₦airaland Forum

world1:
Alot is wrong with it.
Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava. How on earth should we be importing gari into our market? We are not encouraging our industry to grow at all. Umudike and IITA should have better technologies for the processing of cassava into gari than importing from India.

petrov10:
is that not osinbajos church?

Last Monday was a black day for members of a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, in Abuja, was invaded and set ablaze by people believed to be religious extremists.

The incident took place around 5am at the Root of David Area Headquarters in Apiawe village, DeiDei, via Kubwa, one of the satellite towns of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The hoodlums were said to have made away with musical instruments and other valuables worth millions of naira belonging to the church before they set it on fire.


Some people, who spoke at the scene to Sunday Vanguard revealed that the attackers were many but their actual number could not be ascertained. “The people came in the morning and stole everything in the church and burnt it down. The worshipers were not in the church when the incident happened as it was very early in the morning,” one of the eyewitnesses, Danjuma Abdullahi, said.

Narrating the story, the Pastor-in-charge of the parish, Pastor Oladele Stephen, said he received a distress call from one of his members, informing him that some fanatics had burnt down the church.

“They made away with our generating set, musical instruments, chairs and microphones and set the building on fire,” he said.

The pastor noted that the church auditorium was also, some weeks ago, attacked by some suspected religious fundamentalists, who broke into the church through the ceiling and made away with six ceiling fans, speakers and microphones.

He added that the matter was reported to the police, saying, however, that nothing was done. “We reported the matter to the police, but no arrest was made,” Stephen said.

The cleric expressed dismay at the unchecked growing religious intolerance even in the Federal Capital Territory, wondering why security operatives appeared to be displaying open sympathy for what he described as ungodly and illegal acts

Oladele explained that, on several occasions, some of the extremists, who own shanties near the church, had provoked the parishioners by burning grass near the place of worship, thus spewing heavy smoke into the auditorium during worship.

“These boys sell and smoke hemp on daily basis near the church,” he added.

While describing the attack as an affront to the Christian community, the pastor stated that the matter had been reported to the provincial headquarters of the church and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The cleric said; “We reported to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) on Monday around 10am but they have not made any arrest. Instead, they were asking us whether we suspect anyone. The DPO told us that we should just go and assured us that God will help us to recover all the property.”

The DPO in charge of Dei-Dei Police Station was not available for comments

Conducting an on-the-spot assessment at the parish, National President, Youth Wing of CAN (YOWICAN), Daniel Kadzai, said it was unfortunate that the issue of attack on Christians and their churches had not been taken seriously in the country.

“I want to express my disappointment in this government for gross dereliction of duty. The primary role of government is to provide security to its citizens irrespective of religion or ethnicity,but it seems the government has failed in this duty,” he said.

Also speaking on the incident, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the attack on the Redeemed Church parish, describing it as barbaric.

The Chairman, FCT Chapter of CAN, Rev. Jonah Samson, also called on the Federal Government to take action on what had happened by arresting the culprits and bring them to book, saying this will go a long way to avoid further tension between the two major religions in the country.

Samson said; “I see this as provocation and it is so painful. You don’t need an angel to tell you that a lot of destruction has been done here. “We are hoping that the law will take its course in a situation where you find people who do not have respect for the law. To be very frank, issues like this must be tamed and people who have done this should be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law. “We expect that government will take action and ensure that they fish out those who are responsible for this act and then we will be satisfied.”

azimibraun:
which dirty brunt? You are talking of south African companies while they are talking about your drug dealing, pimping and prostituting citizens. Don't you know they are international trading laws protecting their companies? Show me one south African man in your area in Nigeria jobless and just claiming to be hustling? They come into Nigeria courtesy of huge enterprises while we go there as individuals looking to get rich quick at their expense and those of fellow Nigerians in south Africa. South African businesses matter to Nigeria than a corrupt, evil drug dealer and love-vendor Nigeriian doing evil in south Africa. We have decent Nigerians in south Africa and around the world but the bad ones are just too many.

Blue3k:
If this is true is shows the people at federal government dishonest rats or cowards that are afraid to enforce rukes. You claimed he didn't follow rules but now change step after a little media drama?

This country now law and order. Just a bunch of people clowning for attention.

jinxet2000:
what do you mean processing?
Palm oil ready to be shipped, is there any other form you eat palm oil other than when it has been processed from palm fruit to palm oil.
All these township boys and girls.

Kundagarten:
Politics gone too far, why punish the whole of Ekiti?

Its obvious they did this to frustrate the Oshokomale.

Zoelle:
If it was a northern or APC state, he would have been paid. The tyrant should continue, his tenure will surely come to an end.

And then there was Andrew Yakubu. A thief is a thief but surely, there has to be a difference between a thief who steals and then sends the money abroad to create jobs elsewhere and one who steals and is bold enough to retain the money in the local economy to be somesort of useful capital for value creation. Andrew Yakubu is a different type though, he had over $9.8m cash kept in a house. How many Nigerian banks even have as much as $9.8m cash in a vault without depending on the Central Bank of Nigeria? As far as rogues go, this Andrew Yakubu tops the pyramid of evil, not because of the size of the stolen money, he is a small fish on that front – but because he was so insensitive to the cost of depriving the economy of such sums.

We must be careful not to get carried away by the unusual reality of seeing one man keep over $9.8m cash in a private apartment. We must ask questions about the system that makes it possible for such a thing to happen. Let us face it, even Yakubu could have more dollars hidden elsewhere. It does not stand to logic that a man who decided to keep some of his loot in raw cash would decide to keep it all in one place. Pablo Escobar did not play it that way, I am certain Yakubu did not either. It must also be said that, no matter how far the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission go in this fight against corruption, it is not going to catch every thief with a private dollar bank. S

Since the current administration appears more fixated on the cure, the future of Nigeria must be established on preventing these unwholesome realities. It will always cost more to fight corruption than it’d be if some more focus could be directed at preventing it. This should not be understood to mean that the fight should be stopped. I find it hard to trust those who say we should forget about what has already been stolen and just look to prevent more stealing. It almost sounds like a defence for those who already got away with milking the system and depriving Nigerians of their already limited resources. Every thief that can be caught should be caught but we must always remember that our best bet would always be to prevent corruption.

A thought must be spared for those who insist on pretending these revelations are no big deals. It is not impossible to fight corruption and also build a thriving economy. To say, “bring back corruption” so that we can have an improved economy is certainly not a request about the economy, it is a naked thirst for the order of impunity that made it possible for people with no known means of livelihood to own properties that even those who earn their money legitimately can only dream of.

As soon as Yakubu’s loot was discovered, those in charge of revising the recent past immediately went to town to tell us he had been sacked by then President Jonathan for corruption. An obvious “alternative fact” that falls flat against a simple search on Google. Just searching ‘Jonathan fires NNPC Yakubu’ on Google immediately dispelled the intentional lies. He had actually been fired, but because he dared to challenge then Petroleum Resources minister, Alison-Madueke. It matters that Yakubu was not fired for being corrupt because it further cements the reality of impunity that held sway under the government Yakubu served.

President Muhammadu Buhari could easily find himself in a Yakubu situation years from now. If the Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal, does not get the boot concerning the hundreds of millions of naira he allegedly used through his company to “cut grass,” a time would come when after the EFCC is further emboldened by another administration, many would further question Buhari’s anti-corruption legacy if Lawal loses his job for any other reason other than the fact that he had too dark a cloud of corruption around him. Someone with a bias for Lawal would be thinking, “but he hasn’t been convicted, so why sack him?” but that would be your bias getting in the way of rational thinking. Lawal is a blot on Buhari’s anti-corruption escutcheon. No one will prosecute him, let alone jail him as the Secretary to the Federal Government. If we want justice to come at him with a balanced scale, he has to be tried as another private citizen. He’d still wield some influence but certainly not with the bargaining plate of “I am the SGF!” The earlier this one got fired, the better for Buhari and his government. It is not even like he is such an outstanding SGF. He is among those who that have ensured that the Buhari administration does not move forward and when it does move forward, they have kept the speed limit of the administration at just below “snail speed.”

The Nigerian government must now commit to transparency. Accountability automatically suffers in the absence of transparency. How can you be accountable when you already operate in an opaque environment? It is like asking the National Assembly to account for its budgetary allocation when we have never seen the breakdown of its lump sum. It becomes a national contradiction when the same National Assembly is partly responsible for ensuring some form of transparency in the execution of the budget. If we really want to fight corruption, let us fight the past by making people pay; let us avoid the errors of the past by institutionalising transparency and accountability in public spending.

dingbang:
Dats how he vowed to reduce the price of cement...

The Acting Director, Development Control Department of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Hamza Madaki, has said the department will go ahead with the demolition of Mpape after it appeals the recent high court judgment stopping the exercise.

The director, who was answering questions from newsmen during a press briefing, said the department was still discussing with its head of legal team for the possibility of appealing the judgment.

“But the good thing about the said judgment is that due process was not followed. So if we are to follow due process in serving all relevant notices, and getting necessary approvals and orders, we can go ahead and do the demolition.

“There is also a judgment before this (latest court verdict) which said that he who has no title over land, we don’t need to serve him or her notice, because it is considered as illegal development.

“But all the same, we are prepared to serve all the relevant notices and follow due process, to make sure that all the holes and leakages are blocked. Then we will go and do the needful (carry out the demolition exercise),” he said.

When pressed to state exactly when the department would embark on the planned demolition of the Abuja suburb, he insisted, “I cannot precisely say how soon it will be as it depends on the outcome of the appeal against the current judgment; and we have a 30-day window to file an appeal.

“I’m not saying that Mpape must go, but due process will be followed,” he said.

Standing5:
And so what? Will this move make the prison less congested?

mykeljosef:
booked

The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) said it has obtained waiver from the Federal Government to employ 6,545 staff members in different cadre of the service.

Comptroller General (CG), NPS, Mr Jaffaru Ahmed made the disclosure on Monday in Abuja during the 2017 budget defence in the House of Representatives.

Ahmed explained that the service had inadequate personnel, which prompted the waiver for employment, saying that N6 billion has been earmarked for it.

On the 2017 budget the CG said that N72.3 billion was proposed out of which N37.5 was earmarked for personnel with N19 billion for overhead and N16 billion for feeding of inmates and dogs.

He said that the service would embark on mechanised agriculture to enable prisoners produce enough food to feed themselves, saying that this would reduce high financial burden laid on the Federal Government.

According to him, the service spends over N16 billion each year to feed about 72,000 inmates in the country.

Ahmed added that in 2016 fiscal year, the NPS had an outstanding of N5 billion owed contractors for the feeding of prisoners.

“We intend to set up specialised farm centres to train prisoners towards boosting food production and make prisoners able to feed themselves.”

He stated that although prison was not a revenue generating agency, yet the service was able to generate about N40.1 million in 2016 which had been paid into the national treasury.

Ahmed said that the service was not allowed to retain any of its revenue unless it was generated from the Prison Industry or workshop, where the inmates were directly involved.

The CG also disclosed that about 27,992 work force of the service could not be paid their salary as when due in 2016.

He explained that only N27.9 billion was released out of N34.9 billion proposed for personnel.

He added that additional N3.9 billion intervention fund was later released by the Ministry of Finance.

The CG said that out of N14 billion appropriated for 2016 Capital expenditure, N3.6 billion was released as the service purchased only 117 vehicles out of 350 proposed.

He reiterated the need to relocate prisons from urban centers, adding that massive rehabilitation was urgently needed in most of the prisons to avoid jail breaks.

According to him, out of 241 prisons in the country, about 200 were constructed in the colonial days dating back to 1896 and about 139 sandwiched in the metropolis.

“There is need to relocate some prisons from urban centres because there is no room for expansion and some of them are over 100 years old,” Ahmed said.

After the CG’s presentation, the Chairman, House Committee on Interior, Rep. Jagaba Jagaba, therefore, called for an executive session with the management of NPS. (NAN)

Omagago:
Is he related to IG of Police?? The name though

ahamonyeka:
What kind of leaders do we have in this zoo?celebrating a thief that just return from prison.