₦airaland Forum

Punch Newspaper's Fallacy Against Dambazau

By Edwin Uhara

The fake news report published against the Honourable Mininter of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau by the Punch Newspaper in it's feature story today is a classical case of false report with make-up stories from unverifiable sources.

The fake news writer, Mr. Eniola Akinkuotu tried hard to sell his cooked up lies against the Minister to Nigerians but the reporter is only smart by half because his report lacked substance, evidence and verifiable sources.

Hence, the latest attempt to tarnish the image and hard-earned reputation of General Dambazau simply because he is serving as Minister in President Muhammadu Buhari's Government will not stand no matter how hard they try.

Because the enemies of the government could not find any fault with the Minister on his current job, they resorted to manufacturing lies and false narratives against his past clean records in office.

However, I want to let Nigerians know that they are against the Minister simply because he has succeeded where their friends and cronies failed. It is on record that under Dambazau's watch as Minister of Interior, there is absolute peace, calm and stability in the entire nation despite the fact that we have about five days to the general elections.

Hence, it is understandable why they are doing what they are doing to distract the Minister.

There is no doubt that these folks have been pedling false reports against the Minister simply because he served as Chief of Army Staff between 2008 and 2010 but because the Punch Newspaper has joined them in publishing fake news against General Dambazau, I have decided to set the records straight.

Accordingly, the insinuation that General Dambazau was indicted by the arms probe panel is a lie from the pit of hell.

General Dambazau was never indicted by any probe panel because he never committed any offence in the first place. That General Dambazau once served as Chief of Army Staff does not mean he awarded military contacts for the purchase of arms at the time.

Let it be noted that when General Dambazau was Chief of Army Staff, the power to award military contracts for the purchase of arms was strictly done at the Ministry of Defence and not by the service chiefs as been claimed by the Punch Newspaper.

That was why Dambazau's contemporaries like Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin who also served as Chief of Air Force when General Dambazau was Chief of Army Staff was not indicted

The fact that General Azubuike Ihejirika who took over from General Dambazau as Chief of Army Staff was indicted does not mean that Dambazau committed same offence because they operated by different rules. For Example, when General Dambazau like Oluseyi Petinrin was in office, there was a Minister of Defence who took all military contracts to the Federal Executive Council Meeting for approval. But Ihejirika came to office at a time they was no substantive Minister of Defence to take Amy proposal to FEC Meeting. Because of this reality, successive service chiefs started awarding military contracts on their own.

Also, because of the above fact, both Olusenyi Petinrin and General Dambazau who served as Chief of Air Force and Chief of Army Staff at the same time left office without having anything to do with military contracts.

Like I asked earlier, is it because General Dambazau is serving under Buhari’s government that he must also be indicted for playing no part in the arms deal?

Why are they against General Dambazau when he alongside with Olusenyi Petinrin and Admiral Ibrahim served as Chiefs of Army, Air Force and Navy respectively at the same time with Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike as the Chief of Defence Staff? So why are they trying so hard to incriminate General Dambazau when his contemporaries who served alongside with him are free?

Evidence has also shown that during their time when General Mukhtar was the National Securty Adviser, there was no single arms deal as all procurements were done by the Ministry of Defence only.

So, why are they after this man for goodness sake?

Besides, when the Boko Haram insurgency began, General Dambazau had already retired from the service. So, there was no way he could have been involved in arms procurement deal for the northeast as the Punch Newspaper claimed in it's story. When General Dambazau retired, it was General Aliyu Gusau that was the National Securty Adviser. So, why are they not concerned about the other names but only that of General Dambazau?

Now, I'm beginning to notice that public service in Nigeria is one of the thankless jobs in the country because no matter what you do to make it better, they are always vested interests who are there to pull you down at all costs.

It is however unfortunate that some media houses have moved away from serving the interest of Nigerians to serving the special interests of the oppressors who disguise as messiahs.

Even if other news media are in the business of hacking people down for pecuniary reasons, no one ever expected that Punch Newspaper could be used for such un-journalistic adventure.

Is it because the times are hard? But tough times never last. If we enjoyed the sacrifices made by our forebears, then we are duty-bound to make similar sacrifices for the next generation no matter how painful it may be.

Comrade Edwin Uhara writes from Abuja.

https://www.akelicious.net/2019/02/punch-newspapers-fallacy-against.html?m=1

cucumbae:
Empty promise.There is no border in the north.Citizens of neighboring countries enter into Nigeria without hindrance.No barricade or fence.

Are you aware of the existence of the Federal Government Border Patrol Team that secures our border posts 247?

FG to close borders during polls

By Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja February 8, 2019


The federal government will temporarily close borders during the general elections to guarantee more security, Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdrahaman Dambazau (rtd) has stated.

He vowed that security operatives will do everything possible to secure borders especially during the elections.

Dambazau gave the assurance while launching the situation room of the Nigeria Internal Security and Public Safety Alert System (NISPSAS) on Friday.

NISPSAS is an integrated and single mobile application developed to assist the public access prompt response to emergencies and public safety concern the Federal Ministry of Interior situation coordination.

He said: “I want to assure you that we are very conscious of our borders particularly now and everything we can do to protect our borders during elections we will do.

“During the periods of elections all the borders will be temporarily closed till the elections are over.

“When we came in in 2015 one of the challenges we met was this lack of coordination among our security agencies.

“Lack of collaboration and cooperation and we tried to look at various ways to make things possible because without this collaboration, there so many implications.

“One of them is that you cannot really coordinate their activities well another disadvantage is the fact that you cannot have that synergy and they are bound to waste resources.

Read also: Atiku promises to revive Calabar deep sea port
He added: “This will make them not to achieve the objectives of public safety and internal security which is the major mandate of this ministry.

“This is how we thought of having a situation room within the ministry that will link up to all the services so that we can have to monitor their activities anytime.

“We embarked on this project since 2016. This has digitalised their activities. Immigration can also with this monitor activities at the land borders and also the fire service could be able to create an alert system whereby if there is fire any part of the country they can monitor and respond. We should have the capacity to respond to incidents.

“I thank God that today we are launching this internal security and public safety alert system which linked to all the services. This app is user-friendly. The public can report any incident using this app.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/fg-to-close-borders-during-polls/

Real news

T

Minister of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd), has been appointed as a member of the International Advisory Board of Africa Peace Fellows (APF).


Director of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Mr Mohammed Manga, announced this in a statement in Abuja.

He said that the appointment was made by College of Health and Human Services of California State University, Sacramento, U.S.


APF is an initiative of the California State University’s Centre for African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR), with major training initiatives on conflict resolution.

Manga said Dambazau would serve on the Board for a three-year term (renewable), during which he would be involved in building the next generation of peace leaders in Africa.

He recalled that 64-year-old Dambazau was Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army from 2008 to 2010), and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice.


“He also holds two Masters’ Degrees in Political Science and Higher Educational Administration as well as a PhD in Criminology.

”Currently, he is the Chairman, University Advancement Centre, University of Ibadan and visiting Professor of Strategic Studies, Igbinedion University, Okada,” he said.

Fake

Okay

Nigeria first

Infinixhot6:
good and articulate piece

Noted

T

Corringendum: Fidelis Nwangwu and His Tale of Lies against Dambazau

By Edwin Uhara

I read the fake news article against the Honourable Minister of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau by one Fidelis Nwangwu; a notorious hireling who specializes in spewing trash in the name of article writing.

Honesty speaking, Mr. Nwangwu is a less-endowed hireling who in his desperate bid to satisfy the interest of his paymasters always concoct lies, false narratives, unverified claims and non-existing tales and push them out as news articles.

Regrettably, one of the distasteful things that have happened to the cherished field of journalism is the entrance of fake news material in to the media industry fuelled by a concept called citizen journalism, a trend that has unceremoniously made every Tom, Dick and Harry a media practitioner without minding whether they are qualified or not.

The situation has become too entrenched that people no longer know the difference between real news and fake news simply because the people have formed the habit of swallowing hook, line and sinker anything they read without really knowing that all that gliters are not gold.

Subsequently, one truth Mr. Nwangwu and his folks fail to understand is the fact that we are first of all Nigerians before any other political consideration. It does not matter whether we belong to A-party or B-party as the case may be. This is because no nation on earth will allow us into their country on the basis of being a member of one political party or another.

Hence, in his false narrative against the Minister, Mr. Nwangwu ignorantly declared General Dambazau guilty of the arms scandal that rocked the military in the past administration by saying this: "The inadequacy of this event is demonstrated by the fact that Dambazau is equally guilty." I waited patiently to read the source of his tale, but could not find any.

Mr. Nwangwu without establishing the truth of his story went ahead to pass his myopic and jaundiced verdict on General Dambazau just because he want to appease his paymasters.

For the sake of our national interest, let me educate Mr. Nwangwu a little even if his lust for his paymasters money will not allow him to put out a Corringendum concerning his article.

The fact that Ihejirika took over from General Dambazau does not mean the latter did what the former was accused of doing.

The writer should also note that Air Marshal Umar, who incidentally comes from same state as Dambazau who took over from Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin was indicted but Petinrin was not indicted.

Accordingly, Petinrin and Lieutenant General AB. Dambazau served as Chiefs of Air Force and Army Staff at the same time with clean records.

The writer should also note that Alex Badeh took over from Petinrin, but Petinrin was not indicted.

Therefore, is it just because General Dambazau is serving under Buhari’s government that he must also be indicted for playing no part in the arms deal?

After all, General Dambazau, Petinrin and Ibrahim served as Chiefs of Army, Air Force and Navy, respectively at the same time, with Dike as the Chief of Defence Staff, so why going after Dambazau?

Further investigation has shown that during their time, when General Mukhtar was the National Securty Adviser, there was no single arms deal as all procurements were done by the Ministry of Defence only.

Besides, when Boko Haram insurgency began, General Dambazau had already retired from the service. Therefore there was no way he could have been involved in arms procurement for the northeast as Mr. Nwangwu and his allies in the media suggests. When General Dambazau retired, it was General Aliyu Gusau that was the National Securty Adviser.

Mr. Nwangwu also tried to resurrect dead-horse-allegations against the Buhari administration but because the matter has died a natural death for lacking evidence to substantiate it, there is no point trying to educate the 'bomboclat' because Nigerians already know that such allegation does not exist.

Comrade Edwin Uhara writes from Abuja

Perry Brimah And His Unwarranted Attack on Dambazau

By Edwin Uhara

I read the article written by one Dr. Perry Brimah where he shamelessly expressed his crass ignorance and understanding of the statement made by the Honourable Minister of Interior, retired lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau during his recent visit to Zamfara State to make on-the-spot assessment of the activities of bandits in the state.

The Minister while in the state said persistent attacks on the residents of Zamfara State could affect food security in the state. His words: "Since those affected by the killings are largely the agrarian rural dwellers, the activities of bandits will have serious impact on agriculture and food security.''

However, one Dr. Perry Brimah in his analysis of the matter mischievously interpreted General Dambazau's statement to mean that government was paying more attention to food security than the lives of the people.

Before I continue, I want to ask if Dr. Brimah is truly a doctorate holder? I ask this question because I do not see the reason a man with doctorate degree or title could not understand that there is a linkage between food and life.

The linkage also mean that the less the availability of food, the more the threat to lives due to malnutrition, hunger, diseases and even death.

And likewise, less food could also mean more health cost to the people but most importantly, the people of Zamfara State rely mostly for survival on the food they produce. So, an attack on the means of their livelihood is also an attack on their lives.

And that is why the Minister said: ''We are committed to working closely with the state government to deploy more security resources to the state (Zamfara) ... This administration will continue to go to any length to protect the lives and properties of the citizens because any single innocent life lost has a devastating effect on the nation and is unacceptable.''

Is there anything complex or too difficult to understand in the Minister's statement?

Therefore, one wonders where Dr. Brimah got his facts from and how his interpretation of the statement means that government is paying more attention to food security than to the lives of the people.

Is it a must that Dr. Brimah must comment on what General Dambazau said even when it seems he has no idea or clear understanding of what the Minister said?

Instead of embarrassing himself publicly by misinterpreting and misrepresenting what General Dambazau said during his visit to Zamfara State, is it not better that he keep quite and be counted among the wise ones rather than exposing his crass ignorance to the reading public of the world? Haba "Doctor!"

Comrade Edwin Uhara writes from Abuja

Source


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thenigerianvoice.com/amp/news/274081/perry-brimah-and-his-unwarranted-attack-on-dambazau.html

Re: I Respectfully Urge You to Resign: A Letter to General Dambazau


By Edwin Uhara


I read the scurrilous remarks contained in the letter addressed to the Minister of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (CFR) by one Tope Oriola with amusement.


I tried to locate the central theme of the letter but could not because apart from the fact that it was laced with many lies, unfounded claims and imaginative assumptions, the letter also betrayed logic and lacked coherence, substance and clarity of ideas and facts.


For Example, Mr. Oriola claimed in his letter of infamy that he contemplated having General Dambazau (PhD and Associate Professor) invited to the University of Alberta, Canada to give a talk on Civil-Military relations in Nigeria, but the question is, ''Who is Tope Oriola to invite General Dambazau to Canada? What does he (Oriola) do in the University?


Again, Mr. Oriola tried to raise dust about Dambazau's Ministry and competence in handling issues when he ignorantly asked why General Dambazau have remained silent despite extra-judicial killings in Nigeria?


Now, if there is anything Mr. Oriola's letter have done, it has just exposed his hidden ignorance not known to many Nigerians. Of a truth, it is very pathetic to observe that a writer who wants to invite General Dambazau to a University in Canada does not even have the idea of what Nigeria's security activities and composition entails. Chai, Nigeria is finished with people like Oriola having access to the media. No wonder there is misinformation everywhere!


Anyway, let me inform Mr. Oriola as a concerned citizen that General Dambazau is one Minister who knows his onions and have demonstrated in words and in deeds that he is one man whom Nigerians can entrust their security challenges in to his hands and go to bed with two eyes closed.


Hence, contrary to Oriola's claim, on Monday, January 8th, 2018, General Dambazau in his capacity as Minister of Interior met with the governors of Adamawa, Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa States alongside the Director-General of the State Security Services, Inspector-General of Police, Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as six Commissioners of Police from the listed states. The purpose of the meeting was on how to tackle the crisis situation in the country from the root instead of merely addressing the symptoms.


Also, on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018, General Dambazau held another crucial meetings with the heads of internal security agencies over the same security situation in the country. One of the many issues that came up in the communique issued was on the issue of small arms and drug trafficking and abuse, where the Minister was obviously quoted as saying ''Without the firearms and drugs, those who partake in violence would not have the courage to carry out the kind of violence taking place in the country.'' The Minister further stated that there are approximately 500 million assorted firearms in West Africa and out of this figure, 350 million representing 70 percent of the illegal firearms are found in Nigeria.


In another security programme recently held with the Inspector-General of Police, Commissioners of Police and other senior officers at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the Minister stated that the firearms and drugs that are the drivers of crime in Nigeria are coming from Libya, Yemen, Mali, Niger and Chad Republic.


In lieu of this, arrangements have been concluded to hold a conference of Security and Agriculture Ministers from West and Central African nations. The conference will comprehensively address all issues associated with the proliferation of firearms in the region.


The Minister have also directed the Inspector-General of Police to enforce the law on illegal possession of firearms as well as retrieving all the illegal firearms from wrong hands across the country.


In the infamous letter, Mr. Oriola also tried to wipe up the primordial, irrational and senseless sentiments by trying to give ethnic and religious colourations to the crisis between farmers and herdsmen in some parts of the country. May I at this juncture confess that one of the reasons Nigeria is facing the challenges it is facing today is because of uninformed writers like Mr. Oriola and his co-travellers who shamelessly and embarrassingly peddle ignorance on sensitive national issues.


 Instead of joining hands with relevant authorities to find lasting solutions to the conflicts, Mr. Oriola derive more joy in exacerbating the crisis by spreading lies and stereotyping a particular religion and tribe. Let me remind him that in life, 10 percent is what happens but 90 percent is how we react to them. Hence, I had expected him to let Nigerians know that the farmer/herdsmen conflict has no religious or ethnic colouration in line with the Geneva Spiritual Appeal which declared that religion should not be used to justify violence.


Besides, Mr. Oriola failed to look at the cause of the problem as well as providing solutions. There is no gain denying the fact that farmers/herdsmen crisis is a regional problem over the sharing of land and water resources. This is not only a Nigerian problem as it can be seen in countries like Kenya, Uganda and Sudan.


Hence, contrary to the unfounded claims by Mr. Oriola that General Dambazau has been silent, here is what the Minister said recently: ''Today, in the front burner of issue of security is rural banditry and herders/farmers conflict. These are issues that have alot of dimensions and for us to deal with them; there is the need for us to look at it from multi-dimensional approach. The Minister further stated that ''We tend to look at the issue as a local problem, but it is not, it is rather a  national and regional problem. It is not a religious problem, it is not an ethnic problem; it is a problem that has to do with resource sharing, water and land. 


There is no doubt that Mr. Oriola's goal in the letter was to paint General Dambazau black without knowing that even if he forgets the great achievements of the Minister, the internet never forgets. Hence, a simple search would have saved him the embarrassment he brought to himself as well as the noble pen profession.


On the issue of Kidnapped School girls in Dapchi, let me once again inform Mr. Oriola that General Dambazau was part of the Federal Government delegation that visited the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State on Sunday. So, his argument and claims on this matter are unfounded.


Finally, I want to offer a free piece of advise to Mr. Oriola that if he has been peddling imaginative lies on soft targets, he should not try such with General Dambazau who have distinguished himself in every national assignment given to him because every bologna lie against him will never go unanswered and suffixe it to say that he has not done well for his masters who paid him to write. He has done a very poor job. Therefore he should refund them their money and come for a lecture on how to do it better.



Comrade Edwin Uhara writes from Abuja.





Source

https://politicsngr.com/re-respectfully-urge-resign-letter-general-dambazau/

RE: KANO VISIT: GEN DAMBAZAU HEADS KWANKWASO'S SECURITY COMMITTEE

By Edwin Uhara

The news report emanating from a national daily and published by some social media outfits insinuating that the Honourable Minister of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau has been appointed as the head of Security Committee in the planned visit of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso to Kano State on the 30th of this month is a product of outright misinformation, mischief making and irresponsible journalism.

Let it be clearly stated that General Dambazau is a law abiding Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and by the nature of the Oath of Office he took to render unreserved services to the country, he is not permitted to engage in any socio-political activity or engagement outside the purview of the Ministry assigned to him by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Where the Executive Governor of Kano State who is also the Chief Security Officer of the state has scheduled January 30th for similar activity in the state, it will amount to unnecessarily overstressing the capacity of the security agencies in the state should another political activity or engagement be fixed on the same date.

Therefore, dropping the name of the Honourable Minister of Interior who is the administrative head of all the internal security agencies in the country in an activity not connected to the established rules of the ministry is unwarranted, outrageous and unacceptable.

The Minister cannot and will never be part of any activity capable of breeding crisis or breaking law and order in any part of the country let alone participating in a crisis-prone activity in Kano State.

While members of the public are advised to ignore the story, the editorial members of the newspaper are challenged to redeem their image by apologizing to the Minister and members of the reading public for deliberate misinformation which is contrary to the motor of their newspaper which says 'Trust is a burden.'

Comrade Edwin Uhara writes from Abuja

Story Link:

http://m.thenigerianvoice.com/news/262553/re-kano-visit-gen-dambazau-heads-kwankwasos-security-comm.html

Ewelesuo:
Na so bro. Nothing do you

Na you finish work bro

rozay12345:
Metrowatchonline...Thanks for the article, how much did he pay you to polish his CV? A man who was summarily dismissed from the army, let it be known that the Boko Haram notoriety became rampant during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff, a man who brought back a wanted fugitive into the country, you are lucky this is the 21st century, in the heydays of Republican France, you would be on your way to the Guillotine

This is the most uncharitable comment I have ever seen.

If you hate a man to your bone marrow, does that mean you should also hate his success story? Haba!

Lets be fair to people please; no matter who they are or where they come from. Justice is not love. Justice is giving to people what they deserve. In this case, General Dambazau deserves a pat on the back!

Spiritualism:
Dambazau is one Minister I cannot criticise because he is a great intellectual, an associate professor for that matter.

This writer is an intelligent writer. I love his use of words and command of English.

Na so bro. Nothing do you

cetzak:
You spew all this trash just for N10k?

Where pen marshals are talking, what do you expect from brainless fellows?

Any way, a worthless soul always believe that all souls worthless.

You just ended up telling the world how worthless your soul is.

Reply and let me give you bombastic response

Dambazau's Milestones In 2 Years


By Edwin Uhara


Since his appointment as Nigeria's Minister of Interior on November 11, 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari, his covert and overt dispositions to civil issues and internal security matters of Nigeria have built confidence and as well reinforced the earlier status conferred on him by the BBC as one of the shining lights in President Buhari's cabinet.


With the way he creatively restructured and transformed the old Ministry of Interior which was merged with the disbanded Ministry of Police Affairs by President Buhari, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau has proved beyond expression that he belongs to the highest breed of gems who transforms whatever thing they lay their hands on.


Hence, in his two years of operation as cabinet Minister, General Dambazau has justified the confidence and trust invested in him by Mr. President as well as the Nigerian people through results oriented,  effective and efficient service delivery.


Most endearing is his sagacious and prompt response to issues and drive towards responsibility, accountability, transparency and respect for the rule of law, especially in handling matters related to paramilitary organizations under him despite being a retired General.


His capacity building initiatives, retooling and re-equipping of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) are unparalleled in recent times.


For Example, the Federal Fire Service under his watch has changed from what it was to what it ought to be with the setting up of policy regulatory units in all FFS stations as well as the establishment of additional zonal and state offices for the service nationwide. This move has brought the activities of the service closer to the people!


The refurbishing of FFS structures and re-equipping it to meet modern demands as well as the training and retraining of its personnel on how to curtail and prevent fire outbreaks performed the miracle of stopping massive fire outbreaks that usually characterize the months of January and February every year in the country.


It was in recognizing the silent reforms and transformation championed by this Honorable Minister that President Muhammadu Buhari at the first Federal Executive Council Meeting for the year 2017 approved the proposal for the procurement of modern firefighting equipments as well as improving the welfare packages for personnel and the furnishing of the Fire Service Training School to standards.


In lieu of this, 15 water carrying vehicles were procured for the service so as to revamp the fire service units which has experienced dearth of equipments for a very long time. With the new equipments, the country is about overcoming some of the challenges usually associated with fire incidents. It can be recalled that the last time such equipments were procured for the service was in 1996, while the penultimate one was in 1985.


Similarly, the Minister also ensured full implementation of Nigeria's building code so as to guarantee safety and minimize rate of destruction each time there was fire outbreak. For Instance, every building is now expected to have water sprinkler, fire extinguisher among others.


The Nigerian Immigration Service is also not left out as the Minister has enforced the use of biometric registration for passport applicants in line with his digitalization policy. Under the new regime, all the Passport Issuing Centers around the world are now connected to single database.


Nigerians no longer have to come to Abuja to process their passports because the Minister has decentralized issuance and re-issuance of the passports to them while building ultra-modern passport offices across the federation.


Still on the Nigerian Immigration, the Minister within the years under review commissioned the 5th Border Corps of the Nigeria Immigration Service as well as the Rapid Response Squad at the Immigration Training Schools across the country as part of the move to effectively  secure the nation's expansive borders.


With the refurbishment of Nigerian Immigration's Surveillance Aircraft as directed by the Minister, the country's security is now above average coupled also with the introduction of Immigration Air Border Patrol. This measure has helped in securing the nation's vast borders by profiling movements of persons in and around the country as well as checking illegal migration, smuggling of small and light weapons in to the country among others.


The Minister on the 20th of March, 2017 launched the gazatted Immigration Regulations 2017. This new immigration document has replaced the outdated Immigration Act of 1963 and also empowers the NIS to properly register all foreigners, protect our borders, enhance internal security and attract foreign investors in line with the international best practices.


For efficient implementation of the new immigration policy and law, approval was given by the Minister for several workshops to train officers and men of the  NIS on Immigration Regulation 2017 and Immigration Act 2015 with the aim of understanding and implementing the new rules and laws to the latter.


In the same vein, the Minister also launched the newly harmonized departure and arrival cards in Nigeria. According to the Minister, the introduction of the new cards replaces the multiplicity of cards that hitherto existed in the service. Under the new arrangement, travellers would now have to respond to only 15 questions instead of the usual 30.


Similar process is on to domesticate the production of passports locally in order to save foreign exchange, provide opportunity for employment as well as guarantee availability and issuance of the booklet while building capacity of Nigerians in addition to the transfer of technology.


The Nigerian Prisons Service is also receiving the attention of the Honourable Minister as he is working round the clock to ensure that inmates are equipped with useful skills that will make them productive to the society at the end of their jail terms. The Minister is doing this through Public Private Partnership with an eye on mass production of food on NPS farms.


To ensure that prisoners benefits much from the rehabilitation and skills acquisition programme of the service, inmates are engaged in compliance with the United Nations minimum standards for the treatments of offenders.


Because those on awaiting trial are not part of the scheme as a result of their status, the Minister is pulling all necessary triggers that will ensure quick dispensation of justice so that their fate can be known. In doing this, the Ministry has procured 320 operational vehicles to be used in conveying inmates to court in order to speed up their trials.


The Minister also adopted some homegrown strategies by co-locating courts and Prisons in the same arena so as to fast track the process of administering justice to the inmates. According to the Minister, the idea was to reduce congestions in our prison facilities since 72 percent of inmates in custody are awaiting trial.


Before now, the NPS has 16 farm centres, but non of these farm centres utilises up to 20 percent of the available land due to lack of machines, but with the new equipments procured by the Honorable Minister, the story has changed as the Minister's move has boosted training activities and food production used in feeding the inmates.


Also, because of the growing urbanization, the Minister has embarked on relocation and rebuilding of NPS structures in cities without expansive space for modern correctional services. The Minister is doing this in collaboration with the governments of the affected states. In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed between the Ministry and the Akwa Ibom State Government.


While dding human face to his numerous transformations in the NPS, the Minister recently made symbolic distribution of medical drugs and equipment to Nigerian prisons to ensure that prisoners’ welfare particularly healthcare services meet the minimum standards as prescribed by the United Nations.


As a way of securing agro-allied investments in Nigeria, the Minister came up with a policy which extends to the protection of strategic assets and critical infrastructures to include agricultural investments in Nigeria. In doing this, he sought the partnership of the Ministry of Agriculture to secure the agricultural environment using new force called 'the Agro Rangers' which is on the platform of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, to protect agricultural investments for individuals and organization, groups or institutions. This move no doubt will encourage agricultural investments by both citizens and foreigners in support of the Federal Government economic diversification to the agricultural sector and Mining.


The Minister is also partnering with his counterpart in the Ministry of Mines and Steel to protect mining sites and prevent illegal mining activities using the Civil Defence personnel.


The Nigerian Police Force is also receiving serious attention. With the building of new barracks and refurbishments of old ones, officers of these paramilitary organization are sure to enjoying serene and conducive environments for their work.


There are more to the Minister's great achievements within two years, but because time is not my best ally, I want to end by saying congratulations to the Honorable Minister, Nigerians are very proud of you!


Comrade Edwin Uhara is a Journalist and Public Affairs Commentator.


He writes from Abuja.

Source:
http://metrowatchonline.com/opinion-dambazaus-milestones-2-years/

DAMBAZAU, TARABA CRISIS AND GROUNDLESS STANCE OF CHRISTIAN YOUTH OF NIGERIA

By Edwin Uhara

The campaign of calumny waged against Nigeria's Minister of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau by Patriotic Christian Youth of Nigeria and other similar organisations in the country is the most act of un-charitable reward to hardwork, excellence, selfless services and national sacrifice.

Since his appointment as Minister of Interior, General Dambazau has sacrificed everything; including his personal comfort, liberty and priviledges on the altar of selfless services and national sacrifice to the country.

This was seen on the day of Eid-el-Fitr in which the Honourable Minister sacrificed his religious belief and practices for Nigeria's national interest by embarking on prison decongestion visits despite the fact that such a day was public holiday.

Hence, it is ridiculous and unbelievable that a cult of an insensitive and chauvinistic youths would hide under the unbrella of Chritian religion to call for the removal of the Honourable Minister on an issue under great control.

Therefore, reading religious and ethnic meaning to the unfortunate crisis in Taraba State on whose account the ''Christian sect'' is calling for the removal of the minister is the highest display of ignorance, jaundiced and myopic mentality to national issues and sensitivity.

For the records, since General Dambazau inherited the herdsmen/farmers crisis, he has transversed the length and breath of Nigeria addressing the root-causes of the crisis through stake-holders meeting, regional conferences and townhall discussions with the representatives of all the affected persons and interest groups in the various states and towns of Nigeria and beyond. Some of these states includes; Delta State, Cross-River State, Osun State, Anambra State, Kaduna State, Taraba State among others.

So, for a faceless group without a website or street address to hide under the anonymity of the internet to accuse the workaholic and detribalised minister of ethnic chauvinism amounts to open display of schizophrenia which is an affront to the concept and principles of media freedom.

Nigerians are advised be wary of the activities of such organisation and similar groups in the country!

General Dambazau unapologetically remains committed to tackling all forms of crisis and threats to Nigeria's internal security and would not be deterred by the antics of scallywags who serves as loose-cannon in the hands of Nigeria's real enemies.

Sources:

http://politicsngr.com/2017/07/14/dambazau-taraba-crisis-groundless-stance-christian-youth-nigeria/

cc:
Lalasticlala

Mynd44

krendo:
Dambazau must have learnt lessons from Yar'adua saga

no lesson to be learned other than to be loyal to Nigeria

Funlord2:
_Fuck him and his loyalty!

Bros why you de vex for wetin no concern me and u nw.
Nigeria na we country oh.
Dere is God oh

Agimor:
Waiting concern me.... If you like switch alliances to Sango I nor send.

it concerns you because, the reason me and u de cry for this country be say we give our loyalty to individual

Trumpism:
Those trending news on Buhari death should be warned or be arrested.

many thanks

emeijeh:
Ok

thanks for the acknowledgement

Trumpism:
Thanks!

You are welcome Mr. Trump

Kingsolex1:
truth be told Nigeria is a theater.

Players should be allowed to their roles without ...

ifyan:
Those fighting up and down for those that don't care about you and me but their own interests.

Hmm sha whom am l

It is better to fight for what you believe!

emeijeh:
Ok

Yes oh bro!

kings09:
Ok

That's great!