The Jonathan administration stole N100 Billion ahead of 2015 election

Reno is just looking for relevance. He should tell Dasuki to return the money he has stolen

FLASH: President Buhari has reportedly given an order that all blocked roads in Lagos be opened - until he is close. Road will be closed for him to make a pass through and will be opened after he passes.

The First Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional African Leadership Award 2018, presented to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari by the family of Martin Luther King Jnr. is not fake, ALEDEH can authoritatively report.

ALEDEH recalls that President Buhari played host to the family of the great American speaker and civil rights movement leader on Monday, March 26.

During the meeting, the family of the American hero presented President Buhari with an award of The First Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional African Leadership Award 2018, Lauretta Onochie, Buhari’s Personal Assistant on Social Media, revealed on her Facebook page.

The award, presented by Mrs Naomi Barbara King who led other members of the African-American body to the President, was in recognition of President Buhari’s leadership

Days after the award, an article was written by “Alabo-Ross George”, describing the award as a “big fraud”.

The article titled; “The Fake MLK Award Presented to President Buhari – How Abike Dabiri scammed the President [Part 1]”, claimed the award was funded by the Presidency through Abike Dabiri, a Senior Special Assistant to Nigeria’s President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

The article alleged that “Erika Bennet contacted her friend Barbara King who is not a member of Martin Luther King’s immediate family, to pose as ”matriarch” of the MLK family”. It alleged that the award was “arranged by the president’s special assistant Foreign Affairs and Diaspora.

The First Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional African Leadership Award 2018, presented to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari by the family of Martin Luther King Jnr.

The writer of the article wrote that “to further embellish the lie, Mrs Lauretta Onochie, the president’s assistant on new media described Mrs Barbara King as the ”wife of Martin Luther King” and that the King Centre and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had since “distanced themselves from the award” which was presented to President Buhari.

Though Lauretta Onochie erred in calling Barbara King the wife of late Martin Luther King, ALEDEH can report that Barbara King is the wife of the late AD King, MLK’s uncle, and the ”matriarch” of the family as all decisions are taken with her consent and approval and not as alleged by the writer of the article.

ALEDEH recalls that MLK’s wife, Coretta Scott King died in 1968 and since then Naomi Barbara King, has been the head of the family and she takes decisions for the family of the late civil rights movement leader.

While the author of the article claims Erika Bennet is a friend to Barbara King, findings by ALEDEH reveals Erica Bennet has no relationship with Barbara King as both women only met for the first time in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

ALEDEH gathered that it has been the desire of the family to visit Africa before the 50th anniversary of the assassination of MLK and they chose Nigeria as well as honour President Buhari for his anti-corruption stance.

Though the article claims that the award was funded by the Presidency, findings by ALEDEHreveals that the trip was solely privately funded as both women were on different delegations and only met in Abuja.

Apparently pleased with the reception they received, both women who were delighted to meet for the first time, extended their stay in Nigeria. As at the time of filing this report, the delegation was still in Nigeria

Meanwhile, Martin Luther King Jnr, popularly known for his “I Have A Dream” speech was a black freedom fighter who stood out for his relentless efforts to make America home to all irrespective of race or colour

[DISCLAIMER] PLEASE IGNORE THE FAKE NEWS!!!

RE: 'SERGEANT DAVID BAKO'/DAPCHI GIRLS - FABRICATED STORY!

Our attention has been drawn to a tasteless and hastily manufactured propaganda, concocted by sadistic elements, and being shared on various online platforms claiming to be by a certain Army Sergeant from the stable of a certain Daily Globe Watch (DGW).

Ordinarily we would not respond to that charade because every objective person can see that it is a mediocre attempt to hide the shame of some wicked entities in the face of the effective release of our abducted Dapchi girls.

However for the sake of the unsuspecting public, we want to expose these unpatriotic elements for the cheap fraud they truly are.

Daily Global Watch is a dark blog site solely aimed at manufacturing lies and spreading hate and cheap propaganda. Their sole purpose was to promote the secessionist agenda driven by certain individuals.

It was the same site for instance that claimed on 6th May 2017 that "President Buhari may resign before May 29th 2017".

DGW has in its short and dubious lifetime being a tool for division and spreading of hate and lies against the government and the Nigerian people. Little wonder it was the avenue of choice for the manufacture and distribution of the latest shameful product of the herds-media.

We will not waste time on the ridiculous content of that childish concoction but if you carefully analyze it, you will unmistakably see that the language and writing style is eerily similar to the language of some of the loquacious actors we have know in recent times. One wonders why these actors were not willing to come openly and spew their usual jargon. Which leaves you to equally ponder why some of these loquacious elements have been uncharacteristically quiet in recent times. Could they now be speaking through unscrupulous avenues like Digital Globe Watch (DGW)?

Check out these lines;

".. a 'certain' Nigerian Christian Soldier Sergeant David Bako from the middle Belt, Plateau State ...".

"The remaining four years is to make him execute the hidden agenda to carry out ethnic cleansing."

Don't these lines sound familiar? Where do you think they came from?

Now some posers for the objective mind:

��What Unit is the purported Sergeant from and what's the name of his purported Field Commander that hatched the plan?

��If the Soldier knew all along that President Buhari was on a "cleansing mission", why wait until after the execution of the purported plan before spilling the beans?

��Was leaving the Christian girl also part of the plan? To what end?

��What are the names of the remaining soldiers involved in the plot and where was his station?

�Now to the question of who really is 'Sergeant David Bako' and is he truly a Nigerian soldier especially going by 'his' supposed photogragh that was used in the infantile propaganda?

The answer is obviously NO.

First the camouflage is not the kind of camouflage used by the Nigerian Army.

Secondly that's not how our Nigerian Army Rank looks.

Thirdly the Rifle he was carrying is not the standard issue rifle used by the Nigerian Army.

Do not crack your head further. We have the answer for you.

These amateur agents of darkness simple went to the Internet and pulled up a picture of a Senegalese Army soldier just to hoodwink the unsuspecting public.

Below is the link to that.

https://alchetron.com/Armed-Forces-of-Senegal

This now brings us to the following questions for every responsible citizen to ponder over?

❌Why would some people insist on manufacturing lies to hoodwink innocent Nigerians?

❌What is their intention for continuously promoting hatred and division amongst Nigerians?

❌Why are some people so angry that our innocent fellow citizens were released by their captors?

❌Why are they hell bent on setting the nation on fire and jeopardizing every effort the government is making to reposition our great nation?

�We use this medium to urge all patriotic and we'll meaning Nigerians across tribe and creed to disregard the evil story concocted by agents of division, darkness and strive and continue be wary of their antics.

Please be warned that they will get even more desperate in their antics as their evil hold on the jugular of our dear nation is removed and Nigeria is liberated for every Nigerian.

'Sergeant David Bako' is a phantom creation of the evil imaginations of unpatriotic Nigerians hell bent on escaping the long arm of the law for crimes they have committed against the Nigerian people for decades even if it means burning the country to the ground.

We shall continue to expose and shame them one by one.
...

DIY on how to detect fake pictures and materials from the herdsmedia and their agents of darkness:

✔Make sure you have the picture you wish to verify saved on your PC or device and follow the following steps:

1 - Visit http://www.reverse.photos

2 - Click on Upload Picture.

3 - Load the picture you wish to verify and OK.

4 A screen with ‘Image uploaded’ displays. Click on ‘Show Matches’.

This will take you to a Google page that will show all the other web pages on the Internet that have similar images.

Enough is enough.

God bless ��

The VP was staing facts.That is what this aticle lacks FACTS.

If money meant for projects was stolen let everybody know. While the present administration talk about corruption in the past administration, they are also doing the right thing. Spending more on capital project than previous administration and Improving agricultural sector.

**How $3billion was stolen in NNPC/NPDC Strategic Alliance contracts in past administration

**Adds: When oil sold for over $100 per barrel in 2014, only N99billion was spent on Power, Works and Housing

** Total capital spend then was N153billion and more than N150billion embezzled

Before I go into my few remarks, I just want to add to some of the questions that have been asked. A question was asked on the railways and what has been happening especially with respect to being able to evacuate goods from the ports. Two things happening; first, I’m sure some are already familiar with the concession given to General Electric, to refurbish the Narrow Gauge Lines, which starts from the Ports itself. That concession is already in place, and we expect that things should begin to happen very quickly. Also in the private sector, one of the members of that consortium – APM Terminal, is going to do something on a railway station on the way to Ibadan and trying to develop an inland port there. They say they can do this in 10 weeks and we hope that means a further reduction in the pressure on the Apapa port.

Asides from that, the Standard Gauge Line which is funded by the China EximBank has already started and taking off from the Apapa port. We expect that by the end of this year, we should see significant progress between the Lagos-Ibadan end of that Standard Gauge Line. As a matter of fact, our target is to have that bit of it concluded by the end of this year and we hope we can achieve that. So that would move goods from the Apapa port out of Lagos to at least as far as Ibadan, before going to Kano which is the terminal point of the Standard Gauge Line.

The other question I would like to add to is concerning the Eastern ports, because someone asked about the Onitsha port. The concession agreements on that have been finalised, all the technical evaluations have been done, it is going to the Attorney-General’s office and we expect that it should be sorted out very shortly.

In that same Eastern port axis, there is a Warri port, the technical evaluation is still going on, it hasn’t been concluded yet but we expect that it should move on very quickly.

The other point is the frustration that many of us feel when we come into Nigeria through our airports and of course, some of the frustrations around the seaports in bringing in goods.

The point that was made especially about two people sitting together, questioning you and passing your passport from one person to the other, is what we are all generally irritated about. What we require is i-check, which is quite an elaborate device which enables us to get advance passenger information ahead of passengers arriving at the ports. This enables us to do two things; one, it enables us to give visas on arrival because you already have the information of the passenger. Secondly, it removes the necessity of more than one person checking the passport because you already have advance information, the other security person works from the backend. We expect that when that is installed, we would be able to achieve that and remove the nuisance of two/three people checking passports.

Last week, we held a meeting with all the agencies that are usually at the ports, and you find that there are several of them. The idea is to reduce this number and ensure only those who must absolutely be there are there. There are some who don’t need to be there but rather be summoned when their services are required.

The permanent solution we are proposing for bringing in and taking out goods from our ports is through our single window, the National Trading Platform. We have gone very far with that, and we expect that should be on stream very shortly. We are at the point where this is going to FEC for a final approval.

With the single window, a lot of the stress will be greatly reduced, and with the appropriate scanners run by concessions with PPP arrangements, we should be able to achieve greater ease of coming into our ports and exporting goods from our ports.

SPEECH PROPER
Let me join my cabinet colleagues in thanking you for making the time yet again to attend the Quarterly Business Forum (QBF). This is the 7th Forum, and there are many here who have attended all seven, to them we are of course, especially indebted for their consistent faith and support for this process; even those who haven’t attended seven, have attended several and there are some who are attending for the first time.

It is important that we continue to emphasize that for us both philosophically and as a practical matter, our partnership with the private sector is fundamental. Aside from the QBF, we have established other platforms to harness the partnership, these include the Industrial Policy & Competitiveness Advisory Council and the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. These are interactive platforms where we bring the private sector to collaborate, develop and think through policies with us and in the Competiveness Council to even implement policies with us.

I think this is the way we ought and have to continue because when you consider the size of the Federal Government’s budget, and even when you total the aggregate States’ government budget, you find that the absolute amounts are very small indeed but once you factor in the private sector, that becomes the real economy of Nigeria and there is no way of talking about the economic development of Nigeria without the private sector seating at the table, playing a critical role.

I have asked the question, and I ask again? What was wrong with the Nigerian economy and what did we need to do to correct the flaws?

There are several issues, many of which have been well articulated in all earlier presentations. But I want to talk about what I think is probably the biggest problem but which we for some reason hardly talk about when discussing our National economy. This is grand corruption in the public finance space!

Sometimes, the way we talk about the Nigerian economy, it appears like it is the economy of say Norway or Sweden, where all things are equal. Even when we refer to what has taken place in our economy, we almost sound as if this is a normal business environment, a normal public finance environment but that is not the case. I don’t think that any considerations of our economic development can be properly or honestly done without fully analysing the role of grand corruption in the public finance space.

So despite record high levels of oil prices, very little was invested in infrastructure and record levels of leakages were recorded, especially in the past few years. This is the fundamental issue in our economy. Corruption affects everything, it even affects judgement as to what sort of infrastructure to put in place or whether to even put infrastructure in place or whether it would be completed. It is so fundamental that we cannot even think of our economy, without thinking of what to do about it.

Sometimes when we talk about our economy, we say that we have relied on a single commodity, and that is one of the reasons why we are where we are. Yes, that is true but it is the fact that the proceeds of that single commodity were regularly hijacked consistently by a few. That is really the problem. If we spend the proceeds of that single commodity the way we ought to spend it, we won’t be where we are today.

That most of the proceeds go to rent seekers, who invest little in industry and production.

So for example, I’m sure many of us are familiar with the so called strategic alliance contracts with the NNPC and NDPC, the promoters of the companies made away with close to 3billion US dollars, almost a tenth of our reserves at one point! There is no way if someone made away with that amount, a tenth of your reserves, that there won’t be a major economic shock! If we don’t deal with it and talk about it, how do we really discuss our economy in any real honest way with a view to ensuring that these things do not happen again?

In one single transaction, a few weeks to the elections in 2015, the sum of N100billion and $289million in cash were embezzled by a few. When you consider that in 2014, when oil prices were an average of $110 per barrel, only N99billion was spent on Power, Works and Housing, and in one day, N100billion was issued and people essentially shared it and N99billion was spent on Power, Works and Housing. When we talk about our economy, we talk about it like it is normal but it is abnormal by every standard, completely abnormal. Nobody should talk about the economy when you have these huge leakages and corruption; corruption that makes what you allocate to capital and infrastructure nonsense.

From the presentation of Minister of Finance, N14billion was spent on agriculture in 2014, transportation N15billion. The total spend on capital in those critical areas was N153billion and in two weeks to the 2015 election, N150billion was shared and essentially shared! So if your total capital spend is N150billion and you can share N153billion, let’s face it, that is completely incredible! It is the sort of thing that doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. When we talk about the economy, we absolutely must understand that is the problem

Today with less revenue, we have increased capital funding by 400% in Power, Works and Housing, Defence, Transportation and Agriculture. Economic analysis in Nigeria is either fraudulent or ignorant if we do not bring the money lost to corruption into the maths.

This is what distinguishes this administration from any other. It is the fight against corruption especially in public finance. And I can say that will all sense of responsibility, if you have a President who is not corrupt, at least 50% of your financial problems, especially in public finance, is over. This is what I have seen, and I can prove it with facts and figures.

If the President is corrupt, the entire financial system of the country is compromised, that is what we have seen from the figures. That is an absolute important point that we must take into account.

I am not saying that corruption under this administration has been completely dealt, certainly not. Where corruption has become systematic, you can’t deal with it all in one fell swoop. In any event you still have to deal with corruption fighting back, the system fights back, it is both an internal and external fight, and you have to be steadfast and strategic to win the battle. There is no way you have a system that has consistently thrived on corruption and proceeds of corruption and public finance in particular that will just roll over, no! It is a system that had actively dealt on corruption and the system affects all aspects of governance. So clearly trying to deal with it is not a walk in the park.

I want to say that task has already begun and being done consistently, I believe that going forward in the next few years, no matter how we slice it, if we stick to policies especially in controlling excesses and corruption in public finance, this country will make the kind of progress it deserves to make with all of the resources at our disposal. If we stick to a policy that ensures that as far as public finance is concerned, there is no impunity, and we hold people to account, I am absolutely confident this country has everything it takes to make the sort of progress that we deserve to make as a nation.

Again, let me thank everyone for your participation and continued support and confidence in the work we are doing. I want to say all the comments and issues are taken seriously. We will go back, and look at what we need to do to ensure that all our objectives, plans and thoughts come to fruition, and that our country becomes a better place for doing business and the economy of our country grows to the benefit of our people.

I want to thank you again very much. God bless you.

Under this Magu, between January and December 2017, EFCC recovered more than N473 billion, $98 million, €7 million, and £294,000

In view of recent terrorist attacks, criminal activities and communal clashes in some States leading to tragic loss of lives and kidnapping of 110 schoolgirls, President Muhammadu Buhari immediately tasked the Armed Forces and other Security agencies to compile comprehensive reports on the various incidents.

Having received and studied the Reports, the President has decided to undertake an on the spot assessment of the various occurrences and to meet and console the communities affected.

From today, March 5, he will visit Taraba, and subsequently Benue, Yobe, Zamfara and Rivers States.

President Buhari has been receiving daily briefings, and has been in constant touch with the Governors, and has been updated with situation reports.

The President calls on all Nigerians especially those in the affected areas to cooperate fully with the Security Agencies to enable them curb the spate of crimes, bring those responsible to justice and prevent further occurrences.

Details are now emerging why the Buhari administration rejected media reports on the recently released report of Transparency International, TI, which claimed that the perception of corruption in Nigeria had worsened between 2016 and 2017.

According to the TI report, Nigeria ranked 148 out of 180 countries assessed in 2017 on the perception of corruption in the annual Corruption Perception Index, CPI, but a closer review of the TI report indicated clearly that in all of the nine categories of the evaluation, Nigeria fell back in only on category, performing slightly better in som and maintaining stability in others.

The index, published last week Wednesday, showed that out of 100 points signalling maximum transparency and no corruption, Nigeria scored 27 points.

A presidency source revealed that an internal government review of the report indicated that, although TI gave Nigeria an overall lower ranking, the country indeed did well in majority of the areas reviewed by TI, and remained stable in others, but fell back in only one aspect.

The source explained that contrary to reports in some sections of the media, Nigeria improved in many other indexes.

In the 2016 Index, the country was ranked 136th out of 176 countries with a score of 28. Nigeria’s score also slightly improved from 26 to 28 between 2015 and 2016.

“It must also be pointed out that compared to the 2016 Index, Nigeria either improved or remained stable in all, but one of the Indexes,” the source said.

For instance, Nigeria improved significantly in key indexes between 2016 and 2017: the Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index, a 5-point improvement; African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, a 2-point improvement; a 1-point improvement in the World Justice Project Rule of law Index Expert Survey and World Economic Forum Executive Opinion respectively.

In the 2016 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Nigeria and Burkina Faso were the biggest movers among the 18 countries indexed in the region, climbing 11 and 10 spots respectively.

Our correspondent’s findings further revealed that Nigeria remained stable in the following indexes: World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings; PRS Group International Country Risk Guide and Varieties of Democracy Project.

The only Index the country fell short was in the Economic Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service, on which basis is the sole reason for Nigeria’s decline in the overall Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index of 2017.

The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index evaluates the quality of democracy, a market economy and political management in 129 developing and transition countries, while the African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment measures the capacity of a country to support sustainable growth, poverty reduction, and the effective use of development assistance with a particular focus on the assessment of key elements that are within the country’s control. Nigeria improved in this categories in the Transparency International’s report.

Going by these findings, the Buhari administration’s effort in tackling corruption is perceived to have improved; which is given credence by the improvement in these indexes.

“President Muhammadu Buhari remains fully committed to combating corruption, despite the challenges, and this administration will not relent in doing so in all areas. With hundreds of convictions secured by the EFCC alone in 2016 and 2017, and assets worth billions of naira recovered, it is evident that the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) under the Buhari administration has made significant strides in the fight against corruption,” another source in the EFCC revealed, adding that the administration believes in the rule of law and the sanctity of the judiciary in ensuring that these cases are duly prosecuted.

The report also showed that in 2013 Nigeria scored 25, but jumped to 28 in 2016, a year after the Buhari Administration took office.

When contacted Mr. Laolu Akande, a Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity in the Presidency stated that under the Buhari administration, there have been clear procedures and accountability governing the allocation and use of public funds in Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. Akande confirmed the outcome of an internal review of the TI report.

For instance he noted that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by this administration has also helped the country to save billions of naira. In addition, through the TSA and other interventions, the Federal Government has made sweeping reforms to block several leakages of public funds, he explained.

“In 2016, for instance, the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Auditing (PICA) discovered discrepancies in the payroll of several MDAs to the tune of N5.7 billion monthly. Also, over 50,000 ghost workers have been uncovered by the audit team, as a result, over N120bn has been reportedly saved.

He added that in a similar vein, “leakages of unremitted funds have been blocked in many of country’s Revenue Generating Agencies, which have seen an increase in their revenues in recent times.

“The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, remitted N1 trillion into the Federation account, the highest ever remittance by the agency, despite the country being in recession half of the year.”

Akande also disclosed that just like the Customs agency, the revenue generated by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has also increased. The exams body remitted about N7.8 billion to the FG in 2017, a stark contrast to the paltry N3 million that was the highest remitted by the agency before.

Following leadership reforms under this administration, the agency has also been able stop massive fraud.

In the same vein, the 2017 half-year remittance of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was more than its 2015 and 2016 combined.

“You can see that these developments are indicators that demonstrate public confidence in the administration and the steady success in tackling corruption in the public sector.

“The administration’s whistle-blower policy which was introduced in December 2016 by the Federal Government to tackle corruption – a first of its kind government initiative in the country – has also helped in the area of accountability in the use of public funds in different sectors of national life.

“Out of the about 5,000 reports made, about 365 were actionable as at July 2017. While 39% of these reports were related to the diversion of funds, 15% related to violation of TSA,” according to Akande.

It would be recalled that in April 2017, the EFCC uncovered over N13 billion naira cash in local, foreign currencies in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos State. About $43.5m has reportedly been finally forfeited to the FG.

Furthermore, analysts have adjudged Nigeria’s exit out of recession last year, the steady growth in the economy, and the subsequent improvement in the 2018 World Bank Doing Business Index – where the country climbed up 24 places and was placed on the list of 10 most reformed economies globally – as results of the economic policies driven by President Buhari administration.

Also, despite the economic challenges and 60% less revenue, the Buhari administration has been praised in many quarters for being able to still make huge investments on infrastructure projects, providing about N1.3trillion for capital expenditure in 2016, a historic highest budget spend on capital projects. Economic analysts have attributed this to the FG’s prudent management of public resources.

President Muhammadu Buhari says every life in the country is equally precious and indispensable, assuring that the Federal Government will carefully explore means that will guarantee the safe return of all those abducted by insurgents.

Receiving three lecturers and nine women that were released by ISIS and Boko Haram, respectively, at the Presidential Villa on Monday, President Buhari said the ongoing negotiations for the release of more abducted Nigerians will be given utmost attention and care, with priority on safety.

“Let me say that this Government treasures all human lives, particularly that of its citizens, and following your abduction, the security agencies were directed by me to do everything possible to ensure the safe release of every one of you and other persons,’’ he said.

The President told the rescued lecturers and women that the negotiation for their release was “painstaking and protracted’’ because their abductors were in groups, staying in different locations, which necessitated more diligence and care in ensuring the safety of their lives.

President Buhari directed all the security agencies to take more measures in protecting schools and students, expressing sadness that some students were abducted from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.

“While thanking the security agencies and all those who facilitated this, let me clearly reiterate the resolve of this Administration to ensure all persons abducted by the insurgents, are rescued or released safely.

“This is especially against the backdrop of the recent sad incident where another group of girls were abducted on 19th February, from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.

“I have since directed all security agencies to immediately ensure that every effort is directed to ensure the safety of our schools and students, as well as bringing back the abducted girls to their families,’’ he added.

President Buhari commended all the various security agencies, government agencies and international organisations for their professionalism throughout the rescue process, promising that the government will work closely with them for rehabilitation and resettlement of all displaced persons.

In his remarks, the Director General of the Department of State Security, Lawal Musa Daura, said negotiations for the release of more abducted Nigerians were already on, with considerations for the cessation of all hostilities and amnesty for the insurgents, who choose to embrace it.

One of those released, Dr Solomon Yusuf, a lecturer, said they were impressed with the government’s intervention.

“While we were in captivity, there were lots of analyses if we will ever make it out; with 180 million Nigerians, we were thinking who will remember us. We are happy you came for us. It shows that the life of every Nigerian is important,’’ he said.