Depriest2020: What he signed was an ACT to create/establish the bill. Now the bill has been created and sent to HoR for approval and onward transmission to the Senate for Adoption, before he will finally signed it for take off.
He repealed the current one he signed.
Less than 48 hours after the federal government announced the indefinite suspension of the student loan scheme, President Bola Tinubu has sent a bill to the National Assembly seeking repeal of the current Act, and passage of a new bill.
Putindbutt: You're an illiterate, amending a bill or law does not stop the operationality of the bill. You can amend a law as many times as is neccessary.
He's not amending the act but repealing it. That's why I created this thread to know why. Why repeal the entire thing and start afresh? Why not amend the sections you don't want?
Zwooks: It was to shut you guys up and since the fire in the youths has been quenched, it is no longer needful
So if he signs this second one and Nigerians call for its implementation, he'll suspend it indefinitely and send a third bill to reps again? Are we in a kind of loop?
Edo North Senator, Adams Oshiomhole on Tuesday decried the budget padding allegation rocking the Senate.
Oshiomhole lamented that the Senate has been striped naked in the market place.
He spoke on the floor of the Senate while contributing to the debate on the N3.7 trillion budget allegation raised by Bauchi Central Senator, Abdul Ningi.
Ningi, who is the Chairman of Northern Senators Forum, had alleged that the National Assembly debated and passed N25 trillion as 2024 budget and not the N28.7 trillion that is being implemented by the Federal Government.
He made the allegation while speaking in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service.
According to Oshiomhole: “We have been stripped naked in the market place, so we can’t now wrap it up like it’s nothing
“He has made credible contributions in this Senate so I think he can still remedy it having agreed that something went wrong.
“What was the figure in the Appropriation Bill that was approved? Somebody answered N28 billion, therefore, any suggestion that it was N25 billion is simply a lie.
“The problem of trying to defend a lie is that you have to stick to more lies to defend lies
“Ningi has a duty to his children that he will not be the man reported in the media as saying what is not true.”
SaharaReporters in January reported that policemen on the alleged orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, invaded the residence of Okoli in Lagos State.
Global human rights body, the Amnesty International, has demanded an immediate end to harassment and intimidation of Chioma Okoli by the Nigeria Police Force and Erisco Foods Limited over a product review on Facebook.
SaharaReporters had reported that some Nigerian tweeps threatened to boycott all Erisco Foods products for allegedly bullying and intimidating Okoli, a female customer who was arrested for giving the tomato product of the company a negative review.
SaharaReporters in January reported that policemen on the alleged orders of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, invaded the residence of Okoli in Lagos State.
It was gathered that the team of policemen from Abuja who claimed to be acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police moved to re-arrest Okoli without serving any court order authorising them to do so.
Also in January, human rights lawyer and counsel to Okoli, Inibehe Effiong, disclosed that Okoli had received the sum of N1.9 million donation from Nigerians for legal fees.
But the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement last week reaffirmed the commitment of the police to “upholding the rule of law in the Erisco Tomato matter”.
Adejobi said that it is imperative to caution members of the public against spreading misinformation and attempting to manipulate public sentiments.
He said the recent developments in the case are deeply worrisome, particularly the use of crowdfunding as a means to influence legal proceedings, adding that such actions undermine the integrity of the justice system and threaten the principles of fairness and accountability as they are highly inimical to the existence of the rule of law.
The Nigeria police last week asked Chioma Okoli to show up to allow justice to take its course in the matter.
In a series of posts on its X (formerly Twitter) handle, Amnesty International on Monday said that harassment of Okoli by the police showed that despite the Nigerian authorities paying lip-service to police reforms, impunity for unlawful arrests remains rampant in the country, demanding that the Nigerian authorities must stop using cyber crimes Act to violate Okoli’s rights.
Amnesty said that “Since September 2023, Chioma Egodi has been subjected to a series of harassment and intimidation over a review of tomato paste on social media.
“The harassment of Chioma Egodi shows that, despite the authorities paying lip-service to police reforms, impunity for unlawful arrests remains rampant.
“The sections of the Cyber Crimes Act which the police have been using to harass Chioma Egodi were used — in the past — as tools to gag freedom of expression in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian authorities must end the harassment of Chioma Egodi and stop using Cyber Crimes Act to violate her rights.”
Let me recount a story from 2014 when I worked as a client executive at BHM Group.
We were handling most of the Nigerian Breweries brand portfolio, and Amstel Malta was one of our accounts. They were sponsoring the AMVCAs, so we were involved in pre and post event media planning.
During the ceremony, Genevieve Nnaji was announced as a lifetime achievement award winner, and her prize came with a year's supply of Amstel Malta, which was announced. Bear in mind that Amstel Malta actively marketed itself as a health-conscious brand and a low-sugar alternative to other Malta drinks.
Genevieve - who also happened to be an Amstel Malta brand ambassador - had a regrettable foot-in-mouth moment onstage when accepting the award. When presented with the year's supply of Amstel Malta, she (jokingly) went "I hope this won't make me fat!"
The AM brand manager nearly lost her mind, and all the phones at BHM started ringing off the hook. This was a serious crisis moment for the brand, and we were the crisis communication experts, so we were expected to fix it! Fix it NOWWWW!
Us eager 20-something year-olds at BHM immediately swung into action, impressively coming up with a comprehensive communications plan for the crisis, including a Big Idea, in just 2 hours. Our plan was to take what Genevieve said and repurpose it into "Amstel Malta makes me PHAT - Pretty Hot And Tasty."
The plan had radio, TV, online and print channels, an influencer marketing extension (with buy-in from influencers whom we had proactively reached out to, even before presenting the plan to the boss), and even a celebrity endorsement plug-in (we proposed using Genevieve herself to market the phrase so as to make it all seem believable, or at least contrived) - all to the effect of making Genevieve's AMVCA faux pas seem like it was a planned statement to kick off an Amstel Malta comms campaign.
In fact, we believed so much in our comms plan that even without the boss's approval, we staged a photoshoot with each of us holding a can of Amstel Malta in the office - each photo captioned "Amstel Malta makes me PHAT."
After all this *Comms and PR* activity, we confidently walked into @ayenithegreat's office to present our crisis communication masterpiece that would dig Amstel Malta out of the hole dug by its brand ambassador and impress him. I remember holding the MacBook Pro and confidently presenting the slide deck to him alongside @MrBigtimi.
His verdict...
"Are you people serious?" And walked us out of his office. 🤣
Over the ensuing hours and days was when we saw the difference between an actual comms professional and a greenhorn wannabe. Instead of *doing something* to impress the hyperventilating client, Ayeni simply advised the client to wait and observe whether this "crisis" was in fact, a crisis. Instead of an overreaction where no response was actually necessary, he insisted that we wait and monitor whether anyone would pick up on the significance of what Genevieve said or give it coverage.
Nobody picked up on it. A few obscure tweets, no online gossip article, no news mention - nothing. It turned out that "Amstel Malta makes me PHAT" would not in fact, have put out a fire, but would have CREATED one. Where nobody even noticed our brand ambassador's unfortunate slip of tongue, it was our overeager, youthful aṣéjù that would have actually drawn attention to it.
What Ayeni did is the SI unit of 21st century professional crisis communication - reading the room first before doing, or deciding whether to do anything. Left to the angry client, Genevieve's endorsement contract would have been terminated immediately, which would have transformed what turned out to be a non-issue into a whole saga. Ayeni rather advised everyone to stay calm and monitor the situation carefully.
That's how come you've never heard this story until now - a PR professional did his job.
Compare and contrast with the idiot whose daft, unnecessary, immature reaction turns a negative Facebook comment from some obscure corner of Facebook into a major national story involving the police, Amnesty International and a nationwide brand boycott hashtag.
Bandits have reportedly demanded N40 trillion as a ransom to release the 16 residents abducted from the Gonin Gora area of Kaduna.
Speaking with TheCable on Monday, John Yusuf, a community leader, said the bandits contacted family members of the victims and also demanded 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles.
This is the first time bandits would make such a huge demand since abduction for ransom started in Nigeria.
On February 28, bandits killed two residents of Anguwan Auta in Gonin Gora and abducted several others.
Advertisement After the attack, residents of the area on February 29 blocked the Kaduna-Abuja highway for several hours to protest against the killing and abduction.
Yusuf said the bandits attacked the community twice within the week.
“The bandits have contacted us. They are demanding N40 trillion, 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles for the release of 16 people they are holding captive,” he said.
Advertisement “Where are we going to get this kind of money? Even if we sell the entire community, we cannot raise N40 trillion. Even Nigeria as a country has never made a budget of N40 trillion.
“The abductions happened twice within four days interval. During the first attack, three people were kidnapped while in the second attack, 13 people were abducted bringing the total number of people being held captive to 16.”
He said the communities in Birnin Gwari are surrounded by bushes serving as hideouts for the bandits, adding that the establishment of a military base would tackle the criminal operations in the area.
“We are pleading with the government to come to our aid by establishing a military base behind our community where the bandits take advantage of the bushes to invade our community,” Yusuf said.
Advertisement “From our community down to Birnin Gwari which is over 150 kilometres is a stretch of bush.
“We also have another stretch of bushes from Gonin Gora down to Niger state.
“So when the criminals have free access through the bushes to our community. We are pleading with the government to help us.
“The army are really trying, despite the fact that they are seriously overstretched. Whenever we make distressed calls they come.
“But the problem is that before they reach the community, the bandits would have done what they wanted and left.”
The community leader commended the Nigerian Army for their efforts in fighting bandits.
Advertisement He called on the federal government to take necessary actions to address banditry saying, “if not it is going to consume all of us”.
The Presidency has blamed the latest kidnappings in the North on political forces in the northern region plotting to destabilise the country under President Bola Tinubu’s watch.
Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale disclosed this in an interview with TVC on Sunday night.
Asked how soon Mr Tinubu’s government will curtail the resurgence of mass schoolchildren abductions witnessed in Kaduna and Sokoto last week, Mr Ngelale said much work had gone into securing the country, resulting in relative stability in the South-East.
“Where we still have some challenges is in the North-Central, North-West and to a large extent in the North-East. There is still a lot of work to be done,” Mr Ngelale said.
He added, “I will say this: across the North, we understand that some of the sub-regional geopolitical forces that are currently at play are actively conspiring against the stability of the Nigerian nation.”
The presidential media aide did not state specifically who the “sub-regional geopolitical forces” are.
However, Mr Ngelale revealed that the U.S. government was collaborating with Nigerian authorities to secure the rescue of over 280 schoolchildren kidnapped in Kaduna.
“It is worth noting that the United States government has also pledged its assistance to ensure that there is a full return of all of the schoolchildren who were kidnapped recently in Kaduna,” Mr Ngelale said.
He stressed that the point “is we are going to continue to intensify our collaboration not just within the region, but internationally to make sure that some of the regional actors that are conspiring against our nation are brought to justice and ultimately silenced in the future.”
Mr Tinubu had condemned the kidnappings, charging security agencies to rescue the schoolchildren and others.
Amnesty International and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party berated Mr Tinubu for failing in its basic responsibility of securing life and property while calling for the rescue of abducted citizens.
Mr Ngelale’s statement attributing waves of kidnappings in Borno, Kaduna and Sokoto that left over 300 people abducted last week to political forces in Northern Nigeria contradicts facts on the ground.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says arrangements are in place to resolve differences with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger by enlisting the help of third-party mediators.
The regional body had recently lifted sanctions imposed on the three junta-led nations, citing “humanitarian considerations” among other reasons.
ECOWAS had also called on the countries to return to the regional bloc.
Speaking on the development on Friday, Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said there is a need to deploy additional measures to encourage them to remain in the bloc.
“There are various engagements also going on, not only by ECOWAS but by third parties and all that in order for all of us to find common ground with these countries,” NAN quoted him as saying.
“We are just waiting for the three member states, who I must repeat, are all important members of ECOWAS.
“And without them, it is going to be more difficult to deal with many of the challenges facing the region.
“You know, terrorism, the whole issue of the Sahel what is happening there, and our collective goal in terms of free movement of people and all that.
“With the sanctions that were imposed, we saw the indirect impact of them on ordinary people who trade across borders.”
THREAT OF TERRORISM
The ECOWAS commissioner also expressed fears over the threat of transnational terrorism, saying it poses a “clear and present danger” to member countries.
“Initially confined to certain countries in the Sahel (Mali and Niger) and the Lake Chad Basin (Nigeria), terrorist attacks have multiplied and spread to other countries (Burkina Faso and Mali) and are now a real threat to coastal countries (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo),” Musah said.
“The number of fatalities, those maimed, displaced, and those who have lost livelihoods and educational opportunities has been the subject of conflicting figures.
“Yet all the figures are indicative of the pain and suffering that insecurity continues to inflict on the people, particularly in the Sahelian member states.”
Musah said in 2023, more than 3,500 incidents of terror attacks were recorded in the ECOWAS region.
The ECOWAS commissioner said the sub-regional bloc had taken measures to curb acts of terror.
“As ECOWAS, our proposal is to integrate the various initiatives into the regional plan of action and use them as specialised operational tools of the regional mechanism,” he said.
The Police Command in Lagos State has confirmed that an 80-year-old man, allegedly committed suicide at Imota area of the state.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday.
Mr Hundeyin said one Mustapha, (landlord of the deceased), made a report of the death at the Imota Police Division, at about 12.26 a.m on Friday.
He said Mustapha reported that at about 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, while at his house located at Watchtower Street, Araromi in Imota, he heard the children of the deceased shouting and calling him to come and see their father in the kitchen.
According to Mustapha, he ran into their kitchen, and saw the lifeless body of his tenant, called Isiaka Ayinde, 80-year-old, hanging on a rope that was tied to the burglary railing of one of the windows in the kitchen.
“The scene has been visited by DCB personnel of Imota Division and photographs taken.
“Though, the family of the deceased is not interested in depositing the body in the mortuary, rather, they preferred to bury the corpse immediately, due to age and religious inclination,” Mr Hundeyin said.
No fewer than 31.5 million people, including 83,846 internally displaced persons (IDPs), in 26 states and the FCT are expected to be in a food crisis between June and August 2024, according to Cadre Harmonisé.
Cadre Harmonisé (CH) is a food and nutrition insecurity analysis by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with technical partners, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
According to the report, at least 24.7 million people, including 14,000 IDPs, in 26 states and the FCT will be in a food crisis between March and May 2024.
The report revealed that about 1.1 million people in Adamawa were expected to be in crisis or worse between June and August 2024, and about 2.1 million people in Borno were expected to be in crisis or worse between June and August.
“Also, 1.5 million people in Yobe are expected to be in crisis or worse between June and August this year.
“During the current period, food consumption was under stress in most of the states and in crisis in some LGAs in Adamawa, Borno, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara states.
“Deteriorated food consumption situations were also observed among populations in the inaccessible areas and the IDPs in Adamawa, Borno, Sokoto, and Zamfara States.
“During the projected period (June to August 2024), more households are expected to face a crisis level of food consumption in the states,” the report stated.
It said the deteriorating food consumption resulted from a significant spike in food prices due to high production and transportation costs caused by the removal of fuel subsidies and its resultant impact on inflation and consumer price index rates on both food and basic non-food items.
The report said that in all the states analysed, livelihood evolution was under stress or crisis.
“The consequences of insecurity have led to the loss of livelihoods in Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Yobe states.
“Poor macroeconomic conditions are restricting access to agricultural inputs in the country; the high cost of transport, the inflation rate, and the volatile dollar-naira exchange rate have negatively affected households’ income.
“In the projected period (June to August 2024), poor microeconomic conditions and conflicts are expected to drive limited access to livelihood opportunities.
“The nutrition situation in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe and the north-west states of Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara revealed the prevalence of malnutrition for under-5 children to be in crisis in the current situation,” the report said.
The report said key drivers of the crisis included conflict and insecurity, fuel scarcity, the naira devaluation currency crisis, rising inflation and Consumer Price Index (CPI) rates.
Spiking prices of food predated Mr Tinubu’s government. However, the president’s sudden fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira, which experts lauded, have seen petrol prices jump from N145 to N630, shooting food prices up astronomically as the naira continues its freefall against the dollar, trading for over N1,600 against a dollar.
Last week, Nigerians protested skyrocketing food prices in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, chanting “Tinubu ole.” Similar protests were held in Osun, Niger, Kano and Lagos, the president’s home state, last week.
In his remarks at the presentation, the country representative of the FAO to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Koffy Dominique, said the organisation would continue to support the CH process, both in terms of funding, technical support and capacity building across the country.
Also, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Temitope Fashedemi, said the federal government has put machinery in place to address challenges of food and nutrition insecurity.
He said the results of the cycle of CH analysis came when the government was leaving no stone unturned in reinvigorating the nation’s economy.
The permanent secretary said the removal of petroleum subsidies had further heightened pressure, resulting in food inflation and an increase in the consumer price index
He assured of the ministry’s commitment to upholding and utilising the outcomes and recommendations proffered at the workshop for the implementation of food and nutrition security interventions.
I often wonder why, as a government, we concentrate more on amplifying the faults of the previous administration rather than acknowledging its numerous achievements. The PDP seems to have a more skillful approach to politics than we do in the APC. As Abdul’aziz has pointed out, it's rare to find instances where President Yar’adua’s (PDP) government criticized President Obasanjo’s (PDP) or where President Jonathan’s (PDP) government faulted President Yar’adua’s (PDP).
There are numerous accomplishments from the previous administration that we could build upon while discreetly addressing its failures. This approach would bring up unity within the ruling party. President Tinubu requires the full support of his party, not just for the upcoming 2027 elections but also for supporting his policies. We know no matter how good they may look, the opposition will always find a way to rubbish or undermine them just to distract our party from governance.
Since May 2023, we seem to have provided more ammunition to our opponents rather than strategies to put them on the defensive, which would allow the government to focus more on continuing to deliver its best for the country.
If we had not been creating room for PDP, how could a member of the party even come here and remind us about their administration? The party spent 16 years during the oil boom without anything tangible to show for it.
Veteran actor, Jide Kosoko, has put on hold his 70th birthday celebration due to the current economic situation in the country.
Mr Kosoko, in an Instagram post on Sunday, appreciated his colleagues and fans who came up with the idea of celebrating his contributions to the industry while he was still alive.
Mr Kosoko clocked 70 on January 12, and celebrated the feat with friends, family, and well-wishers to express gratitude to God at a thanksgiving service.
Colleagues and fans of the veteran had plans to honour him with a glamorous birthday celebration.
He said, “I want to use this opportunity to offer my sincere appreciation to my colleagues who came up with the idea of celebrating me for my contributions to the growth and development of our industry while I am still alive and kicking. This also falls within the year of my 70th birthday.
“It is my sincere prayer that they will all remain relevant in all areas of human endeavours they find themselves in. I have discussed with them, and they reasoned that the celebration should be put on hold, basically because of the current situation in the country and what the people are going through.
“I am very sure that very soon, the challenges facing the country will be over and we will all be happy about it. I am putting it on hold because of the masses, of which I am part of. Thank you all for your understanding!.”
Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory have raided and plundered a warehouse belonging to the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria (NEMA).
SaharaReporters learnt that the warehouse was raided on Sunday morning.
The warehouse is located in Karimo, Phase 3 Region of the FCT, Abuja.
SaharaReporters gathered that the residents carted away foodstuffs and other items.
Personnel of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja have been deployed to the area to disperse the looters and secure the building, SaharaReporters learnt.
The spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident to SaharaReporters.
She, however, added that the situation had been brought under control.
"The situation is now under control," she said.
Many Nigerians have been lamenting hardship following the removal of fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the naira after it was floated by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The economic policies of the administration have pushed up the prices of goods drastically and rate of inflation.
An ‘awara’ seller in Bwari Area Council, FCT, Mrs Hannatu Musa, says more consumers have turned to buying ‘awara’ as a substitute for protein.
Musa, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Bwari, said since meat was no longer affordable, some consumers had resorted to the use of `awara’ as a substitute.
NAN reports that ‘awara’ is the Hausa version of tofu, a meal made of soybean curds. Soybeans are a richly healthy food; it contain several vitamins and is low in carbohydrates.
It is a common delicacy in the northern region, produced in block form and eaten as a snack.
Musa said that the snack had significant popularity in the north due to its health benefits and delectable taste.
She said that she had gained more consumers in recent times because people had realised it could serve as meat in foods, especially for those who avoided beef intake.
“I learned it is packed with protein and serves as an excellent alternative to meat for individuals looking to reduce their meat intake.
“I think that is why patronage for it has increased; lately, I have seen more people of different tribes come here to buy the snack.
“One of my customers actually told me he buys it for his entire family so that they can add it to their meals.
“Since I cannot afford meat or fish regularly anymore and my children love it, I substitute it for meat.
“I think it is because it has a meat-like texture and flavour after it is fried; you can actually add it as an ingredient in soups and stews,’’ she said.
Musa said the delicacy was traditionally served with ground pepper or sliced fresh pepper, cabbage, and cucumber and could also be eaten with pap or ‘kunu’.
She said that despite its nutritional value, the preparation of ‘awara’ was time-consuming and challenging, which was the reason people opted for ready-made.
Madam Christine Douglas, one of the consumers of the snack, told NAN that she had never eaten it until she came to live in Abuja five years ago.
She said that her neighbour, who was a northerner, introduced her to eating it, and she has since taken a queue to buy it.
“I have introduced other women to it; it is very delicious if well prepared.
“I like the way it is usually garnished; it goes well with rice, and now that meat is expensive, I use it to balance my diet,’’ she said.
Dr Kemi Adegoke-Abraham, a nutritionist, said that the food, made from soybeans, has a high vitamin content and low carbohydrates.
According to her, ‘awara’ is a good choice for those monitoring carbohydrate intakes.
“In addition, its low glycemic index in soybeans ensures stable blood sugar levels, rendering it a suitable option for individuals with diabetes.
“You know, soybeans also proffers a substantial dietary fibre content and according to some research, soybeans reduces the risk of breast cancer,” she said. (NAN)
Guinea’s military junta, which took power through a coup in September 2021, has officially dissolved the government, as announced via a presidential decree read on state TV by the presidency’s Secretary General, Brig Gen Amara Camara.
The announcement was not followed by details regarding the rationale of this dissolution, or the timeline for establishing a new government.
As part of the dissolution, ministers in the now-dissolved government have been instructed to surrender their passports and official vehicles, and also given directives for their bank accounts to be frozen.
The junta has also directed security agencies to “seal” all of Guinea’s borders until the complete handover of government ministries to the junta.
According to Camara, during the interim period until a new government is appointed, lower-level officials will manage state ministries.
The dissolved government, led by Prime Minister Bernard Goumou, was appointed by coup leader Mamady Doumbouya, who led Guinea’s armed forces in overthrowing elected President Alpha Condé in September 2021. The coup came after a series of protests against Condé’s controversial bid for a third term.
Guinea, as well as several other countries in West and central Africa, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon, have experienced coups in recent years. These coups have faced strong condemnation from West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS, the African Union, and the UN.
The junta and ECOWAS had earlier set a 24-month transition period, and Guinea is expected to hold elections to restore democratic rule within 10 months, as the transition period comes to an end.
Some market women in Lagos on Saturday staged a protest against the rising cost of living in the country.
During the protest in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos, the women carried placards with inscriptions such as “Baba Tinubu, Nigerians are hungry”, and ‘Tinubu, come and rescue us”, among others.
Over the past few days, some Nigerians have taken to the streets in protest in Osun, Niger, and Kano states over the rising cost of living in the country.
Since the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023, prices of commodities in the country have been going up.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) had blamed the opposition parties for instigating protests to undermine the administration of Bola Tinubu.
The biting hunger and unnaturally rising price spiral in Nigeria instigated primarily by the removal of petrol subsidies and the floating of the naira are threatening to spark off seismic social vibrations across the country.
The spontaneous, hunger-induced eruption of seething communal anger in Minna over hunger in the land a few days ago, which inspired a massive protest by market women in Lokoja and smaller but nonetheless consequential protests by distraught citizens in Suleja, Kano, Osogbo—and counting— is a warning sign.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s swift order for the release of “102,000 metric tons of various grain types from the National Food Reserve and the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria” to bring down the cost of food in the aftermath of these strings of protests suggests that he is aware of the danger that lies in the offing for him.
Had the current president been Muhammadu Buhari and not Bola Ahmed Tinubu, chances are that the worst that would happen amid the adversity people are going through now would be suppressed, barely audible murmurs. It’s because Buhari is a political cult leader with a firm grip on his followers who worship him and surrender responsibility for their lives over to him. Tinubu has no such appeal.
A psychologist by the name of Steve Taylor came up with a concept he called “abdication syndrome,” which he said disposes people to invest total, child-like trust in a political figure, a cult leader, an opinion molder, etc. in ways that mimic how children idealize and idolize their parents as unblemished paragons of perfection.
According to Taylor, “abdication syndrome stems from the unconscious desire of some people to return to a state of early childhood, when their parents were infallible, omnipotent figures who controlled their lives and protected them from the world. They’re trying to rekindle that childhood state of unconditional devotion and irresponsibility.”
Buhari is lucky to benefit from abdication syndrome in Muslim northern Nigeria, broadly conceived, which explains why he got away with murder for eight years. When he increased petrol prices by a steep margin in 2016, for instance, there were protests in Kano, Bauchi, and other places in SUPPORT of the increase and AGAINST people who planned to protest the increase. Nigeria had never seen anything like that before.
Even protests against the unabating descent of northern Nigeria into a theater of bloodshed and abduction on Buhari’s watch provoked counter protests from people who have abdicated the use of their brains in the service of Buhari.
Tinubu not only does not have the benefit of abdication syndrome anywhere in Nigeria, but he also has the misfortune of having to contend with a peculiar character of Muslim northern Nigeria: we feel the pain of, and react violently to, bad policies only when the policies are hatched and executed by people who have no filiation with our natal region.
It’s no surprise that the hunger protests against the Tinubu administration started from and spread in the North.
A powerful indication of Tinubu’s lack of firm emotional support base emerged when Osun, his state of birth where he lost the last presidential election to PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, became the first southern state to join the hunger protests. Should the resistance to his punishingly heartless neoliberal economic policies ignite a nationwide convulsion, the Southwest is unlikely to constitute itself as his bulwark.
In fact, I hazard a guess that should Tinubu’s unfeeling policies activate the sort of destabilizing national upheaval that we saw in 2012 during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the Southwest won’t be aloof. It is likely to join in.
And, of course, Tinubu is deeply unpopular in the Southeast, the South-south, and Christian northern Nigeria. In other words, Tinubu is essentially floundering into the most treacherous of social quicksands.
His only fortification against danger is not just good governance but compassionate governance. The release of thousands of metric tons of grains is a good first step, but it’s not nearly enough to stem the tide of mass rebellion that is brewing in the country. At best, it will only delay the inevitable.
The truth is that Nigeria can’t survive a total withdrawal of petroleum subsidies without an adequate, systematic, well-planned public transportation system. To do away with petrol subsidies, the government must first create conditions where car ownership and patronage of commercial transportation are a luxury.
Let’s take Canada as an example. Although Canada is an oil-producing country, it doesn’t subsidize the petrol consumption of its citizens. And it’s precisely because it has great public transportation that meets the transportational needs of its people.
I met a Canadian here in Atlanta last year who, like most Canadians, doesn’t know how to drive because government-subsidized public transportation is the primary means of moving from point to point. Car ownership is a luxury, and people who choose to shun public transportation deserve the high price they pay for petrol to fuel their cars.
It’s the same situation in most of Europe. The availability of government subsidized public transportation insulates citizens from the effects of high petrol prices and obviates the need for petrol subsidies.
It is not so in the United States. Here, as I pointed out in many past columns, petrol is subsidized because most Americans have their own cars and resent public transportation except in such big cities as New York.
Without first building an efficient, government-subsidized public transportation infrastructure within cities and towns and between cities, towns and states, removing petrol subsidies will always result in the kind of mass affliction that Nigerians are going through now.
That is why countries like Kazakhstan, Ecuador, Bolivia, Indonesia, and Brazil, which the World Bank and the IMF had forced to remove petrol subsidies, have backtracked and re-instituted subsidies. That is inevitable in Nigeria if the government wants to survive.
Is Olayemi Cardoso Nigeria’s Worst CBN Governor?
I know awfully little about current CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso. I’d just assumed that to deserve being appointed the governor of the CBN, he must at least be minimally competent and conversant with economic policies.
But he is shaping up to be the most inept and least intellectually prepared for his job. It isn’t just that he is supervising the free fall of the naira through inconsistent policies, he also doesn’t seem to be able to explain to anyone what exactly he is doing, indicating he doesn’t know what he is doing.
On Friday, I watched Cardoso’s meeting with the senate where he couldn’t answer questions from senators without reading from a prepared script. "I object to this!” a senator yelled in response to Cardoso’s lifeless regurgitation of a prepared speech he obviously didn’t understand. “Let him go back and answer the question!"
Anyone who can’t respond to a question without reading a prepared text obviously has no understanding of what he is talking about. Albert Einstein famously said, “if you can't explain it simply then you don't understand it well enough." Cardoso’s case is even worse. He can’t explain it at all. It explains why the economy is in a mess and the naira is in a worse shape than it has ever been.
Cardoso’s most important qualification for the job appears to be that he was Economic Planning and Budget commissioner in Lagos when Tinubu was governor, but the job seems to be above his intellectual and experiential paygrade.
I know of no CBN governor in my lifetime (until Cardoso) who couldn’t articulate economic policies effortlessly. Even Godwin Emefiele had no difficulty defending his policies. You may question his competence or disagree with his policies, but he could at least clearly formulate thoughts about what he was doing. Cardoso gives me the jitters. Nigeria is in way worse trouble than it realizes with an airhead like that as CBN governor.
A group of youths on Friday staged a peaceful protest in Osogbo, Osun State, decrying the rising cost of living, with a call on the government to immediately intervene.
The protesters, who wielded placards with inscriptions such as ‘change the unfavourable policies’, ‘Nigerians are suffering, we can’t cope again’, and ‘We are humans, stop mistreating the citizens’, among others, assembled along MDS Road, Osogbo very early.
Despite the large presence of police operatives near the scene of the protest, the youth kept singing songs expressing the frustration of many Nigerians occasioned by the harsh economy.
Addressing the protesters, the chairman, Osun Civil Societies Coalition, Mr. Waheed Lawal, said the protest would continue until the Federal Government finds solutions to the current economic hardship ravaging the country.
He said, “Government must ameliorate the suffering of the people. They must do whatever they need to do to make sure that the people live in better conditions.
“Nigerians deserve the best. They promised us renewed hope but what they are giving us now is renewed hardship. We reject renewed hardship in our lives, and in our economy because Nigerians deserve the best.
“What Nigerians want is a peaceful atmosphere. We don’t want insecurity in our land again. We can’t travel from Osogbo to Ibadan without panicking. You will be thinking that they will kidnap you.
“The abduction of monarchs is the order of the day in our country now. We urge the government to provide security for the life and property of the citizens. It is their responsibility, it is a constitutional responsibility.
“Every government that fails to provide security for the lives of the citizens is no longer a government. What we are saying is simple, we are ready to face the government in this hardship and we are marathon runners.
“We have started this struggle today and if the government fails to listen to us, we will continue to mobilise our people to protest this hardship because enough is enough.”
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, youths and women took to the streets of Minna and Kano to protest what they described as the rising cost of living in the country.
In Niger, a group of women blocked the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road at the popular Kpakungu Roundabout and called on Tinubu to address the problem of ‘hunger in the land.’
Also on Thursday, as a temporary response to the nation’s growing food crisis and the rising cost of commodities, President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate release of more than 102,000 metric tons of various grain types from the National Food Reserve and the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the last leg of a series of three meetings of the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention at the Aso Rock Villa on Thursday.
Idris said, “The first one is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been directed to release about 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, garri, and other commodities in their strategic reserve so that these items will be made available to Nigerians; 42,000 metric tons immediately.
“The second one is that we have held meetings with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria. Those who are responsible for producing this rice and we have asked them to open up their stores.
“They’ve told us that they can guarantee about 60,000 metric tons of rice. This will be made available and we know that that is enough to take Nigerians the next one month to six weeks, perhaps up to two months.”
Residents of Suleja in Niger State have taken to the street to register their displeasure over the high cost of living in the country.
Wednesday’s protest is coming after a similar protest in Minna, the state capital just two days ago.
Suleja, the commercial nerve centre of Niger State, is only a few kilometres away from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
An eyewitness, Mr. Yazid Abubakar, who spoke to Channels Television by telephone, said the protesters stormed the popular Moroko Road where the biggest market is located in the town.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Leadership is all about improving the life of the masses,” and “Nigerians are suffering, stop the hardship now,” among others.
Some women and youths in their numbers took to the street and blocked the Kpagungu axis of Minna-Bida Road in the Niger State capital city on Monday, protesting against hunger and the high cost of living.
The women, carrying a placard with the inscription “No food, we are dying of hunger”, demanded a better condition of living and a reduction in the cost of living for the citizenry.
They accused political officeholders of insensitivity to their plight as they lamented their inability to feed even once a day.
The protest had caused traffic gridlock on the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road, which is a link road to the South-West part of the country from the North-Central.
Responding, Niger State Police Command clamped down on 25 protesters.
On Wednesday, Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the arrest of one Aisha Jibrin, the initiator of the protest, and 24 other suspects.
The earlier protest forced President Bola Tinubu to order a food intervention to check the shortage of food in the country.
A Federal High Court, sitting at Ikoyi, Lagos on Wednesday, February 7, ordered the federal government to fix the prices of goods and petroleum products within seven days. Justice Ambose Lewis-Allagoa granted the order sequel to an originating motion filed and argued by the applicant and human rights activist, Femi Falana SAN.
He said: “I have had the applicant Femi Falana in a suit no San, FHC/L/CS/869/2023 and I have also discovered that despite the service of the Originating motion on the respondents namely Attorney-General of the Federation and the Price Control Board, no opposition to it by way of counter affidavit, which is law that all the facts deposed in the affidavit attached to the originating motion are all deemed admitted.
“Consequently, all prayers that are sought for in the motion papers are hereby granted as prayed.”
The judge ordered the Nigerian government to fix the price of Milk, Flour, salt, sugar, bicycles and it’s spare parts, matches, motorcycles and its spare parts, motor vehicles and it’s spare parts as well as Petroleum products, which include: diesel, petrol motor spirit (PMS) and kerosene.
Falana (SAN) had approached the court for the followings: “whether by virtue of Section 4 of the Price Control Act., the first defendant is carrying out its duty to impose a price on any goods that are of the kind specified in the First Schedule to the Price Control Act.
“A declaration that by virtue of Section 4 of the Price Control Act Cap, the defendants are under a legal obligation to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene.
“A declaration that the failure or refusal of the Defendants to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene is illegal as it offends the provision of Section 4 of the Price Control Act, Cap…., Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“An order directing the defendants to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene not later than 7 days after the delivery of the Judgment of this Honourable Court.”
Yoruba market women in Ogun State have lambasted President Bola Tinubu’s administration for promulgating economic policies that negatively affect the prices of goods and cause untold hardship for Nigerians.
A viral video shared by an X user, Somto Okonkwo, on Monday and seen by Peoples Gazette saw the market women speaking to a Sugarlink Concepts reporter in their local dialect, expressing their disgust as they lamented the soaring prices of goods in the country.
The traders who said Mr Tinubu disappointed Nigerians, particularly the Yorubas, threatened to beat the president.
“He’s not behaving like a Yoruba man; he has disappointed us in Yoruba land,” another elderly woman stated.
A fish seller said, “As things are now, we’re tired. A carton of sardine is N100,000.”
Another trader appealed to the president to have mercy on Nigerians, saying, “We’re tired of Nigeria; everything is costly, everything is getting costly every day.”
An elderly woman who also registered her displeasure with the current administration lamented that several Nigerians starved to death over Mr Tinubu’s economic policies.
“Countless people are being killed because of food, we don’t see food to eat, the elderly that are dying are too much,” she lamented.
Asked what they would tell the president if they had the opportunity to see him, one of the traders threatened, “We will beat him up, the president.”
The trader added, “What he promised us is not what’s happening now. This is too much.”
A plantain seller, who also urged Mr Tinubu to find a solution to the hardship, lamented that traders made losses due to the high cost of petrol.
“Things are too costly; we’re tired,” another fish seller grumbled. “A carton of Titus is N100,000; it used to cost N17,000. Kote is going to N60,000. Shawa, which we used to sell for N70, now goes for N700. Garri, that used to be N50, is now N700.”
Adachukwu Chukelu Okafor, a lawyer and self-confessed ‘lover of God’ who resides in Akpaka, Onitsha, has allegedly molested 10-year-old Happiness, whom she took into her household to serve as housekeeper.
FIJ learned that Adachukwu brought Happiness into his home in January 2024 after contacting her parents to help her get a child who would assist her with house chores.
Adachukwu’s parents contacted Ifeoma Moughalu, Happiness’ guardian, who lives on the same street as them.
“It was Adachukwu’s parents who connected Ifeoma and Adachukwu,” said Calvin, a man who resides in the same neighbourhood as Adachukwu’s parents and Ifeoma.
Calvin told FIJ that after an agreement was reached, Ifeoma granted Adachukwu permission to take Happiness to her home in Okpakpa.
“In less than two weeks of taking Happiness in, Adachukwu molested her. Adachukwu claimed she told Happiness to bathe her 8-year-old son and she fondled his private parts,” said Calvin.
He told FIJ that Adachukwu used a hot pressing iron to burn Happiness’ buttocks. “She also used fire to heat up a knife and inserted it into the little girl’s vagina,” he added.
Calvin also told FIJ the molestation did not end there. “Happiness told us that she chained her, locked her in the house and starved her of food and water,” he said.
Calvin told FIJ that after molesting the girl, Adachukwu called Ifeoma and ordered her to take Happiness back with her. “Adachukwu threatened Ifeoma that she would deal with her and use her influence as a lawyer if she misbehaved,” said Calvin.
Seeing the harm inflicted on Happiness by Adachukwu, Ifeoma took the 10-year-old to the hospital for treatment and contacted the police afterwards.
As of press time, Happiness is still in the hospital, while the lawyer is allegedly on the run.
“I don’t know if Ada has been arrested by the police,” Ifeoma told FIJ.
FIJ attempted to reach Adachukwu for her reaction, but her mobile number was switched off.
A video obtained by SaharaReporters has shown how the late televangelist and founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly known as TB Joshua, revealed that he was not the biological father of Ajoke.
Ajoke is his supposed daughter who accused the late cleric of constantly abusing and torturing her in a BBC three-part investigative documentary.
SaharaReporters had reported that Ajoke, whose full name is Ajoke God’swill Joshua, had in an investigative documentary done by the BBC alleged that TB Joshua constantly abused and tortured her.
In the documentary, TB Joshua’s disciples claimed that Ajoke was gotten outside lawful marriage and was subjected to a series of torture and humiliation by the late cleric who viewed her existence as a big threat to his reputation as a man of God.
Ajoke claimed that she never felt fatherly affection from the late pastor and that her father compelled her to be a disciple to ruin her life.
But TB Joshua in the video obtained by SaharaReporters explained how he adopted Ajoke when she was abandoned as a baby in March 2000, reported the incident at a police station in Lagos, and how the police gave him the go-ahead to adopt her.
According to him, Ajoke became what he described as terrible. He said she engaged in various fraudulent activities, theft and destroying many of his disciples by sexually harassing them and forcing some of them to leave the church.
During one of his ministrations with what looked like workers of the church while he was alive, the cleric introduced Ajoke and pleaded with them to see what they could do in their prayers to help Ajoke in any little way.
TB Joshua in the video said that he thought Ajoke’s case was what he could handle in his office but it became imperative to let the church know about her case and what she was up to.
He said, “It is such a surprise thing, she has what we call influence on the people, and she doesn’t influence little people. She influences big people, people that matter to the extent that two months ago, I had to call the commissioner of police to trace her file and they brought her file to me and there was a letter in the file demanding that I should return her and I held on to the letter.
“They too felt for me that I have given so much for her and that they should put her where she belongs. In a British school, there is a letter from the school which showed that this girl stole money. She agreed in the letter that she did it.”
A letter written to Prophet TB Joshua by a school in Togo, Benin Republic dated November 25, 2008, and signed by Gareth Jones on behalf of the academic team read, “We wish to bring to your notice formally this incident of theft perpetuated by Ajoke God’swill Joshua here in school.
“The school management has dealt with it by giving her a suspension and consequently her being put in isolation. It is a three school days suspension and she is allowed no visitors except her House Parent or Form Tutor who gives her some class work to do.
“We wish to assure you of our desire to keep her in school and to help her in various ways to reform and change for the better. We are of the opinion that taking her out of the school to another place could rather compound the situation and allow this habit to go on, but being in one place, getting the needed help from counselors, spiritual and temporal would to a great extent bring about the needed result.
“We acknowledge the fear you have of your name being tarnished but this we assure you once again it has been contained and would not be allowed to spill over. We have spoken to your delegation and given them a copy of the letter of plea as well as the statement of acceptance of wrong doing written by her which clearly indicates her being sorrowful for the situation she has created and remorse for it.
“We will continue to support in any way possible and be grateful for vice versa.”
One of the letters in which Ajoke admitted to the crime which was read by one of the church workers read, “I Ajoke Joshua is hereby admitting that I stole a sum of 41,000 CFA from (name of the school was hidden).
“This was a very criminal act and also something that should have not been done at all in the first place. I was so tempted by the money and I do not have any idea of whatsoever prompted me to do this. I am so sorry and I promise that in my whole entire life that this will not happen again. Please do not suspend me. I am sincerely sorry.”
TB Joshua said that after the school wrote the letter to him. According to him, “to them because nobody ever knew that she is not my biological child, we then showed them the letter of the day we found her when she was a baby. I took her to the police station and they told me to take care of her, and I felt, let her live with us.”
The cleric said the video of how Ajoke was found and picked up when she was a baby was recorded.
TB Joshua’s wife who went to the Togolese school with Ajoke to show the documents of her adoption said that the teachers in the school were surprised after the video was played to them.
TB Joshua lamented that “Ajoke has been a terrible thing that the police said they want to take her back to the orphanage home and they had taken her name and photocopies of the documents but I said no.”
A letter from the Ikotun Police Station, Lagos requesting the release of Ajoke who was adopted in March 2000, back to the police was read before the workers in the church.
TB Joshua said that if not that he had Ajoke, he would have had thousands of adopted children “but I warn you, they are very dangerous. They will never be grateful to whatever you do.”
He said that Ajoke “is now destroying the disciples here,” citing an example of one of the disciples who called him from Ghana and said that he had to go because Ajoke had destroyed him.
According to the disciple, “he cannot say no to Ajoke.” A document was also read on how Ajoke sent a message to the disciple saying she wanted to marry him and have a sexual affair with the disciple and that no matter what TB Joshua said, she was ready to die because of the disciple.
According to TB Joshua, this made the disciple to leave the church and go back to Ghana.
A woman and her son have been kidnapped by gunmen at Dogarawa area, Sabon Gari LGA of Kaduna state.
The state police command confirmed the abduction on Monday.
Mansur Hassan, the command’s public relations officer, identified the victims as Halimatu Bello and Yusuf Bello.
Hassan said the police has swung into action in an effort to rescue the victims and also commenced an investigation into the matter.
He advised the public to be more vigilant and report any suspicious movement to security agencies.
Gafai Katsina, chairman of the security committee of residents in the area, said the bandits stormed the Dogarawa New Layout at about 2am.
“They entered the house of Alhaji Bello and abducted the victims, attacked Adamu Bello with matches on his hand,” Katsina said.
Advertisement “Adamu Bello is receiving treatment at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Shika, Zaria.
“The bandits did not abduct the two tenants residing in the house. They tied them and locked them in their rooms.”
On January 5, six sisters were kidnapped alongside their father from their residence at Zuma 1 in the Bwari area council of the federal capital territory (FCT).
The abductors released the father but the girls were kept in captivity.
On Sunday, Nabeeha, one of the girls, died in captivity.
No fewer than 36 women in the Magizawa community of Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State, were abducted by bandits on Sunday night.
Local vigilantes alleged that they and some security personnel were overwhelmed by the bandits who invaded the community, killed 3 including a vigilante leader and wounded 2 others.
The Police were yet to get details of the attack, according to the Zamfara Police spokesperson, ASP Yazid Abubakar in a chat with journalists.
However, a vigilante who survived the attack, said they were taken unawares when the group of bandits took control of the community, went from house to house and forced the locals, majority of whom were women, to follow them into the bush.
” They abducted about 50, 36 were women. We tried to fight them but they took us unaware and got mixed up with members of the community. In the process, they killed one of our bravest members and 2 others,they also injured 2 others. They broke into houses that were locked and abducted locals. They also held others roaming in the village at night,” he said.
Politics › Re: Which Student Loan Bill Did Tinubu Sign Please? (photo) by FuglyGurl(op): 11:45am On Mar 15, 2024
