SojWORLDWIDE: Ten years ago today, 276 girls were abducted in the night from their school in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. The attack by Boko Haram pricked the conscience of the world. From London to Washington, protesters held placards reading #BringBackOurGirls—the hashtag the girls' families had posted to pressure their idle government into action. It would take almost three weeks for then-Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan even to make a public announcement. Critical time had been lost.
When this March, 137 children were tragically taken from a school in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria, the shadow of Chibok lay ever present. Why, Nigerians and the world asked, after the passage of a decade was such an atrocity still happening?
This time, unlike Chibok, the girls and boys were brought back a fortnight later, the security and intelligence agencies deployed immediately to rescue them. Nevertheless, legitimate concerns over kidnappings persist in Africa's most populous country.
Success in Kaduna has brought families relief and praise for the military, yet the government bears no illusions: The scourge of kidnappings must be routed once and for all.
It begins with recognizing the changing nature of the threat. Boko Haram translates to "Western Education is Forbidden" and reflects an ideological impetus as jihadi insurgents opposed to the very idea of a Nigerian state.
Today, Boko Haram are splintered, and mass abductions are primarily the work of criminal gangs. There is no ideology here: kidnapping has become an illegal industry rewarded with ransoms. Within days of the Kaduna attack, the abductors were demanding 1 billion naira ($600,000).Nothing was paid. As president, I have been clear that ransoms stop. Resolution through payment only perpetuates the wider problem. This extortion racket must be squeezed out of existence.
Meanwhile, the costs for perpetrators must be raised: They will receive not a dime, and instead security services' counter action.But compressing the kidnap for ransom market only addresses the pull factors. If we are to avoid funneling the same people into other crimes that cause normal Nigerians to feel insecure, we must address the push factors: poverty, inequality, and a paucity of opportunity. Criminal gangs can find easy recruits among those without either a job, or the prospect of one.
Some 63 percent of Nigerians are multidimensionally poor. They are bearing the economic consequences of a failure by successive governments to get to grip with the Nigerian economy. Fiscal and monetary albatrosses have grounded the country's flight, when surging demographics demand high economic growth to just maintain current standards of living.A decades-old fuel subsidy was exhausting paltry public finances. By 2022, the cost had ballooned to $10 billion—more than the government's combined spending on education, health care, and infrastructure in a budget of $40 billion.
Currency controls that artificially propped up the naira deterred investment and led to shortages of foreign exchange. For decades we have been financially ransoming ourselves. When my government took office last May, we faced a pile of debt obligations.
Just as with kidnappers, we had to be tough with the economy. Unsustainable market distortions had to be removed. As expected, floating the naira caused it to plunge. Given Nigeria is a net food importer, the average shopping basket has consequently risen in price. The removal of the fuel subsidy, in a country where many businesses and households rely on generators for power, has also had far reaching effects.
These reforms have caused pain across Nigeria; they are still painful. Yet there is no better alternative: These and other difficult reforms are necessary to arrest the economic rot that lies at the heart of insecurity.
Green shoots are now visible. In the first quarter of this year, foreign currency inflows have almost matched those for the whole of last year. A multi-billion forex backlog at the central bank has been cleared, giving foreign investors' confidence to invest in Africa's largest economy, safe in the knowledge they can repatriate earnings. The naira has begun to stabilize after its initial downward trend and has made huge gains against the dollar.
Talk of macroeconomics might seem remote from the challenge of insecurity. But without the fundamentals in place, it is impossible for an enabling environment where the private sector thrives, jobs are created, and opportunity is spread across the country. It is how we ensure children can go to school without fear.
For any who may have doubted our direction, it should now be clear. There will be no more ransoms paid—not to kidnappers, nor toward those policies which have trapped our people economically. Nigerians, and their economy, will be liberated.
Bola Tinubu is President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Published by Newsweek 15 April 2024
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Freshtruth: I am the Manager of a Hotel , there is this waitress that is also working at the hotel, very respectful and loyal, or the workers in the hotel workers respect me to the bone. Until the same waitress keep hailing me when ever she come to my office she we say may may u are a very handsome guy o . during my off day I called her to a bar in my area cause that was her off day too . I bought her barbeque and holandia yourgut we lodge an hotel room and she satisfy me well. The next morning I told her we won't do this again that is wrong she said no problem, since then this girl has been disrespecting me, she embarrass me in front of the supervisors . my supervisor got angry and told me to sack her or report her to the owner of the hotel I told them I will handle the issue. Pls advise me what to do pls.
Being married doesn't align with the celebrity musician image.
CountinBlessins: Meanwhile that chief obi baruda ju name Davido is there kneeling down and begging akuna. What a useless obi that kpomo man is. Are thse not his mates? useless fool I no blame am sha, na the elem wey no gum am OT properly after him fall out na him i blame
CaptainJune: So, God has spoken everything there is to be spoken as written in the Bible according to Op? Very sad thinking.
So, how does God let me know I should travel to Denmark or marry Betty Armstrong, or study Oncology? Where do I find the answers in the Bible? Should I throw dice or cast lot?
They were not angels. They were an older species of humans. That’s the only way they could have reproduced with human females.
Daejumong: Genesis 6:1–4 — English Standard Version (ESV)
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
The romps the angels had with these hot babes produced giants !
These guys polluted the world so much that God had to destroy the world with flood.
These angels probably took on human bodily forms and gave these women pleasures unimaginable! This is akin to ‘ spiritual husbands and wives’ in this generation! I presume they taught women unimaginable sexual acts and probably many deviant sexual behaviours!
But the puzzling question is why will angels sacrifice their glorious position just to have sex with gorgeous women? What made them to lust after hot babes on earth? Are there female angels as well, since there is the concept of ‘ spiritual wives’?
The pain is proportional to how easily you can replace the ex.
Stephen2324: Just saw something so I want to ask. How does it feel if you see the person that hurt you, whom you've envisioned forever with, getting engaged/engaging another person while you're still dealing with your pain and trauma?
People say they dated 4 years but their Ex is engaged to another merely 6 months after breakup. How does it feel and how did you handle it?
Odewaleadesoye: Adanma Luke, the producer of the movie Junior Pope was shooting before he drowned has claimed that the later actor was given a life jacket but rejected it.
DAILY POST reports that Luke has been under heavy fire following the death of actor Junior Pope and three others after their boat capsized on the Anam River in Anambra State while returning from the location of her movie, ‘The Other Side Of Life.’
Breaking her silence since the incident, Luke Adanma claimed that Junior Pope was provided with a life jacket but rejected it because it was dirty.
Speaking in a video message shared via her Instagram account, she said: [/b]
wittywriter: Nigeria's food hike solution will come when Nigerians decide to take agriculture as a norm. Normal normal I make sure I plant yearly even if it's third party planting and harvesting process. If you have funds that you can invest in agriculture for personal consumption then make sure to...thank me later.
Read to comprehend...there's no award for hasty mentions...
Ability to comprehend is a rare trait..you have it though...stay blessed.
Start an Agric community... If you need help to facilitate your Agric goal(s) then drop your contact I'll link you for further actions.
chimuanya24: Back in the day, a lot of married men dey cheat and also engage in extra marital affairs with reckless abandon. Some even do it to the knowledge of their wives. Who see it as a normal thing then.
But it seems married ladies of today aint willing to take any shit from their partners. Once their hubby cheat on them, they disengage from the marriage one time!
The likes of Mabel Makun, Elsie Okpocha, and Sonia Ighalo, represent the new Naija women...
There’s likely something she has that KIM doesn’t….and Kanye wants Kim to see it.
She wasn’t like this before.
betonnaira: Why Bianca Censori's Latest Date Night With Kanye West Is Causing a Stir
The couple was seen holding hands as Censori turned heads in a daring, completely sheer nude strapless dress that showcased her figure without any underwear beneath. She paired the risqué fashion choice with knee-high red stockings and bright pink mule heels.
The former Yeezy architect chose a slicked-back hairstyle, complementing her husband's typical all-black attire, which included a windbreaker jacket, pants, boots, gloves, and sunglasses for their nighttime venture.
Painting the town red, Censori completed her latex look with a pair of red pop socks and rouge satin heels.
She also showed off a side view of her race ensemble the accentuated her shapely derriere
press9jatv: Ongoing Project: Construction of a bridge on Ona River, Odo Ona, Apata area by St Paul's Church along Abeokuta Road executed by Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP).
donbrowser: I think at this rate CBN has got them by the jugular. Just yesterday we saw them begging for rates and today another rate has hit them. Cardoso and the FG seem to be winning this.
The message is clear: No matter how loudly you cry blue murder online, no matter the number of pressure groups you recruit; talk carelessly and find out.
Christianity Etc › Re: Prophet Emeka Onu Lists Food That Can Take One To Heaven And Hell (Video) by GodHimself(m): 12:20pm On Apr 16, 2024
