₦airaland Forum

by Simon Kolawole



Asked by journalists to list his achievements, a governor proudly said: “Mr Bigg’s has opened an outlet in the state capital under my administration.” The reporters could hardly stifle their chuckle. Another governor told a group of editors that “peace obtained and maintained” was his biggest achievement, pointing to an award plaque given to him by an association of crime reporters whom he called “security experts”.

These days, many governors would list payment of salary arrears as one of their biggest feats, and I am still seeing politicians celebrate the provision of well water, construction of wooden bridges and distribution of transistor radios.

One thing I have come to realise in the development debate in Nigeria is that we have not properly defined, or agreed upon, the indices and criteria of analysis and assessment.

What is our collective understanding of development? What are our expectations? What should we get from the federal government, state government and local government? Who or what should be held responsible for the failings? If the indices are not well defined, how do we appraise the success of each level of government? If there are no goal posts, how do we know when we have scored? How do we assess our progress per time? What are the criteria we should adopt in reaching conclusions?

My opinion on the underdevelopment of Nigeria is slightly different from the position of the leading lights of the debate. Many see our problems from the perspective of the “unitary” constitution (suggesting that unitary systems can’t deliver development) and propose the need to restructure Nigeria along ethnic lines.

After breaking down the definition of development into tiny bits, I always conclude that there are things to blame on the structure and there are things to blame on the leaders. There are “federal” problems as well as state/LG shortcomings. But there seems to be a prevailing narrative that dumps all of our problems at the doorstep of the federal government.

Our discourse today zooms in on the performance of state governments who effectively control the LGAs. Together, both control nearly 47% of federation allocations. To help assess the performance of governors, I want to propose what I call the “minimum of five credits” baseline tool. No, I am not saying a governor should have a minimum of five credits at O’Level.

We are not discussing JAMB and university admissions here. Rather, we are discussing how to pull Nigeria out of underdevelopment. I am suggesting that a governor must target to score a “minimum of five credits” in office in order to be considered at all for a pass mark.

The five “subjects” in which the governors must have these credit passes are: education, healthcare, roads, water and inclusion. I understand that different states have different needs and what is critical in one may be less critical in others, but no state has yet conquered all these areas, so they are relevant to everyone. A credit pass would mean addressing at least 50% of the problems.

I have found out that these “five credits” are achievable under the current constitution. This is good news as far as I’m concerned. It means no law stops the governors from attaining these minimum qualifications. By that, I mean we can still record some big progress under our current circumstances.

I will break things down further so that I am clearer. One, a governor must attain a credit pass in education. That means, in practical terms, if there were 500,000 children out of school when they assumed office, they must aim to reduce the figure to 250,000 in four years. This requires that there will be more classrooms built, more qualified teachers and more capacity to enhance standards.

That would also mean at least 50% of the schools under the state government should have libraries that have books and laboratories that have chemicals. It is doable: it is about proper planning and efficient use of resources. Some governors are already doing well in this “subject”.

Two, a governor must have a credit pass in healthcare. Again I will simplify it. Infant and maternal mortality must reduce significantly during the four-year tenure. At least half of the primary healthcare centres in the state must have basic drugs and personnel to attend to common ailments.

State-owned hospitals must improve bed capacity in those four years, meaning more hospital beds, more qualified personnel and more access for the ordinary citizens who can’t afford to travel abroad for treatment. I would add sanitation to healthcare. We will probably take care of many medical problems and promote healthy living through better sanitary conditions.

Three, a credit pass in roads is non-negotiable. I will also simplify my understanding of this. If there are 10 villages without access roads, at least five of them must be linked to a major road within four years. If there are 10 kilometers of bad roads in the state, at least five kilometers should be put in motorable condition within four years.

You would be surprised how a simple road – even if untarred – can change the economic lives of a people. What some villagers need is just to be able to stand by the roadside and sell yams, tomatoes and bush meat to travellers. They alone can improve their economic conditions and empower them to be able to send their children to school and buy drugs or pay hospital bills.

Four, a credit pass in the provision of clean water should be compulsory. By clean water, I am not referring to wells and streams. I mean treatment plants and motorised boreholes supplying clean water to the people. If 50 villages do not have clean water, the governor must target to provide that for at least 25 of them within four years.

In many villages, children wake up early and go to the stream to fetch water for their parents. They carry heavy buckets on their heads and walk for kilometers to and fro. When they get to school, they are tired and frustrated and then we start teaching them chemistry and mathematics. And then we will say failure rate is high.

What were we expecting?

Five, and very important, is inclusion. By inclusion, I refer to giving the vulnerable people a voice and a space in government policies. I’m referring to women, children, the disabled and the unschooled. Several studies have shown that when you empower this group, you solve a wide range of problems in the society.

Government policies must factor in the needs, concerns and interests of vulnerable Nigerians. A 50% score in this area in four years can make a 100% impact on the society. Many states are not doing badly in this “subject”. The end product, if this is well attended to, is that we are going to tackle many of the challenges dragging us backward as a nation.

Achieving “five credits” in four years, however, does not mean governors should start celebrating like they have invented something.

Just as no undergraduate should boast about having five O’Level credits, no governor should be bursting our ears that they did these five things. I remember, as a football reporter, I covered a league match between BCC Lions and Julius Berger in Gboko, Benue state, in 1994.

Goalkeeper Andrew Aikhomugbe pulled a string of superb saves in the dying minutes to help BCC to a 1-0 victory. I interviewed coach Shaibu Amodu afterwards and expected him to praise Aikhomugbe. But he simply said: “He was not put there as a decoration. He was doing his job.”

We don’t elect governors to be decorations – we elect them to do a job. No governor should be celebrating paying salary arrears or painting schools. The governors that should be celebrated are those that score distinctions – 90% and above — not mere credit passes. In fact, these “five credits” are just the irreducible minimum. They will contribute in no little way to poverty reduction, job creation and national development.

There are more “credits” to target, such as the provision of housing (an urban issue), investment in legacy projects (tourism sites, fancy bridges, etc), enhancement of security, and making policies that will attract substantial investments in agriculture and industry.
There are plenty questions waiting for me, I know.

One, what is the role of councils in all this? Are they there for nothing? The truth is that as things are today, the states are in total control of the LGA funds, so I would say councils should be centres for the implementation of developmental policies and projects at the grassroots until we have local government autonomy guaranteed by the constitution.

Two, won’t the governors sex up the figures and claim that they are scoring credit passes? That is why the citizens must be awake to their responsibility of holding their governors accountable. Third party monitoring will also be a good device to match claims with reality.

Three, where would the states get the money to implement all these projects? Funding is a major issue, many governors will readily tell you. However, if the governors do their job competently and patriotically with all the federation allocations, development loans, bonds, joint LG accounts and IGR at their disposal, there is nothing stopping them from achieving these outcomes.

More so, the states and councils can begin to push for a greater share of the federation account. I don’t understand why the federal government alone should take more than half and I have always advocated that the formula should be revised in favour of states and councils.

I am fully persuaded that most of the development problems we are battling with as a nation will be half-solved if the governors have a minimum of “five credits” during their terms in office. No doubt, there is a lot we need to restructure about Nigeria – but there is still much to be achieved under the current system.

Let us perform an experiment for the next four years: all the budgetary allocations to health, education, infrastructure, water and housing should be judiciously spent on these areas. Stealing, over-invoicing and waste should be cut down by at least 50% at all levels of government. Let us review things in another four years. I suspect our progress would be monumental.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…


APC IN CRISIS

Anybody who is surprised by the APC crisis has not been paying attention since 2015. The party started out as a coalition of mostly aggrieved politicians who were out to oust the PDP from power – and they succeeded. Sadly, there has been no attempt to build the coalition into a family since they won power. For a party that is five years old, this is a big failing.

I agree that a gathering of strange bedfellows will be prone to crisis and difficult to manage, but I have not seen any genuine attempt at integration. For those who are gloating, they may need to note that the ultimate victims of a troubled ruling party are the ordinary people whose interest automatically takes the back seat. Change?


THE STRIKERS

Anytime I hear that public health personnel are going on strike, my heart skips a beat. The casualties are always the ordinary people who cannot to afford private treatment. Saving lives, I suppose, is the calling of those in the health sector. That should always be the consideration, especially when it is the poor, lowly Nigerians that will bear the brunt.

The demand for improved welfare by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) is, no doubt, legitimate but is the collateral damage caused by the strike worth it? To compound matters, doctors are threatening to go on strike if JOHESU’s demands are met. There is something peculiar to us in this country which I will never understand. Sigh.


SMALL CHANGE

If there is a Nigerian state that comes close to my idea of how the society should run, Lagos would be it, despite its shortcomings. I can say for free that it is one state where the leaders try to adopt and implement what they learn from advanced countries. That means not all of the estacode is wasted after all. The latest development is the establishment of a Small Claims Scheme to resolve civil disputes involving amounts below N5 million.

The entire proceeding from filing of claim to judgment is a maximum of 60 days. This is a welcome development. It will free the police from debt recovery duties and at the same time save us from unending court proceedings that could last 10 years. Progress.


AND FINALLY…

I am sensing that there would soon be the 28th amendment to the American constitution to make it a criminal offence to be black. Not so long ago, two blacks were arrested and handcuffed at a Starbucks outlet. They sat there waiting for a friend and were yet to place an order, which is like committing mass murder.

Last week, Ms Lolade Siyonbola, a Nigerian graduate student of Yale University, fell asleep inside the common room at her dorm. Some white girl discovered the criminal offence, told Siyonbola she had no right to be there, and quickly called the police to restore order.

Pronto, gallant officers were dispatched to the crime scene and the national heroes swiftly ID-checked the felon. Ridiculous.

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Lanre Adewole, Segun Kasali and Sylvester Okoruwa


The technical committee set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the legality or otherwise of a-year acting appointment for the outgoing National Working Committee (NWC) did not discard the idea, Sunday Tribune can reveal.

The panel, headed by the Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, actually upheld the legality of the acting appointment, but recommended it as a last resort if the congresses flopped.

The panel report is yet to be made public, weeks after it was submitted to the John Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC.

The panel, which included other senior lawyers, was asked to advise the party, following the sudden withdrawal of support for the acting appointment project by President Muhammadu Buhari, after he initially backed it.

The party’s ongoing congresses have witnessed large-scale crises in more than two-thirds of the states, with as much as 24 state chapters conducting parallel congresses for both ward and local government.

Confirming the Lalong panel’s central recommendation, the National Legal Adviser to the party, Muiz Banire, told Sunday Tribune that mischief and selfishness were mainly responsible for the derelict situation the party found itself today.

According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, “The Lalong Committee validated my own legal advisory then. In the first instance, there was nothing like extension of tenure, but out of mischief, those mischief makers also decided for their own convenience and propaganda to use the word “extend.”

“Nobody ever extended the tenure by one day. All that was resolved was that a Caretaker Committee should be set up pending the conclusion of all the general election. But they twisted it and the same thing they took to President Buhari.

“So, when the matter was referred to the technical committee consisting of many senior advocates that were not even politicians from outside and Lalong who happens to be a lawyer had to chair the committee and they looked at all I did, they decided that the position was unassailable.”

When asked what was his position, he said he advised the party that, given the reality of the devastating effects of having conflict-prone congresses in an election circle, the acting appointment was in order.

“That was my position; it was unassailable and the position represents the position of the law and in order not to make some people look bad, they now said that a trial should be given to congress and if it fails, we will revert back to the caretaker,” he revealed.

When asked if it was almost certain that the party would revert to the last resort, considering the mess the congresses had become, Banire said: “I don’t know, honestly, if they are likely to revert to that. But you and I are witnesses to what is going on all over the country vis-a-vis the party.”

Probing into the undercurrents that turned the party upside down, Banire, who had been in his role for about eight years, spanning three political platforms, said: “My view is that some people who probably out of mischief or ignorance of the law misled President Buhari.

“Those people know themselves and honestly, I know that they must be behind it. The president was at the meeting where we took the decision in the first instance.

So, coming back again and of course, the president did indicate that he was advised by some people and I believe that what those people told him must either be out of ignorance of the position of the law or relatively out of mischief.

“The problem is that when you give suggestions and people, for selfish reasons and out of mischief at times, try to put it aside, the result that we are experiencing or witnessing now, is what you get.

“Those who are experienced in this game would know that there is hardly anyway you can run a congress that will be rancour-free and not endanger the goal or the objective of your party when it is close to the general election.

It is never advisable. The good news is that hiding under the constitutional provision of the APC and also in the interpretation already given to it in the case of Sheriff and PDP, you have a way of protecting yourself strategically.

“But in the wisdom of some people, they felt it (congress) is the way to go and I know that as of now, they should be happier that they have killed not fewer than 15 people, apart from other confusion around. If that was their goal and they have achieved it, we appreciate it and leave them to God,” he said.

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Kingsley10000:
watch the video here. www.naughtyamericans.com

Posted By: Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha


The shutdown order on three companies involved in the codeine documentary by BBC Africa Eye has been lifted and the normal company operations can resume.

According to the Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, the companies have however been given the following sanctions:
*All production of codeine syrup should be stopped immediately until further notice.

Therefore, the HOLD placed on the active pharmaceutical ingredient and the already made codeine syrups stands. NAFDAC will monitor the compliance.

*All codeine products are to be recalled and the process verified through audit trail verified by NAFDAC.

The DG added that as earlier directed, an embargo has been placed on new applications for permit or renewals for the importation of codeine as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for cough preparations.

The companies have been charged with administrative fees that are commensurate with the respective violations.

NAFDAC will hold a stakeholders meeting on the codeine crisis soon to develop a road map for the supply chain distribution and the future of codeine syrup manufacturing, in line with the Minister of Health pronouncements in his press release on the codeine crisis.

The lifting followed a meeting convened by National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, with its DG and representatives having had a high-powered meeting with the executives of the companies that were implicated in the codeine syrup distribution on Thursday, May 10, 2018 in Lagos.

NAFDAC had separate meetings with the companies – Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited in Ilorin, Kwara State, and Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd, Lagos – to further the investigation into the codeine manufacture and distribution with possibility of lifting the shutdown of the companies.

The Director General, Prof Adeyeye gave the directive for the meetings to be held with the companies.

The following NAFDAC directorates – Investigation and Enforcement (I&E), Drug Evaluation Research (DER) and Narcotics and Controlled Substances (NCS) led the meeting.

The findings of the investigations, and violations committed by the companies (based on the first inspections conducted on May 3, and BBC documentary), are stated below:
*Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited: Mr. Samuel Akinlaja, the Managing Director led his team to the meeting. The company was cited for poor distribution practice and misplaced role play of staff.

*NAFDAC made the following observations.
The Superintendent Pharmacist assumed a function that was not part of his Job schedule by attending to an intending customer.

Good Distribution Practice (GDP) was not strictly implemented by the company.
The company has been warned to ensure strict compliance with all written standard operating procedures (SOP).

From the outcome of the inspection, the company’s documentation process was adequate as the records from the raw materials store, in process and finished products were properly reconciled.
Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited: Mr. Rahamon J. Bioku, the Managing Director led his team at the meeting with NAFDAC.

Based on the documentary and discussions, the company violated GDP by not monitoring the accredited distributors, a worker colluded with a sacked staff to illegally distribute codeine syrup that was allegedly stolen from the company. The company was also cited for bad storage
practice or poor good manufacturing practice.
Based on the above violations, NAFDAC has forwarded the following directives to BIORAJ.

The company should develop and implement Good Manufacturing Practices including Good Storage Practice.

The company should ensure the enrollment of competent and qualified personnel for respective positions.

The company should develop access control into their premises.

The company should develop a system to monitor distributor’s activities.

The company is being warned to ensure strict compliance with all written SOPs.
The company should immediately initiate a recall process of the finished products.

Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd: Dr. Stella Okoli, General Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer led her team to the meeting. Based on NAFDAC’s inspection of the company’s Ajao Estate facility where only syrups are made, and the BBC documentary, Emzor Pharmaceutical Ind. Ltd. company was cited with the following violations:
Inadequate enforcement that led to the accused sales representative shown on the documentary to abscond.

Obstruction and concealment of facts when the NAFDAC team visited the company premises.

Poor GMP that includes poor document retrieval system and un-reconciled record system in the utilization of codeine sulfate
Inconsistencies in the shipping documents of finished products.

Lack system in of monitoring of the accredited distributors.

At the meeting, the company brought some of the documents such as shipping documents and list of accredited distributors that were not provided during the inspection. The company was asked to provide the staff that absconded. The GMD/CEO accepted responsibility for the cited violations.

The following directives have been forwarded to Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd.

The Agency should arrest, if need be declare as wanted, and investigate the Sales Representative indicted in the BBC documentary to ascertain his level of culpability in the illegal distribution of Codeine cough syrup. The company should furnish the Agency with all relevant information about him.

The Chief Security Officer of the company should be invited for interrogation.

The company’s GMP should be improved and verifiable.

There is a need to reconcile the list of the company’s accredited distributors with the names on the stock card in in order to ensure GDP.

The company should be made to develop a system to monitor distributor’s activities.
The three companies cooperated with NAFDAC during the meeting, provided the needed documents, some of which are being verified.

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Baddiezz:
"God's plan" is a song by Drake and in the music video he's seen distributing his million-dollar production budget to people around Miami—by telling all the shoppers in a Sabor Tropical Supermarket that everything on the shelves are free, by presenting a scholarship check to an unsuspecting student, by giving gift cards to women at a shelter, and more

The Shelter Heart of the House of Oduduwa Foundation

Princess Ronke Ademiluyi is the founder of African Fashion Week Nigeria & London. She also doubles as the coordinator of Queen Moremi Ajasoro Cultural Beauty Pageant and runs an NGO that is passionate about victims of human trafficking.

While lending her voice to the story of this discovery, she said, “The house of Oduduwa foundation is an NGO that was founded by his imperial majesty, the Ooni of Ife. They are the owners of Queen Móremí Ajasoro which includes the pageantry as well. She was discovered during the Queen Móremí Ajasoro pageant competition. I was touched as she narrated her ordeal in Oman.

We took her case to the kabiyesi under the Oduduwa foundation and he decided to sponsor her to university. She is in her first year in the Open University and all her expenses are being taken care of by the Ooni of Ife through Queen Moremi Ajasoro which is under the house of Oduduwa foundation.

“Looking at her case, it is not her fault. A lot of young girls in the country are looking for greener pastures for better lives. And when you have a lot of agents who mislead them, dupe them, telling them, you can go to school and work without telling them the consequences, that is where the problem is. QMA can’t be quiet about this cruel phenomenon of humanity which is equally receiving global attention.

We are restrategising, increasing our national advocacy campaign and building global collaboration that will enable further empowerment for young women, build productive assets and businesses, improve their economic resilience, improve child health and food security, and inspire others to do the same. We will be talking to community leaders, and traditional leaders to educate them, and counsel them on the consequences of such movement of traveling abroad.

Even parents as well will be able to educate their children. Right now an agent will tell you to bring 600,000 to facilitate your easy travel abroad to work and make more money which is a lie and no one has come back to tell them how it is over there.

“For kabieyesi, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Adewusi, he is so passionate about youths. He will make sure there is better life for them, supporting the youth in Nigeria to refrain from seeking unrealistic pasture abroad. That’s why he has bought into the idea of ‘Say no to slavery’ campaign. Queen Móremí Ajasoro is initiated under the Oduduwa Foundation and he has pledged his support to educate the victims.

By Chris Onuoha


The quest for greener pastures abroad by some Nigerian youths is on the increase despite calls by concerned citizens to desist from such practices. The aftermath of such trips, orchestrated by touts and dubious travel agents with consequential effects, is a sordid story. Many who embarked on such trips either to the point of destination or turned back, return to tell tales of bruised emotions or disorientation.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/daramola-0.jpg


Damilola Falodun


The plight of these young African girls who are lured into the belief that life is better outside the country has become an unending story. Such obnoxious arrangements – call it economic migration, human trafficking or slavery in disguise- have attracted huge derision from the general public, even with the highly placed monarch, Oba of Benin, raining curses on the perpetrators. Many people assume that the heinous trade started with foreign businessmen, but the truth is that Nigerians are either partners in crime or originally conceptualized the idea.

In a true life story, Damilola Falodun, a 22-year old native of Ekiti State is one of such victims who escaped and returned from Oman, Middle East by sheer grace. Having lost both parents in one year, a period in time when life should have been bubbling as a promising junior level (OND) student at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta in 2014, things took a nose dive for her as she could not continue her education. She was in a sudden labyrinth, having no one to actually depend on as her siblings were in the same survival dilemma.

Vanguard’s Weekend Woman caught up with her during the recently held Queen Moremi Ajasoro cultural beauty pageant in Lagos. Her story is one case too many among others who either have died or do not know how to get back to Nigeria.


Her story

In the beginning
I am a native of Ekiti State and live at Oluwaga area of Ipaja, Lagos State. Currently, my parents are late. Before then, my father was a businessman residing in Abia State. For quite a period of time, about seven years, I never got to see him until his death in 2014. He was separated from my mother when I was much younger, due to irreconcilable domestic issues caused by his family.

Initially, he came home sparingly and after my step sister got married, he stopped coming home but ironically, he would call me especially on my birthdays to wish me well. I was 19 years old then and in school, preparing for my Ordinary National Diploma first semester exam (OND) when I received a call from home announcing that my dad was dead.

I became devastated and had to miss the exam as a result of that. My father did not survive an asthma ailment coupled with the fact that he lived alone away from home.

As I was trying to get over his death, another death occurred and it was my mother, just four months after my father’s death. This occurred during the start of my second semester exams. As a result, I could not sit for it and that was how I dropped out of school without any result.

My mother became hypertensive and did not survive it. She was a petty business woman who had supported us with her trading even when my father was not there for us. I felt the pains of his absence but later got used to it. My mother was equally a caring person.

As a petty trader, I used to hawk goods to help her out in her trading. One virtue my mother imbibed in me is to be contented with the little we have in the house. And that’s what bonded us together and made us strong to overcome the ordeal of her single parenting. In her words, “Manage whatever I bring to this house and do not look at what other people are eating or doing. You never can tell how they got it.” She made sure we were all together under one roof till her death.

When I stopped schooling, I didn’t get anyone to help or fund my education. Life was tough and I had to look for menial jobs to sustain myself. I started to work as a customer care service person at a Multichoice outlet in Ilupeju, Lagos with my Industrial attachment (IT) letter from my school since I couldn’t finish my studies.

And the journey started from here
While working at DSTV office in Ilupeju, I met some friends who introduced me to another job at a resort in Epe, ‘Inagbe Resort’ as a waitress. From there the idea of travelling abroad to better my condition was introduced to me by these friends, Taye and Kehinde, twin sisters who were also working in the same resort.

My initial idea was to gather some money and start a business and later continue with my education, but through their assumed conviction, my plan changed. According to them, it is easy to work and continue education abroad than here in Nigeria and I consented. They also told me that working abroad is hourly, that it would enable me to create time for studies.

My initial country of interest was Canada but after unsuccessful attempt to secure Canadian visa, I opted for Oman in the Middle East and this happened in 2015. The same twin sisters introduced me to a traveling agent, who was a pastor of a church.

The pastor who was very frequent at the resort for business was very handy to handle the transaction without us knowing his office. We trusted and believed him because, as a man of God, everything he does would be genuine. After about two months without seeing the visa, we decided to go to the agency by ourselves only to discover that the pastor has duped us and disappeared with our money.

In our bewilderment and still trying to overcome the shock, the owner of the office he used told us that since we were still interested in traveling, another option was Oman in the Middle East. According to him, the country was in need of workers and visa processing was very fast. One of us became courageous and decided to go.

She eventually left for Oman and after some months, she encouraged us to come through a coded SMS message from Oman. I was inspired, and changed my mind of going to Canada since the essence was to have a new life. Within one week, after paying the agency from the money I saved from working at the resort, the visa was handed over to me en-route to Oman.


Life in the Middle East

On arrival at the Oman airport, a driver was sent to pick me alongside other African girls. While on the way to their office, our passports and other traveling documents were taken from us. We stayed in the office for about two days before we were assigned to homes to work.

I was not privy to the nature of the job until we were told that the only job available in Oman for the African girls was house-help job called ‘Shangala’ in Oman language and prostitution. I also noticed that the reason the girl that left before us could not divulge any information to us was because every document including phone was taken from her.

The only means of communication was a coded text messages under the scrutiny of the masters. Under the contract agreement signed here in Nigeria by the agents, unknown to us, communication or the use of phone was not allowed; hence it would be taken away from us. It was a two year arrangement contracted by Nigerians in collaboration with their Omanis counterparts there.

The contracts were signed by the two parties secretly. The Omani agents would pay about N700, 000 to agents in Nigeria which would be used to facilitate our tickets, visas and traveling documents.

But the dubious Nigerian agents would also demand about N600, 000 from us for the same purpose already paid for by the Omani agents. They told us that our own money was what they needed to facilitate the traveling documentation which was a lie. The moment you are gone, they signed you off.

This contract was an only girls’ affair, boys are not allowed. Their targets were naïve young girls who showed some elements of desperation to travel abroad. They would deceive the girls that the salary was about $5,000 a month and on hearing such, any girl in need would jump at it. That was how they lured young girls into the contract.

In Oman, we were told by the Omani lords in a simple language, “You are our property. We have bought you for two years and you don’t own yourself until you finish the contract.” This was why our passports were taken away from us; they called it their own property until we were done with the contract. While there, you must work for at least one year before your salary would be handed over to you.

Now, the irony is that, the so called masters would apply some tricks that would make you not to last for three months in a place.

The moment you became frustrated and wanted to change from your home to another home, the entire contract would be canceled, and you would start all over again. Under these conditions, many girls were inhumanly treated. Some died in the process while some became perpetual slaves to the masters. The job description was horrible. As a maid, you have no rest for a whole year.

We must serve an extended home of about six to seven families. In Oman, they keep nuclear homes and each housemaid served the entire homes without rest or any holiday. Other inhuman treatments include sexual harassment, violent physical attack by wicked masters, while some would push you out to make sure you did not complete your contract.

Moreover, every salary you work for before the completion of the contract would be paid in advance to the agents in Oman. You can only have access to your salary when you complete a contract with a house. Information about work condition was kept secret and you dare not use their phone in their absence. The experience was horrible.

Work experience in my first contract
My first work experience was in a home at Nizwa city, Oman – a family of five children with a little child to babysit. The wife worked and catered for the family while the man stayed at home doing nothing. I became vulnerable to the idle man in the house.

I was harassed sexually every moment the wife went to work and he would not allow me to concentrate on my job and at the same time threatened me with all sorts of things. The ordeal continued everyday on a daily basis, although he did not succeed but I was troubled emotionally and he threatened to extend my contract if I did not consent to his request.

As we were not allowed to have phone of our own, I tried to device means of getting a phone to use knowing fully well that the only way I could get out of this situation was to communicate with anybody outside the city or country who could hear me out.

With the little money I saved secretly, I managed to acquire a small phone that I always hid inside my undies for fear of losing it to them. While his harassment continued, I thought of using the phone to make just one minute video clip of his sexual moves.

That was the only way anybody could believe me because as a foreigner and as a housemaid in a country where English language is not spoken, it may result to a case of frame up and you might be killed. So many girls have been killed without trace because there’s nothing like communication or a community gathering of foreign workers in that land.

On one fateful day when the wife left for work, he noticed that I was alone in the kitchen and began to advance towards me without his clothes on. Instinctively, I placed the phone on video recording without his knowledge. As he approached to get hold of me by force, I pretended to be helpless, pleading with him to spare me. He became more daring when he observed that I am not putting up any resistance to shove him off.

While he grabbed my hand, still stark naked, the video recorded everything and within ten seconds of struggle with him I cleverly pushed him down and ran out of the house with the phone unknown to him. At that moment, he became angry and went upstairs to plan how to get rid of me. I stayed at the gate until the wife came back from work. When she saw me on arrival, I didn’t let her ask me a question before I told her to take me back to the job agency’s office.

My intention was not to disclose anything to them because if they knew, they would manage the situation to suit themselves and eventually get rid of me. I kept mute until I got to the office, narrated the whole ordeal and showed them the video recording of what transpired in the kitchen.

They were all surprised and asked me how I managed to do that. I pretended to be naïve and answered that I didn’t know where the courage came from. I stayed with the agency for close to two weeks before I could get another suitable family to work with.

Then, how did you manage to find your way back home under such tight situation?
When the situation became unbearable, I started thinking fast on how to wriggle myself out. One day I decided to tell the new family I worked with that my parents died. Although, since I knew they were dead and long gone, I did not have any sense of guilt using that to pave way for me to come back home.

Funny enough, they became sympathetic but at some point, played down on it and asked me to stay and adopt them as foster parents. When I refused, they became hesitant to let me go claiming my contract with them had not ended. I then told them that it was a strong tradition in my place that female children must bury their dead parents and if I didn’t see my parents’ corpse, I would die.

It was really tough as they could not agree. They communicated with the agency to hold me in the office for some time just to know if I would change my mind. When they noticed how adamant I was, they eventually accepted and that was how I found my way back home.

I was very desperate to return to Nigeria because stories of missing black girls or dead ones found on the streets became a daily occurrence. These girls according to reports were beaten to death, maybe while trying to escape inhuman treatment or not consenting to sexual harassment. My coming home was a privilege because it seemed as if God gave me another chance to live.

Who funded your ticket back home?
I communicated with a family relation living in the United States who had wanted to take me out before when my mother was still alive. When she got to know about how I was suffering in Oman, she quickly responded and sent a ticket to me. When I told the agency that I had a ticket to travel home, they were initially hesitant but they eventually brought out my passport and cancelled Oman Visa in it.

They then took me to the airport and handed me the passport at the point of exit. They did that so that I would not change my mind and return to Oman to live as a free person. Of all the girls staying in Oman, no one had her passport with her. The agency keeps each person’s travelling documents until they are done with you.

It’s such a humiliating experience. I came back to Nigeria in May 2017 after spending about two horrible years in Oman. While I was there, I noticed that all Arab countries treat young black girls the same way. They will not let you have any decent job even when you are qualified for it. They see us as objects for sex and maltreatment.

How were you received when you returned?
In the first place, I was very grateful to God for sparing my life over there. Since my family was poor, they did not know what I passed through. I purposely did not want them to know because everyone was battling for survival too. I came back and quietly went to a senior sister’s place for a good rest I never had for the two years I stayed in Oman.

Did your siblings not expect gifts from you?
Maybe they did but before then, I had sent some money I gathered through the meager salary to them. I knew I would come back like this, so I decided to send ahead the little I had so that their expectation would not run high. It was later that I told my sister all that happened.

What did you do to integrate yourself back into the society?
I stayed with my sister while planning to get myself back into the society. In the process, I heard about the Queen Moremi Ajasoro beauty pageant. I had known the Kabieyesi, Ooni of Ife from a distance because he owns the Inagbe Resort where I worked before I left for Oman.

I applied for the competition and was selected after the audition. All these to me were by the divine mercy of God who has been faithful to me. I purposely applied for this contest with the hope that if I win, I would use the office to expose the challenges young girls and women were passing through in foreign lands in search of elusive greener pastures.

I was ready to voice out the inhuman treatment of black girls in Arab countries.
They are killed for being loyal. Some are helpless and do not know how to return home from a country where nobody can hear their voice.

Syndicates in Nigeria are collaborating with their Arab counterparts to sell their own sisters without shame. We are called slaves by these masters who cunningly pay for the tickets in advance to entice unsuspecting ones. The free offer to travel abroad and make big money to pay back is not genuine. Our young girls become vulnerable to many horrible ordeals abroad because of their desperation to travel abroad.

I was a victim due to the circumstance I found myself in as an orphan. I couldn’t finish my education in the country because no help was coming from anywhere and due to the kind of upbringing my mum subjected us to, I found it difficult to openly seek for help. That was why I opted to try my luck abroad and in desperation, I went to a wrong country.


So, how were you discovered?
After passing through the beauty contest audition, we were taken to a camp for preparation for the final pageant. In-between the many programmes streamlined for the final stage, personal interviews were one of them. While I passionately told my story to the coordinator of the pageant, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi, she developed interest in me immediately.

She went further to alert the Ooni, kabieyesi about my story and later championed the cause for my proper integration into the society. Although, I couldn’t make it to the finals of the competition but grace of God found me when kabieyesi became interested in my case and offered me a scholarship to help me get back to school.

In clear terms and as rightly enumerated by Princess Ronke Ademiluyi during the beauty pageant, part of the overarching mission of the Queen Moremi Ajasoro was to salvage unending migration of innocent young Nigerian girls into an unknown world as victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution.

She took over my rehabilitation. As part of the overall core values of the House of Oduduwa Foundation, I am currently enrolled in the Nigerian Open University, Abeokuta Campus. I am at the 100 level studying Entrepreneurial studies under the Ooni of Ife’s scholarship scheme. After I leave school, there will be more opportunities for me like the fashion training, entrepreneurial and empowerment programmes and other things.

Did you at any time look for the pastor who duped you in the first place?
There was no need for that because even before we left, he had disappeared. He worked using a fake name likewise many of them and did not have a permanent place.

As for the second agent that facilitated the trip, it was a woman without a face as well. We learnt she worked with syndicates in various African countries, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and some West African countries. For all the girls that we met in Oman, they tell similar stories of how the same woman connects them to Oman. As I speak, she has remained faceless.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has come under attack from the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum over his campaign against President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2019 general elections.

In a strongly worded statement signed by its General Secretary, Akin Malaolu, on Friday night, the group said Obasanjo was trying to deceive Nigerians again with “rhetorical and platitudinous speeches”.

The statement came barely 24 hours after Obasanjo endorsed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the political platform to be deployed to unseat Buhari in 2019.

Addressing a news conference in Abeokuta on Thursday, Obasanjo said his Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) had adopted the ADC as its political party.

The former leader explained that the adoption followed a “detailed examination and wide consultations by the leadership of the Movement with the consideration of the orientation and policies of the movement”.

On Jan. 23, Obasanjo wrote Buhari criticising him over a number of national issues, including the killings of innocent Nigerians, and advised him against seeking re-election.

The former president upped the ante in a statement by his spokesman, Kehinde Adeyemi, in March describing Buhari as a failure.

Yoruba Ronu, a staunch supporter of the current president, said it was not surprised by Obasanjo’s several statements to hoodwink Nigerians.

The socio-political group said it rather found it surprising that the ex-president and his “fellow travellers took Nigerians for fools”.

It said, “However, Nigerians do sincerely and mournfully remembered what the conditions of things were in relation to unemployment, corruption and general decadence of our many institutions of governance in the 16 years of PDP in power.

“It was not without doubt that the Yoruba Ronu leadership forum warned Nigerians against trusting the candidate Jonathan in 2010 due to his several weaknesses and obtuseness in power.

“More so, when Jonathan himself confirmed to our foreign friend, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, that he lacked administrative experience to be president, but was there by chance because of where he came from which was South South.

“Today, we can measure with clarity of mind, the sad and obtuse footprints he left behind.

“Leaders across the two divides, and including Obasanjo, Ohaneze and Afenifere, all saw Jonathan’s incapacitation in administration but they chose self-regarding objectives rather than other regarding objectives in their very many decisions.”

Obasanjo is generally believed to have influenced Jonathan’s emergence as Vice to late President Umaru Yar’Adua in the 2007 general elections.

In the 2011 presidential elections, Obasanjo also played a big role in the election of Jonathan as President after he took over the saddle following Yar’Adua’s death in 2010.

Yoruba Ronu continued, “Democracies which distinguished a man from his office was snubbed for religion and tribalism to hold sway.

“They planted the seed of division long before now and they are still repeating same perplexing errors in their ignorance.

“The people of Nigeria today wear better spectacles and with good perceptions to know what is good for them and for their children’s future.

“They are not going to allow some false leaders and leaders that could commit abomination with ease take away their hopes in the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We must warn against war, because wars have never solved the needs for war anywhere in the world and in wars, procreation is delayed, women and their children would suffer.”

“Nigerians must pray fervently against these ignoble men and their desire to enslave us all, we must pray for the extermination of what they all stands for.

“The progressives and APC must prepare themselves in this war of attrition between thesis and antithesis, a political war that will be won by them due to fairness, justice and happiness, which they have promoted in this present administration of President Buhari.

“Those who may want to go can go in peace, but the generality of Nigerians and the Yoruba race are with Buhari and the APC.

“We awesomely believe in the intervention and righteousness of the present Government in administration.” (NAN)

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CYRIACUS IZUEKWE


There was panic and confusion in Oko Oba area of Agege, Lagos, after a 60-year old man, Ajibola Arowolo deposed the community monarch and crowned himself king.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened in new Oko-Oba area of Agege in Lagos where they resided.

The alleged impostor, Arowolo has been arrested and charged before a Lagos court for conduct likely to cause breach of public peace and impersonation.

P.M.EXPRESS scooped that Arowolo gathered some members of the community and announced to them that he had deposed the monarch and had taken over as the new Baale in the community.

He reportedly threatened to deal with any member of the community that opposed and did not pay allegiance to him as the king.

It was gathered that the action of Arowolo threw the community into serious crisis as they got divided among themselves and those who did not pledge loyalty to him were said to be threatened before the police Intervened.

The police viewed his action as capable of causing violence in the area and arrested him.

He was charged before the Ogba Magistrates court for the alleged offence and he pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector Raphael Donny did not object to his bail. Thus the Presiding Magistrate, Mrs A.O. Adedayo granted Arowolo bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

He was remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail condition.

The matter was adjourned till 14 May, 2018.

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Imo State governor and chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governor’s Forum, Rochas Okorocha, has said his party has derailed and now practises “Peoples Democratic Party kind of politics.”

Mr Okorocha, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the declaration of Adams Oshiomole, former governor of Edo State, to run for office of national chairman of the party.

Mr Okoracha, who was at the event to show his support for the governor and endorse his bid, said he believes in Mr Oshiomhole’s capacity to address some issues in the party.

“Another thing I think Oshiomole will address is that our party has begun to play the same kind of politics like PDP. All of a sudden we have started derailing and playing the PDP kind of politics. This started by some of those people who found themselves in political office especially appointment, who did not win their booths and wards.

He said Mr Oshiomhole should also address the weakness of the party in the South-South and South-East. He said he believed Mr Oshiomhole can help strengthen it in those parts of the country.

He called on the aspirant to ensure he roots out “urban masquerades” from the APC and also bring to an end the principle of “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop”.

“Today, our party is going through some challenges and I must commend those who helped fight for this party even before this time, they have done well but the fight ahead, the challenges ahead are greater and we need great men like Adams Oshiomohle to do this job. For me particularly, Adams will strengthen APC in South-south and South-east.

Emphasising why the party needed to be strengthened in those regions, Mr Okorocha noted he is the only governor in the South-east and the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, the only governor in the South-South under the APC.

“Suffice to say that as I speak to you today, I am the only governor from the entire South-east who is APC just like my brother, Obaseki is the only governor from the South-South from the APC. What this goes to say is that APC has challenges in the South-South and South-East for reasons not too far-fetched. For some myopic considerations and assessment, this party is not strong in those parts of Nigeria.

“For those our governors in the north, they won the election so easy, for as long as the name Buhari stands in the north. But its not the same thing talking about President Muhammadu Buhari’s name in the South-South or South-West.

So if you see any governor emerge in the South-South or South-East, it is not with an ordinary strength, and I believe that Oshiomole coming in will strengthen this party in that part.

“Adams, your first assignment when you become the national chairman of the party is to ensure and channel that principle of ‘monkey de work, bamboon de chop.

Because some of these people who are seated here before you, won their booths, delivered their wards but those who didn’t win their booths or deliver their wards are holding big jobs in the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“In this new dispensation, no more monkey dey work, bamboo dey chop. If you work, you chop, you don’t work, you don’t chop.
“We have a lot of urban masqueraders in APC now and you, must force them out.

And I know Adams Oshiomole is a no nonsense man, he will stand forthright, he will face them both in debate, action, physical, mental, moral, spiritual; he can face the opposition. But I don’t know about the spiritual aspect.”

Posted By: Ernest Nwokolo,



Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday declared that President Muhammadu Buhari, and his All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled government have been taking “Nigerians for fools.”

Obasanjo, who lamented that the fortunes of most Nigerians have taken a turn for the worse in the last three years despite claims to the contrary by Buhari and APC, called for concerted efforts from people to send them packing in 2019.

The ex – President, who made this known while briefing reporters at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, also announced that his Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) has adopted the African Democratic Congress(ADC) as a political platform to achieve the dream of changing the current state of governance at all levels in the country come 2019.

He also warned people not accept the call for forgiveness by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) for taking Nigerians for a ride, saying while the party had sought forgiveness, it did not deemed it fit to discipline members who used eight years to bring woes upon the country through poor governance.

Members of the road traffic robbers union who specialised in using toys guns to rob people at various bus stops in Lagos have reacted over their ordeal in the hands of the police.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that some of the suspects revealed that they had a strong union, territories of operation and rules guiding their members in their operations, and they claimed that they were non violent “shakara” robbers.

The group had suffered serious setbacks last week after FSARS operatives arrested 10 suspects and recovered their toy guns which they used to rob people.

The suspects were Imole Otegbeye, 22, Ibrahim Raymond, 28, Mufutau Riwan, 22, Samad Sikiru, 23 and Riwan Abdusalam, 22.

Others arrested were Ibrahim Salami, 26, Idowu Lamidi, 28, ismali Malik, 25, Ayodele Ezekiel, 28 and Ayodele Oluwafemi, 36.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the police also recovered some toy guns which they used as tool for their criminal trade and they were kept as exhibits.

The hard working Commissioner of Police, CP Imohimi Edgal at the State Command, Ikeja, Lagos confirmed this while they were paraded alongside other suspected criminals.

The police boss said that the command received information from the members of the public about the activities of the suspects operating during rush hours often characterised by slow traffic or gridlock.

He said that based on the reports, the command deployed undercover operatives assisted by the FSARS team from Ladipo annex to fish out the robbers at Charity and Oshodi bus stops. The move paid off and they were arrested.

CP Edgal said that the police recovered toy guns which they used for their operations. However, he said that not minding that the guns were not real ones, that the police will still charge them for armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.

He said that the suspects were culpable because of the impression they created in the minds of their victims with the toy pistols as unlawful force would have been used on them if they refused to part with their valuables.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the suspects confessed to the crimes but stated that they were non violent robbers that shed no blood as a group.

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE


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A 37-year old man, Chizoba Ihejirika is now languishing in prison custody after he was arrested and charged to court over his inability to part with N20,000 bribe demanded by the police at Igando Division, Lagos.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered that the offence Mr. Ihejirika was alleged to have committed may land him up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of arson over the exchange of words between him and his landlord.

When our correspondent contacted the DPO Igando Division, he said that he was not aware of such matter and expressed shock that Ihejirika was charged for such serious offence without his knowledge.

According to the suspect’s wife, Mrs. Rita Chizoba, her husband had exchange of words with their landlord, one Ogunbiyi Matthew over electricity bill after their light was disconnected.

The landlord then contacted one Inspector Balogun attached to Igando Police Division who sent a police officer to their house at 2 Shobowale Street, off Modina Road, Egan area of Lagos to arrest the suspect and his wife.

It was gathered that when the officer brought only the husband to the police station, Inspector Balogun was not happy and then directed a female police officer, one Eniola Ademola to take over the matter as the IPO and allegedly directed her on what to do.

According to Mrs. Rita Chizoba, the landlord told Inspector Balogun that her husband damaged his toilet pipe but at the police station the police changed it to threat to life and the IPO asked her to bring N20,000 or more serious charges will be added to the offences alleged and he will becharged to court.

Mrs. Chizoba said that when she went round to borrow money to bail her husband to no avail, she returned to police station and informed the IPO that she was unable to raise the money.

She said the charge was prepared and her husband was charged to court on an entirely different allegation to their shock.

P.M.EXPRESS sighted the charge against Mr. Ihejirika which stated that he threatened the life of one Ogunbiyi Matthew with five gallons of petroleum ostensibly to burn him in his house which Mrs. Chizoba claimed never happened.

However, when the charge was read he pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector G. Simon did not object his bail and asked for a date for the trial of the matter.

The Presiding Magistrate, Mr. L.K.J. Layeni granted Ihejirika bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

He was remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail condition.

The matter was adjourned till 28 May, 2018.

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Two men have been arrested for allegedly letting two dogs loose on a lady after she spurned their love advances. The lady, Blessing James, who had since dragged the matter to the police and is now demanding for justice in court, said that she was biting badly by the dogs.

The incident occurred on January 11, while she was on her way from work around 6am. She explained that she encountered the two young men at one of the streets in Apapa, Lagos State.

The two strangers approached her for sex and she turned down their advances. According to her, her refusal infuriated the young men, which allegedly made them to set their dogs loose on her.

The dogs bit and allegedly inflicted injuries on her. James said: “I reported the matter to the nearest police station, which was Apapa Police Station.

The two men were arrested, but police released them immediately after they brought out N5000 to give me, which I rejected. I have been to the station several times, demanding that the men should be charged to court for what they did to me. But the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) has refused to do so.

I have also spent a lot of money treating injuries I sustained as a result of the dogs’ bites.” James appealed to police authority to take the case to court, so that she would get justice.

The lady added that she was taking medications for the dogs’ bites. The IPO, Mr Lucky, with telephone number, 08067248980, when contacted to state why he had not charged the matter to court, shouted at our correspondent to stop threatening him on telephone.

The IPO added: “I don’t care who you are, a journalist or whatever! You cannot threaten me on phone. I am a police officer. You can write whatever you like.” After that statement, the IPO cut the call.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) SP Chike Oti, said that the lady should approach the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Apapa Police Station, to demand that the matter be charged to court.

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar sat next to each other at the 10th memorial symposium of Abraham Adesanya, a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

Both men shook hands and discussed briefly at the event which held at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

Obasanjo and Atiku, who were in charge of the country between 1999 and 2007, fell out shortly before the end of their time in power.

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They have reconciled at different times, the last being the buildup to the 2015 election.

Abubakar had visited Obasanjo at his Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, Ogun state, but the peace deal collapsed later and the leaders returned to hot exchanges in the media.

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By Seun Opejobi



President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that he currently receives orders from people as a civilian president.

Buhari said this while noting that as a military General, he gave orders but that the situation was currently different.
Speaking with Voice of America, VOA, Buhari, however, didn’t disclose those giving him orders.

According to Buhari, “I don’t get to listen to music but I find time to rest. When I was a general, I gave orders, but now, I receive orders.

“The doctor is here. He always insists that I eat well and rest, that is why many are surprised at how quickly I recovered.”

Commenting on his re-election bid, Buhari said he had unfinished business, mostly in the area of insecurity.

He said, “We have not even finished what we are doing now. Insecurity is still a problem. The worst thing that Boko Haram is doing now is to get small girls, hypnotise and put explosive devices on them to go and detonate in mosques, churches, motor parks and markets and kill people.

“However, they are not able to take over any territory now, although, even today, I read in some newspapers that Boko Haram are still holding territory.

“Well, they may still be somewhere in Sambisa Forest but the Nigerian Army has prevented them from coming out.”

By Kemi Busari



The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has condemned the decision of the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to snub the senate’s invitation twice.

For the second time, Mr Idris on Wednesday failed to appear before the senate plenary despite a formal invitation.
He was invited to answer questions on the arrest of a senator, Dino Melaye, and killings across the country.

The police boss was first summoned on Wednesday, April 25, but he failed to appear.

“I don’t want us to labour too much. At the upper chamber, we must show maturity and statesmanship. I don’t think anybody who has been around enough to observe the practice of our democracy knows that this action cannot be right.

“Under constitutional powers, it requires the IG to come and give a report on the incident involving a colleague and the incessant killings happening in the country. He has felt that he cannot come and wants to delegate it to a junior to come,” he said.

He noted that no police IG has ever refused to appear before the senate since Nigeria started practising democracy.

The Senate President advised his colleagues to give the police boss one more week to reflect and make his appearance.

“No IG has ever refused to appear before the Senate since we started practicing democracy. I don’t think that has happened before. But we must know these actions are danger to our democracy.

“Again, we cannot say it is just to us because the President told us that he told him to go to Benue and the man refused to go to Benue and he is sitting there and he is doing this. I want to appeal to our colleagues, let us approach this in two ways.

“One way, we give him another period for him to reflect the enormity of his action because whatever happens today sets a precedence for future and as such it is important that we do not allow issues like this.

“The leader of the Senate and the Chairman on Police should engage with the executive and send our position. There are powers we can exercise which are not in the interest of us making progress in this country.

Since the beginning of the year, over 500 or 600 have been killed and we believe that the man in charge of enforcing this does not think he needs to sit down with Senate to engage with us when there is something wrong somewhere.

“So let us hold and give them time within a week and come back to us and I am sure that wisdom would prevail.”

A Kenyan town, Narok County , has banned churches from holding vigils as authorities say churches are to blame for the rising statistics of early pregnancies among teenagers in the area .

The County Commissioner , George Natembeya , issued the ban on night prayers after linking them to early motherhood . He told Citizen TV that in March 2018 , 17 girls from Suswa Girls Secondary School in Narok County were found to be pregnant. The same town, in 2004 suspended street preaching unless sanctioned by police .

Natembeya ’ s directive has led to mixed reactions from the people , while some believe the government was right to protect young girls, others felt the directive infringed on their right to worship.

Samuel Nganga , a resident of Nairobi said : “This is ridiculous, I don’ t understand how prayers at night can be related to immorality , I think the county commissioner has done no research. Do not provoke God in Narok , it might just bounce back on you . Don’ t try. ”

“ Narok Pastors kindly plan a ‘ Kesha ’ (popular word used to refer to night prayers) at the Narok stadium and invite the county commissioner.

This is one of the many ways of fighting Christ , but GOD is able in fighting his wars, have an eye on this , the one who banned ‘ Kesha ’ prayers will not be the one to uplift the ban, ” Nicholas Muendo , a resident of Machakos who spoke with Uganda Christian News.
James Ndiga said , “ I started attending night prayers in my teens and have never heard people getting babies in the morning , the only place Kenyans feel more secure is in the church.

This is the second country in Kenya to announce such a ban. In 2014, Police in Malindi , a town on Malindi Bay , in southeastern Kenya banned night prayers purporting they had become avenues for extortion , according to Daily Nation.

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By Ibraheem Hamza Muhammad



There were about 30 armed policemen on guard as Senator Dino Melaye remained at the National Trauma Centre of the National Hospital in Abuja.
When Daily Trust reporter visited the facility yesterday, policemen were seen spread from the National Trauma building main gate, parking areas, entrance to the main building, at the staff entrance behind the building and within and around the four storey building.
Police have to vet vehicles at the entrance to the trauma centre.

To gain access to the main building, a visitor has to pass through checks by three Assistant Superintendents.
A staff of the hospital, who spoke off record said Senator Melaye was still receiving treatment at the facility, but he was in a private ward due to his status as a senator.

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi , Alhaji Haddy Ametuo , says “ some ghosts “ initiated the recall process against Sen . Dino Melaye .

Ametuo, who stated this in a statement issued in Lokoja on Sunday on the botched recall process , expressed delight that the efforts had come to a premature end through the collective will of the people of Kogi West Senatorial District .

“ Melaye , the only senator our party has in Kogi State , won with 94.66 percent leaving the remaining 5.34 percent to the petitioners .

“ The messages are very clear ; that Sen . Melaye is the most popular senator ever produced by Kogi West , ” the statement said .

According to the chairman , this is a sign of what to expect in the 2019 general elections.

“ No amount of financial inducement and coercion will change the will of the people of Kogi State in future elections, ’’ he said.

The APC Chairman commended the high level of neutrality and transparency displayed by the Independent National Electoral Commission and other stakeholders throughout the exercise .

“ It gives us high optimism that future elections will be very free and fair . INEC therefore deserves commendations for the job well done, ” he said .

Ametuo called on the petitioners and Melaye as well as his followers to embrace peace and heed the voice of God “ because the voice of the people is the voice of God."

He insisted that the APC still remains the most viable alternative for good governance in the state .

“ I call on all members of our party to conduct themselves in a manner that will boost the image of our great party and not things that will further cause disrepute in our party , ” he said .
NAN

Posted By: Yusuf Alli





The process of assembling a credible and formidable National Working Committee (NWC) to work with ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole as the new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is gathering steam, according to indications yesterday.

Actively involved in the process are President Muhammadu Buhari, governors elected on the platform of the party and other leaders.

Buhari, it was gathered, had on Tuesday night sent APC governors to the current Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to prevail on him to drop his planned return for a second term.

The presidency had been jolted by the incident at the South-South APC meeting in Benin where Oyegun loyalists had tried to fight back.

Well placed party sources said the return of Oyegun for a second term was already foreclosed by Buhari and his strategists.

Although some governors and members of Buhari’s cabinet who preferred Oyegun had tried to prevail on the President to have a rethink, security reports available to the presidency were described as “overwhelming.”

The reports were said to have painted the party to be in a “bad state” and would need a fresh breath of life.

It was gathered that the management of party funds, including difficulty in paying staff salaries and alleged payment of curious rent allowance of between N15million and N8million each to NWC members, was part of the security reports.

“The President, most APC governors and some leaders of the party have actually foreclosed the return of Oyegun based on some security reports and the need to reshape the party for 2019 poll,” a top source said.

The structure of the party, he said, is weak at present and unless it is re-energized, it might not be able to tackle the opposition parties and other forces like the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM).

Besides, the party is detached from most members, leading to crises in many states, he added.

“What Buhari and these leaders are doing at present is to shop for a good team which will work with Oshiomhole to return APC to the dream of its founding fathers.

“These leaders are of the opinion that some NWC members should not come back to office because they did not add value in any manner whatsoever to the party, “ he said.

Consultations are going on between the President and some leaders of the party, especially governors, on how to reshape APC for better, another source said.

“The President has expressed his preference for Oshiomhole; it is now left to him to sell the candidate to party leaders. I think this is what he is doing at present.

“So far, the President and other leaders may build consensus on Oshiomhole who appears prepared for the task ahead,” the source, a Presidential Villa insider, said.

Responding to a question, the source added: “The President has no personal grudges with Oyegun or NWC members but security reports have indicated that the party is in a bad state.

“We have a party that cannot pay its own bills, including salaries of staff in spite of the resources at its disposal.

“The state of finance of APC leaves much to be desired if you consider what it generated between 2015 and 2018. There were cases of payment of all manners of allowances including annual rent or accommodation allowance to NWC members ranging from N8million to N15million.”

The Nation also gathered that Oyegun knew the game was up following Buhari’s pronouncement of his preference for Oshiomhole as the next National Chairman of APC.

An NWC member who craves anonymity said: “The President went ahead on Tuesday night to send APC governors to Oyegun to drop his second term ambition if he had any.

“As matter of fact, the rejection of Oshiomhole by the South-South caucus of APC had boosted the re-election aspiration of Oyegun.

“But when Buhari’s message came, he became more tactical by telling us that he had ‘no intention’ to seek re-election. It is like eating the humble pie.”

Asked why Oyegun could not brave the odds, the source added: “Do you expect Oyegun to confront the President of the country? It will amount to political suicide.

“You can even see the governors formerly backing Oyegun singing different tunes based on the mood of Buhari.”

lalasticlala

By Hamza Idris, Saawua Terzungwe, Muideen Olaniyi & Abbas Jimoh




The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has started the process of identifying a candidate that can give President Muhammadu Buhari a run for his money in the 2019 presidential poll, should the president get the ticket of his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to run for a second term.

The party is searching for a Nigerian, from the North, with an unblemished record and one who could be acceptable to all parts of the country, it was reliably gathered.

The person that the PDP will support for the race may be somebody with no political inclination but with a record of selfless service to the country and attributes that can easily match those of Buhari or even surpass them.

Also, the candidate should be a household name that could resonate well with an average Nigerian.

Stakeholders in the PDP believed that getting the right candidate for the contest will also help burnish the party’s image, which took a hit after its 16 years in power that ended in 2015.

Sources disclosed to Daily Trust on Sunday that the consensus among key leaders of the party is that the crop of presidential aspirants who have indicated their interest in the party’s presidential flag, may not able to match Buhari stride for stride in an election.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, former Governor Sule Lamido, Governor Hassan Dankwambo and Senator David Mark are said to be gunning for the PDP’s ticket.


Consultations are currently ongoing to shop for the right individual.

The move is enjoying the blessings of the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, and some governors and lawmakers under the party, a leader of the party who does not want to be named told Daily Trust on Sunday.

The member said the party has already settled for an individual from the North-West and would make public his name as soon as he was contacted.

“The group is actually mindful of the fact that only a personality with an unblemished track record and widely recognized as a detribalized Nigerian could defeat President Buhari,” another party member said.

Confirming the move, a PDP senator, who wants to remain anonymous, said 2019 would be a serious contest for the party, which explains why they are ready to go to great length to seek a candidate that “would be accepted by Nigerians as an alternative to Buhari.”

Most of the presidential aspirants could not be reached for comments as to whether they are aware of the plan to bring a neutral candidate from outside.

However, Senator Makarfi who responded to a text message, said, “It is the party leadership that is in a position to answer that question.”

Also, former Governor Lamido denied knowledge of the plan in a text, saying: “I’m not aware of that.”

But a founding member of the PDP from the North-East, Alhaji Aminu Yakudima confirmed to Daily Trust on Sunday that the thinking of the top echelon of the NWC is to bring someone outside the party to field as presidential candidate, saying such a move would be resisted.


Alliance to win

The PDP plans to actualize its presidential game-plan by either going into an alliance with other political parties or dissolving into one of the parties in the country, it was gathered.

On the top of the list for the parties the PDP is seeking to join forces with, are the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Going into an alliance with the three political parties will strengthen the party’s support base in parts of the country where the parties are based.

Although APGA has only one governor, in Anambra, and one senator to show in the whole of the country’s political landscape, the PDP believes that the party will make inroads in the South-East in the general elections next year. It believes that a marriage between the two parties can wrest control of Imo State from the APC in 2019 and galvanize votes for their joint presidential candidate.

However, observers are of the opinion that whatever arrangement the PDP may enter with APGA, it would be difficult for the two parties to take over Imo State from the APC.

The PDP is approaching LP and SDP to use their platforms to gain a foothold in the South-West and the South-South. The LP once had a governor each in the South-West and the South-South, while the SDP is seen to be gaining grounds in the South-West. PDP analysts predict that a combination of the three parties in the South-South and South-West will draw votes from the region its way.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the party hopes that a combination of a saleable candidate and alliance will provide it with the silver bullet to kill APC’s ambition of a second term of remaining in power beyond 2019.

The PDP first made its intention for alliance public when Secondus announced at the 79th Emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, held on April 19, 2018, in Abuja that the party was in talks with other political parties, senior politicians and ex-presidents in order to initiate strategies that would help the party regain power.

He made the statement few weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari announced his interest to go for a second term under the platform of the APC.

While acknowledging that they have lost many members for obvious reasons, credible sources in the PDP said they were still reaching out to aggrieved leaders and other chieftains to rejoin.

Spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, confirmed this in a telephone interview with our reporter.

A former governor from the North told Daily Trust on Sunday that members of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), serving governors, PDP senators and House of Representatives members, state chairmen, former ministers, ex-governors, NWC members and the Reconciliation Committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson, are now approaching various individuals and groups for alliance.

Apart from wooing “disgruntled” members in the APC, our reporter also learnt that the PDP leaders are in talks with about 30 other political parties under the aegis of Coalition for a New Nigeria (CNN).

The CNN has the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Alhaji Abdulkadir A. Salam, as chairman and Barrister Godson Okoye of the United Democratic Party (UDP), as Secretary.

The CNN handlers said they are different from Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo has since ruled out working for the PDP or the APC.

The CNN Spokesman, who is National Chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr. Yunusa Tanko, confirmed to our correspondent in a telephone interview that the PDP has approached them for a deal ahead of the general elections.

“They have actually been reaching out to us,” he said.

The political parties that formed the CNN include, Alliance for Democracy (AD), African Democratic Congress (ADC), National Conscience Party (NCP), Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), Democratic People’s Congress (DPC) Labour Party (LP), People’s Party of Nigeria (PPN) Action Alliance (AA); Democratic People’s Party (DPP), People’s Democratic Change (PDC), Better Nigeria People’s Party (BNPP), National Action Council (NAC), United Democratic Party (UDP) and Democratic Alternative (DA) among others.

The National Secretary of the SDP, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, in a telephone interview said of the planned alliance, “Naturally in politics, there are coalitions for strategic interests. There is nothing wrong in political parties coming together to protect the democratic institutions. So we must rescue Nigeria by stopping those who want to collapse the nation’s political space.”

Similarly, the National Secretary of the Action Alliance (AA) which is a party in the coalition, Vernimbe A. James, told Daily Trust on Sunday in a telephone interview that “We are committed and determined to join forces with any party or group of political parties to sack this failed APC-led Federal Government come February 2, 2019 and restore hope to Nigerians.”


APGA rules out merger with other parties

However, the national chairman of APGA, Dr. Victor Oye, yesterday denied being consulted for merger with any party.

“How can we join 30 other parties when we are the third largest political party in Nigeria? Nobody has consulted us on the so-called merger,” Oye said.

Also, the National Director of Publicity of the party, Mr Ifeanacho Oguejiofor, said: “We are the credible alternative to the failure of the APC and PDP. We are contesting all the elections and we are not merging with any party.

“We are also not in alliance with any group, other parties can come and merge with APGA,” Oguejiofor said.

lalasticlala

According to EFCC investigators, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, enlisted the services of a consultant , Robert Mbonu of Melrose General Services Limited and Kathleen Erhimu, a staff of Access Bank, to liaise with his aides and associates to allegedly launder N3.5 billion traced to the Paris Club loan refund to states.

Gibson Mhaka


BAD girls don't deserve underwear!

That is Nicholas Makwaras thumb rule for his wife Cathelene Makunganidze whom he accuses of disrespecting him.

Makunganidze said her husband confiscates her panties and hides them at his workplace. She revealed this in her protection order application.

She also complained that her husband was also physically, emotionally and sexually abusing her, adding that at one time he bashed her in front of their children while she was naked.

Nicholas Makwara who is the father of my two children abuses me verbally, physically, emotionally and sexually. He assaults me with an electrical cord, open hands and hosepipe. At one time he assaulted me in front of our children while I was naked.

At times he chases me out of the house at night. He also took all my belongings to his workplace including my undergarments. He also stole my bank card and I want him to return all the stolen items including my panties, said Makunganidze.

She also claimed her husband was forcing her to have sex with him and coming to her workplace to harass her. When asked by the magistrate to respond to his wifes accusations, Makwara said she was the one who was abusing him.

She is the one who is abusing me. She once assaulted me with a knobkerrie and stabbed me with a kitchen knife.

She is always threatening to scald me with boiling cooking oil.

She once disappeared from home for seven days and when I asked her where she had been she became violent, responded Makwara.

Magistrate Tashaya granted Makunganidze the protection order warning Makwara not to verbally, physically, sexually and emotionally abuse her. He also ordered him not to evict his wife from their matrimonial home.

lalasticlala

by Chinedu Asadu


Last year when Dino Melaye, senator representing Kogi west, raised the alarm that some of the signatures collated for his recall were those of dead persons, not many people took him seriously.

The senator had said : “Let me also sound it that here in Lokoja local government council, several others whose names and signatures appeared on the list of the signatories to this failed exercise were identified and known to us as being dead long before.”

The issue died down after a federal high court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to suspend the process.

However, following another court ruling, INEC began the process of verifying the “188,000 signatures” of constituents who were said to have signed the recall petition, on Saturday.

The exercise was marred by irregularities such as apathy, late arrival of electoral officials and unverifiable signatures.



https://www.thecable.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Dino-Melayes-Recall-7.jpg
At polling unit 6, Ward A, INEC staff were seen sleeping.



When TheCable visited some of the polling units, it was discovered that while some of the names on the register were not signed, some of the names on the register were those of people who are dead.

At polling unit 6, ward A, some constituents said they could identify names of the dead on the recall register.

TheCable could not independently verify their claims. One of such “deceased” persons was Musa Umoru with voter card number: 90F5B04920295994341, said to have died “for more than five years” and whose profile reads ‘business.’

Another is Abubakar Ameh, said to have died three years ago, with the voter card number: 90F5B049202955134330 also into “business”; as long as well as Abubakar Zainab, with voter card number: 90F5B04920295430341, said to have died two years ago.

There is also one Mohammed Okoko, a former judge who, according to the constituents, died in 2014, and whose name was featured on the register.


‘NAMES WITHOUT SIGNATURES’

Some of the names on the register did not have accompanying signatures or thumbprints. Among those in this category are Abu Hassana, Nelson Sunday and Mgbede Sunday.

At piling unit 6, ward A, Abu Hassana and Abu Saratu whose names were following each other, had one fingerprint against their names, same with Achimugu Katrine and Achimugu Abraham.

The observations, if confirmed to be true, may mar the recall process and in the end, affect its outcome.

Ahmed Biambo, head, voter education and publicity, at INEC office in Kogi, had not responded to inquiries made by TheCable as of the time this report was filed.



https://www.thecable.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Dino-Melayes-Recall-Sheet.jpg



https://www.thecable.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Dino-Melayes-Recall-Register.jpg

Leke Baiyewu , Abuja


The Senate has declared the current payments by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for subsidy of premium motor spirit (petrol ) illegal .

It asked the corporation to refund the sum of N 216 bn spent for the purpose in 2017 under the guise of “ operational costs” into the Federal Government ’ s coffers .

The legislature also asked the corporation to stop further payment of the subsidy , while asking it to pay the arrears owed fuel marketers .

The legislature also resolved to legalise the payment by including it in the 2018 budget .

They also called for sanctioning of the officials involved in the illegal payments .

The Committee on Public Accounts made the recommendations in its report on the investigation into the illegal subsidy payments , which was adopted by the Senate at the plenary on Thursday.