₦airaland Forum

The Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, on Thursday downplayed the clamour for restructuring in Nigeria, describing it as a “madness” that can be stopped by good governance.

Mr. Shettima spoke at the book launch of a former Minister of Youths and Sports Development under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Bolaji Abdullahi, who is now the spokesperson of the All Progressive Congress, APC.

The event took place at the Yar’Adua Centre in the Central Business District of Abuja.

The book titled “On a Platter of Gold” was written on how Mr. Jonathan became president of Nigeria in 2011 but lost the office at the 2015 general election.

Mr. Shettima, who was the Father of the Day, dismissed the clamour for restructuring, saying “To hell with restructuring.”

According to the governor, if jobs are provided and other sectors of the economy, especially the education sector is developed, “this madness”, referring to restructuring, “will stop.”

“People are talking about artificial intelligence, other nations are talking about nano technology or robotics engineering but unfortunately, the topical issue in Nigeria is restructuring. Restructuring my foot! To hell with restructuring.

“Let us improve on governance, let us work for the people, invest in education, create jobs for our people, this madness will stop,” the governor said.

Several Nigerians including ethnic organisations like the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Afenifere have demanded restructuring of Nigeria, saying it was the way to resolve many of the challenges facing the country.

Based on the clamour, Mr. Shettima’s party, APC, set up a committee to review the various restructuring calls.

Mr. Shettima, who described Mr. Jonathan as an honest man, said it was the people he surrounded himself with that made his government fail.

“Comparing (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo and the people he worked with and those Jonathan worked with, you will understand why.

“If you look at Obasanjo, hate him or love him, you have to respect Obasanjo for not only believing in the Nigerian project, but for surrounding himself with men of quality.

“If you mention Obasanjo, the names that readily come to mind are those of Oby Ezekwesili, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu, Nasiru el-Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu, Bukola Saraki and other quality Nigerians who have the capacity to add value to the system.

“But when you think of President Jonathan, with all due respect, he surrounded himself with an assorted crop of religious bigots, tribal kindred and all sorts of reactionary elements. Ateke Tom, Government Tompolo, Late Oronto Douglas, Asari Dokubo, Edwin Clark, Ayo Oritsejafor and others.”

Italy arrests Libyan, Egyptian over death of 26 Nigerian women

Two men, one of them an Egyptian and the other a Libyan,have been arrested and charged in Italy as investigators look into the deaths of 26 Nigerian women and girls, who are suspected to have been murdered while attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

The bodies of the women were brought to the southern Italian port of Salerno by the Spanish ship Cantabria on Sunday, and prosecutors opened an investigation over suspicions that the women, some as young as 14, may have been abused and killed.

The bodies were recovered by Cantabria, which works as part of the EU’s Sophia anti-trafficking operation, from two separate shipwrecks – 23 from one and three from the other. Fifty-three people are believed to be missing.

The men arrested have been named as Al Mabrouc Wisam Harar, from Libya, and Egyptian Mohamed Ali Al Bouzid.

The pair are believed to have skippered one of the boats. They were identified by survivors who were among the 375 brought to Salerno by Cantabria.

An autopsy on the bodies should be completed over the next week.

Salerno prefect Salvatore Malfi told the Italian press that the women had been travelling alongside men and when the vessels sank, “unfortunately, the women suffered the worst of it.”

But in response to concerns that the women were being trafficked for the sex trade, he added: “Sex trafficking routes are different, with different dynamics used. Loading women on to a boat is too risky for the traffickers, as they could risk losing all of their ‘goods’ – as they like to call them – in one fell swoop.”

Marco Rotunno, an Italy spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said his colleagues were at the port in Salerno when the bodies were brought in.

“It was a very tough experience,” he said. “One lady from Nigeria lost all her three children.”

He added that 90% of migrant women arrive with bruises and other signs of violence.

“It’s very rare to find a woman who hasn’t been abused, only in exceptional cases, maybe when they are travelling with their husband. But also women travelling alone with their children have been abused.”

Most of the survivors were either Nigerian or from other sub-Saharan countries including Ghana, Sudan and Senegal.

The survivors brought to Tripoli also included Nigerians and Senegalese.

“I wanted to reach Italy. I don’t know what to do now,” said Dora Omoruyi, a 23-year old arts student from Benin, Edo state, known as hub for human traffickers to smuggle women to Italy where they often end up as prostitutes.

“I see no future in Nigeria, there are no jobs,” she said, standing next to a group of weeping Nigerian survivors.

The survivors were among over 2,560 migrants saved over four days. People still continue to attempt the crossing despite a pact between Italy and Libya to stem the flow, which led to a drop in arrivals by almost 70% since the summer, according to figures released last week by Italy’s Interior Ministry.