cybertruss:


Let's face the real fact. The entire Nigeria is rotten. North, South, East and West. We do not have any angelic tribe. However in all regions we have very few good people that are insignificant when you talk about politics. It is therefore wrong to say igbo are giving the country bad name. If I may ask what sort of name is our president giving to Nigerian. It is a big shame that rather than the president to prove critics wrong, he supported critics by ruling the country like a real zoo. Cattle route, great sympathy for killer herdsmen, clampdown of freedom of expression (The tool he used himself to become the president), and many other atrocities.

People calling the country a zoo are very correct.

THE arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the Federal Government has attracted mixed reactions from various groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum, who urged the Federal Government to be cautious in handle the IPOB leader’s issue.

The reactions came just as the British government said Kanu was not arrested in the United Kingdom or extradited from England.

Also, theFederal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday ordered that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, be remanded in the detention of the Department of State Service.

Justice Binta Nyako gave the order while granting the application by the prosecution.

The counsel for the prosecution, S. M. Labaran, applied to the court to remand Kanu in custody.

Labaran also applied that the trial of Kanu that was earlier slated for October 20 be brought forward.

Kanu, who appeared without legal representation told the court that his house was earlier invaded. So, he had to go underground.

The court ordered that Kanu be remanded in DSS facility and adjourned his matter till July 26 and 27.

The court also ordered for accelerated hearing and asked the prosecution to inform Kanu’s lawyer of the proceeding in court.

Kanu’s lawyer, Maxwell Opara, told our correspondent that he did not see his client until he left the court premises.

Also present at the court premises was Omoyele Sowore, who told our correspondent that he had just come to the court when he heard that Kanu was appearing in court.

According to him, he stood in solidarity with Kanu as he had been in similar situation.

Earlier at a press conference, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, had confirmed Kanu’s arrest.

Kanu not arrested in UK – British Govt

Responding to questions from one of our correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday, the spokesman, British High Commission in Nigeria, Dean Hurlock, said, ‘We are aware of reports that Nnamdi Kanu has been detained in Nigeria by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“We can confirm that Nnamdi Kanu was not arrested in the UK for extradition purposes.”

How Interpol arrested Nnamdi Kanu while seeking countries’ support for Biafra

Meanwhile, Kanu was apprehended by the International Criminal Police while seeking foreign support for the actualisation of the Republic of Biafra.

The PUNCH gathered that Kanu, who holds Nigerian and British passports, was arrested by security operatives outside his London base on Sunday.

He had been declared wanted by the Federal Government since 2017 after he jumped bail following the invasion of his country home in Abia State by soldiers.

A source disclosed that Kanu was arrested while leaving Israel for an unknown country but this could not be independently verified on Tuesday.

The source stated, “The request for the arrest of Kanu was made to the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, about two months ago. Kanu could not be arrested at his London base because he is a British citizen and repatriating him to Nigeria may be challenging and the process cumbersome.

“So, the security agencies waited patiently for him to leave the British soil before moving against him; he was arrested while on transit. There was evidence of his meetings with foreign governments to solicit support for Biafra.”

The source also referenced the suspension of Twitter by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who justified his action by stating that Kanu used his Twitter account with 300,000 followers “to instruct his loyalists to kill Nigerian soldiers and police officers”.

Another source corroborated that Kanu was nabbed while on transit but said he could not confirm the exact location.

“The Nigerian government used conventional diplomatic means to facilitate the arrest of Kanu through the INTERPOL. There are also suggestions that our intelligence agencies played a role in the arrest and extradition process. It was confirmed that Kanu was picked up while on transit but the location cannot be immediately confirmed,” the source volunteered.

As part of strategies to arrest the separatist group leader, the President was said to have met with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in May during a summit on the financing of African post-COVID economies convened by the French government, where he sought Macron and INTERPOL’s support for the arrest of Kanu.

Handle Kanu’s case with caution, ACF counsels FG

In a related development, the pan-northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has cautioned the Federal Government to handle the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, with care.

According to the ACF, the best way out was for the government to keep strictly to the rule of law in handling the matter.

This, the ACF said, was because the IPOB leader had the support of international arm dealers with the capacity to destroy the country.

This was just as the Coalition of Northern Groups said it received the news of the arrest and repatriation of the fugitive rebel, Nnamdi Kanu, with mixed feelings of apprehension and appreciation.

The CNG hailed the Federal Government and security agencies that made the arrest possible, “particularly the International Police and authorities of the United Kingdom for honouring their obligations with Nigeria.”

Both the National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, and the spokesperson of the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, made the positions of the two northern bodies known in a statement released in Kaduna on Tuesday.

“The best way out is to keep strictly to the rule of law. Kanu and his collaborators must be made to understand that Nigeria is not a failed state and the rule of law still exists here,” the forum said.

The statement added, “For now, we do not have details of the immediate circumstances leading to his arrest. We do not even know where he was arrested whether in Nigeria or outside.

“We, however, know that the man has no respect for the country called Nigeria and has vowed to destroy the country. Sadly, he enjoys collaboration of some Nigerians who for some reasons want the country destroyed.

“He also enjoys the support of international arm dealers who know that he has the capacity to cause a war to break out in Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy.”

On their part, the CNG said it remained apprehensive until the the full course of justice took effect on Kanu.

The CNG added, “In addition, he must now face additional charges of incitement to violence and killings of people of other ethnicities, particularly northerners, security personnel as a result of his open incitement.

“More importantly, we don’t see Kanu’s arrest affecting the issue of Biafra. While he faces trial hopefully, the CNG is insisting that this is the right time to tackle the Biafran issue once for all.

“We stand our ground that a referendum must be held to determine this and all other agitations for self-determination from any part of the country.”

Archbishop alleges Kanu trapped with woman

Reacting to his arrest, Archbishop of Enugu Provence, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev Emmanuel Chukwuma, welcomed his arrest and described it as good development.

The fiery cleric accused IPOB leader of jumping bail, adding that he didn’t appreciate Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and others who secured his bail.

He said, “Rather, when he was abroad, he was instigating people to cause confusion. We warned him several times to stop that. It’s not only that; we felt that if you are a leader and you are part of the problem of Nigeria, you should come down here, so we can discuss with others on how to solve the problem.

Chukwuma, while describing Kanu as a weak leader, alleged that IPOB leader, “played into the hands of Nigerian Intelligence Agency, who set him up with a woman from London to Brazil, where he was arrested and then tranquilised to the point of bringing him to Nigeria.

“That shows irresponsibility. How can a woman and tranquiliser be a way of catching you if you are really a very strong leader? I feel disappointed in him because they lured him out of London to Brazil with a woman. It’s a shame.”

Adebanjo faults foreign country over Kanu’s arrest

But the acting leader of the apex socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has faulted the arrest of the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Adebanjo said the foreign country was not supposed to have handed over Kanu to the Nigerian government while he was enjoying a political asylum.

He said this on Tuesday while speaking with newsmen shortly after the meeting held at his Sanya-Ogbo,  Ijebu-Ode residence .

When asked to react to the arrest and prosecution of Kanu, Adebanjo said. “Anybody fighting for revolution must be ready for that; I was also a victim of treasonable felony. They tried some of us; what the British did, they did for Action Group when they repatriated Chief (Anthony) Enahoro.

“They didn’t do it while we were in Ghana, the government there protected us. He (Kanu) had been giving asylum, they then sent him back. It is wrong and improper, having granted him asylum, to hand him over to his enemy, I condemn it…”

IPOB counsel urges FG to guarantee his safety

In another development, the Indigenous People of Biafra has confirmed the arrest of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

This was contained in a statement by IPOB/Nnamdi Kanu lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, on Tuesday.

Ejiofor, in the statement, demanded that Kanu’s fundamental rights must be respected while in custody.

“We have just confirmed through a correspondence from the Federal High Court, Abuja, the arrest and the extradition of my client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, by the Nigerian State.

“It is to be noted, therefore, that no matter the gravity of the offences or charge preferred against him, Section 36(5) of the Constitution still presumes him innocent of the allegation. The legal team ably led by my humble self will meet them in court on this date.

“We insist that he must be given a fair hearing/trial, which is his constitutionally protected right. His safety as also guaranteed under our law throughout the trial and afterwards should be enforced.

“Our fortified legal team will be meeting to agree on strategies within the context of the charge and disposition of the court. Await further updates from us as we progress,” part of the statement read.

Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest may trigger nationwide protest – Igbo group

Meanwhile, the Igbo National Council has described the arrest of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra as a “rude shock”.

The group in a statement issued in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Tuesday by its National President, Chilos Godsent, said that the arrest of Kanu might trigger protest in most parts of the country if the Federal Government failed to handle the issue with caution.

The statement, which was tagged ‘Re: Arrest of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu: A mistake of the biggest order by the Nigerian Government, asks government to seek peaceful means in handing the issue’.

Uneasy calm in Abia over Kanu’s arrest

However, it was an atmosphere of uneasy calm in Abia as the news of the arrest and extradition of IPOB’s leader by the Federal Government filtered into the state.

A resident of Umuahia who chose to speak on condition of anonymity said, “Ndigbo are finished”, adding that the news came to him as “a rude shock”.

Another resident asked, “Is it what will be done and there will be peace?”

It was also gathered that residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, were unusually quiet over the issue, “especially as most of them have yet to hear the news”.

However, the Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders said, in a statement by its President General of the group, Goodluck Ibem, and the Secretary General, Kanice Igwe, said, “The Fulani herdsmen kill, rape and maim indigenes of southern Nigerian on daily basis and none of them has been arrested or prosecuted by the Nigerian security agencies.

“Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest is a direct question to Ndigbo that “how dare you speak when we kill, maim and rape your women.”

In Anambra, most people, who spoke with one of our correspondent on condition of anonymity hailed his arrest.

A source said, “It serves him right. He has always lacked tact. This happens to those who don’t listen to advice. The manner of his arrest must have humbled him after all his boasts. Pride always goes before a fall. I think what I just couldn’t stand about him was his arrogance.”

Another respondent said, “Now that the supreme leader has been captured, what happens to the numerous supporters? Unknown gunmen on my mind!

Border corruption: Security agents, smugglers worsen subsidy crisis, flout Buhari’s order

Facts have emerged about how security agents and border communities aid smuggling of petroleum products, thus worsening the fuel subsidy crisis in the country.

Our correspondents, who visited border communities in Ogun, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Borno, Taraba and Kwara states, observed how security agents turned a blind eye to petroleum products smugglers after receiving bribes from them.

Recall that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had in a memo issued through the Nigeria Customs Service on November 6, 2019, ordered that petroleum products should not be supplied to petrol stations within 20-km of borders as part of efforts to check the smuggling of the products.

But the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, on Wednesday last week partly attributed the rise in Nigeria’s daily consumption of petrol to 102 million litres in  May  to smuggling.

On Monday, The PUNCH reported that petrol landing cost increased to N232, while subsidy on the product rose to N5.58bn.

In Katsina State, The PUNCH learnt that smuggling of petrol was a lucrative business in border communities.

Although  petrol sells for between N163  and N 165 per litre in the state,  smugglers, who buy the product in Nigeria, sell thrice that price in the Niger Republic.

The state shares borders with the  Niger Republic at  Magamar-Jibia and Kongolam.

But it was gathered  that there were more than 1,000 illegal routes which  were used by petrol smugglers.

A commercial driver, who  plies the Katsina-Jibia route, revealed that fuel smugglers were both Nigeriens and Nigerians.

Fuel smugglers  move freely on Katsina-Jibia highway after bribing security agents – Driver

Another commercial driver stated, “The security agents on the  Katsina-Jibia highway cannot claim not to know the smugglers. Once the  security agents are given money depending on the quantity of the smuggled fuel and the bargaining power of the driver , the smugglers move freely along the highway until they get near Jibia where they make a detour  to  illegal routes instead of passing through the official border at Magamar-Jibia.”

Blame security agents, we have 30 checkpoints along Katsina-Jibia road – Community leader

A community leader in Jibia, Mallam Gide Dahiru, in an interview with The PUNCH, said security operatives should be blamed for fuel smuggling.

Gide, who is the Chairman of Jibia People’s Forum, said, “Instead of labelling our people smugglers,  security operatives at the various checkpoints between Katsina and Jibia should be blamed. We have over 30 checkpoints along this highway, smugglers still find their way.”

The Spokesman for the Katsina State Police Command,  Gambo Isah, said the ban on the sale of fuel within 20 kilometre-radius of border communities was still in force.

He added police had been arresting those who violated the ban.

Nigerian businessmen, security agents smuggle petrol for Cameroonian rebels – Source

In Taraba State, residents of border communities told one of our correspondents that  petrol smuggling  was  a lucrative business for security personnel manning border routes in Kashimbila in the Takum Local Government, Abong in the  Kurmi LGA and Maidaga and Hainare in the Sardauna LGA.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said  on a daily basis truck loads of petrol accompanied by armed security personnel moved out of Takum and Baissa in the  Kurmi Local Government to the Republic of Cameroon.

According to the source, some Ambazonian rebels in Cameroon with Nigerian business collaborators including bad elements in the  police, Army, immigration and Customs  are involved in the  smuggling of fuel.

Another eyewitness told The PUNCH that in the Sardauna Local Government Area,  there were smugglers, who used informal routes.

He stated, “When they are caught, they bribe their way through. There are also others who come in to smuggle precious stones mined in Sardauna and because of the huge money they get from gold, blue Sapphire and other precious stones, security personnel too are in the business of smuggling these items.”

Taraba State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer,  David Misal, did not reply to a text message sent to his phone nor pick his  calls as of  the time of filing this report.

Communities act as informants for smugglers – NCS

The Public Relations Officer of the NCS in Borno and Yobe states, Joshua Iliya, in an interview with The PUNCH, admitted that there was petrol smuggling  in the states

Iliya, however, blamed border communities for the crime. He stated, “They work in active collaboration with the villagers. The villagers know them. They are part of the villagers and some of them are often being celebrated as heroes in those communities.

“When our personnel go on patrol, the residents inform them of our presence and the smugglers will refuse to show up until we leave. Some of them often buy phones for their informants.”

In Adamawa State, a security agent, who spoke to one of our correspondents in confidence, said the Federal Government’s ban on sale of fuel within  20- kilomtre radius of borders was being flouted.

A resident of  Belel, a border community in the Maiha Local Government Area of the state, Abubakar Idris,  said there was a  depot of petrol in the area for smugglers of fuel to Cameroon.

Kwara security agents seize Jerry cans, turn a blind eye to big-time smugglers using tankers

In Kwara State border communities, smugglers buy  petrol  at filling stations  in Baruten and Kaiama local government areas  which share borders with the Republic of Benin.

No fewer than 100 fuel stations exist in the two rural local areas.

The PUNCH  learnt that although security agents, under the aegis of the Joint Border Patrol, had  seized thousands of Jerry Cans used for smuggling,  tankers were not being  impounded.

A resident of the Chikanda  stated that while the security agents were hard on those using Jerry cans to smuggle fuel, they connived with “big-time smugglers” to move petrol to other countries.

The source, “These big-time smugglers load the petroleum products in tankers which they move near the borders during the day time and with the connivance of Customs officers, they drive the tankers to cross the border in the night. At times, you will see up to five or more fully loaded tankers parked at a point in Ilesha Baruba and they will move in a convoy to cross the border in the wee hours.”

When contacted, the  Coordinator of the Joint Border Patrol,  Olugboyega Peters, said that the allegations were not true.

Peters said that security agents recently intercepted a petroleum tanker which was announced at a press conference in Ilorin.

He said that though there were about 100 petrol stations located in the 112 -kilometre road stretch from Ilesha Baruba to Chikanda, only 10 trucks were allocated to the area on a weekly basis.

“The way the trucks are released and monitored from the depot with records from the NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources and escorted by the security agencies, it is not possible for the tankers to be ferried across the borders”, Peters said

Our correspondents observed that there were no fewer than 10 checkpoints manned by customs, immigration and police along routes leading to each of Ogun State’s borders  with the Republic of Benin.

It was learnt that instead of enforcing the ban  on the sale of fuel within 20- kilometres radius of the borders, including Idiroko and Ilara, security agents  turned a blind eye to fuel smugglers.

 In Ogun, security agents buy petrol in jerry cans, take it to Benin Republic to sell

A resident and   youth leader  in one of the areas,  who spoke in confidence with The PUNCH,  said, “The  fact is they (security agents) are present everywhere. It baffles us how petrol and other products are smuggled to Benin Republic.

“Our findings show that they connive  with smugglers, who  move the  product out at night.

“It gets worse after the ban on the sale within   20-km radius.  Security agents buy fuel in their cars and go and sell it in Benin.  Their routes include Bebe and Igolo.”

Fuel smuggling done by residents, not our men – Customs

But the NCS  denied allegations that its officers in some northern and south-western states were assisting smugglers to transport petrol out of  the country.

The Public Relation Officer of NCS, Joseph Attah,  in a telephone interview with The PUNCH, said the alleged smuggling was not perpetrated by Customs officers, but residents who were making the allegations.

He said, “I will not say that there is no smuggling, and most of these illegal operations are assisted by residents of the communities.

“Some of the people in the communities sabotage our efforts and help smugglers to sneak in these goods.”

He disclosed that the service had also been efficient in enforcing the 20-km radius restriction which had brought the criticism of residents in the border communities.

“The complaint we get from those who smuggle petrol is that our enforcement of the 20km radius from the border is even affecting legitimate businesses and also the residents of some of these villages, which are at the borders, are complaining against customs for making it near impossible to get petrol for their legitimate businesses,” he added.

Report our men involved in smuggling, says NIS

On its part, the Nigerian Immigration Service  asked residents of border communities to identify its men who were being accused of collaborating with smugglers.

The service’s Public Relations Officer, Amos Okpu, stated this in an interview with one of  our correspondents.

He assured all that such persons would be made to pass through the NIS’ disciplinary process.

Okpu said, “The Nigeria Immigration Service’s National Border Management Strategy for 2019 to 2023 has five framework areas and one of those is to strengthen the credibility of the NIS with contiguous cross-border communities. When we deepen community contributions to manage borders in their home areas, we can run a more effective and transparent border management.

“The comptroller-general understands that community leaders, opinion leaders and even transporters are all stakeholders in the border security of our country. This is why he has been visiting these communities across the country. He has been to Adamawa and just last week, he was in Katsina, at Magama-Jibia, a border town between Nigeria and Niger republic. Why?  To seek partnership with locals to ensure border security.

“If you find  our officers indulging in any smuggling activity, identify them through their name tags and report them to us. I can assure you that the Immigration service will apprehend such an officer and pass him through the disciplinary processes, and if found guilty, he will be dismissed.”

Our troops can’t engage in such criminal activity – Army

Also, the Director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, said the troops had no time for such criminal activities. He added that  economic saboteurs who could not go about their usual business were  behind the insinuations.

Onyema, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “Troops of the Nigerian Army are on a daily basis engaged in tackling serious security challenges  across the country, ranging from terrorism,  insurgency  banditry to kidnapping, ethnic rivalry and conflicts and cattle rustling.

“Our hands are full with these operational engagements. I really wonder how anyone could imagine that our troops make out time for activities such as indulging in smuggling petroleum products across the country’s borders.

“I presume that this insinuation is only a manifestation of the saying that ‘when you fight corruption,  corruption fights back.”

Judging by what the eyes see, it seems that after the construction industry, the funeral industry is the largest these days in the South-East, especially in Anambra State where I am more conversant with. The amount of money sunk into funerals these days is mind-boggling.

Parents are living longer – into their 80s and 90s – because of better access to healthcare. Unlike in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when people could not check their blood pressure or blood sugar at home, such is available to many families these days, saving many from sudden deaths caused by high blood pressure or low blood pressure or diabetes. When people’s parents live into their 80s and 90s or even late 70s, there is the tendency to turn their funeral into a “celebration of life”.

People of the South-East don’t have the tradition of celebrating their birthdays in a big way, except for those who live in Lagos and Abuja. It is not common to see someone living in the South-East celebrate their 40th or 50th or 60th or 70th birthday with fanfare. If it is done at all, it is usually low-keyed with a couple of family members coming to the house for a get-together. Therefore, the burial of a parent has become an opportunity for big celebrations. It is not officially called a party but it usually has all the trappings of a party or even a carnival.

There are suppliers of virtually everything: brochures, invitation cards, water, drinks, food items, gifts, and canopies. Then, there are undertakers, decorators, security people, servers, MCs, DJs, ushers, camera people for video recording and still photographs. There are also suppliers of aso ebi, which is a cloth design worn by friends and associates for uniformity. In the past, only the direct bereaved family would dress alike. But today, aso ebi, borrowed from the South-West, has become part and parcel of funerals in the South-East. Some would buy packs of such cloth and give to family and friends for free to sew and wear at their funeral ceremony as a way of making it colourful.

Because of the amount of money spent at burial these days, so many people have built their businesses round them. Week after week, they are supplying things to those organising burials. And they make a lot of money from such, thereby changing their financial status.

The weekly traffic to the South-East for funerals and other events also ensures that hotels are usually fully booked from Wednesdays to weekends. Airlines and buses travelling towards the South-East from Tuesdays are also usually fully booked. Some people travel from Lagos or Abuja to the South-East for funerals two or three times in a month.

Funerals gulp millions of naira, depending on the financial muscle of those organising the event. There are about three categories. The first is the basic category which costs less than N1.5m. It can cost less than one million naira. Only the basic rites are performed. This includes taking care of the requirements of the church, the kinsmen, the village, the women’s groups, and guests. For example, where it is stipulated that the maternal kinsmen of the deceased man or the kinsmen of the deceased woman should be given a goat, a goat is given to them instead of a cow. Except perhaps palm wine, no bottled wines or spirits are shared at such events. The basic meals of rice and akpu or flour meal are prepared for guests.

Then, there is the medium category which costs between N1.5m and N5m. In this category, some extras are added to the event. The funeral is made as dignified as possible, but attempts are still made to keep cost under control. First is that the amount of wine and spirits drunk at the event is controlled. Second is that a decent but not-too-expensive casket is used. Third is that there may not be funeral undertakers to bear the casket – kinsmen are used.

Finally, there is the third category, which is the premium category. This starts from about N5m. First is that the invitation card is a booklet – which costs about a million naira. Second is that the burial brochure costs over a million naira to produce. The casket costs about a million naira or more, while the undertakers charge about N500,000 or over a million naira, depending on their class. Food vendors charge up to two million naira for a thousand guests, while drinks, wines and spirits cost up to five million naira. Choice wines are drunk like regular beer. One person may drink up to two bottles of a champagne brand which costs over N150,000 per bottle. At the end of such a burial event, about 30 million naira or more is spent.

Surprisingly, in spite of the amount of money spent at such funerals, most families who organise them do not incur losses, except for those who don’t attend other people’s events and who don’t support others. The communal spirit makes the people to support the bereaved at their time of loss. It goes round from family to family, and anybody who is known to attend events and support others never runs into a loss after a burial. The Igbo people say, when a big man travels to a distant land and comes back with much meat, it is those whom he has been giving that have reciprocated.

Interestingly, except for about one month of Lent, burials take place every week in different villages of every town between Wednesday and Friday all through the year. If the deceased or the bereaved are people of note, friends and well-wishers come from outside the town. For example, when the funeral of a prominent Anambra person is taking place or one of the children of the deceased is a prominent person, one sees the Who’s Who in Anambra from virtually all the towns in the state. To be a good MC in Anambra these days, you have to know the names and titles of the Who’s Who in Anambra, for every week or two, they gather at one funeral or the other. For an MC to be rated highly, he should not wait for someone to give him a piece of paper before announcing the names and designations of such prominent people as they come in.

People take funerals seriously in Igboland. They can forgive you if don’t attend their wedding or naming ceremony or birthday. But if you fail to attend the funeral of their parents and you also fail to send your support and apologies to them, it is like a mortal sin. People keep records of what others brought to their funeral events. When it is the turn of such people, the records are checked before the funeral attendance is reciprocated. There are people who will never attend the funeral of the parent or spouse of someone who did not attend theirs or send in their support. Funeral is seen as a debt each person owes the other, because death is certain.

Even if you are not in town or in the country during some funerals, but return months or years after, you need to visit the homes of all those who were bereaved, especially within your community, and present your condolence support in cash. You can also go along with drinks. A condolence visit is never too late. But if you don’t visit those families, they will note it in their Book of Life and wait for your turn to repay you.

Surprisingly, it is in this same country where people say that things are hard that one sees different families spend millions of naira on burials. The same people are also building houses all over the place, even as the prices of building materials double and triple within a few months under the regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd). You then ask yourself, where is this poverty that is said to affect over 70 per cent of the Nigerian population?

Nigeria is a paradox!

The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, says the people of the South-West geopolitical zone are against the Federal Government’s move to recover grazing routes for herders to graze their cattle in the country.

According to him, the government of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will be “creating an unnecessary tension” in the region if it goes ahead with the move.

Adams, who spoke in a chat with The PUNCH on Saturday, also alleged that the Federal Government is driving the country to a point of anarchy through its unpopular policies and actions.

The PUNCH had reported that the President in a recent television interview supported open grazing and directed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to produce a gazette which delineated grazing routes in all parts of the country in the First Republic.

Some human rights activists including Femi Falana (SAN), subsequently kicked against the move, saying grazing routes existed only in Northern Nigeria and not in the southern part of the country.

Although some of the routes are believed to have been encroached upon due to human activities, The PUNCH found out that the government had embarked on a process of identifying monuments along the routes in order to get them back as locations for cattle grazing.

Officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also said that the routes’ recovery would go on despite stiff oppositions to it.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Saturday, Adams said grazing routes “cannot work because the entire Southern Nigeria has spoken and we are against open grazing; the governors in the region have banned it already and lawmakers have started enacting laws in their state assemblies to ban it.

“The Federal Government should recognise that we have three tiers of government and should not create an impression that every law is in the hands of the Federal Government. The issue of open grazing should be a state law and a local government law because it is about the security of the state.

“Open grazing has been constituting security threats and has caused a lot of deaths of citizens and this is giving Nigeria a very bad image before the international community. The Federal Government should go against anything which threatens lives and property of Nigerians. If it encourages anything that will create insecurity, then, those in government have hidden agenda towards Southerners.”

“The Federal Government is driving the country to the point of anarchy and political instability by confronting the southern governors on the ban of open grazing. Open grazing is an insecurity of the highest order in the country.

“I don’t know why the President is bringing up an old law that was not even reflected in the 1999 Constitution. It is impossible for him to bring it up now. We will take a necessary position if that happens,” he added.

OsuAmaka:
Without the magnanimity of the West and North, eboes would have been poorer than a Church rat.


-Osu amaka

FrancisTony:

An eye for an eye lead no where.

Practise yours, and leave hers.

FrancisTony:

An eye for an eye lead no where.

Practise yours, and leave hers.

FrancisTony:
I can only speak for Christians.

Bible said love your wife as Christ loved his Church.
Any Christian man that supports OP will definitely not eat his cake and have it.
Adultery and Pre-marital sex is evil - shun it.

Don't be a cheat and expect submissive/respectful wife.


N/B - Quote responsibly...

importexpert:


Thanks bro. I am dedicated to your success. Feel free to rich me when ever you need my aid. Expect my happy new year update

importexpert:


the updates are in the 14th guide. i will release my happy new year update soon. it will be free to all my subscribers as usual. expect it soon.