₦airaland Forum

MY phone rang a couple of early mornings ago. It was a female professional who happens to be a Christian indigene of Plateau State. She was feeling extremely downhearted and wanted to share her thoughts about the recent unbelievably savage slaughter, in three local government areas of her state, of over 100 people by Fulani herdsmen.

“I have many Fulani friends, but none of them wants to discuss this crisis or the issues surrounding it…It’s as if they don’t feel a need to engage,” she told me, her voice trembling with emotion.

Behaving like ostriches

She said that there is no Fulani equivalent of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, to issue responsible statements and claimed that the most wealthy, exposed and influential Fulanis are not making the “right” noises at this critical juncture. In other words, she is bitterly accusing members of the Fulani elite of behaving like ostriches who are firmly burying their heads in the sand because they don’t want to see, hear or talk about evil.

And I must say that I too have noticed a tendency to politely leave this toxic hot potato festering under the carpet – by flatly refusing to express opinions – whenever I have tried to raise the topic of marauding herdsmen with Fulanis who are normally happy to chat to me, frankly and at great length, about other political problems.

It’s as if herdsmen are a conversational no-go area for Fulanis, at least when the persons trying to have the conversation are Southerners or Christians; and I am wondering why so many Fulanis are being reticent, publicly at least, about such an important matter.

Sure, there are shameless, evil Fulani fanatics who defend homicidal herdsmen and regard Christian lives as meaningless. But I am 100 per cent sure that the Fulanis with whom I socialise wish no harm to their Christian compatriots and are, by remaining silent about this matter, not condoning violence. So why the tied tongues?

Is the failure to engage caused by embarrassment or resignation or confusion or some other factor like perhaps feeling that the anti-herdsmen narrative is unfairly demonizing Fulanis as a whole?

Anti-herdsmen narrative

Explanations from Fulani Vanguard readers will be much appreciated! Please send your views anonymously, if you don’t want to be quoted.

In the meantime, tempers are running high and the country feels like a pressure cooker that is about to explode. Enraged protestors marched on Government House in Jos on Wednesday. Things soon got ugly as they demanded justice. The President, Vice President and other dignitaries have flocked to Jos to plead for calm, but these pleas are falling on many deaf ears.

Two Christians I know have decided to leave the ruling All Progressives Congress party – APC – because they are convinced that Mr President and his security chiefs are biased in favour of herdsmen. This sentiment is echoed in many quarters, including social media platforms, one of which published the following post two days ago:

Even with the confessions of the Myetti Allah [the Cattle Breeders Association] in Plateau State, Buhari is still strongly defending the Fulani killer herdsmen. What else do Nigerians need as evidence that their President is completely taking sides with those who kill them? It is clear from his statements that he insists all these killings are not done by cattle herdsmen although the evidence is clear.

Simultaneously, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, the president of the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has accused security and intelligence agencies of complicity, accused the government of abdicating its responsibilities and called on communities in the region to form trained vigilante groups and rise up to defend themselves and their property.
State of anarchy

According to Bitrus: “Section 33 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to life and nobody should be deprived of that right. The right to private self-defence is constitutionally recognized to protect that right to life…

Read more
http://corpersgist.com/2018/06/29/justice-in-jos/

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday assented to two new bills, Sen. Ita Enang, the Presidential Liaison to the National Assembly (Senate), has said.

President Muhammadu Buhari addresses the participants at the opening ceremony of the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress 2018 held at the State House Conference Center Abuja.
Enang said while briefing State House Correspondents that the new laws were the Medical Residency Training Act, 2018; and the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (Establishment, Etc) (Amendment) Act, 2018.

According to Enang, the medical law enacts and regulates the Medical Residency Training Programme for the training of Medical Practitioners and Dental Surgeons.

The programme would be regulated and managed by the National Medical Post-graduate College of Nigeria.

He said that the programme was for persons with the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB. BSc, MB. CH, B, BDS), or its equivalent, who had done the NYSC programme with discharge or exemption certificate.

He said such candidates should also possess professional indemnity certificate from a reputable insurance company, among others.

“This Act is directed at ensuring the quality and competence of medical practice and practitioners in Nigeria through statutory medical training programmes.

“It is to encourage medical tourism from other countries to Nigeria and build further confidence in Nigeria medical system,’’ he stated.

The Presidential Aide said the amended Hydro Power Act, No. 7 of 2010 reduced the derivation payable to the commission from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.

“The amendment further fortifies the power of the minister to issue policy directives as well as re-enforced statutory powers of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to regulate the Electricity Industry under the principal Act.

“The amendment eliminates ambiguity in the law and role conflict of the responsible institutions as well as properly providing for the exercise of statutory powers of NERC which was established before now,’’ he added.

SUBSTITUTION
85'
IN
A. Guðmundsson
Iceland #4


OUT
A. Finnbogason
Iceland · Striker #11



YELLOW CARD
84'
B. Sævarsson
Iceland · Defender #2


Sævarsson is the latest player to be shown a yellow card, after bringing Perisic down around 30 yards out from goal.

YELLOW CARD
83'
T. Jedvaj
Croatia · Defender #13


Tin Jedvaj is shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Gudmundsson. Free-kick to Iceland deep inside the Croatia half, with Sigurdsson standing over it... Well punched away by Kalinic.

SUBSTITUTION
82'
IN
I. Rakitić
Croatia #7


OUT
M. Kovačić
Croatia · Midfielder #8

GOALLL! Iceland are level, it's now 1-1! Gylfi Sigurðsson powers the ball straight into the back of the net, giving Kalinic no chance. The Everton man picked up the ball straight away, despite missing a penalty for Iceland in the previous game against Nigeria.

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The Lagos State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr Muhammed Momoh, has described the NYSC as a child of necessity committed to socio-economic development of the country.

Momoh said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

“The NYSC came up as a child of necessity, and despite the challenges it has faced over the years, it has proved to be an excellent scheme.

“We undertake and we are still committed to the socio-economic development of Nigerian communities, and that is why many development partners are willing to partner with the NYSC in different fields.

“Corps members are made to undertake services that will benefit their host communities and impact on the common people; it is part of the objective of the NYSC.

“Our mandate is to mobilise the graduate youths of Nigeria to contribute to the socio-economic development of Nigeria and we have done that excellently,” he said.

Momoh said that the NYSC was also involved in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and had also shown outstanding commitment to other developmental initiatives of the Federal Government.

“There is a social tool that amplifies the voice of the voiceless called, “U- reports”. The NYSC has the highest number of youth reporters.

“In 2013, the United Nations (UN) recognised the NYSC as the most outstanding partner award recipient at its headquarters in New York, as a result of our contributions to community development in the country,” he recalled.

Momoh assured that the NYSC would continue to improve on its mandate to empower corps members and make them self-employed and employers of labour after their national service.

“Our skills acquisition programme was designed to ensure that our graduates move from seeking employment after service to becoming self-employed, and a lot of them have benefited from the scheme,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the NYSC was created in 1973 and recently celebrated its 45 years of existence. (NAN).

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The Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) has launched a portal where undergraduates of various institutions can check whether their admissions are recognised by JAMB or not.
It is important that you confirm your name from the matriculation list. Only candidates whose names are on this list are recognised as bonafide students from the various accredited institutions.

By implication, if your name is not on this list, your application to NYSC scheme for the one year National service shall be declined.

How to Check JAMB Matriculation List.
Go to the matriculation list portal at https://jamb.org.ng/efacility/CheckMatriculationList/.
Select your examination year.
Enter your JAMB Registration number where required.
Finally, click on ‘Fetch My Details‘.

ABA— A 22-year-old man, Agaezichi Ogbonna, has allegedly killed his mother over a love affair with the mother’s sister at Akpaa Mbato community, Obingwa council area of Abia State.
Family sources told Vanguard that Agaezichi was having a love affair with his mother’s sister.
However, his mother, Blessing, warned against the relationship, describing it as a taboo in Igboland.
However, weekend, the deceased reportedly met the lovebirds at home and warned them to desist from the love affairs, but Agaezichi pounced on his mother and beat her to death.
Murder, caught
When they realised that the woman had died, the lovers fled, but Agaezichi was arrested by youths, who handed him over to the soldiers stationed at the community.
A family source said: “The boy was having a love affair with his mother’s sister. The love affair has been going on for a long time. But his mother kept warning him against it.
“Everybody in this village had been warning the boy against the love affair, because it is a taboo in Igboland.
“Any time his mother warned him to stop the love affair with her sister, Agaezichi will beat the woman.
“Yesterday, his mother saw him with the girl and warned about the consequences of their love affair and Agaezichi rained blows on the woman. She fell and died.”
A soldier, who asked not to be mentioned, said the suspect has been handed over to the Police.
Contacted, Police Area Commander, Aba, ACP Peter Opara, confirmed that the suspect is being detained by the Police.

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Prophet Wale Olagunju, the presiding Bishop, Divine Seed of God Chapel Ministries has spoken on the state of the nation saying ‘It is not in the mind set of God for Buhari to rule beyond May 2019’.

In a recent interview with City People, the man of God said, ‘let me give you my own Biblical view, whenever there is injustice there will be no peace. Forget about those Bishops who are saying it shall be well with Nigeria. I am a die-hard supporter of Buhari in those days. One, to me his war against corruption is too selective. Buhari should know that corruption is a sin against God and mankind, so war against it should be total’.

According to him, ‘I expect him to restructure Nigeria to balance the equation, He should conduct transparent censors to address the injustice that is going on in this country, create job opportunity for the youths who are roaming the street and address the problem of tribalism in the nation, correct the lopsided appointment that is going on in the Armed Forces; Custom; Immigration; Nigerian Police; Federal Ministries! Parastatals. It is not in the mind set of God for Buhari to rule beyond May 29,2019. Look at the just concluded bye-election in Oyo State, yes, PDP floored APC hands down. This is just the beginning of what awaits Buhari and his APC come 2019; as earlier predicted by me in my prophesy of 2017 and 2018’.

He added that, ‘let me be frank and declare before God of Heaven and the whole heart, even if Buhari should red-carpet the whole nation, Buhari and his APC would not win the 2019 presidential election. In my 2017 prophesy, the Lord told me He would raise adversaries against him and even his own kinsmen, the Hausas would disown him. What are we witnessing now? The Lord gave me the signs through my prophesy; there is no way he can win. Some Nigerians in their own thinking has said that Buhari is a man of Integrity .. Where lies the integrity in the life of Buhari when he chose his own people the Fulanis to manage the security affairs of this nation, shedding innocent blood on daily basis, marginalizing the Christians and the Ibos has no say in the affairs of Nigerian nation. Why? To me the thinking of those who are supporting Buhari today is upside down. Under Buhari, the government doesn’t value integrity and value system is no more’.

35-year-old Miranda Polston from Kentucky was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison after being charged with forcing her 14-year-old daughter to drink alcohol as punishment.

Polston was arrested in March in Pulaski County and charged with first-degree criminal abuse. She was actually on probation for a felony when she was accused of forcing her daughter to drink alcohol.

As a result of that, a hearing was held and the judge decided to revoke her probation, sending her to prison for a 20-year sentence.

During the hearing in court, Somerset police revealed that Miranda Polston caught her daughter drinking alcohol on Mar. 10. and decided to punish her by forcing her to drink alcohol to the point of “extreme intoxication to get her sick.”

In the video, the woman was heard saying she could be on MTV and would get $1 million if she kept drinking.

The Investigators said they heard the victim making a “gurgling sound” in the video when being fed more alcohol. She then fell face first on the floor before everyone started laughing.

It was also claimed by WKYT that the disturbing video shows the highly-intoxicated young girl being held up in a chair so she doesn’t fall off as she yells ‘no’. But she ended up being fed with more alcohol.

Speaking to authorities, Polston said she wanted to teach her daughter not to drink because alcohol is bad for her.

This photo of Brazilians paying homage to Ooni Of Ife will make you fall in love with culture

Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi is currently on a tour of Brazil, meeting with Brazilians to reconnect them with their African roots.

He’s photographed here speaking with a cross section of indigenes who knelt to pay homage before the king!

A driver was shot in the leg by a trigger -happy Customs officer following a heated argument at a checkpoint in Bauchi State.

According to the report posted by a Hausa Facebook page, the driver was allegedly shot by the officer while traveling from Kano to Bauchi.

It was gathered that the argument ensued after the officer allegedly asked the driver to pay a certain fee.

He refused and in the course of the argument, the officer shot him.

By Joseph Erunke

Chidi Odinkalu needs no introduction to those familiar with Nigerian legal terrain. A professor of Law, he served as Chairman, Governing Council of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission. Even as he has worked in government, Odinkalu doesn’t shy away from telling those in power how to manage the people they represent when the need arises. His activism has taken him to different places, all in his efforts to see a better world.

The activist is not at home with current state of affairs in his country. He believes even after over 18 years of the country’s return to democracy, Nigerians have not experienced what they bargained for. To him, democratic practice at the moment was at its lowest ebb, and can only be improved to the desire of the people if those at the political ladder change their old ways.

Odinkalu is particularly pained that the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, who during his days in the military, overthrew a democratically elected government headed by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, and years after, became one of the greatest beneficiaries of democracy, was yet to realize his new disposition as ‘President’ instead of ‘Head of State’ where he had ruled with maximum decrees.

Chairman NHRC, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu
He blamed the people whom he described as “a generation of people that forgets history” for Buhari’s ascendancy to the highest political office in the land despite his earlier anti democratic disposition.

Odinkalu also touched on the conferment of the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger, GCON, on Chief MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of 1993 presidential election,by President Muhammadu Buhari. Even as he conceded that Buhari’s action was good given all that Abiola put in to see democracy have root in the country and the resultant circumstances that led to his death, he, however, said the president deserves no applause because, according to him, the military which he was part of owes the country an unreserved apology for its unwarranted action in annulling the freest and most transparent election in Nigeria’s political history.

“People have paid the price for us to be at this level. We stand on the shoulders of some great Nigerians who paid the price for what we have today. Some of them are MKO Abiola;Kudirat Abiola ;Gani Fawehinmi; Professor Beko Ransome Kuti;Chima Ubani;Bagauda Kalto;Michael Imodi. I can go on and on and on. Don’t forget the unknown Nigerian citizens, “he said.

Turning to what he perceived as Buhari’s intolerant disposition to holders of views not in line with government’s, the legal practitioner asked in rhetoric:” Who owns this land? In our country, the people who have benefited most from democracy have decided that we will no longer be part of our land.”

He recalled with pain that:”In 1983,precisely on December 31,”the Army overthrew a democratically elected government. The person who emerged was a Major General, his name was Major General Muhammadu Buhari. He set up military tribunals and sent Nigerians to jail for crimes he imagined that they committed and for crimes he imagined that they would commit in future. Many of those Nigerians did not return. Some of them died in prisons, many of them were broken in prisons and lives were rendered useless as they died after living prisons. He abused the SSS then known as the Nigerian Security Organization. Nigerians were hoarded not only in prisons or detention centres but also into concentration camps, in our own country.”

He continued:”And because today, we now look under the journey of 180 characters or 280 characters, we have an entire generation that does not remember this story. If we remember, Buhari would not be where he is today.”

The journey to June 12,as Odinkalu summarized:”In 1985,another general took over power, having overthrown Buhari and Buhari was detained in Benin. He became a beneficiary of the kind of detention facility that he meted out to other Nigerians.

General Babangida started a transition without ending,for over eight years. All the political parties were banned, leaving just two and in the end, only two Nigerians were left to run for office. Both of them were friends of the Army-MKO Abiola and Bashir Tofa. Both of them were Nigerians, both of them were Muslims but Nigerians decided that there was nothing wrong with that. We were so united that religion did not matter. But see where we are today, we are all divided by location, by tribe, by religion, by APC, by PDP.

“We went to the poll by June 12, 1993 and what happened? A Muslim from the South West whose running mate was a Muslim from the North East defeated a Muslim from Kano, in Kano. Now, what was the story? The military assumed that Bashir Tofa was going to win. Many of you have not heard this story, yes, the military assumed that Bashir Tofa was going to win.The Intelligence they had was that Tofa was going to win. They had also decided that if Tofa won, they were not going to give him the Presidency. Why? Because Tofa was not a member of the National Republican Convention, NRC, which he had contested for the office of President. His registration number in the NRC under which he ran was owned by a woman. And the Army knew this! This was the story of the annulment. Tofa had registered as a woman and the military knew this. If you read Dan Agbese’s book on the annulment, you will know this. Babangida himself told this story.

“Nigerians decided that Abiola would be the winner and the military decided to go through with their plan not to hand over. And they nullified the most democratic election in our history. They did not just cancel the election, they decided to kill the winner too and in 1998, they killed ‘President Abiola’.”

While noting that Abiola deserves the conferment of GCON as done by the Buhari administration, he was not happy that many people, dead and living, were not recognized along side.

Hear him:”It is a good thing that we right historical wrongs. I am not going to sit down here and say the award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON to ‘President Abiola’ is wrong, no. It is right. I’m also not going to sit down here and thank anybody for doing it. Nigerians voted and so the military owes us an apology as an institution for violating our will.

“ President Buhari is a soldier who has committed treason before. We forgave him and gave him the chance in 2015 to do right. If he’s trying to do the right thing, it is not my business to say ‘thank you’ to him. He is doing his job. When I do my job,nobody tells me thank you. So, I’m not going to go and start congratulating him.

“President Abiola would have served his term from 1993 to 1997. If he got another term, by 2001,he would have gone but the military destroyed it. So it is right that he gets honoured even in death.

“Gani Fawehinmi paid a huge price for why we are here today. It is right that he’s properly honoured. But we also must not be a country that only remembers her people after we have deliberately killed them. Gani Fawehinmi died of lung cancer but Gani never smoked a day in his life. And until the day he died, Gani believed that the reason he died of lung cancer was toxicity that he inhaled while soldiers were imprisoning him from Kirikiri to Gashua for no crime against the country.

Today, we are honouring three heroes but it’s not enough. Kudirat Abiola was killed by the military, Chima Ubani died defending our country, Beko Ransome Kuti died standing up for what is right for our country. Bagauda Kalto was killed by soldiers who called him a terrorist. But it’s not just about the dead people, we have people who are alive too-Ayo Obe, Olisa Agbakoba, Innocent Chukwuma ;Femi Falana ;and the rest of others.”

He spoke on alleged intolerance of the Buhari administration to the opposition views:”Everyone has the right in a democracy to voice their opinion. But unfortunately, what we now have in Nigeria is a civil space that is no longer tolerant. President Buhari and his security chiefs, whether through commissions or omissions, have become part of the process. Citizens are being criminalized for having point of views that government does not like.

“Every occupant of Aso Rock is a tenant and the maximum period of tenancy in Aso Rock is eight years. You cannot abuse Nigerians and tell them they shouldn’t cry. We will continue to cry if we have to because this is our country too and we are not giving it to anybody. This country is our country too and we will not give it up to anybody. We will continue to fight for our country.”

According to Odinkalu,people must stop blaming those around the president whenever things go wrong in the country, saying the president was the architect of all the happenings.

“President Buhari knows what he’s doing and stop blaming people around him whenever things go wrong. A lot of people will say, oh, it’s the advisers around him. It’s a lie. President Buhari knew when Zaria massacre happened, he knew when a governor drove a bulldozer through the houses of his political opponents because he asked the governor about that,he knew when some people were massacred in Benue because he asked the governor about that. So can we ask President Buhari if he likes this country that he’s leading in the direction that he’s leading? If he likes it, we must show him and continue to show him that we don’t like it.”

Odinkalu said he was not a politician and was not speaking for one. And so, his views shouldn’t be misinterpreted:”I’m not a politician, I don’t belong to a political party. I belong to a one, united, repubilcan, indivisible, democratic Federal Republic of Nigeria. That’s my party. I’m not asking for any other thing.”

He decried alleged corruption in the Nigeria Police Force, regretting that the development had a big toll on junior personnel of the Force.

“The Nigeria Police Force personnel are also suffering, many of these officers you see here are owed salaries, many of them don’t have quarters, they can’t pay school fees of their children because senior officers are stealing their salaries, they buy their kits with their own money. This fight we are carrying here is also for their own well-being. “

Child abuse has become so commonplace that it’s in the news at least once every week. Yet, it doesn’t make it any less shocking.

These heart-breaking images show a four-year-old girl who has been so badly beaten by her alcoholic father that she can barely open her eyes. The child was also chained up in a toilet and forced to do laundry.

The little girl was found in near darkness with both hands inside a plastic wash basin, scrubbing her father’s clothes. There also appear to be burn marks left by cigarettes on her back.

The shocking pictures were taken by a visiting relative and show her face badly bruised and swollen.

The unnamed relative said: “[Her father] regularly chains her up in the toilet before leaving the house at 6 or 7am, only returning at 10 or 11pm to feed her.”

Within an hour of receiving a report of abuse, the local authorities went to the house in Qingzhen in Guiyang, capital of China’s south-western Guizhou province. The father, who is believed to work as a digger driver, has been arrested and the girl is currently receiving treatment in hospital.