Clearly, majority lawmakers are on a voyage of total ruination and destruction of Nigeria in order to voraciously scramble for the mutilated parts of the nation.

It beggared belief that majority of lawmakers sided with an odd position, while deliberating on state of the nation on security.  The wisemen among them, who understood the dynamics and attendant impediments needed to be resolved before full assurance of securing Nigeria from armed mercenaries were in the minority.
 Such issues like the gross underfunding of the security architecture, inadequate and outdated weapons, poor remuneration of troops, and insufficient number of personnel, among a motley of other debilitating problems were raised by faint voices. These spurred and berthed poor performance by security agencies in 2019/ 2020, but voices that were not strong enough to prick their conscience.

But the national parliamentarians’ obsession with the Security Chiefs overstay in office was lethal. I believe the NASS has a lot to learn from its pitfalls. It is never too late to bend even backwards to rectify an error. Obviously, the NASS resolutions on Mr. President and the Chiefs are impermissible errors.
Our NASS cannot pass the guilt of their pleasurable negligence or dereliction of duty on fulfilling its constitutional obligations to other leaders on the simplistic assumption that they clad and bask in the euphoria of legislative immunity on the floor of the chambers. The recklessness they exhibited can be corrected, only if they know the hard reality outside the confines of the chambers of NASS.

Touting President Buhari and the Chiefs as failures on securing the country in 2019 and the spillover to 2020, while exonerating legislators’ complicity resonates with maddening fury among sensible and clairvoyant Nigerians.
I keep referring to the wisdom of the prolific writer and famed international scholar, Prof. Chinua Achebe, who’s timeless warning that “Unless you know where the rains began to beat you; you won’t know the extent you are soaked.”
By last Wednesday’s action from our national parliamentarians, it animated my judgmental instincts, pinned to a scary and dreary reality. Its simply that NASS members have neither any inkling into the intensity of Boko Haram before May 2015. Nor how it was tamed and reasons for its resurgence or the path to solving the problem, while extending patriotic honours to those in charge and leading the troops.

Like Achebe echoed, the Nigerian national legislature is devoid of this wisdom. So, some of them stood up in plenaries and disgorged rubbish like drunken sailors, spited everyone else except themselves.    
I recall that by May 2015, when President Buhari came on board and appointed the current crop of Security Chiefs, Nigeria was under the worse siege by Boko Haram insurgents. It operated from a single plank, yet brutal in its violent campaigns or horrendous atrocities.
Nigeria lost control of at least 17 LGAs in the Northeast to Boko Haram and terrorists had captured, declared and foisted jihadi flags in Gwoza and Baga as the administrative headquarters of the Islamic militants and pushing further to annex more territories. And outside the Chibok schoolgirls over 20, 000 Nigerians were held hostage in Boko Haram’s secret camps including women and children.
Boko Haram had captured the entire Northern part of the country and was on a steady supersonic speed to make ingress into Southern Nigeria. Terrorists freely tortured hostages and subjected them to various forms of dehumanization, forced labour, servitude, sexual abuses and extra-judicial executions.
The then lone Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau frequently insulted and derided our collective strength of nationhood by releasing videos of these horrible executions and threatening more. IDPs camps swelled in the Northeast and spilled into  neighboring African countries by thousands of distraught Nigerian refugees fleeing from ravaging insurgency.  

But the current impugned leaders of the counter-insurgency operation reversed the negative narratives as directed by the President. By December 2015, Boko Haram insurgency had been significantly decimated and technically defeated; Nigeria’s conquered territories retrieved from vicious terrorists and thousands of Boko Haram hostages regained freedom.  These are facts documented in national archives.
There are several incidents of Boko Haram incidents that support my claims. But let me cite Nigerians’ one noticeable encounter with Boko Haram strikes reported on October 31, 2014. In symbolic conquest of Nigeria and field triumphs of terrorists against the country, Vimtin,  in Mubi LAG,  Adamawa state, and   the  home town of  the then serving Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS),  Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh (may his gentle soul rest in peace) was  completely overrun  by Boko Haram militants.

The terrorists' onslaught on Mubi forced Nigerian troops to flee the area together with thousands of civilians was lethal. I know, similar gory scenarios were replete everywhere in the Northeast before May 2015.
That’s the level Boko Haram, though yet to be actively backed by the Iranian ISWAP wreaked havoc on a defenseless nation and her peoples. However, I learnt, that by beginning of January 2015, Boko Haram had struck underground ties with terrorists of the Islamic State sect (ISILS).
But the Security Chiefs have discharged this mandate evidentially as I earlier listed, by a determined and courageous push-back of insurgents and reclaimed seized parts of Nigeria.  This is even in the face of multi-dimensional militant terrorists’ sects which have converged on Nigeria including ISWAP.   
Yet, the Service Chiefs have contained them, capturing most of their top commanders, foot soldiers who either voluntarily surrendered or were captured in battles; blocked   the recruitment and rearming of new entrants; terminated the reign of reckless female or child suicide bombers and so forth.
Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists has reenergized, ostensibly with increased funding from ISWAP.  It heightened at the peak of 2019 partisan campaigns.  Terrorists began raids with a greater number of fighters on their convoys; modern and sophisticated weapons. Nigeria failed to march up with the changing tide.
 I do know, in the course of counter-insurgency combats, the armories of Nigerian troops are also depleted and requires constant replenishments. Nonetheless and perniciously, some Nigerians are brainwashed never to admit this fact and believe once weapons are secured for counter-insurgency, it should serve troops for a life-time.


This mindset has been emulated by a hostile NASS leadership, which rejected a request from President Buhari to grant about a mere $1billion loan to purchase Tucano fighter jets/weapons from America and other countries.
NASS is less concerned about improving allocations on defence budget, which is within their lawful powers. Each time they pad national budgets, the extra-budgeting only takes care of their personal welfare or other projects they have vested interests to grab from the nation.
I came across a phone interview, published in The Vanguard Newspaper edition of June 29, 2019, A soldier in the frontlines, who pleaded anonymity draw national consciousness to their plight in the battlefields. I decoded his message and discovered, resurgence of Boko Haram/ISWAM terrorism is not watered by the fault of the President, the Chiefs or the Nigerian troops in the frontlines, but mainly the coldness of NASS members in doing the right thing.


But year after year, NASS has refused to address these concerns in appropriating the budget.  Even with the resurgence of attacks and killings, NASS still obstinately clung unto its reserved and selfish disposition on allocating meaningful votes for defence. It encompasses, all the Armed Forces and para-military agencies participating in operations of  counter-insurgencies and insurrections in Nigeria.    
Confessions of the anonymous soldiers reminded me of another thorny issue, which has impeded recent operations against insurgency in Nigeria.   I challenge the NASS members to tell Nigerians how they responded to the plea by the Army for the operation of its airwing in the theatre of war when the 2020 Appropriation Act was still on their table?
 The Theatre Commander of the Army’s Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi,   pleaded with a recent  delegation of  NASS’s  Joint Committee on the Army, led by Sen. Ali Ndume, that Boko Haram had never been as formidable as perceived, as only combat helicopters are needed by soldiers to munch  ISWAP and Boko Haram  terrorists to end the war, aside operating with outdated equipment.
The plea was made when the 2020 national budget was still at its infantile preparatory stage by NASS. Ab initio when President Buhari submitted the proposed 2020 Appropriation Bill to NASS totaling N10. 33 trillion and a breakdown indicated a paltry N878,458,607,427 total allocation proposed for the Ministry of Defence, experts on security complained loudly about the inadequacy of the amount to quench terrorism and emerging allied criminalities in the country.

But it all fell on deaf ears. Approved Nigeria’s 2020 budget is N10.59 trillion (USD 35 billion). But defence entirely got just about one percent of it. The docility of Nigeria’s NASS over proper funding or attention to insurgency is heart-breaking.
Interestingly, in spite of these operational constraints, the Nigerian military and sister security agencies have continued to play their constitutional roles. They conscientiously battle insurgency attacks even in the face of life-threatening or grave dangers and recorded several victories. And they are more determined despite the setbacks.
Some Nigerians forget easily Nigerians. Former President Goodluck Jonathan did not see this level of multi-dimensional conspiracies against his move to fight Boko Haram before giving up.  But what has made the situation then and now differently unique is the fact that a war tested Army General is in charge and this has reflected in the successful operations of the Security Chiefs.

Without mentioning names, everyone should be proud about the numerous achievements of the various Chiefs and how much they have helped to sanitize the armed forces. These are the Military officers some Nigerians want Mr. President to drop in a jiffy under flimsy excuses and personalized interests. Based on this odious proclivity, whereas the world is looking for stars of counter-terrorism to fete with honour; in Nigeria, we are busy plotting ways to vilify and humiliate our Security Chiefs.

The NASS therefore has a religious obligation to reclaim its lost glory by doing the needful, including honouring the Security Chiefs.  
All the Security Chiefs deserve national honours as the least they can get as appreciation from the national Government for their services to our country. Even if, institutions like NASS are deliberately blinded to this fact for whatever reasons, the world and those who understand global conflicts, prevention and resolution are celebrating Nigeria’s Security Chiefs.


Odoma is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja.

*A rejoinder to an impenitent Boko Haram empathizer, Yushau A. Shuaib’s spleen in memo to President Buhari on Service Chiefs*

By Terrence Kuanum

It simmers with deep pines into the heart to devote time to respond to a Boko Haram and Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists’ empathizer and spy proxy Yushau A. Shuaib. In a so-called open epistle to President Muhammadu Buhari, where he dragged and impugned the brilliant service records of Nigeria’s incumbent Service Chiefs, with his beguiled vituperations, invokes the whines of a pathetic loser in a game he initiated and defined its rules.

The first demoralizing twinge is to accurately fix the true identity of Yushau A. Shuaib in the context of sane people or anyone who qualifies for decent association or rumination over his thoughts. His veiled identity is more frightful than his flaunted public persona or image as the founder of PR Nigeria (an online publication). One could easily mistake Shuaib for a journalist. But the confusion is doubled when he dabbles into partisan issues and spanks mercenary or personal perceptions on matters in a journalistic style.

So, Shuaib is only a quack reporter! He is just a wonderboy and crony to his terrorists’ honchos. They have conscripted and assigned him to deploy his pen to up the ante in campaigns for the ouster of the current Service Chiefs which Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists have found impenetrable. That’s how he abuses the profession he professes. He is susceptible to the abuse of self on everything.

Shuaib and co-travellers are angling at the behest of terrorists for a pliant batch of Service Chiefs, terrorists could whimsically manipulate in nerve-wracking Nigeria more gravely as done in the past. It was the times Shuaib acted as consultant to the scandalous arms deal diversion initiator, former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) who is still standing trial for corruption and money laundering.

Col Sambo Dasuki’s recent release from jail for guzzling billions of dollars budgeted for arms procurement to battle Boko Haram terrorism in the Northeast has given partners like Shuaib the impetus to stage out again. But the unassailable truth about Shuaib is that he is a tireless pen hireling for terrorists, a sympathizer of Boko Haram and a masked minion for terrorists’ lords in Nigeria.

The PR Nigeria publisher claims to know everything, yet knows nothing in reality. He is only known as a betrayer of Nigeria, a consultant to Dasuki and all the past Service Chiefs before this set of Service Chiefs.

When he scored the shots and also sucked from the fruits of festering Boko Haram terrorism under a failed crop of Service Chiefs who apparently either communed with terrorists or were simply helpless, Shuaib regaled in the feast. He probably could not remember to pencil down open mails to the then President to change his Service Chiefs even with puerile arguments ‘as adduced now.

Unfortunately, today, he vibrates with sanctimonious righteousness’ in memos to President Muhammadu Buhari or appeals to present Security Chiefs to voluntarily retire from office on account of Run-Out Dates (ROD). At the same time, he blends his concealed motives by bemoaning an awful, imaginary, and overwhelming strikes of terrorists against military formations and civilian populations in 2019.

Assuming Nigeria is a country where people are inured by good conscience to accept blames or offer a public apology for detestable and subversive acts against their nation, fellas like Shuaib should be somewhere in a cathedral in penitence and praying all day for the forgiveness of his sins. He was one of the cosmetic surgeons acting on directives wittingly misinformed Nigerians that only three persons were killed on April 14, 2014, Nyanya bomb blasts.

The intention was to deliberately downplay the casualty figures; whereas not less than 200-300 persons were burned to death in the Boko Haram bomb explosions incident. Whose interests was Shuaib protecting at the time? Nigerians or his government bosses who aligned with terrorists? He is famed for such fakeness.

Unconscionably, he is now less concerned with the other previous years the current Service Chiefs harvested Boko Haram terrorists aplenty like a fishnet; reclaimed conquered Nigerian territories, and freed thousands upon thousands of Boko Haram hostages held in secret gulags. His mind is obstinately not pricked to the performances of the current Service Chiefs ingenuity even with the additional variant of terrorism to Boko Haram as reflected by ISWAP terrorists.

And infatuated by an influence which only answers to the god of monies paid him by terrorists’ emperors for mercantile jobs, with stern instructions to adhere strictly to directives, he disgracefully shadowed in his hazy arguments on the removal or voluntary retirement of current Security Chiefs. So, he amplifies media campaigns for terrorists and the banned Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), staging it out on many dimensions. He seems to challenge the powers of the President to extend tenures of Service Chiefs but immediately recants himself sheepishly. He rigmaroles with fiendish, but frail strength and hackneyed tales to make a case for “stalled promotions” of senior Army officers, next to the current Service Chiefs.

In an astounding betrayal of himself, he lets out undertones which panders to an imaginary “abuse” of ethnic and religious configuration of the top hierarchy in the Nigerian Military and informally battles to outsmart prescriptions of destiny. He loudly wails for senior Military Generals blocked from attaining the peak of their careers as heads of various arms of the military because the current Service Chiefs have refused to quit the scene after RODs.

And he drops the bombshell persuasively in form of an appeal to Mr. President to sack the present Service Chiefs and anyone of whom could be made the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). His words, “The President can even promote any one of the military chiefs to the position of Chief of Defence Staff since the current CDS has remained the most senior….” But where has he got the effrontery or expertise to determine to Mr. President who he appoints either as his CDS or Defence Minister?

Could it be merely because like he contended; President Buhari must align with the model applied in other countries; “…including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and the Niger Republic, such incidents usually necessitate the replacement of service chiefs under whose leadership there are repeat assaults and losses of lives of troops in the hands of terrorists.”

This oozes with the fragrance of idle talks and aimlessness. But has the change of Service Chiefs as argued by Shuaib terminate terrorism in such countries or must Nigeria operate its Armed forces on the template defined by other nations?”

It pulsates the mind perpetually and it stirs wonders to now believe Shuaib’s sermons in condemnation of present “worn-out” Service Chiefs and his subtle persuasion for the appointment of any one of them into a higher position. Is the position of the CDS not part of the current Service Chiefs he unfairly adjudged as failed? He evangelizes for their abrupt sack, but turns around to craftily seek the elevation of any one of them to fill the vacuum in the event of a shake-up? This is skewed logic and farcical in every sense. It betrays his bad ulterior motives prompting these campaigns. It is the undeniable mark of a betrayer.

Nigerians too, feel betrayed by some of their own citizens, just like President Buhari. By the origins and roots of Shuaib, he ought to be a patriotic compatriot, but not a friend to terrorists, by abusing the privilege of place of birth to promote internal and external interests of terrorists. It’s Shuaib’s worse betrayal of himself and his country. But neither President Buhari nor Nigerians have given a thought to the meaningless ranting of this chimp.

In life, it is expected. And there is consolation for the lethal swords of betrayers. The Holy scriptures consistently extrapolate even the intrinsically concealed virtues of man, which cannot never be known by facial contortions.

The Holy Scriptures says, “By their fruits, we shall know them.” And William Shakespeare dramatizes it better in Macbeth when he awoke the consciousness of the world to the stark reality of the duality in a man’s heart, as a complex intermix of instincts of betrayals and a heart stirred by true friendship. It’s embedded in every person, who manifest one aspect of it most times. So, Shuaib has not shocked anybody like Shakespeare's King Duncan in Macbeth, after he heard tales from Malcolm on the execution of the Thane of Cawdor.

King Duncan was not shocked nor exuded emotions of disappointment, at messenger Malcolm's confessions that the executed Cawdor confessed to his crimes against the King; was remorseful in repentance and pleaded for King Duncan's forgiveness. But rather, the King expectantly wisecracked at the betrayal; “There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face. He (Cawdor) was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust.”

There is no necessity in grinning or even frowning at President Buhari’s betrayers and enemies of Nigeria as portrayed by this insignificant propagandist, Shuaib. In decent climes, he is deemed no better than a wretched urchin, odious covert agent and sympathizer of terrorists.

The only notable value anyone can attach to his outlandish and puerile offensives to rejig the counter-terrorism narratives today in Nigeria is the personal demystification of his masked shadows of a quasi-terrorist, by his asinine twists of truths, amplifying cyberspace terrorism for his paymasters from foreign lands unwittingly, rendering clues for being on the payroll of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists to torment Nigerians and spread anguish.

But like President Buhari and Nigerians alike, no one feels perturbed by the double faces of souls like Yushau A. Shuaib and cahoots. The great Aristotle asked that “What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” After all, Nicole Richie constantly thuds the sensibilities of men; “It's hard to tell who has your back, from who has it long enough just to stab you in it....”

In essence, the covert games and antics played by the likes of Shuaib or their game planners have reserved shock -space in the cosmic and inherent experiences of men. What can anyone decipher from the nonsensical expletives as contained in an open epistle to Mr. President, laced in blackmailing fashion, but had its very opening words as “appeal” to Service Chiefs to voluntarily tender their retirement letters having exhausted their actual and renewed tenures?

The whole crux of the appeal, which reeks with deceptive connotations is to blur the evil intention of its motivation and then swerving to condensed lamentations of frustrations of foreign forces sponsoring terrorism in Nigeria. Shuaib’s cacophonies are all about the inability of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists to penetrate these Service chiefs with bribes or influence them with other niceties to relax the fierce and lethal fight-back of Nigerian troops in the frontlines in Northeast for terrorists to regain control of Nigerian territories.

Stupidity and idiocy have no limits nor respects dignity! If the intention of the writer is genuine and in good faith to persuade the Service Chiefs to voluntarily tender their letters of resignation, then what inhibitions restrained him from communicating his evilly lugubrious fixation on voluntary retirement directly to the personalities? It's tough to decode Shuaib’s silly posturing and arguments.

Firstly, he concedes the lawful discretion of the President’s to retain the Service Chiefs, particularly if he has reason to trust in their patriotism and competencies on the assignment in war times like the current ones have abundantly established. And concurrently, Shuaib again repudiates himself by dropping the “appeal” initially meant for the Service Chiefs at the doorstep of President Buhari in stinking ululations served as in “the spirit of fairness, standard procedure and progression in the service, to allow the longest-serving service chiefs go after exceeding their run-out dates….”

This is idiotic and self-serving, revealing his extraordinary wicked intentions and passionately canonized beyond the surface. Why would he wail more than the bereaved on a matter completely estranged from his infantile and demurred considerations?


He lets out this piteous bile on substantive tenures or elongation for the Service Chiefs in vain justification. Shuaib relied on the revised Armed Forces of Nigeria Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS) for officers. He must have felt excited and smart for “hitting the nail on its head. “But the efforts ended up stripping him naked and prostrate on his strongest points.

Belligerently and ignorantly citing Section 09.08 of HTACOS, the official service order in the military, he argued; “An officer appointed to the substantive appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff will hold the appointment for a continuous period of two years. The appointment could be extended for another two years from the date of expiration of the initial two-year period.”

And he released what he considered the big, but empty bang which mercilessly entrapped and pounded him. It laid bare his real oblique, long-winded intentions. His words; “The service chiefs were first appointed in July 2015 and their tenures were extended for an additional two years in 2017, which finally expired in 2019. It has always been the standard practice, since the return of democratic governance to Nigeria in 1999, for service chiefs to be in office for a maximum term of two years, except on a few occasions of discretionary extension by Mr. President….”

In ardently pushing this point, Shuaib dreaded mention of provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, which outlines in Section 218: (1) thus “The powers of the President as the Commissioner-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation shall include power to determine the operational use of the armed forces of the Federation.”

And sub-section 218 3) states that “The President may, by directions in writing and subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, delegate to any member of the armed forces of the Federation his powers relating to the operational use of the Armed Forces of the Federation.” With these explicit provisions guaranteeing the Mr. President’s powers on tenure extension for Service Chiefs, what makes an infinitesimal Shuaib think his stroke of pen siding terrorists in Nigeria can vacate the powers?

Its complete gibberish to bandy simplistic viewpoints such as stumped by the writer that retaining the current Service Chiefs “…stagnates the careers of other senior officers and induces unfair early mature retirements, in the absence of vacancies at the topmost echelons of the services.”

For him, it is no longer service to the nation by career military personnel in taming terrorism, but the weight of his campaigns is centred on eyeing the zenith in service for senior officers alone, and not necessarily what they would offer to the liberation of the country from the claws of terrorists as if they are not part of counter-insurgency operations at different levels now? Its an attempt to incite members of the military and bolster mutiny, amplified by envy and jealousy of other officers. Only a devilish heart harbours and propagates such repugnant thoughts.

What does Shuaib know about military warfare and its nuances’? What is his experience in terrorism combat wars, anywhere in the world to stage out with such expert advice? It only informs of the extent his paymasters have pushed him to delve into the furnace of their evil agenda against Nigeria. But that’s the price of a mortgaged conscience. It wonders forlornly and dreads its shadows because of the invincible power of nemesis. Shuaib and his devil’s initiates both in Nigeria and abroad falters before it’s a destructive force with humiliating grovelling at the ninth hour.

Shuaib cannot deceptively trick Nigerians, whilst executing his discreet project in support and promotion of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Nigeria. He has only betrayed himself, as noted by one of the earliest English novelists Joseph Conrad, who said; “All a man can betray is his conscience.”

Let Shuaib rummage his conscience and truthfully tell Nigerians that it would have been different if his company, PR Nigeria still enjoys the same patronage under the current service Chiefs or why he never scripted an open letter with such venom when his bosses compliant with terrorists held sway in Nigeria and Boko Haram festered uncontrollably?

Had the present crop of Service Chiefs sustained the umbilical cord of evil and connived with him or kept him in their udder; then it would mean nothing to him whether the Dapchi girls were released or not; whether Nigeria is safe or not; or the United Nations (UN) complained or the European Union Parliament passed a resolution in January 2020 decrying spate of renewed terrorist attacks or the Global Terrorism Index of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has rated Nigeria third in terrorism prone countries.
But he should never mind as Nigerians are aware of his powerful blessings in mischief and no one can compete with him. But Shuaib cannot fool the President and Nigerians anymore.

Kuanum is a researcher in conflict resolution and peacebuilding expert.

By Anthony Kolawole
 
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”--- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Perhaps, the famed global American-born poet, essayist, leading exponent of New England Transcendentalism discourse and scholar, Ralph Waldo Emerson was quite precise when he made this simplistic assertion. But he was sublimely communicating to the few favoured by leadership out of billions of people in the world.
He cautioned leaders never to be persuaded by vain glorification or egoistic walk-up to seek such exalted positions of superintending on others.  I am sure Emerson knew, to his crystal mind that leadership positions anywhere or at any level attract some committal responsibilities.  I think this great scholar must have had some Nigerian leaders in mind while thinking of this wit.
Nearly one and a half decade later, his wisdom forms an impenetrable cloud on the shadows of some leaders in Nigeria. The problem with us as a country and a people is beyond the selfishness or self-gratification and the detached aura from the ruled. But we attach such positions to killings, maiming, bickering and even court enmity with everyone to possess leadership.    
Till I became an adult, each time my father took me to the community church, I would often hear of the miraculous power of God Almighty.  I never knew the power of its manifestation, until I became matured in Nigeria, sound enough to decode the preachments.  Some of our leaders in Nigeria are the most prominent, but ungrateful beneficiaries of the power of leadership and its bestowments.

However, it is also only in Nigeria that some leaders consciously and viciously abuse the power of the ruled. Yet, tormented by invisible forces and an earthly persuasion for vanity, we often gleefully turn our backs on the leaders whose proximity and immediacy to us beckons for all niceties because they symbolize the most grandeur essence of our existentialism.
 Today, we do not only adorn some of our leaders for neglecting or extending the King Pharaonic treatment to us. But we look at them as messiahs and put our God’s given precious hands together to clap, cheer and echo their lack of wisdom in celebration in embrace of our nature’s negative virtue of regaled foolery.

I may not have devoted decades to interrogate the ontology of Emerson. But I could not help it, after deeply reflecting on the current heat in the polity of my beloved country, Nigeria.  What is in vogue now is the renewed wanton attacks and killings in parts of the nation.
And sadly, to the very limits of these gruesome, horrendous and ungodly carnages, the perpetrators and orchestrators of these mindless orgy of violence are our own kith and kin. No feasible explanation can ever offer the desired clue as to what has compelled the motivations of some citizens to vent this sort of devilish venom of other citizens.

What comes handy from the character of the killings, gleaned from the manifest character of the killings and arsons are its visible political undertones and instigations. The satanic quest for power and recognition.
A few days earlier, the two chambers of the National Assembly in some sort of coup, unanimously passed a no confidence vote on President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to tame the tide of armed attacks and killings of our people. And the lawmakers asked Mr. President to resign as the leader of Nigeria because he has failed in securing the lives and property of Nigerians.
As if this was not enough expression of rage by senior lawmakers, our national legislators also proceeded to pass similar vote of no confidence on all Service and Security Chiefs in Nigeria. And as the fury fulminated, they directed Mr. President in  resolutions to sack all the security chiefs and Heads of all security agencies in Nigeria simultaneously for lack of competence and capacity to tackle emerging insecurities in Nigeria.   
 
I found their positions faulty and like judges would always say, on “one count” of the senseless conviction that leadership of a country or a nation begins and ends with Mr. President. In the haze to condemn the President on the official podium of legislative chambers, they unwittingly severed themselves from any leadership burden and fixated their eyes only on the salvation Mr. President alone can offer to salvage the situation.  Though the national parliamentarians, another set of leaders themselves could be right, as even publicly supported by minions with same mindset.

But I begrudge the national parliamentarians and their apostates for one reason. It is for their inclination for the somewhat criminal proclivity to play the ostrich, exempt themselves and every other leader, except Mr. President and the Heads of Security agencies in Nigeria. These are thoughts only aligned to persons who have accidentally found themselves on the corridors of power at the lower rungs.
 
Of course, I have no inhibition accepting the reality that Mr. President is the Chief Security Officer of Nigeria. But does it obliterate the fact that State Governors are also  the Chief Security Officers of the domains they govern with magisterial aura and power; the communities where these attacks and killings occur and subsequently escalate to draw national and international umbrage?  If Mr. President is so wrong for “consenting” to the attacks, as some debased souls qualify the ugly trend; what in their best of imaginations exculpates the States Governor from same leadership liability? The unanswered questions are a dozen.
 
But let me narrow the narration down to States Governor, other leaders and a docile public.  I am regrettably perplexed at the obstinate display of complacency.  No citizen, indigene, National parliamentarian, State Assembly member, councilor, Speaker of a State Assembly, political party chieftain, elder statesman, stakeholder or religious and traditional ruler is ready to prod the Governors or one another to answer to deteriorating insecurity in their immediate domains.
 
Former British leader, Winston Churchill told us that, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” We can all be great people and great states only if there is the zeal to accept the burdens of our societies rather than engaging in the Nigerian famed cliché “blame game.”
 
What everyone thinks about is to scold and lampoon President Buhari for failing to arrest the precarious insecurity situation in the country, confederated and governed as independent units. And each one of them is ruled by a different, constitutionally recognizable set of leaders.  
Brandon Sanderson is quite vocal that “The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.” These leaders at the lower rung are usually at the fore front of collecting huge federal allocations for governance of the states, including monthly millions of naira for security votes, which are not utilized for the purpose.
 
That’s the only time they display mutual friendship with Mr. President, but they effeminately shirk from vital responsibilities of the states. And it behooves on us to  tightly hold these leaders first because there is wisdom in  Max De Pree’s wit that  “Leaders don’t inflict pain, they share pain.”
 
But the masses keep mute and everybody maintains an annoying silence. This is where we have got it fundamentally wrong! We want change, but because of vicarious interests, we condone so much of rubbish from those who lead us at our doorstep, only to mount a nonsensical pressure on the Federal government.
We are deprived and denied by our immediate leaders, yet we prefer a docile posture. We have lost our dignity and voices because of the indignities smearing the portraits of otherwise worthy men and women. Thus, we freely donate our lands and destinies to a horde of ravenous leaders, but find the escape route in blaming Mr. President.
 We easily forget the admonishments’ of the first  Afro-American President of America, Mr. Barack Obama who said;  “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”  Or have we ever reflected on Napoleon Hill’s persuasions that “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve?”
Finally, renowned global physicists and  great scholar,  Albert Einstein uncovers  the veil on our eyes that  “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Why are we lacking this wisdom?
Its bemusing that leadership at almost all strata in Nigeria today is navigated from disappointingly loose angles. If there is no   nation like Nigeria  and her people, whose leaders use their helplessness to exploit them, squander their destinies and at the same time, we single sing white-knuckle ballads into our acquiesced ears.
 Benjamin Disraeli warns that only “the fool wonders, the wise man asks.” We have rendered ourselves to praise singing and sycophancy for some leaders, especially States Governor for too long. They accumulate salaries and fail to pay pensioners. They fail to employ the youths and yet expect peace. But we fellow them like fools to chant the long and weary songs on their lips that the security agencies are not doing enough.
Why have we refrained from asking publicly whether our governors have done enough to solve the problems afflicting us with the enormous resources at their disposal? Barack Obama again pricks our conscience that  “One voice can change a room,” or  “Our destiny is not written for us, but by us.”
 
The Governors do little or nothing for their states. They are only State Chief Executives when it's time to share the security votes and only realizes it's the duty of President Buhari and the security agencies to put off the fires they ignite secretly underground. But we say nothing! It  is time to remined them that we must get  to work and kick-start  something  about the security situation  in our domains and  the country. It is the duty of the President, much like ours!
You cannot eat your cake and still have it. The Governors conspicuously embezzle security votes, yet pray and expect that people go to bed as excited citizens.  It’s impossible? They arm political thugs when elections are close and abandon these youths once elections are over. Who is fooling who? Who expects a hungry man to go to bed, whilst his gun is warming the inside of his cupboard?
 
Let me leave you to reflect deeply on the words of Kahlil Gibran. He pleads that “Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.”

Kolawole PhD is a University lecturer and wrote from Keffi.

*National Security: Military under Buhari has been exceptional, wont be compromised for politicians - CALSER replies House of Reps*

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) has responded to the House of Representatives, describing the Nigerian military under President Muhammadu Buhari as “exceptional”, displaying unalloyed commitment and can't be compromised for selfish politicians.

CALSER made this known at a press conference on Friday in Abuja to address the avalanche of calls for the sack of Service Chiefs.

In a press statement signed by President, Princess Ajibola, CALSER expressed utter disgust at the desperation of some self-serving politicians who have carried on with the campaign of calumny against the Service Chiefs in the country.

The Centre said it is shocked that the once hallowed National Assembly have been compromised to lead this despicable campaign.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights, however, stated that the military under President Buhari’s administration has shown an extreme level of commitment to preserving the territorial integrity of the country to the applaud of discerning Nigerians.

CALSER revealed that the call for the sack of Service Chiefs is part of the game plan by some politicians to hijack and politicize the military to their advantage, a norm in previous governments.


The Centre, therefore, expressed support for the Service Chiefs whose “capacity and competence is unwavering”, adding that recent upsurge in violence across the country is a coy by desperate politicians to rubbish their efforts.


Read full press statement below:

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights warmly welcomes you all to this press conference put together to address some of the issues that have been canvassed in the public space with regards to the calls for the sacking of Service Chiefs in the country.

The leadership of the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights is alarmed at the desperation with which some self-serving politicians have carried on with the campaign of calumny against the Service Chiefs in the country, whose efforts in the fights against terrorism has been outstanding.

To think that the honorable members of the National Assembly have been so compromised to lead this despicable campaign leaves more to be imagined. The venom they spit indicates an unenviable attitude towards the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria because their actions and inactions are self-serving and not in the overall interest of the country.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that the Nigerian Military under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has indeed displayed an unalloyed commitment to preserving the territorial integrity of Nigeria to the applaud of discerning Nigerians.

They have kept vigil while we all slept. They have combed bushes and difficult to reach terrains in service to fatherland, and this is manifest in the numerous gains that have been recorded in the fight against terrorism and other militant groups in Nigeria.

This fact is not one that self-serving politicians would want to reckon with because it is against their overarching interest. As such, they must do all within their powers to cause a political crisis so their whims and caprices can be carried out without hindrance.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights also sees the call for the sack of Service Chiefs, as one that is part of the game plan by some politicians to hijack and politicize the Nigerian Military to their advantage, which was the norm before the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in 2015.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that the Service Chiefs in the country have indeed proved their mettle and commitment to the Nigerian cause and as such any attempt by the relevant authorities to bow to the pressure been mounted through covert means for the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to effect a change in the leadership of the Nigerian Military, would indeed be a big blow for lovers of democracy in Nigeria.

This is on the heels that if such happens, Nigeria might return to the brinks where our Military would be subjected to the whims and caprices of politicians and might be our undoing and the consequences would live with us for years to come.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that the security apparatus of the country is the exclusive preserve of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As such, allowing politicians whose paymasters are still aggrieved with the outcome of the 2019 general elections to effect a change in the leadership of the Armed Forces would spell doom for the successes that have been recorded by the current administration.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights is aware that the Military was just recently re-organized by President Muhammadu Buhari, who brought about discipline and professionalism back to the Military that translated to an efficient and professional fight force in the country.

This process is still ongoing, and any attempt to allow politicians to find their way back into the Military will be disastrous for our country, especially at a time that separatists are hanging around the corner to destabilize the nation.

We also wish to state that the resurgence of pockets of criminal activities across the country is the handiwork of self-serving politicians that are not happy with the gains made so far in the fight against terrorism and other militant groups in the country.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to inform members of the general public that as concerned stakeholders in the Nigerian cause and one conversant with the operations of the Nigerian Military, we state emphatically that the current Service Chiefs have given their total commitment towards addressing the insurgencies across the country.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to advise members of the National Assembly who have elected to allow themselves to be compromised by self-serving politicians in the destabilization plot against Nigeria to retrace their steps and come to the realization that the Nigerian cause is one that requires acts of patriotism.

The unity of Nigeria is sacrosanct, and this they must realize because this generation and indeed, the unborn generation of Nigerians have nowhere else to call home. As such, we must remain and salvage it together.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights passes a vote of confidence on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his unalloyed commitment towards putting Nigeria in proper stead for socio-economic development.

Our belief in the capacity and competence of the Service Chiefs is unwavering, and The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Right herby solicits the support of all Nigerians to join hands in defeating every form of insecurity in the land.

Nigeria shall indeed be great.
Thank you all for your time, and God Bless Nigeria.

*Zamfara Gov, Matawalle wins TheNigerian Security Icon Award*


Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State is set to bestowed with the prestigious award as “Security Icon of the Year” for 2019 by TheNigerian News Group.

Since taking over the helm of affairs from Abdul’aziz Yari on May 29, Mr Matawalle earned wave review for his unorthodox, progressive and charismatic leadership style, especially in the area of security.

Having inherited a state riddled with banditry, kidnap and other social vices, the onus was on the incoming government to erase these ills and restore peace.

With improved collaboration with the military and other security agencies, banditry has been brought to a barest minimum in Zamfara, which prompted TheNigerian to honour the governor.

In a statement on Friday by Group Managing Director, David Onmeje, TheNigerian News Group, owners of TheNigerian News, TheNigerian Tabloid, Television Nigerian and soon-to-be-launched radio, said Mr Matawalle was singled out for altering the status quo in governance.

Whilst other governors play politics with the lives of the citizenry, Mr Onmeje noted that Matawalle has taken upon himself to rally round major stakeholders including the youths, security agencies, political leaders and other key institutions to restore peace to Zamfara State.

The GMD further revealed that Mr Matawalle has already created a path for other governors to follow in helping to quench the fire of insecurity in their domains.

“His Excellency, Dr. Bello Muhammed Matawalle, the Executive Governor of Zamfara State inherited a state crippled and strangulated by awful insecurity fuelled by the satanic activities of armed bandits and cattle rustlers,” the statement reads.

“However, within an unbelievably short time, the Governor was able to demobilize and suppress the forces of evil against the state. He fearlessly and boldly confronted the veiled, but dreaded forces promoting insecurity in Zamfara state.

“Mr Matawalle is recognised for his genuineness of purpose and dexterity in the discharge of his duties, remarkable synergy with the military and other security agencies to protect vulnerable children and women from terror sects and then rewarding youth rehabilitation and empowerment initiatives.”

*APC uncovers plot by PDP, powerful politicians to overthrow Buhari presidency through escalation of killings*

The All Progressives Congress Local Government Chairmen (APC-LGC) has raised an alarm over an impending plot by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari with the aid of the National Assembly.

The grassroots APC chairmen made this revelation at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, where it strongly accused the PDP of manipulating the NASS to remove the current administration from office.

Speaking on behalf of the group, National Coordinator, Adadu Alegwu revealed that the opposition has resorted to the legislative arm having failed to legitimately oust President Buhari in the Judiciary.

The recent upsurge in criminal activities across the country; from Boko Haram/ISWAP attacks to banditry and kidnappings, the group alleged, are the handiwork of the PDP, whose desperation for power isn't strange.

However, its new-found alliance with the National Assembly, according to the APC leaders, is a cause for worry, especially after some of its disloyal members reportedly received humongous sum to betray the party.

This script, the group further revealed, is orchestrated by a top-ranking member of the PDP in the National Assembly, backed by a former president, a governor of one of the South-South state and a perpetual presidential candidate.

According to the group, having already penetrated the NASS, the PDP sought to win over the Service Chiefs to its fold.

However, their unwillingness to compromise triggered the opposition to unleash mayhem in the country.

The Forum of APC LGA Chairmen, therefore, says it considers the grand plot as a coup against democracy, and as such discerning members of the general public are placed on notice of the manifestation of the destabilization plot by the PDP.

The group further enjoined Nigerians to be steadfast and resolute in their belief in the sustenance of democracy.

Read full statement below:


The National Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen the umbrella forum of all APC local government chairmen in Nigeria is holding the press conference as a matter of national interest to intimate members of the general public of the clandestine plot by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office through the National Assembly.

According to credible information reaching the National Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen has indeed revealed that the opposition PDP is the brain behind the recent upsurge of criminal activities across the country manifest in Boko Haram/ISWAP, banditry and kidnappings.

This they, the PDP, have elected to do in an attempt to pitch the people against the democratically elected government of President Muhammadu Buhari all in a bid to take the mandate freely given by the people through the backdoor and destabilize the country.

The PDP has enlisted the members of the National Assembly to carry out this nefarious act, and they have also gone a step further by soliciting the buy-in of some disloyal APC members in the National Assembly by compromising them with huge monetary inducement.

We wish to state that the plot in the National Assembly was orchestrated by a top-ranking member of the PDP in the National Assembly who have been mandated by the leadership of the PDP to see to the realization of this grand plot against democracy in Nigeria.

The general public should be informed that the PDP has mobilized humongous amount of monies for this despicable act that has seen monies exchanging hands for the actualization of their evil agenda against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The National Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen wishes to inform the general public that credible information at our disposal indicates that a former president, a governor of one of the South-South states, a perpetual presidential candidate, who still has his gaze at the 2023 presidential elections, and a governor from one of the states in northwest Nigeria, are all behind this despicable plot.

This grand plot against democracy in Nigeria has as a component a puerile campaign against the Service Chiefs because of their loyalty to the country and the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and also their refusal to surrender the country to them during the 2019 general elections.

We also have it on competent authority that the character and efforts of the Service Chiefs would be subjected to an inglorious slander campaign to compromise their loyalty to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen have also gathered from credible sources that should the Service Chiefs refuse to buckle to their evil plots; there would be a covert sponsorship of criminal activities across the country in a bid to undermine their efforts in the fight against terrorism and other political militant groups.

Also, as part of the grand plot, the PDP has enlisted the support of a major religious group to use their platform to issue statements and carry out actions that would discredit the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and by extension to paint a picture of religious persecution, which would, in turn, set the country on a dangerous religious crisis.

The game plan is to ensure that the Supreme Court is also brought to disrepute since it failed to remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office. We consequently wish to state that the recent nationwide protest by the PDP over the Supreme Court judgment is a pointer to what to expect from the PDP and their hatchet men in the next few days.

The Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen considers the grand plot as a coup against democracy, and as such discerning members of the general public are placed on notice of the manifestation of the destabilization plot by the PDP that would be unleashed on the country in the days ahead.

The Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen wishes to put in on record that should Nigeria experience any form of religious and political upheaval in the days ahead; the PDP should be blamed squarely.

We also wish to state that Nigeria is a democratic country that is governed by laws, and any attempt by unscrupulous political elements that have refused to respect the wishes of the people would be resisted through the instrument of the law.

The Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen consequently enjoins members of the general public to be steadfast and resolute in their belief in the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria. It is our firm belief that this nefarious plot by the PDP would fail woefully because Nigerians are wiser and can see the handwriting written on the wall.

For them, it is either their way for no way. But for the generality of Nigerians, it is indeed our way because the destinies of over 180 million Nigerians cannot be truncated because of the blind and selfish ambition of a few.

We wish to state that Nigerians are indeed watching as events unfold. And it is our firm belief that their nefarious plot would fail woefully.

Thank you all for taking out time from your busy schedules to attend this press conference, and together we shall make Nigeria a viable and robust country where our hopes and aspirations would be translated to tangible realities.

May God bless Nigeria and bless us all.

Service Chiefs: Lawan, Gbajabiamila diverting Nigerians’ attention after collecting N37bn to renovate NASS complex


The National Democratic Front (NDF) has described the call for the sack or resignation of the nation’s Security Chiefs as an attempt to divert the attention of Nigerians from the controversy trailing the approval of N37bn for the renovation of National Assembly complex.

Recall that the Nigerian lawmakers had in December set aside a whooping N37bn to renovate the National Assembly in the N2.5trn budgeted for capital projects by the Federal Capital Development Authority in the 2020 budget, thus triggering uproar in the country.

NDF said the Thursday’s motion moved by the Chief Whip of the House, Hon, Mohammed Tahir Mongunu and 14 others, on the need to sack the Service Chiefs was not borne out of patriotism.

Addressing newsmen on Thursday, in Abuja, Dr. Abdulkadir Bolaji, National Secretary of NDF said the National Assembly under the leadership of Senate President, Sen. Ahmed Lawan and House of Reps Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, have diverted attention from NASS’s scandalous controversies and atrocities at the expense of their image and interest of Nigerians.

He said legislators who expended a whooping sum of N5.5 billion to purchase luxury cars in a poverty-stricken country facing hard times have not portrayed them as lawmakers concerned with national interest do not have the moral standard to call for the sack of hard-working Service Chiefs.

Full text of his speech below.

From time to time, we are pained by the deliberate actions or multiple commissions from our national legislators, especially the House of Representatives in the 9th National Assembly (NASS). We are vexed by their continuous wobbling in the performance of their official assignments. Naturally, we can overlook their motley of scandals, but certainly not undue interference that tends to tamper with the sanctity of the security fabrics of our country.

At plenary on Wednesday January 29, 2020, the Reps members in a resolution after debating a motion sponsored by Hon. Mohammed Monguno, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the leaders of Security agencies in Nigeria, if they fail to resign voluntarily. The Reps members attempted to justify the reason for this unthinkable and impetuous decision to the renewed spate of attacks and killings in Nigeria country.

The tenor of the resolution draped with unpardonable, abominable and suspected secret alliance/connivance with the foreign evil forces against Nigeria. There are some Nigerians who have belabored themselves to discredit Nigeria's Security leaderships presently battling terrorism, insurrections and insurgencies in the country.

Overtime, precisely in the last few months, Nigerians have heard and assessed the campaigns for the sack of Security Chiefs. And it emanates from individuals and organizations inclined to partisanship and intolerant of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

And they echo same rehearsed reasons in attempts to disparage Nigeria's Security leaderships, by projecting biased, irrational and self-serving reasons. Therefore, one hears the same conspiratorial voices of anti- Nigeria choristers from opposition parties like the PDP or its apostates, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Senate, the House of Reps, elder statement like Gen. Ty Danjuma (rtd) or some faceless human rights organizations such as this latest one by the identity of Human Rights organization and Social Justice (HRSJ).

They are not necessarily concerned with the voice of genuine reasoning. So, the obviously contracted HRSJ, was quick to lend its support to the position of NASS which passed a vote of no-confidence on the Military, Police and other security agencies in the country and bargained for their sack too.

It is astonishing that some Rep members have wittingly subscribed to this hogwash using a protectively deceptive official cover to push this demonic agenda. The recent baseless alarm calling for the sack of Security Chiefs is amazing to say the least.

It dawned on Nigerians clearly that the House of Reps is scheming with underground forces to return back to the dark and inglorious era when external forces reportedly bribed members of NASS to arm-twist Mr. President. This was usually done through ceaseless vitriols on his appointees to compel him into making decisions incongruent with the interest of the country. These legislators have sinister motives against Nigeria.

But both Senate President, Sen. Ahmed Lawan and House of Reps Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila have diverted attention from NASS’s scandalous controversies and atrocities at the expense of their image and interest of Nigerians. The allocation of a huge separate N37 billion for mere renovation NASS complex in 2020 budget, outside the N128 billion allocated for NASS in same fiscal year.

Expending a whooping of N5.5 billion to purchase luxury cars for lawmakers in a poverty-stricken country facing hard times have not portrayed them as lawmakers concerned with national interest. Same for racketeering [TNNP1] of federal jobs at the FIRS, budget padding and recklessness amounting to over N260 billion. Ironically though, both chambers who passed the 2020 budget failed to notice that budgets estimate of some Ministries, Agencies and Departments were excluded in the budget.

The wholesome passage of the 2020 Appropriation Act without proper inquest and shutting down of media coverage for budget defence are some of their many ills and frustration of progress of Nigeria. The House of Reps at this point should concentrate on laundering its battered image, than the preoccupation with calls for sack of Security leaderships which is indubitably outside its purview of responsibilities.

While steeped in this official profligacy designed to benefit their personal pockets, House of Reps ignored pleas from the Army leadership to increase the meagre budgetary allocation to the Nigerian Army. During the Military’s defence of its 2020 budget proposal of the military before the House of Representatives Committee on Army , the Reps members were urged them to exempt the army from the existing budget ceiling or envelope allocation system.

But they ignored it despite the cogent reasons. But is the same House of Reps which never gave a thought to it has pleasured to vilify and crucify for failing insecurity in parts of the country by calling for the sack of security chief. This is warped wisdom, official deceit and self-denial.

Therefore, we state without mincing words that the Reps call for sack or resignation of Security leadership in the country is uncharitable and deliberate mischief by a bunch of failures, in the House trying to hide their real motive.

We have no reason to doubt the superlative performance of the current crop of Security leaderships in Nigeria. NDF is proud particularly, with Service Chiefs who are doing their best in the prevailing circumstances and Nigerans are impressed with their efforts so far.

Let it be known to the House of Rep members that it is unambiguous; Mr. President is on track and will tackle the emergent issues at hand soonest. The President will accomplish this feat without sacking any of the very patriots that have been so helpful and invaluable in curbing the excesses of insurgencies and insurrections as wished by these seemingly confused agents of the same evil forces orchestrating the carnages in Nigeria.

NDF finds it repulsive and unfortunate how these disgruntled political elements discuss the Service Chiefs like aliens who have no bearing in the fate of their own country.

Consequently, the ranting of members of the House of Representatives is personalized verdict or biased opinions and infinitesimal, especially on matters they have no such lawful powers to interrogate or determine like Security leaderships as they mouthed freely.

We will only call on politicians and members of parliament inclusive to stop their unholy alliance with terrorists, bandits and kidnappers to destabilize the country. It is the first step, and secondly, approve adequate budget financing for security agencies to tackle violence and killings, as against the meaningless sermons on resignation or sacking of them.

It is foolhardy to call for the resignation of the President and sacking of security chiefs, while silent on states governors, where the renewed incidents of attacks and killings occur. Some of these Governors who are the Chief Security officers of their states and collect monthly security votes, but do not devote it to solving emerging security issues. It shows the bias and malice in the parliamentarians against President Buhari.

As President Buhari is the Chief Security officer of Nigeria, the states governors are same in their domains. The House of Reps must first call for their resignation. We call on President Buhari to take a drastic action on Governors who err on security and allow insecurity situations degenerate to raise conditions conducive to criticize and blame the Presidency.

Henceforth, we advise that the President should be prepared to slam a state of emergency on any state that falters on securing lives and property of the citizenry. We hope the House of Representative would not hesitate to grant approval when the time is ripe?

A Coalition of Civil Society groups have accused some staff union of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi Lagos FIIRO, of pushing an ethnic agenda in their demand for the sack of the acting Direfor General of the Institute, Dr Chima Igwe. Recall the staff Union of the institute have been at logger head with Igwe for several months, over allegations that the acting DG purportedly presented a fake doctorate degree, which qualified for appointment into his present position.

Igwe was said to have been investigated and given a clean bill of health by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offenses Commission ICPC and the Federal Ministry of Science and technology following series of protests and petitions by the staff unions of the institute. Not satisfied, the Unions have since embarked on industrial action and protests thereby paralyzing activities at the institute.

Reacting to these developments, a coalition of Civil Society groups today in Lagos rose in defence of the acting DG, describing him as a victim of an orchestrated campaign of calumny by those it described as ethnic Champions, who are opposed to the emergence of Igwe as the institute's head, because he is not from the southwestern part of the country, where FIIRO is located.

The group also accused the union leaders of being used by some over ambitions politicians to destabilise the institution.

Read full Statement below:



BEING THE TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE COALITION OF CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA, ON THURSDAY 23RD JANUARY 2020 IN LAGOS.


FIIRO and THE ATTENDING CRISIS

We are gathered here today,as a coalition of civil society groups as undersigned to address the issue raging at Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi FIIRO and the desperate attempt to bring into disrepute the institure and the name, personality and integrity of Dr. Chima Cartney Igwe, the Acting Director General of FIIRO.


It will be recalled that Nigeria and particular the media space has been saturated with the happenings and events going on at FIIRO all geared towards forcefully removing the DG of the institute and rubbishing him from office based on grounds unknown to the law and common sense of nationhood amidst picketing and protests.

We can't afford to continually sacrifice our best on the altar of regional sensationalism, tribalism and blackmail and hence our intervention.
We belief in the sanctity of institutions in Nigeria and the need for decorum when issues arises.
Here are our findings from interactions and interventions.
1 The plot to remove the DG is allegedly being hatched by top notch staffs of the institute with covert support from some individuals outside of the institute who hopes to benefit from the imbroglios by becoming the substantive DG of the institute.

They attempt to frame up the acting DG with the intention of bringing him to public opprobrium and remove him from office. The kernel of this revelation is a plot to discredit his qualifications that qualifies him for the position he occupies.

You will recall that this is not the first time attempts has been made to remove him from office especially after his emergence as the Acting DG.

Soon after his appointment as the Acting DG and following petitions as regards the genuiness of the certificates in his possession, the honourable minister ordered investigation into the matter and subsequently asked that the ICPC, an agency of government saddled with such issue to take it up, investigate and make public their findings.

The acting DG was eventually discharged of all the charges and his certificate authenticated and proven original. However, following sustained agitations, investigation has been reopened and ongoing and one will expect that all parties involved will allow decorum to reign pending the outcome. How do supposed researchers carry out intellectual national responsibility in the midst of crisis?

2. It has also been discovered that the ethnic card is been played in this matter as several text messages and personal conversations with some petsons in the heart of the crisis points to the plot and are often quick to say that the slot belongs to a particular tribe and should not be taken away from them as if it is a traditional title. Nigeria remains one undivided nation where ethnicity does not come before qualification. No one should further divide the people by playing ethnic card as the DG of FIIRO should be devoid of tribe or regionalism as a federal institute.

With the intent of framing him up and bringing him to national and international disrepute, We wish to point out that throughout his public service career till date, Dr Igwe has distinguished himself as a beacon of excellence, hope, accountability, probity and transparency in Nigeria and beyond; as well as a role model for millions of Nigerians irrespective of affiliations, religion or tribe. Since his emergence as a scholar and head of an institute, Dr Igwe has never been indicted publicly or privately for financial malfeasance or any form of ill conduct.
we wish to warn, in the strongest terms possible, that as a coalition of civil society organisation, we will not sit idly by and watch any Nigerian being maligned; oppressed or ridiculed by a group of people for personal gains and vindictiveness.
In the event of this plot being put into action and since the civil service rule prevents the man in the eye of the storm to speak for himself, we shall resist such barefaced blackmail. We are not unmindful of the fact that this plot gained currency with the resolve of Dr. Igwe not to allow business as usual but to sanitise the institute in alignment with the vision of the presidency and the Honourable minister of science and technology.
It would also be recalled that the institute attracted the sum of 1 billion naira in the last year due to about over 30 patents been secured out of which Igwe alone owns 9. How do we then give the dog a bad name just to hang it?


OUR DEMANDS

1. That the media trial, blackmail and ridicule of the personality of Dr. Chima Cartney Igwe be stopped immediately. The rule of law should be allowed to take it's cause and all swords should be shealth as we await outcome of investigations been ordered.

2. That all players in the game and particularly the leadership of the staff union be probed for their involvement in bringing the name and integrity of the institute to disrepute and for breaking the civil service rule in engagements without exhausting the internal mechanism of government and her agencies.

3. That the civil service rule be applied to anyone found guilty or culpable in the trouble that has bedeviled the institute.

4. That the ICPC again make known and public their finding as regards the issue surrounding the certificates of the acting DG.

5. That the honourable minster of science and technology allow the acting DG to perform the duties assigned to him by giving him the necessary supports to so make the institute what it is supposed to be.

6. That the office of the head of service open books of records and investigate all heads of departments and directors in the institute to determining their culpability or otherwise in the crisis that befell the institute.



Signed.

COMRADE EMMANUEL AYODEJI

COMRADE USMAN BABALE

COMRADE JOHN ATANI

Following the forensic audit of the activities of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, the Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has written the Inspector- General of Police and the Director-General of the Directorate of State Services to beef up security around the Managing Director of the commission, Dr. (Mrs.) Joi Nunieh.

The centre, in a letter dated 28th January, 2020, made available to newsmen in Abuja, said the forensic probe has made the MD of the commission a target for disgruntled element who may be found culpable during the probe.

The centre said there is no gainsaying the fact that the issue of certificate forgery is popping up at this material time mainly because Dr. Nunieh has inaugurated a 50 (Fifty) man Verification Committee headed by Dr. Cairo Ojougboh to audit and document projects and contracts awarded in the 9 (Nine) Niger Delta States to ascertain the authenticity or otherwise of certain suspicious Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) paid to contractors, which has placed a debt burden of about N3 Trillion Naira on the Commission.

According to Barrister Abiodun Sodiq Babalola, Director of Strategic Communication of CESJET, the centre observed that the unfortunate rage trailing the inauguration of the Interim Management Committee sometime in October, 2019 by the Federal Government of Nigeria to run the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is taking an alarming dimension.

He therefore sought security protection from relevant security agencies for the NDDC boss


''We recall that the Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. (Mrs.) Joi Nunieh who doubles as Acting Managing Director of the Commission was meant to create an enabling environment for the forensic audit of the NDDC with a view to identifying and or exposing the massive corrupt practices perceived to have disrupted the original purpose of establishing the NDDC as an interventionist agency to alleviate the sufferings of the Niger Delta people.

''The forensic audit in the wisdom of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR who sanctioned it was meant to cover 18 (Eighteen) years of the operation of the Commission.

''We can confirm that Dr. Gbene Joi Nunieh has not disappointed the Niger Delta people and indeed the whole country in carrying out her mandate. The huge success recorded by the Committee within a very short period is there for every observer to evaluate. Only on 19th December, 2019 it was revealed that the Committee following a tip-off, discovered the components of a Power Station worth $34 Million abandoned on the premises of the Nigeria Ports Authority in Port Harcourt since 2017. The said equipment was meant for the NDDC Sub-Station in Ekparagwa and Ikot Ekpene within Akwa Ibom State but left unused by a group of politicians turned contractors who would stop at nothing to loot and cripple the Nigerian economy.

''Little wonder then that Dr. Gbene Joi Nunieh is now a target for blackmail and possible assassination by agents of those persons who are afraid that the tsunami of the forensic audit will soon consume them. There was a recent accusation against Dr. Nunieh that she parades fake NYSC certificate. We make bold to state that this accusation is nothing but a deliberate attempt at smearing her hard reputation and distracting the ongoing drive to recover funds looted from NDDC.

''It gladdens our hearts to note that right thinking citizens of this country who know Dr. Nunieh and follow her antecedents over the years have since risen to the occasion under different Civil Society platforms to clear the air. There is no gainsaying the fact that the issue of certificate forgery is popping up at this material time mainly because Dr. Nunieh has inaugurated a 50 (Fifty) man Verification Committee headed by Dr. Cairo Ojougboh to audit and document projects and contracts awarded in the 9 (Nine) Niger Delta States to ascertain the authenticity or otherwise of certain suspicious Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) paid to contractors, which has placed a debt burden of about N3 Trillion Naira on the Commission. The Verification Committee is billed to submit its report within the next two weeks as a prelude to the proper forensic audit'', he said.


He said the worry of the centre at the moment is the security of Dr. Gbene Joi Nunieh who, had become a soft target by the very looters and economic saboteurs she is exposing.

He called on the Department of State Services (DSS) to brace up to the task of beefing up security around Dr. Nunieh in the coming days.

''Incidences of threat to lives of public officials in Nigeria are not new but must be swiftly nipped in the bud before they become realities''_ he also said.

*Insurgency: Borno indigenes laud Buratai, Army for re-opening Damboa- Maiduguri road*

....declare total support for the military

Some indigenes of Borno State, under the aegis of Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum (BPAF) has heaped praises on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and his gallant troops on the frontline for ensuring the reopening of Damboa-Maiduguri road in Borno State.

This singular act, according to the Borno natives, has earned the Nigerian Army its total support and that of the entire northeast in its quest to rid the region of fleeing Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors made this known at a press conference on Tuesday in Maiduguri to laud the “ efforts of the Nigerian Army in the reopening of the Maiduguri-Damboa Highway to human and vehicular movement.”

In a statement signed by Abdulmalik Aliyu and Mohammed Muritala, its President and Secretary respectively, the group commended the COAS for his high display of commitment towards to restoration of peace in the country.

The Borno indigenes also hailed his loyal and courageous troops stationed in the Theater of Operations who have strived night and day towards the restoration of peace in the region.

The group, therefore, expressed total support for Lt. Gen. Buratai and his troops who have won the total confidence of the people of Borno state and the northeast region through their historic acts in the battle for the soul of Nigeria.

The group, however, encouraged the Chief of Army Staff not to relent on this laudable feat until all the remnants of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists are decimated.

Read full statement below:


The Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum, the umbrella body of progressive Borno State Indigenes, committed to the restoration and sustenance of Peace in Borno State, lauds the leadership, officers, and soldiers of the Nigerian Army for the great feat achieved in the reopening of the Maiduguri-Damboa Highway to the general public.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum sees the reopening of the Maiduguri-Damboa Highway as a massive victory in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, given the strategic importance of the road in the economic life of Borno State.

The strategic importance of the Maiduguri-Damboa Highway cannot be overemphasized, and this much is evident in the effect the closure of the highway has had on the economic life of Borno state. This is also cognizant of the fact that thousands of commuters have been faced with tough and trying times using alternative routes in an attempt at going about their daily lives.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors wishes to commend the leadership of the Nigerian Army led by the indefatigable Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, for the high display of commitment towards to restoration of peace in North-East Nigeria.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum is indeed appreciative of this effort and wishes to state with the way and manner the Nigerian Army is executing the war against terrorism in North-East Nigeria; it would be only a matter of time for absolute peace and tranquility to return to North-East Nigeria.

The Nigerian Army has indeed exhibited a high sense of patriotism and commitment to the return of peace to Borno State, and North-East Nigeria at large. This is because they have continued to push the remnants of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group to the fringes of the Lake Chad region.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum is also appreciative of the loyal and courageous troops stationed in the Theater of Operations in North-East Nigeria who have strived night and day towards the restoration of peace in the North East region.

We consequently wish to state that the Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum is as a result of this stating that the people of North-East Nigeria are solidly behind the operations of the Nigerian Army in North-East Nigeria and it behooves on all well-meaning Nigerians to extend their support to the Nigerian Army in its final push for the decimation of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group.

The reopening of the Maiduguri-Damboa Highway is one of the numerous examples of how the Nigerian Army has been fighting day and night to keep our country safe and secure despite the various conspiracies against it in the war against terrorism in Nigeria.

Our joy on the reopening of the Maiduguri-Damboa Highway knows no bound as both human and vehicular movement have resumed unabated after many years of closure. It indeed a case of light at the end of the tunnel for the people of Borno State.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors Forum wishes to state that the Nigerian Army under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai has won the total confidence of the people of Borno state and the North East region through their historic acts in the battle for the soul of Nigeria.

We consequently wish to encourage the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai not to relent on this laudable feat until all the remnants of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists are decimated entirely from the soil of North-East Nigeria.

The Borno Peace Ambassadors Peace Forum would continue to be worthy partners with the Nigerian Army in the fight against terrorism in North-East Nigeria and Nigeria at large. We also wish to state that Nigerians shall indeed celebrate the end of the Boko Haram/ISWAP era in North-East Nigeria in no distant time.

We encourage the people of Borno State and North-East Nigeria to continue to extend their support to the activities of the Nigerian Army in this laudable quest to restore peace in Borno State and North-East Nigeria.

We want to especially thank the members of the media for their continued support of our activities over the years that have assisted in projecting our advocacy interventions to all critical stakeholders.

*Boko Haram/ISWAP: It is uncharitable for anyone to diminish the sacrifices of our military leadership, troops -- Yoruba youths*


The Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress (PYYC) has reasoned that it is uncharitable for any individual or group to diminish the Nigerian Armed Forces’ leadership as well as the enormous sacrifices of officers and soldiers in the war against terrorism.

According to the Southwest socio-political group, the Nigerian Military has turned the tide against the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist since 2016 hence deserve maximum support from Nigerians.

PYYC made this known at a press conference on Monday, condemning the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for heating the polity through unguarded utterances laced with ulterior motives.

In a statement jointly signed by Elder Kola Salawu and Majekodunmi Omolola, President and Secretary respectively, PYYC commended President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the necessary succour to the military's top shots, visible in troops' morale.

However, the Yoruba youths were critical of some groups, CAN in particular, engaged in acts to divide the nation and demoralise the gallant troops.

PYYC accused the Christian umbrella body of partisanship, making unguided claims counter-productive in the fight against terrorism and capable pitching the Christians against the Muslims.

The Yoruba group, therefore, concluded that CAN and its likes who have failed to recognise the remarkable sacrifices of the military's leadership and troops in the frontline does not have the interest of the country at heart.

Read full statement below:

The Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress , a socio-cultural organization, consisting of youth from southwest Nigeria, put together this press conference to shed light on some of the challenges facing the country with regards to the fight against terrorism.

We wish to state that the issue of terrorism in Nigeria has taken centre stage since the advent of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. This much is evident in the level of commitment exhibited by the quality of appointments in the critical security sector.

As we are all aware, the Boko Haram/ISWAP agenda is indeed a politically motivated one in the sense that it has been established that there are willing collaborators that have continued to provide them with logistical support to aid their nefarious activities.

There is also another grouping that have elected to serve the interest of Boko Haram/ISWAP through the propagation of propaganda aimed towards giving the Boko Haram/ISWAP group the needed psychological support through their actions manifest in unguarded utterances in the public space.

The Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress wishes to state that despite the level of commitment displayed by the political leadership in Nigeria in the fight against terrorism, the Boko Haram/ISWAP group has continued to be emboldened to confront the Nigerian Military in the theatre of war in North-East Nigeria because of the activities of some groups.

The war against terrorism in Nigeria has received wide commendation from numerous quarters. However, some groups that ideally ought to be engaged in acts that would promote peace have been engaged in acts that divide us rather than unite us.

One of such organization is the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), whose leadership has elected to be on the other side of the divide, in defiance of its mandate of serving as the uniting organization for adherents of the Christian faith in Nigeria.

Their utterances in recent times have been counter-productive in the fight against terrorism, and concerned stakeholders in Nigeria have highlighted this much. Despite overwhelming evidence of political coloration and the involvement of the leadership of CAN in partisan politics, they have carried out with reckless abandon and bringing the Christian faith into disrepute.

The leadership of CAN have continued with their agenda of pitching the Christians against the Muslims by painting the Boko Haram/ISWAP activities as an agenda against the Christian faith in Nigeria.

The Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress is dismayed at such despicable actions despite the unfortunate fact that the leadership of CAN have sold their birthright in exchange for a plate of porridge. This is sad.

The Christian Association of Nigeria has fallen below expectations because it has instead elected to play politics at the detriment of providing sound counsel to the Christian adherents in Nigeria. If this is not the case, then one wonders how and why such an organization would label the threat posed by the Boko Haram/ISWAP group as a religious war.

The Christian Association of Nigeria has continued to disregard the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari led administration in the war against terrorism in Nigeria. They have continued to push the country to the brinks by misleading members of the unsuspecting general public with claims that cannot be substantiated.

The Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress wishes to state that anyone/group that fails to appreciate the efforts of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in the war against terrorism is playing politics and, as such, should not be taken seriously.

Anyone/group that does not recognize the dexterity of the leadership of the Nigerian Armed Forces, as well as the enormous sacrifices of officers and soldiers in the war against terrorism, clearly do not have the interest of the country at heart.

This is cognizant of the fact that since 2016, the Nigerian Military had indeed turned the tide against the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group with a sustained military bombardment that has seen them confined to the fringes of the Lake Chad Basin Region.

The position of the Progressive Yoruba Youth Forum is that terrorism is not a function or an attribute of any religion as no religion preaches killing of fellow humans. This much must be stated in unequivocal terms in a bid to put issues in proper perspective.

The Progressive Yoruba Youth Congress wishes to advise groups and individuals to be guarded by public decorum in their conduct on national issues. The task of defeating terrorism is a collective one, and as such, we must all be guided accordingly.

The sacrifices of our Armed Forces must be commended and appreciated by all in the quest for a secure and united Nigeria.

By Andrew Granit


I have had over three decades experiences as a conflict manager and preventive researcher. In the course of my job, I have traversed most parts of the world. But my experiences are more grounded in my former country, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

And until its disintegration, Yugoslavian six republics were enmeshed in virulent economic crises and political unrests since the 1980s. And it eventually transmuted into a break-up of this previously unified amalgam of disparate ethnic, religious and historical entities under a single federation. With the upheavals over, I am a citizen of the Republic of Kosovo. But I have seen and experienced a lot about crises or its management far and near.

The path to Kosovo’s independence was long and strewn with thorns, expressed in hate, animosities and violent conflicts. But let me not bore you with details. However, let me quickly say, in the life of every nation in the world, there comes a time minor disagreement are ballooned to major conflicts with its toll on lives, peace and progress of nations. Equally, there comes a time that nature also enthrones the right leadership to right the wrongs, and uproot the deep-seated incendiaries from national psyche.

Nigeria, the most populous nation amongst the black race on earth has found itself in this quagmire ignited by the vicious and brutal campaigns of Boko Haram insurgents. And I have confirmed the incursion of extremists terrorism from the Middle East into Nigeria and other countries in the West African sub-region.

These religious extremists or terrorists, to be precise, under the identity of Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) accentuated their bloody campaigns on the state of Nigeria at the turn of partisan campaigns for the 2019 general elections.

From observable manifest aggressions, I have sensed the eagerness and hastiness of ISWAP terrorists to quickly subdue and re-conquer Nigeria. But ISWAP elements have encountered a hard nut to crack in Nigerian military forces, particularly Nigerian soldiers in the frontlines.

The increasing sophistication of ISWAP’s weaponry and the lackluster attitude of the local population whose preference seems to tilt in the direction of shielding terrorists are problematic. And hoarding critical information from the military have been great assets to the vicious terrorism campaigners.

But I must admit that the vigilance, hard work, commitment and the undisguised patriotism of the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, General TY Buratai have consistently frustrated the agenda of the ISWAP terrorists. Of course, flashes of terror attacks on communities, ambushes of troops in the battlefields and casualties on both sides would continue to occur because of the drowsy and aberrant character of managing terrorism combats and conflicts to its conclusive end.

However, I am impressed with the courage, bravery and tenacity of the Nigerian Army. Troops in the frontlines have displayed determination, rather than fatigue. And the counter-insurgency leaders have displayed ideal and focused leadership; it has not flinched from support to troops, which are the greatest psychological weapon a soldier needs in war.

At least, it was my experience and pulse during my recent visit to parts of the Northeast Nigeria after the country's current leader, President Muhammadu Buhari was elected a second time in 2019. The first time I came to Nigeria for firsthand information on the rampaging and raging Boko Haram insurgency was in February 2015. Three terrorism incidents fascinated my enthusiasm. I really felt visiting the country, scenes of attacks, interacting with troops in the warfront and government’s counter measures would enrich my knowledge on conflict management and understanding towards helping the world prevent crisis and overcome existing ones.

The night of April 14-15 2014 Boko Haram’s abduction of about 276 teenage Chibok schoolgirls, in Borno state. Earlier on same April 14, 2014, terrorists exploded multiple bombs at a busy bus station in Abuja, Nigeria’s national capital, gruesomely murdering an estimated 200 persons and causing destructions.

And the tereorists' three days serial raids and unmolested siege on Baga, a town in the Northeast Northern Borno province between January 3-7, 2015. Reports monitored on local and foreign media outlets revealed that at least 2,000 people were feared dead and insurgents captured the town, neighboring villages and a multinational military Base.

I was again in Nigeria, early January 2020, after the Sallah, Christmas and New Year festivities. I understood from my contacts that these are the most auspicious times Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists prefer to brandish their self-acclaimed might in braggadocio. They would outlandishly unleash heinous atrocities on civilian and military targets to spur international attention.
I flew into Nigeria, landed in the capital city, Abuja and rested for two days to plan my itinerary, enliven conversations with my contacts and get security cover. In war situations, no one undermines personal safety and security. I monitored local TV channels, I watched again reports of troops confrontations with ISWAP terrorists.

I proceeded to Maiduguri from Abuja on road in company of two security details and Mallam Aliyu , my driver who is also from the Northeast. At Maiduguri, we went straight to the headquarters of the Command Theatre, Operation Lafiya Dole, and met with some top commanders of the Army. I introduced myself and mission. He was receptive and hospitable. I interacted with some Nigerian soldiers in Maiduguri and spent the night in the ancient city.

The next day. my contact got me a list containing locations of Army Battalions, Military Forward Bases and Special Strike Teams as guide. We were able to get a few soldiers who provided additional security to me and everywhere I decided to visit.

I spent four days visiting military formations in the Northeast. I was at Baga, Pulka, Bama, the once dreaded Sambisa forest, Monguno, Gwoza and hordes of other locations. The places were liberated and natives returned to forlorn enclaves. I was quite excited that Gwoza, which was once captured and occupied by Boko Haram as their Islamic Caliphate administrative headquarters was also liberated. I couldn't hide my joy and had to share pictures each day with Francois and Young who all wanted to embark on the trip with me.

In Biu, I also visited the Nigerian Army University, Biu (NAUB). The edifice was a masterpiece to behold. At each destination, I interacted with the natives and troops at the frontlines and got their heartbeat. I left Borno for a return journey to Abuja, but diverted into Postiskum in Yobe state, where I also encountered some troops. While I engaged them in mutual talks, some of them whispered to me about the presence of General Buratai whom the troops fondly refer to as " the Chief.
" I learnt he was paying one of his usually silent, but routine personal trips to the Nigerian troops.

He was at another end of the camp, also exchanging views with some troops over recent developments in the theatre of war. I walked up to him; exchanged pleasantries and introduced myself. I was meeting Gen. Buratai personally for the first time.

Pleasantly, my first impression of him was that of a warm personality, amiable soldier and determined leader, who is optimistic in succeeding on his assignment. A good Army General constantly disguises to be in touch and brief his troops to bolster their ego of performance. It’s a rare leadership ingenuity in Gen. Buratai.

Meanwhile, soldiers I met in Borno earlier told me the Chief visits constantly. But I never believed, thinking it’s just a smart answer to shield their boss, until I ran into him personally on the field. Soldiers in the battlefield are always busy people. So, I had a few minutes with Gen. Buratai, who was very detailed on the actions and plans of President Buhari to terminate the reign of terror in Nigeria.

It is not in my position to divulge what we discussed. It was not a planned interview and might be giving out too much to the terrorists. But as I conversed with him TV images i watched on a local station, where the Minister of Defence, Gen. Bashi Magashi and Gen. Buratai who led a delegation of the European Commission to Mr. President, where both parties had talks on the counter-insurgency operations flashed my mind. I blended its veracity from what I heard from the Army Chief.

Back to Abuja in my hotel room, I reflected over my experiences on the trip. I could not help but nod in satisfaction that Nigeria has recoded unique milestones in combating Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism. There is a lot of difference in the success of counter-insurgency operations in the country now.

Those far from the theatre of war may not understand. But it’s not easy reclaiming territories under the control of terrorists anywhere, and sustaining the victory like Nigerian soldiers have accomplished in retaking the 18 LGAS in the Northeast. Terrorists pride is usually bruised and they fight back ferociously. One should expect to see desperation by terrorists to retake reclaimed lands to lead to intermittent strikes, which is normal in terrorism combat wars.

Until I came and saw the reality before I believed the press particularly fed the world outside and Nigerians with inaccurate information about the war against terrorism in Nigeria. Each time I read the alarming and sensational news on terrorism war in Nigeria, one is tempted to believe the whole country is on inferno. And it was grave risk to visit the Northeast even with security escorts. But the reality is excitedly different.

But let me caution that most Nigerians are selling out their country to terrorists and their foreign sponsors through sensational and discreditable news on social media platforms or even traditional media. There should be patriotism and moderation for the sake of national interest. Combating terrorism is beyond politics. It is pointless churning lies that may compromise the security of your whole country.

Unfortunately, it seems all categories of Nigerians have indulged in this disservice and resentful conduct, including some highly placed leaders. They must be mindful or else, these actions can easily shatter the coherence and unity of the country. But even one day in an IDPs camp, in a foreign land is like hell on earth.

Granit is the President, Preventive Diplomacy, United Kingdom.

By Philip Agbese

President Muhammadu Buhari has a huge burden as leader of Nigeria. Buhari, a globally acclaimed upright leader with impeccable credentials consciously courted trouble when he defined the operational character of his administration tethered to the tenets of integrity, honesty and incorruptibility.

Right from his first tenure in 2015, President Buhari’s uncompromising stand on these virtues attracted the ire of Nigeria’s powerful and influential thieving elite, who have a sustained history of plundering public commonwealth. Therefore, they employ all manner of antics and blackmail to taint his leadership persona or discredit his government.

They angle to portray President Buhari as a leader who is paying lip-service to sermons of anti-corruption campaigns or he is selective or partisan. Mr. President is aware of such outings, but has remained unperturbed, as he expected it from an elite whose body and soul are irretrievably steeped in the vinegar of evil against their country and Nigerians. It is the reason which, compelled Buhari’s philosophical expression in 2016 that “When you fight corruption, it fights back.”

After failing to nail President Buhari on corruption or pin his government to it several years running, the opponents of the Buhari Presidency have resorted to targeting and raising spurious, unsubstantiated and flawed allegations of corruption on some Buhari’s key appointees. An Africa proverb says; “ When you pull the ear, the head would certainly bow.” It is the underlying force of those eager to persecute his upright, trusted and incorruptible appointees.

Anywhere an inquest is declared or a forensic audit is declared on any government establishment, appointees of the Buhari government who refuse to bend the rules, favour certain personalities or refuse to compromise face very poisonous arrows from the opposition or haters of the Buhari Presidency. They throw meaningless darts at such an appointee for failure to dubiously influence him or her to cover-up their corrupt deals.

Known victims of these vicious attacks or persecutions includes, but not restricted to the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari; the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hajiya, Hadiza Bala Usman among others. The latest fish in the net of these debased and heartless Nigerians is the Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Mrs. Joi Nunieh.

The annual budget of the NDDC is mouthwatering and every administration continues to fund the commission with huge allocations. It is the conviction of the federal government that a functional and performing NDDC will change the face of the impoverished people of the Niger Delta region. Ironically, NDDC is an embodiment of everything corrupt to elites of the region, except discharging its core mandate to the people.

Today, President Buhari is told, the NDDC is indebted to contractors to the whooping sum of N3 trillion. It reminds of the dubious oil subsidy claims under the Jonathan Presidency. Even the oil dealers had a conscience in thievery or plundering of public resources because NDDC claims by contractors outshines them.

Undeniably, the Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) being claimed by contractors as debts in NDDC are suspicious. The reality on the ground in the oil-rich Niger Delta does not support such bogus claims.

How much has President Buhari’s government spent on capital projects to impact on every part of Nigeria that contractors at NDDC are flaunting N3 trillion contractual debts? It’s amazing! Therefore, President Buhari sought to get to the roots of the matter by ordering a forensic audit of NDDC accounts. And the Dr. Nunieh’s NDDC’s Interim Management Committee provoked the league of looters in the region by inaugurating a 50-Member Verification Committee (VC).

The committee chaired by Dr. Cairo Ojougboh has two weeks to submit a report on the projects/contracts awarded by the NDDC as well as the status of the claims of the Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs). The report of the VC is a preliminary step that would snowball into the concrete forensic audit as ordered by Mr. President. And the looters and plunderers of the resources of the NDDC are understandably scared to the marrow.

Unarguably, Dr. Nunieh is the stubborn fly that has refused to kowtow to their powwow. She has refused to backdown or craftily frustrate the Presidential probe of NDDC finances as a baddie. The plot is to spare nothing to pull her down or discredit her to pave way for the appointment of a pliant fellow who would either mess-up or bury the forensic audit of NDDC enmeshed in fraud and mismanagement.

Those with soiled hands and haunted by the looming danger have contracted emergency activists, who are aplenty in Nigeria’s fake Civil Society Organizations’ (CSOs). Their duty is to trumpet Dr.Nunieh’s alleged forged or fake or non-possession of NYSC discharge or exemption certificates. May be, it has just dawned on the traducers of the NDDC boss that it is daybreak since she was appointed to head the commission.

But what is the core mandate of the NDDC established in 2000? It was to develop the Niger Delta region of Nigeria through the training and education of youths of the region to curb hostilities and militancy; while developing key infrastructures to promote diversification and productivity to arrest restiveness in Niger Delta.

Within few years after its establishment, there were serious allegations of fraud and mismanagement in the magnitude of the defunct OMPADEC. The signposts of NDDC is paid, but unexecuted or abandoned projects dotting every nook and cranny of the region.

It has been reported that in the year 2015 for instance, that the NDDC started three months twin certification programme for fiber optics and oil spill management. It engulfed billions of naira, but the training sessions were abandoned two months into the programme and the 200 trainees who were camped at various hotels in Owerri were left to personally pay for their expenses.

Many past management staff of the commission have been indicted for corruption. Many more are still being tried for various financial crimes in the NDDC running into billions of naira. A certain past chief executive of the commission is for example is being tried for a N3.6 billion fraud while another has been investigated for transferring millions of dollars into his wife's account.

It is obvious from these cases and other similar ones that the intended beneficiaries of programme and initiatives of the NDDC, mostly youths and the less privileged are being shortchanged. NDDC funds are channeled into private pockets, instead of funding its programmes. It motivated President Buhari to shop for a credible person to arrest the rot and Dr. Nunieh was anointed to clean the mess.

She introduced reforms and innovations which have reactivated the Commission. Rural communities neglected for years are also beginning to witness transformation with the provision of basic infrastructures.

And since Mrs. Nunieh assumed duty at the commission, she has her mind fixated on bringing all those who have stolen from the commission to book. So, corruption must fight Dr. Nunieh back to a standstill, by engaging hirelings to conjure all sorts of allegations against her, using the plank of phantom and non- existent CSOs.

But Nunieh has left no one in doubt that she's an apostle of the kind of change that President Buharu promised Nigerians. The NDDC boss made good her promise to deliver by working closely with the minister of Niger Delta affairs to bring accountability and transparency to the commission.

Initially, those who had skeletons in their cupboards tried to use base sentiments by alleging that she's being used by President Buhari to witch-hunt her fellow Niger Deltans. But it is now obvious that she is only determined to expose corruption and she is staidly committed to it in order to realize the mandate of the NDDC.

Failure to prod her conscience on the plank of reginal sentiments, they changed tactics. That was when all manners of allegations against her began to surface and the latest about the frivolous and unsubstantiated claims of her lack of an NYSC discharge or exemption certificates.

But the strongest argument of the CSO hired for the undertaker job is centered on hearsay evidence. Nigerians demand more than such peripheral outbursts from anybody or group contracted to defame a public servant.

The detractors think by so doing, Dr. Nunieh would be detracted. But they got entirely wrong. She is more determined now than ever before to clean the mess, expose corruption in the commission and reposition it to excellently discharge its core mandate to the people. Her courage stems from the fact that she has no skeleton in her cupboard and has nothing to hide.

She considers the task of bringing rapid development to the Niger Delta and helping youths in the area to rediscover themselves sacrosanct. And the NDDC boss is ready to break every barrier on her path to achieve this target. Her enemies should bury their heads in shame that at last, a focused administrator is trying to clean up the mess they created and left behind or do what they could not do.

Those sponsoring the CSOs to disparage the person of Nunieh are the same cult of Niger Deltans who have shown a lack of capacity to think beyond self and family. They have brought shame to the Niger Delta through greed and self-centeredness. The clique of kleptomaniac elites should bury their heads in shame that instead of thinking of the general or public good of the region, all that obsess them is their bellies and personal enrichment.

They are worse than thieves and betrayers. Its unimaginable that they have sold their birthright for a pot of soup and mortgaged the prosperity of their people for ages. Their cowardly acts have been exposed as the current NDDC management is set to achieve the mandate of the commission. Dr. Nunieh is urged never to relent or scared, as like President Buhari has always said; If Nigerians do not kill corruption; corruption will kill Nigeria.”

Agbese is an author, publisher and human rights activist based in London.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) has called on the European Union Commission and all International NGOs in the north east providing food and drugs for the terrorists to stop in order to put an end to the continuous attacks on humanitarian workers and clergymen in the region.

CALSER made this known during a state of the nation press conference on Sunday in Abuja to address what it described as “the senseless Boko Haram/ISWAP attack on clergymen and humanitarian workers”.

According to the convener, Princess Ajibola, certain INGOs have continued to breach international protocol on their operations by aiding and abetting the supply and delivery of sophisticated weaponry, food and drugs to the Boko Haram/ISWAP group under the guise of rendering humanitarian services.


In its periodic assessment for the month of January, CALSER further warned political and religious organisations in the country not to expand the frontiers of Boko Haram by overheating the polity with unfounded allegations that are capable of undermining the ongoing efforts by the government to tame terrorism.

The centre, therefore, called on the European Union and the representatives of the United Nations in Nigeria to audit and caution international NGOs in operation in the northeast to stop the supply of arms and ammunitions and other essential items to the terrorist group.

Read full statement below:

The leadership of the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CASLER) welcomes you all to the State of the Nation Press Conference to address some of the issues of national importance in the country with regards to the senseless and barbaric attack on Clergies and Humanitarian workers in North East Nigeria by the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights is alarmed by the way and manner the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group has intensified attacks on unarmed and innocent clergies and humanitarian workers rendering services in North-East Nigeria.

All must condemn this callous act. It should serve as a wakeup call for all concerned stakeholders to put heads together towards ending the unscrupulous activities of the Boko Haram/ISWAP in North-East Nigeria.

It is indeed unfortunate that despite the efforts of the Nigerian Military in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, some groups/individuals are not happy with the gains made and have consequently constituted themselves as clogs in the wheels of progress by providing the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group with logistical support in furtherance of their evil agenda against Nigeria.

Ironically, The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights has it on competent authority that some local political organizations, as well as religious bodies, are covertly providing tactic support to the Boko Haram/ISWAP group all in a bid to undermine the efforts of the government.

The International Non-Governmental Organizations, as well as some local Non-Governmental Organizations, have continued to breach international protocol on their operations in North-East Nigeria by aiding and abetting the supply and delivery of sophisticated weaponry to the Boko Haram/ISWAP group under the guise of rendering humanitarian services.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights in times past have raised the alarm in the complicity of international NGOs in operation in North-East Nigeria in fueling the Boko Haram war by supplying them food, drugs, and other essential items that they need.

This trend is unacceptable, and it is advised that urgent steps are taken to arrest this decline before things get out of control because as it stands, the Boko Haram/ISWAP have been emboldened to carry out attacks on soft targets in women and children, students, clergies, as well as humanitarian workers because of the tactic support it has been receiving from both internal and external sources.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights also wishes to use this medium to call on the European Union and the representatives of the United Nations in Nigeria to audit and caution international NGOs in operation in North-East Nigeria to stop the supply of arms and ammunitions and other essential items to the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group with immediate effect. It must be stated that if this is done, we would witness a drastic reduction in the merciless killings and maiming carried out by the Boko Haram/ISWAP group in North-East Nigeria.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights also states that as a matter of necessity and urgency, the European Union must investigate the supply of sophisticated arms and ammunitions from her member countries to impose the needed sanctions on these countries. This is on the heels that many pieces of evidence indicate that some EU countries have been covertly selling arms and ammunitions to the Boko Haram/ISWAP group using fronts.

The European Union, in the interest of fairness, must act and deal decisively with its member countries that have been providing support to the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group. If this is not done, the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights might be indeed convinced that the European Union as a body might be aiding and abetting the propagation of terrorism in Nigeria.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights condemns these despicable acts and it is hopeful that the end of the Boko Haram/ISWAP threat to peace and tranquility in Nigeria would manifest soon if all concerned stakeholders indeed join hands with sincerity of mind and purpose to fight the common enemy of humanity.

The Centre for Africa Liberation also calls on all genuine stakeholders to encourage dialogue and strategic engagements in the best possible ways to bring about peace and not to destabilize the peace of the whole nation for their selfish agenda.

Religious and political bodies must exercise restraint in ensuring that selfish politicians do not take advantage of them to paint the activities of Boko Haram/ISWAP as religious or targeted at certain religions or ethnicity.

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights wishes to state that Nigeria must be ridden of terrorism,4 and it behooves on all well-meaning countries, groups, and individuals to extend their support to Nigeria by doing what is right at all times.

A retired Naval Officer and former senator representing Adamawa Central, Sen. Abdul-Azeez Nyako, says politicians should largely be blamed for the current security challenge in the country rather than the military.


Speaking to newsmen on Sunday in Yola, Nyako said the Nigerian military which is currently overstretched is doing its best on the situation and deserved commendation.

He said politicians needed to do more in their expected role of providing good governance, particularly in addressing conflicts in their areas and in tackling key issues like extreme poverty that led to insecurity.

“The bulk of us (politicians) are providing bad leadership; we are only concern about distribution of resources instead of good leadership or how to resolve issues and get our people out of mess,” Nyako said.

He said if politicians could address the socio-economic challenges that led to Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping and other violent crimes, over 80 per cent of security challenge in the country would be contained.

He observed that the military had actually degraded Boko Haram insurgents in North East forcing them to resort to guerilla tactics unlike before when they operated in formations.

“What I mean by operating in formation is that they used to muster platoon strength, company strength, battalion strength and probably brigade strength to face our armed forces at the peak of the insurgency.

“They are now degraded and cannot fight in formation; they resorted to guerilla tactics which make things difficult as they are mixed with civilian populace. It’s like fish inside water.

“With this development, the military, government and civilian population has to evolve new tactics to deal with the matter.

“This kind of operation has to be intelligence heavy; there must be communication between civilian population and security agencies. It need big transfer of information, quick reaction and protection of informants,” he said.

Nyako who was the Adamawa governorship candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 election also noted that the attitude of Nigerians not bothering about conflicts that doesn’t affect their communities directly must be changed to get the united front needed to address security challenges collectively for maximum result.

On Amotekun and the clamour for state police, Nyako said the issue concerned has to do with abuse of such outfits by State Governors who could use them against political opponents during politicking.

He noted that the 8th National Assembly was careful not to grant state police because of such concern.

500 Clerics kick- off 21 days prayer for Nigeria's unity against destabilization


About 500 clerics have again gathered in Abuja to kick start  a 21 days prayer and fasting session against the forces planning the destabilization of Nigeria.


The clerics drawn from various churches across the country said with the present situation of things in the country, prayers and fasting is urgently needed to salvage the Nation.


Led by Bishop Sunday Garuba, the President of the National Interfaith and religious organization for peace, NIFROP, he said the prayer session that will end on the 15th of February will afford the clerics to intercede so that Nigeria can be healed.



Speaking from the second book of Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version) which declares that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 


Garuba said,  "We have come to that point when we can no longer persist in our division and way of life that rend us asunder contrary to God’s will. 


"We can no longer continue to posture that all is well when it is clear that God wants us to repent of the sins we commit against ourselves and the glorious land that the Lord has provided for us in Nigeria. 


The Cleric said NIFROP have made Agape its creed, doing onto others as the Lord ordained irrespective of sectarian variations. 


He said this is done to the extent that compatriots call upon God in their own understanding in a manner that does not violate the tenets of true worship as revealed by the spirit.


He added that there is no basis to go to war with a fellow human over theological divergence. 


Continuing he said, "it is for this very reason that prayers offered by NIFROP are answered when we continue to hear from God each time we gather to seek understanding through supplications.  We had prayed in the past and God exposed the sponsors of the herdsmen/farmers crisis.  


"We had also prayed in the past and God humbled the Boko Haram terrorists since President Muhammadu Buhari came on board. God brought President Buhari on board after the prayers of this group to redeem Nigeria and the many blessings. These terrorists had thumped their nose at God in their ignorance but they were put to shame because they never knew that President Buhari was coming as God’s right hand against their evil intentions.  


He said not to be forgotten are those that had kept Nigeria backwards by stealing our commonwealth. 


"They pushed God’s people to the wall to the extent that we had to again resort to prayers until God exposed all these looters since President Buhari came on board as a servant of God.  


"Our  perseverance and persistence in prayers has been of help in warding off the sustained evil and demonic attacks which has made the devil to continue to fail in all his machinations against our nation, Nigeria. Brethren I can tell you that all these are the reason why the devil is out to destabilize this nation. They do not want to see anything good in the country"he added 


The Man of God implored brethren not to allow these evil ones regroup after God has given the nation victory over them. It is for this reason that Nigerians, irrespective of faith, must rise up in prayers for the unity of the country. The intention of these demons is to turn our land into their own killing field but our intercessions to God has not allowed them to prevail over us. Rather, we shall eternally triumph over them. 


Garuba said their latest strategy of using terrorists to attack Christians is meant to provoke believers in Christ Jesus to forsake their faith and become vengeful in contravention of the Lord’s charge that we should not embark on vengeance. They want to make us lose the grace of the Lord that abounds in our life. 


"Their expectations are that Christians will launch reprisals against Moslems and shed blood for their demons to drink. But the wisdom of the Lord that profited and the spirit of discerning have laid bare their plot to us such that no one fell into the snare they had set out for us. 


Brethren, knowing the powers of prayers, we exhort you all to again resort to prayers in asking God to ward off these latest rounds of spiritual and terrorists’ attacks directed at tormenting God’s elected. We shall again triumph and have cause to sing songs of thanksgiving onto the Lord"he said


They were various prayer session, song rendition at the flag off ceremony.

By Usman Bio

What is known today as National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has an enviable history. It started as National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) sometime in 1956. The students who pioneered the idea intended the organization to be a rally point for Nigerian students.

For decades of the existence of NANS which assumed its present nomenclature in 1980 saw the organization vigorously discharging the mandate of pursuing issues centered on the country’s education system, welfare or rights of students and challenging bad government policies with alternative perspectives.

Until the late 80s and as one of its leaders in my undergraduate days at the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria, NANS defined its existence as a formidable and potent students’ body. But the reality today is different. NANS has morphed into a quasi-political organization, comprising lobbyists and debased chasers of the shadows of illicit wealth from corrupt politicians.

My heart bled when I read contents and arguments raised in the public statement signed by NANS, one Danielson Akpan released mainly in respect of Ropvil Daciya Dalep, an undergraduate student of the University of Maiduguri, who was abducted by Boko Haram on his way back to campus from Jos and later killed. May the soul of Dalep and other victims of terrorism in Nigeria find eternal peace.

But the statement advertised the final degeneration of NANS to an embarrassing level. Our students’ body has lost its voice of conscience. They canvassed positions far beyond their purview and displayed generous ignorance anchored on presumptions. We have never had it this bad in NANS.

The contents of the public statement portraited NANS more as a pressure group for politicians and betrayed the essence of her existence. Worse still, it never made pretensions of mutating into worthless paid activists in the service of masked paymasters.

How it has become the duty of NANS officials to dabble into the campaigns of advocating for the sack of Service and Security Chiefs beats my imagination. This is the subsisting posture and sermons of politicians or sabs hellbent on reversing the gains Nigeria has recorded on the Boko Haram/ISWAP counter-operations.

It is quite tragic and it traumatized me to realize that NANS could afford to commercialize the killing of one of her own by visiting politicians with press statements ostensibly written to extort money from Nigerian politicians and spite the government. That the students’ body has become a willing tool in the hands of desperate politicians who are covertly instigating and funding terrorism, violence and killings in the country to discredit the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is most incredible.

When we functioned under NANS, the union was respected each time it raised its voice on a national issue. There were no lone rangers in the union as the statement exposed, but decisions were debated and decisions collectively endorsed before stepping out in public domain. Our position was concrete and our views held sacrosanct.

But we have consciously fretted away such veneration. We are pained. We are bereaved over the the killing of the UniMaid student and other Nigerians by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists. We mourn with the grieving families and all Nigerians caught in this nightmare and quagmire of terrorism.

But for those who are still alive, the action of the NANS should worry us more. It is senseless and outright wickedness to side with oppressors of your country in her moment of torments as demonstrated by the greedy, selfish and unfocused leadership of NANS. They are worse than the proverbial snake in green grasses.

The world and Nigerians have the divine responsibility to closely monitor the destructive tendencies and satanic inclination of NANS. I suspect some of them are on the payroll of the foreign sponsors of Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorism in Nigeria.

I was shocked that NANS' sight was blurred in seeing the determination, commitment and difference the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari has made and continue to make in quenching the consuming fires of insurgencies and insurrections in the country.

Perhaps, by NANS cursed wisdom, President Buhari is wrong for reclaiming the 18 LGAs in the Northeast which Boko Haram forcefully annexed before his Presidency. Buhari could be wrong for freeing over 20,000 Nigerians held in captivity in secret camps by insurgents. And Buhari is wrong for halting the spread of Boko Haram terrorism to the Southern part of the country. Buhari is also wrong for freeing the entire north east including the FCT and Plateau from the daily torments of suicide bombings and daily killings by Boko Haram.

The President is wrong for deflating IDPs camps in the Northeast and the steady progress in the reconstruction and rebuilding of the Northeast devastated by years of insurgency. These are the reasons I suspect have caused the restlessness of these odious NANS officials.

But NANS cannot play this smartness on Nigerians. We are neither deceived by their veiled devilry, garbed in polluted wisdom and sympathy with terrorists’ kingpins. They want the Service and Security Chiefs who have achieved these milestones in counter-terrorism in Nigeria to be sacked and pliant ones appointed to reverse the gains. This is a crazy idea!

I have discerned that this has been the desire of foreign agents and other sponsors of terrorism in the last one year. It has been the fervent prayers of Boko Haram sponsors. And it’s unfortunate that NANS has submitted itself to the dance of such destructive drumbeats, with the lyrics trumpeted by enemies against their own country.

Let me remind.NANS that their induced anger with President Buhari’s determination to regenerate and redeem Nigeria cannot change this narrative. NANS must realize that under the Buhari Presidency NNPC is no longer open for anyone to loot. Therefore, by accepting to play such unpatriotic roles of emergency activists in the hope of approaching any government official to suppress a script or to collect cash and become rich or live large on campus is unrewarding investment now.

It is not lucrative business now. NANS must be goaded into the realization that nothing under the Buhari Presidency pays, except hard work. So, they can continue to spew the nonsensical and destructive campaigns, but no one’s ox is gored.

Under this government, it has also not been easy with paid emergency activists. The NANS leaders can confirm from the experiences of Charlie Boy, Deji Adeyanju and several others who have had to diversify their trade in order to keep afloat. And in truthfulness to these NANS leaders, they are worse than the devil by joining the league of those pulling down Nigeria.

Why would they think of using the killing of the UniMaid student as a source of cake to service their epicurean life styles? It is the lowest level of debasement any human being on earth can condescend. Today, I can confirm that truly, NANS itself has also died! It should first mourn its funeral. What a pity!

Bio is a historian and wrote from University of Ilorin.

The General Overseer of the Ark of Covenant Total Life Ministries, Prophet Isaac Itodo has revealed that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has been enmeshed in playing politics and fraternizing with political opponents of the present administration in heating the polity in Nigeria at the detriment of uniting the body of Christ in Nigeria.
The fiery cleric stated this in an exclusive chat with journalists in the wake of the killing of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa state, Rev. Lawan Andimi by Boko Haram terrorist group.
Prophet Isaac Itodo stated that the prophecy from God is that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has compromised its position as a body of Christ to lead the children of God by availing itself as a willing political tool for sale to the highest bidder.
"The Prophecy from God is that from the time of Ayo Oristejafor as the Chairman of CAN, the leadership of the association was compromised when they started dinning and winning with politicians and also using CAN as a political tool for settling political scores."
"As strange as this may sound, the revelation from God is that the leadership of CAN as it was engaged in too many activities that brought the body of Christ into disrepute in return for a plate of porridge."
When asked what he meant by activities that brought the body of Christ into disrepute, the clergy stated that some of the decisions taken by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan were not in the interest of the country and instead of the leadership of CAN to speak out, they supported him by playing the religious card.
"The CAN was a willing tool used by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to hide the killings and mismanagement of public funds meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition to prosecute the Boko Haram war in North-East Nigeria."
The cleric further added that some leaders of CAN instead of sober reflecting on the killing of the Chairman of CAN in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, they have capitalized on it to make monetary demands from highly placed politicians in the country for propaganda purposes.
"God works in mysterious ways. Ways we mortals cannot comprehend. For in Romans 1:18, it stated that "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."
"It is ironic that these leaders have forgotten so soon on about the wrath of God in Ezekiel 25:17 that states how God will "execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon them."
The cleric averred that God is angry with the leadership of CAN and advises them to retrace their steps or be ready for God's visitation upon them.
"It is indeed a shame that the body of Christ could denigrate to a level where truth would be far from them, where they take pride in bearing false witness against brethren. God is angry with them on how they have compromised by preferring to tell lies instead of telling the truth at all times like Jesus Christ."
Prophet Isaac Itodo further asserted that CAN allowed itself to become an accomplice in the unemployment equation by seeking to pray for Governors and top politicians that are ready to pay than holding a nationwide spiritual exercise to disgrace the devil and his plans for Nigeria.
"The leadership of CAN is cash and carry, where prayers are offered in return for money. They prefer to be seen in the company of governors and other political office holders who can pay their price in return for prayers. And to think that the leadership of CAN is now using the killing of Rev. Lawan Andimi to seek personal gains from top politicians in the country is very sad."
"The leadership of CAN cannot mock God because instead of bringing the Church together, they have elected to share money and utter just anything to the highest bidder because they have turned CAN to the biggest political party in Nigeria by using the name of God in vain to promote their empire for selfish interests and gains, forgetting that the scriptures state that Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Prophet Isaac Itodo stated that several other revelations were received from God on how the leadership of CAN had compromised. If they do not desist from their old ways, the wrath of God will come down heavily on them.
"God revealed that the leadership of CAN must imbibe the spirit of uprightness and deviate from their old ways. That they should seek His Face in times of tribulations rather than running to those whose actions and inactions have contributed to the level of insecurity in Nigeria."
When asked about the state of insecurity in the country as one of God's wrath on Nigeria, the clergy stated that the issue of insecurity had been politicized and blown out of proportion by politicians.
"The issue of insecurity has been politicized, and it is sad that CAN have been brought into the fray by these same set of politicians that are fueling the crisis to demand the sacking of Service Chiefs. Monies have indeed exchanged hands with the leadership of CAN for them to be calling for the sack of Service Chiefs".

*Boko Haram: Former CP Tsav writes Nigerian editors over fake news, canvases support for Nigerian troops*

A former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has cautioned Nigerian editors over the implication of fake news as it concerns the war against terrorism.

Mr. Tsav made this known on Thursday in a letter titled "winning the war against insurgency and the role of a patriotic press” and addressed to the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

According to the elder statesman, journalists are rather promoting insurgency, than supporting the military despite remarkable gains.

As partners in progress, he revealed that the media have a great role to play collectively in winning the final war against Boko Haram.

While it will take a battalion of armies about a year to bring an entire nation down, Mr. Tsav reckoned that the pen requires just a second to pull down a whole nation.

Hence he wants journalist to be cautious in reporting insurgency, so not to, in a way, promote terrorist propaganda.

For this to be achieved, however, the ex-Police chief believes the Nigerian Guild of Editors must be actively involved, blocking mischievous reporters influenced by unscrupulous power monks from compromising our national security.

Alhaji Tsav, therefore, urged Nigerian editors to embark on thorough fact-checks and show support for the military.

Read full letter below:

My Dear Nigerian Guild of Editors.

I extend my warmest regards to members of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE). Same to every Nigerian wherever he is resident now, whether in Southeast, Southwest, North Central or Northeast. I appreciate our unbreakable fraternity whether in our offices, our homes in the city or villages.

I am an elder statesman and proud to be a Nigerian with vast knowledge on security issues. I spent my youthful to adult age, serving my country in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) diligently, loyally, patriotically and faithfully for 35 years before I retired.

I finally retired as the Police Commissioner, Lagos State. And sometime, years back, I acted as the MILAD of Sokoto state. It therefore means I have vast experience in security matters. It is what nobody can take away or derobe from me, until I answer the final call of Almighty Allah.

In this capacity, I have presented papers at Media seminars, workshops and conferences locally and internationally in the course of my working schedules in serving Nigeria. I have mainly interrogated security experts, top Government officials and other professionals on security matters.

And in all, I have always projected and promoted the view that much as the media must perform it's constitutional responsibility as watchdogs of society; there must be some restraint when it relates to national security issues. We must be mindful not to incense the public to react violently in a nation under serious insecurity threats by our reportage or might of the pen.

We have insecurity threats that have threatened the very foundations of our robust lives and peaceful co-existence. These issues have gravely impeded us in dimensions we can only recollect in regrets. We need to be careful in the manner scenes at the battlefield are reported by the media.

By our actions or inactions and in most of the reports I have read on the ongoing clearance operations in Nigeria's Northeast against Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorists, it means journalists are rather promoting insurgency, than helping Nigeria and the global community overcome it. We are all affected this badly!

When you read through some media reportorials on the military’s counter- insurgency operations in Nigeria's Northeast, one gets angered that our journalists are rather supporting the atrocities of terrorists against Nigeria. Let me point it to our editors that a variant of terrorism is called, cyberspace terrorism. It's more dangerous than even the trench battles with insurgents.

We should not posture very eagerly in promoting terrorists propaganda on triumphs over violent raids of our communities. And most times, it's fake news, crafted to service the ego of their foreign paymasters and sponsors from other foreign nations. Whatever happens, I plead that restraint should be observed by war correspondents on reporting insurgency in Nigeria.

I say this because the reports of some war correspondents, reporting the insurgency conflict in Nigeria's Northeast, drape and yawn with un-patriotism, disloyalty and pandering to the overt pleasantness of the reporters to insurgents and their paymasters.

Honestly, the Nigerian media has no reason to play this card, when their country is under the fumes of Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorism. It's unfair to all of us. And I dare say, such excesses from inexperienced and excited reporters on the field must be checkmated by editors manning the security desk in the media Houses.

Let me remind all of us that we have a duty and a price to pay for the peace of our nation. We cannot shirk from it, under the illusion that it is the responsibility of the Military, Airforce, Navy, the Police or other uniformed men and women.

On security, we are all partners in progress with the Military and other para-military organizations. We have a great role to play collectively in winning the final war against Boko Haram insurgency Your pen, arrow, cudgels are very important, much as conventional weaponry in this battle. Let's not leave anything to chance.

Of course, I don't want to dispute an ancient scholar, Edward Bulwer Lytton, who said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." Today, he is countered empirically in the dynamism of other equally sound scholars that bombs are mightier than the pen! So, must we toe this line of thinking to self-destruct?

So, the pen can either mitigate or inflate the atmosphere of war where Nigeria has found itself in the current counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists. I believe, the pen can do incalculable damage when deployed wrongly.

Whilst it will take a battalion of Armies about a year to bring an entire nation down, it will take the pen just one second to pull down a whole nation.The pen can also build the nation. The pen defeated tyranny in the past, even in Nigeria and brought us democracy.

I want to believe the pen can still humble Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, if only we deploy it patriotically. We should not be more excited in promoting Boko Haram/ISWAP devilish atrocities and horrendous crimes against Nigerians and humanity generally.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors must assist us in this battle. They should deploy their intelligence to block mischievous reporters from compromising our national security, especially in the traditional media, who are influenced by unscrupulous power monks.

When such un-patriotic stuff is churned out through the traditional media, it's unpardonable. If Nigerians read it through the social media, one can forgive; but when it is the traditional media that commits such blunders, then there is need to be afraid for our country.

I am worried because the traditional media's specific recent publication of a glaring falsehood that 17 soldiers were killed by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Gwoza/ Bama/ Pulka axis and others has been exposed by concrete evidence as fake! This should prick the conscience of editors who allow such flawed scripts from reporters to qualify for publication and public consumption.

Nigerian Guild of Editors! Please, do us a fact-check each time your reporters in the Northeast send news to you from the frontlines. Verify and ascertain the truthfulness of the story on your desk before going to press. And in such circumstances of overtly partial news in support of terrorists, Nigerian troops are not only discouraged, but their morale is demoralised.

Nigerians should know that if we lose the war to the insurgents, it is partly because the media failed us. If we win it, it is because the pen, a very strong weapon in warfare supported us. We should not use the pen in our hands against ourselves.

I thank all security agents for their wonderful job and most warmly, you the media.

As the crisis rocking the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi FIIRO persist over the purported ingenuity of the academic record of the Acting Director General, Chima Igwe and the call for his removal, a coalition of civil society organisations has called for a probe into the actions of the players particularly the leadership of the Senior Staff Union and directors in the institute whom they accused of having unhealthy interest in the call for the removal of the Acting DG despite a clean bill given to him by the ICPC.

Addressing a press conference earlier today in Lagos, the coalition called on the ICPC and the minister of Science and Technology to make public the findings surrounding the imbroglio, just as it urged the Minister to order a probe into the conduct of the arrowhead of the siege on the institute over the past few weeks.

"We can't afford to continually sacrifice our best on the altar of regional sensationalism, tribalism and blackmail and hence our intervention." the group said.

"They attempt to frame up the acting DG with the intention of bringing him to public opprobrium and remove him from office. The kernel of this revelation is a plot to discredit his qualifications that qualifies him for the position he occupies."

They group furthered stated some demands.


"That all players in the game of shame and particularly the leadership of the staff union be probed for their involvement in bringing the name and integrity of the institute to disrepute and for breaking the civil service rule in the engagement of the press without exhausting the internal mechanism of government and her agencies.

That the ICPC again make known and public their finding as regards the issue surrounding the certificates of the acting DG.

The European Union Centre for Human Rights Protection (EUCHRP) has commended the Nigerian government and military for making significant progress in its counter-insurgency operations.

The Centre made this known in an extensive report on the “ threats posed by Boko Haram/ISWAP, the response of the Nigerian State and plight of civilians”.

In the report signed by Executive Director, Stuart McGhie and released on Tuesday, the Luxembourg-based centre appraised President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring Nigerians and Nigeria is safe from enemies within and beyond its borders.

The team of highly-skilled researchers took into account the origin of the Boko Haram/ISWAP sect, previous government's efforts and how the current administration and military leadership led by Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai has turned the tide positively.

Among others, the group highlighted transparency in defence procurement; human right and obedience to rule of engagement; procurement of modern equipment as well as regional cooperation as the catalyst.

Notwithstanding these obvious gains, the European Union Centre for Human Rights Protection, however, urged the Nigerian government and military not to rest on its laurels.

Read full report below:

Introduction

The emergence of the Boko Haram sect could be traced to the activities of Mohammed Yusuf, who called for the reinstitution of sharia governing Muslim Empires, which existed long before the British Empire subdued it. He argued that the colonial administration had turned the area to anti- Islam, breeding amongst the people an un-Islamic lifestyle. He was quoted in a BBC interview saying that "There are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and understood that the present Western-style education is mixed with issues that run contrary to our beliefs in Islam…" Hence the name "Boko Haram" used by media, Government, and the general public to refer to the group who took up a more radical approach at the death of its founding leader, Mohammed Yusuf, who died in prison in 2009.

The Boko Haram Sect, since then under Abubakar Shekau's leadership, has evolved from fringe religious movement into one of the most lethal terrorist organizations in the world. The group has been linked and has claimed several terrorist attacks against the Nigerian state, and most back-breaking was the kidnap of over 200 girls (Chibok) from a boarding school on 14th April 2014 with President Goodluck Jonathan at the helm of governance.

The inability of the Government of the day to successfully persecute a counter-insurgency war against the sect highlighted the failures of the Jonathan government on the military front. More "high profile" attacks were carried out by the sect; several civilians and military personals were killed, civilians displaced, Chibok girls unreached, lots of monies spent, and many more stolen.

This was the security situation the Nigerian military faced before the election of Muhammadu Buhari as President in 2015. Since the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, it could be argued that the Security situation in Nigeria had significantly improved, and the Nigerian military has successfully launched several military campaigns against the Boko Haram group.

Nigerian Government Response against Boko Haram

Available statistics indicate that Boko Haram was able to exert its authority and control over some areas of northeast Nigeria. They made Camp Zero in Sambisa forest a reliable defense, training, and command center for their operations. The importance of dislodging the terror group from their Sambisa hideout could not have been overemphasized. It was indeed a significant victory for the Nigerian military authorities, which struck a heavy blow on the capability of the sect.

Dislodging Boko Haram from the Sambisa forest was not a question of "should" but a question of "how" for the Nigerian military who faced a daunting task of wrestling the forest from terrorist control.

The policy and administrative arms of the military had been accused of being detached from the reality of soldiers on the frontline. Complaints from troops about inadequate supplies of equipment and poor welfare was nullified by the relocation of the military command center to Maiduguri aimed at centralizing operations close to the action, cut the bureaucracy and speed up decision-making.

These initiatives paid off evidenced in the fact that Boko Haram was not only dislodged from the Sambisa forest but were also continually retreated into neighboring countries. Since the launch of Operation Lafia Dole, Boko Haram's capacity to attack territories outside Borno state has been limited. This is a great gain against a lethal and highly sophisticated group whose activities extended to the capital city of Abuja.

The Highlights of the War against Terrorism in Nigeria (2015-date)

Transparency in Defence Procurement

To enhance transparency, the Nigerian military has since brought corrupt officers and officials to book and also recovered looted security funds. Due to the irregularities that took place in the defence spending, the National Security Adviser instituted a committee to investigate weapon procurement since 2007 to check irregularities that lead to the purchasing of sub-standard and unserviceable equipment.

The superior firepower of troops, especially those provided by the Nigeria military, has paid off significantly on the battlefield. A large number of terrorists have since been captured, some killed, and others have fled their hideouts. In a bid to strengthen trust and transparency in executing the war against terrorism between the military and the general public, the command center of Operation Lafiya Dole conducts media briefing on the progress and setbacks of the operation.

Regional Cooperation

Before the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria's President, the Multi-National Joint Task Force established in 1998 was a weak regional security set up that could not live up to its billings highlighted by the pull out of Chad and Niger in 2013 and 2014 (peak years of Boko Haram terrorism) and the overrunning of the MNJTF headquarters near Baga (Nigeria) by Boko Haram terrorist which was a massive blow on the regional security set up.

However, the regional cooperation was reviewed and revived in mid-2015 with headquarters at N'Djamena commanded by a Nigerian General through the diplomatic prowess of the President Muhammadu Buhari which permitted the execution of joint operations, planning, intelligence sharing and the temporal permission of Nigerien and Chadian troops to intervene in Nigerian territory in the Lake Chad area.

Procurement of Modern Equipment

The Nigerian Government responded to the activities of Boko Haram by procuring modern equipment for the execution of the war against the sect. The procurement of modern equipment and weaponry lifted troop morale and, as such, impacted on the military gains against the sect. The Government also solicited and continues to solicit for international assistance in this regard.

In December 2016, the German Ministry of the defence supplied the Nigerian military with modern mobile medical units, several metal detectors, and counter-improvised Explosive Device and Explosive Ordinance Disposal. In the same year, during the African Union, Summit, Britain had committed 860 million Euros in foreign aid to Nigeria to boast her efforts against Boko Haram. Most of these donations have been judiciously spent on arms procurement, which has lifted troop morale. The Nigerian military, since the commencement of new procurement policy, got rid of sub-standard weapons and bad equipment.

Human Right and Obedience to Rule of Engagement

It is important to note that the Nigerian military instituted measures that check excessive human rights abuse as may be committed by the armed forces in the course of its military engagement with Boko Haram in the North East. By October 2015, the Nigerian military had begun to investigate cases of indiscipline by soldiers, including human rights abuses, and also announced the creation of a human rights desk to handle complaints from members of the public.

In August 2017, a presidential investigation Panel on Review of Compliance of Armed Forces with Human Rights Obligations and Rules of Engagement was instituted to "investigate, prosecute and punish all crimes under international law and other serious violations of human rights law, whether committed by Boko Haram, Nigerian military or the civilian joint task force."

To ensure effective control of arbitrariness and lawlessness by military personnel, deliberate, unambiguous rules or directives that define the circumstances, conditions, degree and manner in which the use of force or actions which might be construed as provocative may be applied, are given out by competent authority to every soldier on internal security operation.

These rules are consistent, account for a variety of potential scenarios and the political and military aspects of a given situation. Such awareness and the penchant for the respect for human rights by the military leadership ensures that at all times, troops are aware of these rules before they are launched into the operational arena, and any violation is met with a severe penalty. By so doing, a lot of human rights abuses are being checkmated.

Conclusion

Security is a vital part of socio-economic development in Nigeria, that is why the Nigerian Government deploys every ounce of capability within her reach to protect her own, whether it is her territory, people, sovereignty or resources from potential and actual threats from fellow states, non-state and stateless actors such Boko Haram. The above report has shown that the Nigerian Government has made significant progress security-wise in the past decade, especially against insurgency activities in the North East region. It is on this note that this report recommends that the Nigerian Government should not rest on her laurels but continue to defend her citizens and territory from enemies within and beyond its borders.

*Boko Haram/ISWAP's murder of preacher won't break our trust in God, Buhari - Christian group*

Despite the gruesome murder of Adamawa-based preacher, Rev Lawan Andimi, by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, the Northern Christian Forum of Nigeria (NCFN) has vowed to hold on to its faith and support for President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.

The Christian group made this known at a press conference on Thursday condemning the wicked act which it described as “unfortunate and barbaric”.

In a statement signed by President, Rev. Elijah Bitrus, NCFN revealed that the plan was to weaken their faith to discourage the evangelism and rapid spread of the gospel across the length and breadth of the country.

Instead, however, this episode has enhanced their belief and uncompromising support for the president, according to Rev. Bitrus.

The group hailed President Buhari's effort in the fight against terrorism and corruption which sponsors and collaborators of the Boko Haram terrorists aren't pleased with.

NCFN, therefore, called on Nigerians to continue to cooperate and give full support to the government in the bid to rid of these elements that are hell bent on trying to instigate Nigerians against one another.

Read full statement below:

The Northern Christian Forum of Nigeria (NCFN) has received with shock the unfortunate and barbaric murder of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in Michika Local Government of Adamawa State by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists.

This comes as a surprise even more painful given that the Reverend Gentleman was killed after his abductors raised hope that he was going to be released after the payment of ransom.

But as it turned out, they were obviously looking for excuses to commit their heinous act hence demanded for a ransom they thought would be impossible to raise within the given time frame, but when the church rose in unison and almost tripled the amount, the terrorists, seeing that their thirst for blood would not be satiated if they release the CAN Chairman, rejected the N50 million offered and executed the Reverend Gentleman in cold blood.

This is not just an act of wickedness but a calculated campaign to frighten the faithful in their quest to get close to their maker. But we are only made stronger and more United in our resolve to love God the more.

The NCFN has reasons to believe that there is a plan to weaken the faithful by such acts of brutality in order to discourage the evangelism and rapid spread of the gospel across the length and breadth of the country. Furthermore that more brethren have continued to accept the teachings of our lord and saviour in the most interior parts of the north-east to the glory of God.

We will like to send a strong message out there to the terrorists and their sponsors that no matter how hard they might try, that our faith in God cannot be shaken and as long as the lord tarries we will not be deterred from either practicing our faith or winning souls for the kingdom.

As Christians, we draw inspiration from the scripture and especially the book of Job where the man of God triumphed over every form of physical pain and torture due to his abiding faith in the almighty.

Let it be known to the terrorists and their sponsors that our eyes are already focused on the mark hence we cannot be discouraged or distracted by such acts of cowardice that manifest in the killing of the body.

What we see is beyond here hence we cannot be tossed by every swaying of the wind.

We are also aware that the current administration is doing all it can to put an end to these acts of terrorism and that these actions are also targeted at poisoning the minds of Christians into believing that they are not secured under the current administration.

Many are angry at the President because of his fight against corruption which we have had reasons to support in order to restore back the glory of our country. President Buhari is the choice of God and no man born of woman can undo what God has decreed.

We therefore call on all to cooperate and give full support to the government in the bid to rid this country of these elements that are hell bent on trying to instigate Nigerians against one another based on religion. We shall forever remain one in the body of Christ and nothing shall discourage us.

Thank you and may all the departed souls rest in peace. Amen.

Army/IMN Clash: Civil rights group asks court to stop IMN  Spokesman, Musa, KDGH others from publishing book



The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency, CESJET, has approached the state high court in Kaduna asking for an order to stop the spokesman of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim Musa, from publishing a book on the clash between the IMN and the Nigeria Army saying it is capable of jeopardizing the ongoing trial of the IMN leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. 


Barrister Edward Omaga who spoke with journalists after filing the suit said the centre views the attempt to publish the book as an attempt to prove that Ibrahim El-Zakzakky and his followers are not guilty whereas the State is prosecuting him.


He said one cannot release a book for public consumption at the same time when issues are before the court of law as allowing same will be subjudice.


CESJET in an originating summons filed at the State High Court Kaduna, wants the court to determine whether by virtue of the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the clash between IMN and the Nigeria army and the gazetted white paper emanating from it, whether the IMN was not proscribed and designated as a terrorist group and whether Ibrahim Musa is not by writing a book on the IMN attempting to commit an act of terrorism.

The centre is also asking the court for an order mandating the commissioner of police in Kaduna State to arrest and prosecute the IMN spokesman for trying to publish the book entitled, ‘ December 2015 Massacre of Shiites in Nigeria. Survivors accounts which it says amounts to trying to dislodge the Nigerian government.

In the summons taken out by Edward Omaga, the center pointed out that by virtue of the report of the Judicial commission of Inquiry and the white paper the IMN  has been proscribed stressing that by trying to launch a book on the IMN, Ibrahim Musa is trying to further the activities of the IMN which the centre described as ‘criminal.’

CESJET further pointed out that being the spokesman of the IMN is enough to taint the book with falsehood, defamation or blackmail capable of inciting the public against the Nigerian government and jeopardizing the ongoing trial of Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky by the High Court of Kaduna State for offences bordering on treason, terrorism and murder.

Omaga said the centre's interest is in seeing that the security of the nation is not threatened under any guise.

He said it is significant that members of the public are not allowed to engage in activities capable of inciting the public against the government or rubbishing the temple of justice at any point.

*CALSER mourns pastor killed by Boko Haram/ISWAP, calls for unity of faith against terrorist ideology*


The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) has condemned the murder of Adamawa-based preacher, Lawan Andimi by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists.

In a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, CALSER President, Princess Ajibola believes the killing of the Christian cleric shows the radical sect's desperation to provoke sectarian strife that could ultimately birth crisis.

According to the Centre, Boko Haram/ISWAP ideology has nothing to do with religion but rather sheer wickedness and evil against humanity.

CALSER, therefore, called on Nigerians to unite irrespective of religious and ethnic divide to put an end to the terrorist’s devilish ideology.

While tasking the Federal Government, through the various security agencies, to identify the perpetrators, CALSER further urged the international community to quit the silence and condemn the activities of the terrorist group.

Read full address below:

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) condemns in the strongest terms the murder of Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Michika local government area of Adamawa state by terrorists. We mourn the death of Pastor Andimi not just because of the tragic connections but because of the danger his murder poses to long term stability of Nigeria.

The murder of the Christian clergy further confirms our fears that Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) are desperate to provoke sectarian strife that could see Nigerians attacking and counter-attacking each other if they fall for the terrorists’ strategy of deepening religious divides.

CALSER therefore reminds Nigerians that Boko Haram/ISWAP ideology has nothing to do with religion but rather sheer wickedness and evil against humanity. Rather than being people that want to forcefully impose their religion on the rest of us, these terrorists are nothing but a bunch of criminals, psychopaths and sociopaths who hide their perversion behind religious claims.

The killing of Pastor Andimi calls for sober reflection but even more is the need to have the appropriate responses from the various stakeholders. At the top of the hierarchy is the urgent need for unity of purpose by all men of goodwill, who must to come together irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliation to defeat the evil called Boko Haram/ISWAP.

The clergy across all persuasions must condemn the dastardly murder while urging their followers to resist the temptation of taking steps that could create new problems for the country. Islamic clerics have the particularly arduous task of addressing conditions that make it possible for the terrorists to pervert religious teachings for brainwashing, recruiting, radicalizing and manipulating their members into disregarding the sanctity of human life.

We call on the Federal Government, through the various security agencies, to particularly identify the terrorists involved in the pastor’s murder and promptly take justice to them to serve as a deterrence and a reminder that such reckless act of terrorism is not permissible irrespective of what international support Boko Haram and ISWAP enjoy. Nigerians and their military must not give up on reducing Boko Haram/ISWAP to ashes anywhere in the country and beyond.

Whilst the international community continues to maintain the very shameful silence over the atrocities committed by Boko Haram/ISWAP in Nigeria’s north east, and while a section of the international media circuit continues to promote falsehood against the Nigerian military despite their sacrifices for the security of all citizens, we believe that the murder of Pastor Andimi should be a watershed and an opportunity for them to recalibrate and renounce all forms of support for the terrorists, implied, covert or overt.

The world and its police body should not stop at just condemning the murder but must move further by taking practical steps that help countries affected by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism to bring the criminals and their sponsors to book.

*Boko Haram/ISWAP: Inter-faith group calls for one day nationwide prayers against killers of Adamawa Pastor*

Following the gruesome murder of an Adamawa-based pastor, the National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP) has called on Nigerians to embark on a one-day intensive prayer and fast against his killers.

Rev. Lawan Andimi was Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State before his abduction and abrupt death.

In an emotional statement signed by Grand Patron on Tuesday, Archbishop Julius Ediwe, NIFROP sobbed over the demise considering all efforts put into securing his release from Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group.

Bishop Ediwe described the slain pastor as a “man of God that preached the gospel of peace and unity in his area of jurisdiction” and “lived a life worthy of emulation in his actions and inactions in the propagation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

However, inter-faith group believes his murder is “ one too many” and something urgent needs to be done by Nigerians irrespective of faith.

Hence, NIFROP called for a one-day prayer and fasting by people of all faith across the country to bring the wrath of God upon the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist and their collaborators that do not want peace and progress in Nigeria.

The group reckoned that Nigerians need to seek the wrath of God to “ fall heavily on all those responsible for the death of Rev Andimi”, from the radical sect to its financiers and collaborators.

Read full statement below:

The National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP) are indeed saddened by the unfortunate killing of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Rev. Lawan Andimi.

The news came as a rude shock to NIFROP despite all the efforts that were put into securing his release from the hands of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group since his abduction for no justifiable cause other than the fact that he is a servant of the Lord's vineyard.

Rev. Lawan Andimi was a man of God that preached the gospel of peace and unity in his area of jurisdiction and his capacity as the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa state. This death is indeed one too many for all lovers of peace in Nigeria regardless of our ethnic and religious affiliations.

The National Inter-Faith and Religious Organizations for Peace (NIFROP) is consoled with the fact that Rev. Lawan Andimi lived a life worthy of emulation in his actions and inactions in the propagation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every Servant of God, whomever he may be and however important his work, must eventually rest from his labors. Even Prophet Elijah came to the end of his earthly span of service. There were very few witnesses on the earth in those days; good men were scarce, yet Prophet Elijah had to go! We are apt only to look at the earthly service of believers and to forget that our earthly ministry is only a preparation for our service in the ages to come.

In the Book of Psalms 105: 15, the Holy Bible expressly stated thus: "Do not touch My anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." The killing of Rev. Lawan Andimi by the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist group is indeed against this biblical injunction, and there shall be consequences.

According to the Book of Romans 1:18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."

As an organization under the mantle of God, we pray that the wrath of God shall fall heavily on all those responsible for the death of Rev. Lawan Andimi in unquantifiable measures. All those that have conspired directly or indirectly to the death of the servant of God shall be visited with the wrath of God. This includes the financiers, local, and international promoters of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist groups.

The National Inter-Faith and Religious Organizations for Peace have indeed placed a curse that they shall indeed know no peace from this day onwards till the day of their destruction.

The National Inter-Faith and Religious Organizations for Peace consequently call for a one-day prayer and fasting by people of all faith across the country to bring the wrath of God upon the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorist and their collaborators that do not want peace and progress in Nigeria.

In all of these, we give thanks to God almighty, as stated in the book of 1 Corinthians 15:57. "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

*ICC: Global Amnesty commends Nigerian government's effort in tackling threats to humanity*

....calls for consideration of facts against Boko Haram, IMN others

Contrary to preliminary examination activities by the International Criminal Court that its prosecutor could press three cases against the Nigerian government, the Global Amnesty Watch (GWA) has commended the Nigerian government for its effort in tackling threats to humanity.

The international humanitarian organization made this known on Tuesday in a detailed report opposing ICC's recent report with a view to put issues in proper perspective.

Among others, the international tribunal listed Nigeria as one of the countries being probed for alleged war and international human rights crimes.

On the opposite, however, Global Amnesty Watch believes the Nigerian authorities have done sufficiently well in its prosecution of the war against terrorism in Nigeria.

In the report signed by John Tom Lever, Africa Representative, GAW acknowledged some challenges were faced along the way but prompt and counter measures were put in place.

The Global Amnesty Watch added that the issues identified by the ICC are those already addressed by a presidential panel of inquiry and found the military innocent.

After thoroughly examining the facts, the group concluded that indeed the Nigerian military lived up to expectation and the position of the ICC is “misleading and not a reflection of the reality on the ground”.

In the interest of fairness to all, Global Amnesty Watch, therefore, called on ICC to investigate Boko Haram, IMN and others over war crimes.

Read full report below:

Preamble:

The International Criminal Court, in its 2019 edition of the annual report on preliminary examination activities, identified three cases that could be pressed against Nigerian authorities as issued by the Office of its prosecutor headed by Mrs. Fatou Bensouda.

The report amongst a host of others listed Nigeria as one of the countries being probed for alleged war and international human rights crimes. The possible crimes against the Nigerian Security and Civilian Joint Task Force include killings, torture or ill-treatment of military-aged males suspected to be Boko Haram members or supporters in the North East. The report also identified attacks against civilian populations and recruitment and use of children under 15 to participate in hostilities.

The Position of the Global Amnesty Watch:

The Global Amnesty Watch as an international humanitarian organization with a mandate of serving as that watchdog on Human Rights compliance by governments and organizations around the world decries the methodology employed by the ICC in arriving at most of the findings in its report, especially that aspects that relates to the Nigerian military and its prosecution of the war against terrorism in North-East Nigeria.

The position of the ICC is at best misleading and not a reflection of the reality on the ground because of its failure to recognize appropriate mechanisms put in place by the Nigerian authorities to ensure that cases of excessive use of forces, human rights violations and other sundry issues by Nigerian military personnel are addressed.


Special Board of Inquiry:

The ICC may wish to recall that the Nigerian Army had indeed constituted a Special Board of Inquiry headed by Major General A.T. Jibrin, rtd, which investigated the cases of misdemeanour by officers and men of the Nigerian Army in the fight against terrorism in North-East Nigeria and other security operations in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria.

The Global Amnesty Watch as a stakeholder is privy to the content of the report and in times past called for it to be given wide publication in an attempt to put to rest the controversies that had raged around the efforts of the Nigerian military to secure the country and keep its citizens safe from terrorist and other militant groups in the country.

Presidential Investigative Panel:

In the aftermath of public outcry in human rights violations against the Nigerian Military in respect to the IMN and IPOB, a presidential investigative panel was instituted by the Nigerian government and headed by Justice Georgewill Biobele to review extant rules of engagement applicable in the Armed Forces and the extent of compliance with them. The panel sat in Enugu, Abuja, Maiduguri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt and received several petitions from individuals, groups and CSOs. The IPOB and their lawyers made presentations in Enugu, southeast Nigeria during which several alleged cases of military brutality were heard. It must be stated that cases as far back as 2007 were also presented at the panel.

The Global Amnesty Watch is aware that the Presidential Panel, in its submission, exonerated the Nigerian Military of all allegations of human rights violations against IPOB and the IMN.

Boko Haram:

The Boko Haram crisis that has ravaged most parts of North-East Nigeria is indeed as worrisome as it sounds. Regardless of the nefarious activities of the terror group, the Global Amnesty Watch can state that the operations of the Nigerian Military in the zone have been characterized by compliance with the rules of engagement in war situations. This much the Global Amnesty Watch has stated in its various reports on the activities of the Nigeria military in North-East Nigeria.

The much was also stated when a special rapporteur from Global Amnesty Watch commended the Nigerian Military for displaying effective coordination against Boko Haram terrorists in North-East Nigeria amidst conspiracy. This came about after a systematic tour of select communities, which included Chibok, Gwoza, and Madagali.

The findings of the Special Rapporteur revealed that the government of Nigeria has continued to review the rules of engagement to ensure that actions of troops are in tandem with the Nigerian Armed Forces published rules of engagement.

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria:

The position of the Global Amnesty Watch on the activities of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has been documented in a series of reports made available to the public. The military action of December 2015, between the Nigerian Army and the IMN referenced by the ICC, has been investigated by the Global Amnesty Watch to ascertain cases of Human Rights violations by the Nigerian Army.

This was corroborated by the setting up of a Special Commission of Inquiry by the Kaduna State Government. The findings of the Special Commission of Inquiry made substantial revelations on the cause of the clash between the Nigerian Army and the IMN. The Global Amnesty Watch scrutinized this much, and a conclusion was reached that there was indeed a threat to the life of the Chief of Army Staff, whose convoy was ambushed in Zaria by IMN members on a procession.

It must be noted that there were several other instances where the IMN as an organization exhibited violent tendencies manifest in street protests in most parts of the country that resulted in deaths and destructions of properties. However, it must be stated that there were some established cases of human rights violations on the part of the Nigerian Military, and the Global Amnesty Watch did raise the alarm, which eventually led to disciplinary actions taken against such erring officers. And not in the magnitude the ICC is presenting.


Indigenous People of Biafra:

The agitations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are one that should be a source of concern to all stakeholders. This much has been stated in numerous forums where the Global Amnesty Watch engaged stakeholders in Nigeria. Their agitations in most times result in violent confrontations with security operatives with little or minimal provocation.

The Global Amnesty Watch has indeed frowned at situations where groups have refused to be guided by the recognized constituted authorities in the country, which is indeed always a recipe for breakdown of law and order. This much was highlighted in the ICC report, but missing in crucial details as to how and what led to the confrontations with the security operatives.

It must be stated that there were instances where the security agencies deployed the excessive force in arresting threats posed by IPOB; the Global Amnesty Watch has roundly condemned such displays. However, it is our considered opinion that this act or actions should not form a basis for the ICC to press charges against the Nigerian Authorities.

The focus instead should be on these organizations that have taken laws into their own hands by constituting themselves into parallel governments threatening peace and tranquility in most instances.

Terrorism Trial:

We wish to state that due to the magnitude of the conflict caused by the IMN and IPOB, as stated earlier the leaders of the IMN, Sheik Ibraheem EL-Zar-zarky, as well as Nnamdi Kanu are standing trial in various courts in Nigeria on charges of terrorism brought forward by the Nigerian government. This is also cognizant of the fact that the Global Amnesty Watch is in receipt of evidence that the International Criminal Court is investigating the IMN and IPOB for war crimes due to the level of violence that has occasioned their activities in Nigeria.


Conclusion:

The Global Amnesty Watch wishes to put on record that the issues identified by the ICC are the very issues that a presidential panel of inquiry has addressed and found the military innocent. In the few cases where breaches were noticed, personnel have been decisively dealt with and it would only amount to double jeopardy for anyone to be sanctioned for one offense twice anywhere in the world.

It is thus our considered opinion that the Nigerian Military has indeed lived up to expectation in its prosecution of the war against terrorism in Nigeria. It must be stated that no society or endeavour is 100% perfect, but in instances where measures are instituted to check abuses or overzealousness must be commended and not crucified.

This is aside the fact that the Global Amnesty Watch is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the ICC investigation on the IMN and IPOB for war crimes in the interest of fairness to all.

YOUTH COUNCIL COMMENDS JAMB OVER THE REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR 2020 UTME
The leadership of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, the premier youth welfare advocacy organization, has commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board over the success of the ongoing registration exercise for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, following an independent monitoring tour of registration centers, the Vice President (North Central) of NYCN, Amb. Akoshile Mukhtar expressed appreciation to the management of JAMB under the leadership of Prof. Is’haq Oloyede the Registrar. Ambassador Mukhtar said “ the Council is indeed impressed that the management of JAMB was swift in responding to feedback and reversing the requirement for NIN as a prerequisite for registering candidates, which had imposed difficulties on the youth of this country”. Speaking Further Ambassador Mukhtar posited that “without question Prof. Oloyede showed that indeed the government of the day is a humane one that is more interested in the welfare of Nigerians than any other before it and that the government is open to listening to the voices of the people in making and implementing policies”.
He commended JAMB for choosing the very best of information technology platforms that have made the registration process hitchfree, as “all of the centers visited by the NYCN delegation found registration to be seamless and orderly”.
He further said that “the bold and unprecedented reforms being witnessed in JAMB have translated into practical benefits to government and direct impact on the public through initiatives such as, higher remittances to government, reduction in registration cost last year and the merger of the UTME and DE registrations. It will also be recalled that JAMB had intervened in the issue of the young girl in Niger state who was denied admission by ABU despite her high scores in last year’s UTME”.
He urged Prof Oloyede to continue in his current course and counseled Nigerians to give the seasoned education Czar time as investments in education are reaped over the medium to long term, saying that “the work being done by JAMB should be embraced by all Nigerians and emulated by other agencies of government to scale up the harvest for our country in the nearest future”.

By Okanga Agila

Day break has caught some Nigerian leaders on the wrong side of history. Aspiring for public office is as easy as dreaming dreams. But the most difficult aspect of dreams is the consummation of its reality. Most Nigerians have found themselves on the leadership plane. But their actions and utterances depict a frustrating departure from their flaunted competencies in seeking for such exalted offices. They are devoid of tact, vision and diplomacy required of such positions of leadership.

Nigerians woke up to the rude shock of the inauguration of a para-military security organization christened as Western Nigeria Security Network alias Operation Amotekun in Ibadan, Oyo state. It is a collective initiative of State Governors of the six South West states of Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun, and headquartered in Gbongan in Osun State.

Ordinarily, the launch of Amotekun would have passed unnoticed either by the people of the Southwest region of Nigeria or elsewhere. But there were disturbing malcontents in the speeches of leaders offered on the day of inauguration of Amotekun.

Some Southwest governors, most especially the Ekiti state Gov. Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his Oyo state counterpart Gov. Seyi Makinde plainly expressed the cynicism of the masses over the security outfit. The kicks against it came from the same people it was designed to protect. Issues arising from a likely conflict of interest with conventional security agencies with the birth of Operation Amotekun popped up.

So, Fayemi and Makinde, devoted time to dispel what they call rumours of Amotekun’s likelihood to undermine the Police or other security agencies. Apparently, there were discordant voices compelling the desperate attempts to expel the antagonisms against Amotekun.

Makinde said “Amotekun is not a duplication neither is it a replacement for the Nigeria Police Force. Amotekun is a complement that gives our people the confidence that they are being looked after by the people they elected into office. We do not want this to create fear in the mind of anyone. We are not creating a regional police force.”

The South westerners fears about the reality of Amotekun could have not been less accurate or misplaced. To think that hunters, members of the dreaded Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) led by Ganiyu Adams and existing sects of such ilks are components of Amotekun is understandably scary to the people. It unveils an insidious dreary content of Amotekun. And the people of Southwest are not new to such experiences under OPC and such clans of miscreants.

Even Gov. Fayemi’s explanation failed to allay the fears when he said, “The Western Nigeria Security Network Operation Amotekun is nothing but a community policing response to a problem that our people would like to put an end to.”

What most Nigerian leaders and surrogates are refusing to decode in Operation Amotekun is its propensity to aggravate the problem than remedy it. Its composition is not only defective, but it is extremely and potentially dangerous to willingly handover arms to jobless and untrained youths and baptize them with an imprecise job description of this nature, as consented by the South West Governors.

Notwithstanding the expressed discontents, such an action is susceptible to dire repercussions in future which are not envisaged now by those excitedly voicing support for Amotekun. Even George Orwell’s satirical novel, “Animal Farm,” with the imprimatur of a jungle, there are rules and regulations which govern the animals in the farm.

As mindless as some Nigerian political leaders are fixated on evil, this is how simple arms and ammunitions are handed over to youths. These are youths armed by the state, who would sooner or later, be beyond their control and deviate from the original trajectory to turn the arms against the people and the state in criminality.

It is the unconscious roots of violence and killings some Nigerian leaders implant in the system with scant regard of its boomerang effects. It most times leads to the multifarious armed struggles in Nigeria, such as Boko Haram, Niger Delta militancy, IPOB and so forth, only to stage out to beg for armistice and amnesty.

And for those with the satanic passion for violence and blood, who scheme their leadership in shrines, backed by foreign agents of destabilization and eventual break-up of Nigeria, the night is not yet nigh. Nigeria under Buhari is not afraid of genuine aspirations of any group of peoples for self-determination or secession. But those canvassing or supporting such views under veiled shadows by arming native armies must not be allowed to triumph.

There is no wisdom in serving President Buhari, who is the Chief Security Officer of Nigeria to mortgage or concede his powers of securing Nigeria to any armed local militia sect in the guise of Amotekun or any other such unlawful groups. Buhari reasoned it clearly through the Attorney-General (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami.

And those who have ears, listened to Mr. Malami (SAN) echoed clearly that; “The setting up of the paramilitary organization called ‘Amotekun’ is illegal and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian law…The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) has established the Army, Navy and Airforce, including the Police and other numerous paramilitary organizations for the purpose of the defence of Nigeria.”

So, those misled into Amotekun should be counselled appropriately! There is no iota of doubt that the Southwest Governors never took into consideration these fallouts before venturing into a fouled, hurried assemblage and arming of youths in the pretext of substitute community policing. It is uncharitable and a disservice to themselves and the nation.

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) under President Muhammadu Buhari has viewed the formation of Amotekun as unpardonable contempt on his government, Nigerians and subtle glaring attempts by a clan of State Governors to impose illegality on the country. The deliberate windows being opened for the rise and flourishing of ethnic militias in Nigeria through Amotekun to spite the Presidency has not escaped sane minds.

But the proponents and supporters of this repulsive idea have no option than to realize and re-direct their senses or energies in conformity with the path of truth and law. They must know that neither state governors nor regional leaders have the powers to impose, create or operate an armed para-military security outfit without the requisite approval of the FGN, no matter the imperative of the motivation for its establishment.

The loud arguments condemning and countering AGF’s position on Amotekun as constituting a lawful court unto himself are nowhere near any ounce of plausibility. The same thoughts should also be extended to the South West Governors, leaders and all apostates of Amotekun to have a free conscience by interrogating themselves as to whether, any government at the lower rung, other than the FGN has the lawful powers to seize the sacred power of security from the hands of the FGN to munch and abuse in whatsoever manner they deem fit.

It just flows along the same familiar path when violence-prone cursed souls like Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed IPOB shamelessly backing the idea of Amotekun. Kanu’s “dead” spirit was enlivened and ventilated with the establishment of Amotekun .

The IPOB leader exclaimed pleasantly, “The final and definitive stance of the Biafran people is that IPOB will support Operation Amotekun with all our might…IPOB will work with them. If they want one million men, I will give them….”

Kanu and his likes are not just spoilers, but effeminate local champions waiting to see how President Buhari rocks the boat on Amotekun. In doing this, like James Hardly Chase, they have put their ears on the ground to diligently twist and explore the loopholes to establish their own versions of Amotekun, to easily justify the absurdity with the Southwest example.

No Nigerian is fooled! President Buhari can never be deceived with such antics of retrogressives and destroyers of Nigeria in the #NextLevel. The promoters of Amotekun have field might to purchase arms and ammunitions to threaten everybody unlawfully; but President Buhari has the executive might, much greater than a thousand-armed Amotekuns!

And discernment of this nonsensical idea can only be gleaned from the public statement of Chief Nnia Nwodo , the President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization who paid glowing tributes to Southwest leaders for the creation of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN). He said, “Our Army and Air Force are commanded by officers who should have retired according to establishment laws.” With this comment, tt’s not misplaced to assert that Nwodo is suffering from senility and needs some rest. So, when elders begin to deviate and mouth this senselessly, it heralds a grand conspiracy to execute the unthinkable.

However, former military President of Nigeria, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) a man who has seen and experienced everything in Nigeria has freely rendered this advice to Southwest Governors, Afenifere, Nwodo, and opinion moulders in any part of Nigeria who are supporting Amotekun.

IBB as he is fondly called by his clan of admirers and who currently belongs to the party in opposition to President Buhari cautioned during last Monday’s interview, “News Night “ on Channels TV that Amotekun is unsustainable and an “Overstretch of security functions.”

IBB was emphatic that; “What we need to do is to have a closer look. We have a lot of security outfits; we have the army, the mobile police, the National Defence security, we have a whole load of them.

President Buhari has a responsibility to ensure no security of Nigerians in any part of the country is abandoned for rent to ethnic or religious leaders to adopt in pursuing violent personal vendetta and political ambitions in future. Amotekun is Southwest leaders’ saddest slide to uncivilized and irresponsible leadership and should not be condoned or allowed to stand.

Okanga wrote from Agila, Benue State.

*US-based Nigerian celebrates soldiers with touching poem*

A Nigerian based in the United States of America, Mark Bolaji, has written a poem in honour of the Nigerian Armed Forces with particular emphasis on the sacrifices of the Army in the fight against Boko Haram.

The poem titled “Gallant Nigerian Army; Our petals of daffodils” echoed the sacrifices of the gallant troops on the frontlines.

Mr Bolaji recalled the havoc-wrecking era where Boko Haram enjoyed a seamless ride in the NorthEast but thanked the gallant troops for finally ensuring “salvation came banging hard and hard”.

“As soldiers clad in vexation and armoury, gallant soldiers reclaimed Nigerian territories,” he added while describing the manner victory arrived.

The Houston Texas-based poet cheekily described the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai as “Shagaban Shoja,”who climbed atop the Limankara Hills in bold and blustery affront” to lead the assault on insurgents.

Read full poem below:

Darkness reigned, anguish and agonies,

Were crowned kings,

In the famed land of the El Kanemis,

The kingdom of ancient warriors,

And of reverence!

Deaths, and blood and destructions; mid-night

Arsons punctured the serenity of the land of promise,

As spirit of forebearers, armor bearers and multitudes alike,

Voyaged into the swamps and mesh of the hinterland,

In depressing searching for water to quench their thirst,

Food to fill empty bellies and starving souls,

Wrecked souls, begged for succor on bended kneels.

The Shekau boys visited the Northeast lands,

Oh yes! The Boko Haram demons,

Brutal campaigns of annihilation,

In satanic service of paymasters in foreign lands,

Bowing to bizarre and opaque doctrines of extremism,

With slavish and unconscionable condour,

Energized by might of swords, guns and bombs,

Caused devastating atrocities and ruinations.

In the fury of unrestrained bloodletting,

Wailing children, broke hearts of dying mothers,

Aged adults squirmed in dark tunnels and gulags,

Of Haram captors, slaving and laboring in resigned fate,

Only reminiscent of the slave trade of yore.

Survivors sought asylum in familiar and strange lands,

Starved to the marrow and slaughtered,

Like animals laid on the slaughterers slap,

As Al Barnewi armed gangs, nourished freely,

By alien paymasters, in distant lands,

From the greens and oils of the Lake Chad,

Feasted and feasted on human blood,

With sacrilegious impunity on souls and blood of kins.

Fractured social and economic lives,

Spared no foe or enemy,

All were united in grief and sorrows,

Despaired over deaths, abductions and bloodbaths;

The fisherman, crop farmer, cattle rearer,

Or student, traders and kings all soaked in misery.

Northeast forlorn enclaves, communities, villages,

Yearned for familiar faces and shadows,

As Gwoza, Bama, Mongonu and others,

Played host to unwanted hegemonic landlords,

In darkened chambers,

As extremists of the swords, regaled in undulating ambience;

Insurgents made burnfires and carnivals,

Celebrating demoniac victory,

Over children, women and the aged.

Confusion reigned, ennui amplified,

Aso Rock shuddered, and Nigerians bemoaned,

Lonely chirruping birds hovered on deserted lands,

Domestic animals’ foraged,

Empty homesteads, in vein search for Amina’s grains chaff.

But at last, salvation came banging hard and hard!

On the manacled doors of Northeast,

As soldiers clad in vexation and armoury,

Thrusted poisonous arrows and guns at terrorists,

Dispossessed many, grabbed their evil arsenals,

In weeks and months of fierce combats,

Compelling dozens of insurgents,

To forcefully transit their cursed souls into graves,

Gallant Soldiers reclaimed Nigerian territories,

Occupied by the ragtag Armies of the evil sect.

Caged Al Barnewi beckoned to his Iranian masters,

ISWAP arrived on menacingly,

On war chariots, with machine guns and bombs,

But suffered humiliating repression and defeat,

In Tens and thousands of numbers.

Fearful remnants of insurgents,

Reclined into the obscure fortified mazes,

Of the swampy Lake Chad Basin, gasping for breath,

Licking wounds of a mission unfulfilled and doomed.

Yesterday, a dove hovered on the skies,

Flapping its exciting wings in inviting radiance,

On Gwoza, Madagali, Pulka and Bama,

As “Shagaban Shoja,” Gen. Buratai,

Climbed atop the Limankara Hills,

In bold and blustery affront and assault on insurgents,

Signaling IDPs to repossess their liberated ancestral lands,

As Royal fathers walked in majestic royalty,

From palaces, to soldiers in the frontlines,

In hearty appreciation of gallant Nigerian troops.

Expectedly, scared residues of terrorists,

Recoiled and recoiled and recoiled,

At the sight of Buratai and troops,

On mountain Limankara,

Into the remotely innermost chambers of rugged Lake Chad,

A mission soldiers would have easily cracked,

With a final “kill,” and lightning speed, with handy Army helicopters.

But sadly, Army airspace approval is still,

Enmeshed and ensnared by boardroom politics;

Though, there is a season for everything;

Its time would certainly come soon!

We keep vigil on the pearly gates,

Awaiting this gracious day,’

Of soldiers’ final onslaught on terrorists,

In the land of the famous El Kanemis!