₦airaland Forum

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, apparently making a veiled reference to President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, said the way leaders react to issues now in Africa was not different from when they were in uniform.

Also yesterday, the Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (Rtd), led a federal government delegation to Sokoto assuring that government would deploy adequate security personnel in areas affected by security challenges.

Obasanjo spoke in Abuja during one of the sessions at the ongoing 25th anniversary and annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The session with the theme, “Are African Development Finance Institutions Living the Vision of the Founding Fathers? Insights from a Founding Father”, was moderated by the Lead Writer, Financial Times, William Wallis.

Obasanjo expressed apprehension that leadership challenges in Africa could trigger a replay of the ‘Arab Spring’ on the continent.

He said: “The present realities of our leaders, some of them who have been in uniform are still there as leaders today. The way they are reacting to issues now is not different from when they were in uniform.

“I am a bit worried. I am worried because whatever we may think about our problems, my worry is about the youth anger and frustration going into explosion in any of the countries of Africa.

“If we can learn a lesson from the Arab Spring, demography should not be a disaster. It should be an advantage.

“Leaders must be realistic and aware of innovations and new technology around them.”

Responding to a question on how Africa can break the barrier of under-developnent, he said: “We need to be the architects of our own fortunes. One of the things I wanted to do when I came out of prison and became president was to get debt relief.

“Many people told me it was not possible. But at the end we achieved it. When the international community sees that you are doing the right thing, you are doing what you are supposed to do, you will have sympathy, they will support you.

“We did what the international community wanted us to do without much promptings from them and then they took us seriously.

“One of the problems that I faced as president was the people who had retired and there was no money to pay them. Some of them were dying at pension offices and all that. Then, we decided to introduce the Contributory Pension Scheme. The last time I was told it had generated huge sums of money,” Obasanjo said.

Dambazau Leads FG Delegation to Tambuwal, Vows to Arrest Slayers

The Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (Rtd), yesterday said that the federal government would deploy adequate security personnel in areas affected by security challenges and ensure that perpetrators of the crime are punished.

Also yesterday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, apparently making a veiled reference to President Muhamnadu Buhari, said the way leaders react to issues now was not different from when they were in uniform.

Dambazau spoke when he led a delegation of the federal government on condolence visit to Governor Aminu Tambuwal and people of Sokoto state over the killing of 39 persons in Rabah Local Government Area of the state by bandits on Monday, this week.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari was disturbed by the gruesome attack on innocent citizens and promised to go after the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

“President Buhari joins people of Sokoto to mourn the sad incident that led to the deaths of several people and displacement of others,” he said.

He disclosed that new strategies would be introduced by beefing up security in the affected areas with a view to dealing with the bandits.

“Measures to track the perpetrators have been put in place, and they will surely face the wrath of the law,” Dambazau promised.

He condoled with the Government and people of Sokoto State over the incident and prayed against future occurrence.

Responding, Tambuwal thanked the delegation for the visit, saying it was an indication of the government’s concern about the plight of the people.

Calling for improved security in the region, Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), who was a former governor of Kebbi State, alleged that “these bandits are operating in Zamfara forest, where they carry out nefarious and barbaric killings of innocent people over a period of two years.”

Aliero added that “they moved with motorcycles that carried up to three people, numbering about 30 motorcycles in all, – meaning that the armed men were up to 90.

“The bandits sent two people to the village to buy food for them and the villagers observed that the emissaries were armed and they were interrogated by the villagers and found to be bandits similar to the ones operating in Zamfara. The villagers apprehended and executed the two emissaries.”

Senator Aliero also stated that the bandits sent advance notice to the villagers that they were coming to retaliate the killing of their people.

He added that the chairman of the local government area and the village head alerted the law enforcement agencies on this notice of the bandits.

According to him, “Security was provided for a period of five days, after which they were withdrawn; immediately the security agencies were withdrawn, the bandits moved in and started killing indiscriminately using AK47 riffles.

“The situation now is that most of the villagers have left their homes out of fear and many are still stranded in the bush – not to mention the injured ones still at the hospital and others rendered homeless.”

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Top leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), will on Saturday meet with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The parley, Saturday Telegraph gathered, is aimed at consolidating strategies aimed at ousting the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from power in 2019. Ahead of the meeting which will be held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, PDP chieftains led by the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, arrived yesterday.

Secondus was accompanied by the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Senator Walid Jubrin, former Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Olabode George, and former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, among others. The delegation was received by the Ogun State chairman of PDP, Hon. Sikirulai Ogundele, and a House of Representatives member, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu who, with other chieftains, briefed the national leaders about the state of affairs in the state.



Secondus, while confirming the scheduled meeting with Obasanjo, restated the commitment of the PDP to take over reins of government in 2019. The national chairman explained that the opposition party had now been rebranded and repositioned, adding that Nigerians are yearning for the return of PDP to power. He said: “We are happy to be here and our mission is to come and consult with our father, our hero and father of this nation, President Olusegun Obasanjo. The meeting will take place tomorrow. “He is a warrior, he is a winner. The man who fought the battle and won, military and civilian.

That’s exactly what we are here to do.” Secondus, who expressed dismay over the myriad of problems in the country, accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of misgovernance and corruption. He chided Buhari and the APC for allegedly withdrawing the returned $322million Abacha loot and distributing it to those he described as “cronies.” While warning against mismanagement of the fund, the party chairman threatened that Buhari and officials of the incumbent administration will be held accountable for its spending. He argued that it was wrong and fraudulent to expend the looted funds without capturing such in the nation’s budget. Secondus said: “The mother of all corruption is currently happening in this government.

The Abacha loot; the money has been withdrawn from the bank and Federal Government is distributing cash. Is that how to run the economy of a nation? “We just want to assure Buhari and the APC that they will be held accountable for every kobo spent. There is no government that will put money in basket and be sharing it. PDP government that will take over in 2019 will ask them to refund the money.

“You are fighting corruption on one hand and you are engaging in corruption on the other hand. This government is in trouble. They have no choice; they are weak and they have nothing to offer.” On the Ekiti governorship election, Secondus expressed confidence in the ability of the PDP to record victory, stressing that the party would not succumb to intimidation under whatever guise. He said: “We are aware that the Federal Government is doing all it can to take Ekiti by force but God will not allow that.

Two days ago, there was a civilian coup in Ekiti but by the grace of God, normalcy has returned. “The country is going through a lot. The entire nation is waiting for PDP and we will not disappoint them. It is time for our people to take their destiny in their own hands. No amount of intimidation can stop the will of the people. The voice of the people is the voice of God.” Notable officials of the party in attendance included the Deputy National Chairman (South), Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, National Vice Chairman (South West), Dr Eddy Olafeso, National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, and Chief Onyema Ugochukwu.

Senselin:
I have lived in Enugu (SE), Lagos (SW), Port Harcourt (SS) and Abuja (NC) and ocasionally went to Kano for business and I can tell you that the least accommodating is towards the north. It is easier to live with an Igboman or Yorubaman (I lived over 20yrs in Lasgidi) than a core northerner

At any slight provocation, they can kill or burn your shop. Even if you practice their religion, if you aren't a core northerner, they discriminate. I am not here to play tribal and religious card but stating it as I saw it.

A senator, Shehu Sani, has said he is yet to decamp from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to any other party.

He made this known on Friday in a press statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES as well his Facebook and Twitter pages.

“I’m yet to defect or decamp or migrate from the APC to any other party. However,discussions and consultations are ongoing as regards to our future in the party.

“Decision will be taken in a matter of week or two whether to remain in the party of migrate. And when the time comes, I’ll make a formal announcement on the floor of the Senate and my Facebook and Twitter handle.
Thank you,” the statement read.

While on his social media pages, he wrote, “Clarification; I’m yet to leave the Broomcity FC for the Umbrella united or any other club on the Premier league. Discussion and consultations are ongoing.

“If such will happen,it will be backed by a signed formal letter to the club management;And a formal announcement on the side of the pitch by myself.Thank you.”

Mr Sani has, several times, hinted of his imminent departure from the APC; capturing his irreconcilable differences with the party.

Earlier this month, he had used biblical terms to to announce his possible departure from the party.

“We the persecuted are on Exodus, riding on horses,chariots and caravans, departing Pharaoh Thutmose’s Egypt; we are now at the coast of the Red Sea, about to leave the land of cruelty and injustice,” he had said posted on his Facebook page.

The lawmaker’s “clarification” comes barely 24 hours after a faction of the APC known as APC Akida and members of APC Restoration group in Kaduna state, dumped the ruling party.

According to the two groups, they decided to dump APC because the party had failed to meet the expectations of millions of Nigerians who voted for the party.

Although Mr Sani, who is a member of the Akida faction, was absent at the briefing, the groups, however, did not mention the new party they will be joining but said serious consultation was ongoing with political parties that share their values.

Mr Sani, elected to the Senate for the first time in 2015, did not participate at the party’s congresses held a few weeks ago. He was rumoured to be on his way to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) last month, although he later debunked the claim.

Together with Suleiman Hunkuyi, another APC senator from Kaduna State, Mr Sani threatened to dump the APC in May. Despite regular hints that Mr Sani was plotting to leave the APC, it remained unclear which political party he is bound for.

Even though he is considered one of the top allies of Senate President Bukola Saraki, his name has not been mentioned amongst those behind the renegade ‘Reformed APC’ clique that recently emerged.

The bloc is reported to be in talks with the Peoples Democratic Party to devise a formidable alliance against Mr Buhari in 2019.

docadams:
Hmmmm. I can understand your feelings. I plied it several times but on my first attempt. I couldn't complete the journey because I'm acrophobic.

kennynelcon:
Exactly what I was about to say

DREAMZZZ:
Na this kain road i suppose dey practice my fast and furious tokyo drift...the road go sweet for drifting

KINGOFTHEEAST:
if you know how desperate these herdsmen are , you will agree that they need that sloppy land more than their dry unfertile lands

KINGOFTHEEAST:
herdsmen oooooo see grazing land oooooo buhari will be wishing Enugu is part of the north kia

ABUJA—The issues surrounding the coalition of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and 38 other parties to oust President Muhammadu Buhari from office, yesterday, took a different dimension as the Northern Alternative Forum, NAF, called on security agencies to investigate allegations of fraudulently inclusion of names of some political parties in the MoU.

The group called for the probe and prosecution of key parties in the opposition coalition, including R-APC and nPDP over the alarm raised by the People’s Democratic Movement, PDM, Accord Party, AP, and other parties that their names were mischievously included in the MoU to deceive Nigerians.

Chairman of NAF, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, who made the call while speaking to journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from the United Kingdom yesterday, insisted the leadership of PDP and the Coalition of Unity Political Parties, CUPP, must be probed.

He said: “Politics is a game of numbers and the PDP, knowing full well that there are gullible Nigerians that can be hoodwinked into believing that they are still the majority, deemed it fit that the only way it could garner support is to forge signatures of political parties to fake a mega coalition against President Buhari and APC.”

“Forgery is a criminal activity and we members of the Northern Alternative Forum have resolved that this allegation of impersonation and forgery won’t go unpunished. So, we have resolved to draw the attention of security agencies to it. We have asked our lawyers to petition the DG SSS and the IGP, to investigate the PDP, the R-APC and other key actors in the charade called CUPP.”

for a credible candidate other than him may turn out to be a wild goose chase. No politician from the Northern region has so far shown strong political will to change the economic and social fortunes of this country”.

On why the group is insisting on the Buhari presidency in 2019, Ibrahim said, “Neither the ruling APC nor the opposition PDP can boast of a political figure with the will-power to govern Nigeria with its current complexities. The search in PDP is quite herculean for them and they are now resorting to fraud.

“ We urge Nigerians to be wary of the antics of PDP and its co-political travellers so as not to allow them wield the country back to the era of monumental corruption like what we saw in the 16 years of PDP misrule”.

On the spate of killings in the country, the NAF chairman decried the massacre in Plateau, Adamawa, Sokoto and Taraba States, even as he accused those saying the president is shielding killer herdsmen of attempting to destroy the goodwill President Buhari enjoys among the Nigerian populace in order to install another corrupt regime.

“Those who think they can sabotage the Buhari administration through malicious allegations shall soon take their own tea with salt. It is very disappointing and disturbing to see people with bad records in leadership taking Nigerians for a ride. Sadly for them, their campaign of calumny against the president has failed woefully because Nigerians can read between the lines”, Ibrahim stated.

On the federal government N10 billion fund due to be released for victims of Plateau killings who have been displaced from their ancestral homes in the State, Ibrahim urged the presidency to ensure that the administrative office of the president handles the disbursement of the funds to make sure that the real victims of the attacks are ones to benefit from the money.

He drew the presidency’s attention to the fact that it is not only the Plateau residents that are victims, as motorists from neighbouring communities, including members of the APC who were returning from the party’s national convention in Abuja were also attacked, with many of them injured.

Abuja – After several months of uncertainty, President Muhammadu Buhari has given assurance that he will sign the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agreement having weighed the pros and cons of the treaty.

He gave the assurance while playing host to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is in Abuja, the nation’s capital for a summit organised by the African Export and Import Bank.

Buhari explained that ordinarily he would have appended his signature to the document long ago, but his slow pace of reading as well as peculiar challenges of Nigeria’s unemployed population informed his decision to withhold assent for the time being.

He said, “I am very careful about what I sign whether it is my checkbook or agreements especially when it involves nation, states. As your president has said, we are so populated and have so many young unemployed citizens and our industries are just coming up.

“So, in trying to guarantee employment, goods and services in our country, we have to be careful with agreements that will compete maybe successfully against our upcoming industries. I was presented with the document, I am a very slow reader maybe, because I was a soldier. I didn’t read it fast enough before my officials saw that it was all right for signature. I kept it on my table. I will soon sign it”.

Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress and a number of stakeholders in Nigeria had warned of negative implications of signing the AFCFTA treaty, with a caveat that such assent may stifle job creation in Nigeria.

The development had prompted President Buhari to put off his trip to Rwanda where the agreement was to be signed. However, other continental leaders took the bold step to sign the document.

Meanwhile, reacting to the spate of killing of Nigerians residing in South Africa, Ramaphosa attributed it to criminal elements in his country.

He said South Africans are not averse to Nigerians living in their midst, noting that the relationship between both countries dates back to the days of apartheid struggles.

Ramaphosa said, “There has been quite a number of incidence in our country where foreign nationals some of whom are Nigerians have lost their lives and are being attacked. I will like to say here and now that that has been as a result of criminal activity among our own people which we are focusing on from a criminal element point of view.

“I want to state here and now that South Africans do not have any form of negative disposition or hatred towards Nigerians and in the main Nigerians in South Africa and a number of places of our country live side by side, they corporate very well and some are in the corporate structures of our various companies and some are traders and some are into a number of things.

“So, I want to dispel this notion that when a Nigerian loses his or her life in South Africa, it is as a result of an intentional action by South Africans against Nigerians. That is simply not true.”

GistManiac:
Regina is a small baby with a big god. These ones don grow.

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, wednesday disclosed that the cash transfer programme involving the recovered $322 million Abacha loot will be stringently monitored to ensure transparency.

This is coming as the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itsey Sagay, has said that owing to the lack of appreciation from the citizenry, he would have given up on Nigerians if he was to be in the shoe of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said it recovered N20 billion from corruption suspects in Lagos State alone this week.

Osinbajo said monitors would visit the individual households that have been identified through “deliberate targeting.”

The vice president spoke in Abuja when he launched the Monitoring of Recovered Assets through Transparency and Accountability (MANTRA) Project.

It was at a roundtable organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) to mark the First African Day of Anti-Corruption.

The roundtable had the theme: “Enhancing Domestic Resources for Sustainable Development Goals by Improved Asset Recovery and Asset Return”.

Special Adviser to the President on Social Protection, Mrs Maryam Uwais, who represented the vice president, said the beneficiaries of the cash transfer are households contained in the National Social Register that was built using targeted machanisms to identify poor and vulnerable households.

PACAC Executive Secretary, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, speaking on the sidelines of the roundtable, said cash transfer programmes are done globally.

“It’s a temporary thing to bring people out of poverty and including them in social welfare. The register being used was developed by the last administration, working with the World Bank. It’s not being done on political party basis. Ekiti, Oyo and Kwara States had the framework, and that’s why they had a head start.

“Monitors go there directly to check. It’s not by calculation. If it were left to politicians, they’d put people they want. But that is not happening. The media should go and check it out. Conditional cash transfer was going on before Abacha money was returned.

“Do you know there are people who have never held N2,000 in their hands? The Swiss judgment is clear: the money should be used for Nigerian people and should be monitored by the World Bank. Based on the parameters in the MoU, nobody can steal the money unless the World Bank is complicit,” Owasanoye said.

Speaking on the message titled: “Fight Against Corruption and Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals Under the Buhari Administration”, Sagay said the Buhari administration had made tremendous progress in the anti-corruption war, including the recovery of assets valued at N1 trillion.

He however, regretted that despite these enormous achievements, some Nigerians, especially the elite are pushing a contrary narrative to frustrate the efforts for the simple fact they no longer have access to easy money, unlike under the past administrations.

To this end, he said either Buhari call the bluff of “ungrateful Nigerians” who are complaining or thrown in the towel and allow them to suffer the consequences of his failure to carry on with his anti-corruption projects.

“So a lot is going on and I said the elites, and I will always emphasise the elites, because the ordinary Nigerian is appreciative. The elites are pretending not to know what is going on; they are pretending that they are not seeing the change. They are pretending as if we are carrying on in the way, the wasteful and turbulent way this country used to be run, because they are beneficiaries of the bad system. Easy money is no longer coming to their pockets; they are now having to work for their living and therefore, they are agrieved and pretending that they don’t know that anything is happening.

“This government is a very patient government. I, personally, I am an impatient man. What if I were the head of state, I would have thrown in the towel and tell Nigerians ‘go and suffer the fate you deserve. Go and suffer the fate you were experiencing before 2015’, so that they can go back to that system of bribery, corruption, rottenness, which we have seen this country to a state of total destruction,” Sagay said.

Sagay added that “contrary to the narrative being pushed into the media, both regular and social, by the aggrieved beneficiaries of corruption, the war against corruption under the Buhari Administration has been a huge success”.
Meanwhile, the anti-graft agency has said it recovered N20 billion from corruption suspects in Lagos State alone this week.

EFCC’s Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, said it also secured 42 convictions in the state between January and July.
Magu, who was represented by EFCC Zonal Head in Lagos, Akaninyene Ezima, spoke in Lagos yesterday during an anti-corruption walk to mark the African Anti-Corruption Day with the theme ‘Africa unite against corruption.’

The walk was organised in collaboration with civil society organisations including Women Arise for Change Initiative and Intergovernmental Action Group against Money Laundering (GIABA) among others.

Women Arise president, Joe Okei-Odumakin, urged Nigerians to speak out against corruption and keep the faith that the country would get better.

Also, a Federal High Court in Lagos wednesday authorised the EFCC to sieze N200 million allegedly kept in several commercial banks by two military officers and their three firms.

Justice Sule Hassan ordered that the sum be forfeited to the federal government, pending the conclusion of investigation as to their origins.

The officers are: Adamu Bello Argungu and John Onimisi Ozigi, while their firms are: Falsal & Co Global Services Nigeria Ltd; Diamond Head Ventures & Development Company Ltd; and Sweetex Bureau De Change Ltd.

In a related development, Magu has urged Nigerians to take ownership of the anti-corruption war to ensure maximum success and ensure a better society.

He made this call yesterday in Abuja during anti-corruption walk across the country, as part of activities to mark the 2018 African Anti-Corruption Day

Led by Magu, the walk which took-off from the EFCC’s Old Head Office, Wuse 2, Abuja en route Unity Fountain terminated at Eagles Square, Abuja.

The Nigerian Army has alerted of the emergence of another deadly Islamic sect known as “Hakika Islamic.” The army said the group has strange doctrines similar to that of Boko Haram.

The sect, according to the army, is headed by one Yahaya Ibrahim and is currently recruiting young men and women; with operational bases around Ngwurore, in Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa State and Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

Giving more insight into the activities of the sect, the army said the group has controversial doctrines. The sect, which is said to have been in existence for sometime now, according to Daily Sun sources, was beginning to give army authorities fighting counter-insurgency war in the North East big concern.

It was also gathered that already, the army authorities in Borno State have contacted the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS); to inform them about the existence of the sect.

Army informed the NIS in a July 4, 2018 letter.

The said letter, with reference number 192 BN/G3/240/57, was signed by one Lieutenant TG Iortyom on behalf of the Acting Commanding Officer in charge of 192 Battalion in Borno.

The letter, made available to Daily Sun, reads: “I am directed to connect security report from own high command and to inform you that information received that an Islamic Sect known as “Hakika” under the leadership of one Yahaya Ibrahim has emerged around Ngwurore in Yola South LGA of Adamawa State and Toto LGA of Nasarawa state.

“It was gathered that the group is currently on recruitment drive, with series of controversial doctrines from non-adherence to five days prayers, to non-observance of Ramadan, promotion of fornication and adultery among others. In view of the above, I am directed to request you disseminate this information to your men and monitor the activities of the newly formed sect in your Area of Responsibility, accordingly.”

When contacted, the Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General John Agim, confirmed the report and added that the military is already on top of the situation.

“We are investigating activities of the group; to ensure that they do not get out of hand and cause havoc with their activities in the country,” said Agim.

Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, has blamed the killings in the country on failure of leadership.

Tambuwal, in a statement he signed and released yesterday said the deaths were avoidable and preventable.

“The worst part of all this is that these deaths are avoidable and the killings preventable. It boils down, at the end of the day, to failure of leadership. Nigeria cannot progress and be part of a 21st Century forward looking world by creating new batches of mourners every other day.

“This is not the way to go. That is not what Nigerians voted for in 2015. That is not what will build a virile, united, united, politically stable and economically prosperous African giant,” he said.

The former House of Representatives speaker commiserated with families of those killed across the country.

“I wish to commiserate with the families, friends, colleagues and associates of all our beloved fellow citizens, who lost their lives in the persistent and senseless killings now occurring in all parts of our dear country. Indeed, the growing spate of mindless shedding of innocent blood, especially of policemen and other security personnel on their lawful duty posts, has brought a new dimension to the reprehensible state of insecurity in the country.

“Last May, three policemen were shot dead in Sokoto State by kidnappers, who abducted a Syrian national they were escorting. A few days later, four police officers were ambushed and killed in Benue State. Last week, seven policemen were reportedly gunned down, in cold blood, in Abuja, and their arms and ammunition taken by unknown persons.

“This is happening amidst repeatedly reported cases of attacks on police stations and other security facilities in various parts of the country.

“The question from every law abiding citizen today is: “Who will protect us, when even those constitutionally charged with the responsibility of protecting our lives and property have, themselves, become vulnerable targets of criminals? Where shall we run to for protection, when the institutions of state put in place to protect us are being progressively dismantled by opportunistic criminality and the trained personnel are also on the run?

“It bears repeating for me to state here that Nigeria’s security architecture and the strategies currently adopted and deployed for national security, if any, need a comprehensive overhaul. It is not working. The needless waste of life everywhere, both those of trained security personnel and ordinary citizens, is a drain on the nation’s resources and an unacceptable diminution of our valuable human capital.

“Every policeman or military personnel is someone’s father, mother, brother, sister,uncle, aunt or friend. The number and frequency of deaths is undermining our humanity, making us less sensitive to the gravity of the situation we are in today and also creating a new generation of Nigerians, who may get accustomed to inhuman acts as the norm.”

Former President Olusegun Obsanjo has accused the government of President Muhammadu Buhari of intimidating judges to do the bidding of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on election matters.

Obasanjo, who has been critical of Buhari lately, also alleged that anti-graft agencies were being used to clamp down on the opposition.

He spoke in Abuja during at a colloquium to mark the 70th birthday of Josephine Anenih, former minister for women affairs and social development.

“Some institutions created for normal administration and dispensation of Justice, like the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the ministry of justice are being directed to witch-hunt and pursue political opponents,” he said.

“The use of intimidation, violence and physical attacks have started in some states. It is understood that judges are already being intimidated so as to prepare them to do the ruling party’s bidding in election petitions. All there are visible in today’s practice of democracy in Nigeria.”

Although, the former president did not mention those whose voices are being suppressed, he maintained that democracy allows for the opposition to be heard as it is a government of the people by the people.

“For me, that after almost 20 years of the beginning of the present dispensation, it has not been derailed, is enough a development in progress, even though there are many unpalatable practises and dangerous signs that have shown their ugly heads, which is the strongest indication that our democracy is alive but, it cannot be said to be hale and hearty. Practitioners of democracy must be democrats, if you have a lot to be desired,” he said.

Touching on women’s involvement in governance, Obasanjo said Buhari’s government is yet to meet the 35 affirmative action.

He also called for an amendment of the 1999 constitution to include 40 percent slots for women in government.

“In this present administration, there are 15 women members in the house of representatives. It is not only unacceptable but makes mockery of gender balance. There must be amendment of our constitution, not to allow any gender to have less than 40 percent in any parliament,” he said.

“The health of our democracy can be judged by the participation of women. Democracy is a system of government that allows team spirit and debate before decisions are reached; it is a government for all citizens to benefit without fear or favour.”

donstan18:
I'm sorry I have to be sincere to you.

You can only have problems concerning the decency of a Nigerian lady when you invest your emotions on them.

Tattoo or not, she's what she is.


The only decent set of ladies in Nigeria are the virgin ladies. Now ask yourself what a decent lady should be doing with tattoos.

Bitter truth is; Most men would love to flirt and fling with ladies with tattoos, but won't want to make any of them a wife.

PearlStreet:
Look at the colour intensity of the face and intensity of the hands and shoulders.

Adeosun dare not come out herself and tell us she completed the NYSC scheme.

Angelparadise:
So are you confidently telling us that the missing waec certificate of a President have been found ? because his performance as President have prove this result .

ademoladeji:
Baddest on point!!!

Miss u bro