₦airaland Forum

JOHN ALECHENU examines the fresh attempt by a group of Nigerian activists, intellectuals and political actors to birth another platform to challenge the dominance of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

The 2023 general elections are only two years away but intrigues by actors in the political space have undoubtedly started.

Prior to the 2014 merger of three opposition political parties, the then ruling People’s Democratic Party had made good use of the divide and rule tactics to run over the opposition especially during presidential elections.

Recall that the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, as well as a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance had merged to form the All Progressives Congress to enable them to defeat the then ruling PDP.

The National Secretary, Project Nigeria, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, who was part of the moves to initiate a coming together of opposition political parties back in 2007, said, “It was late Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the leader of the Nigeria Unite for Democracy, and chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties in 2007, who proposed an alliance of opposition political parties against one-party rule in Nigeria. This later gave birth to the Mega Party Movement under the leadership of late Anthony Enahoro, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Chief Olu Falae, respectively.”

He recalled that the realignments gave rise to the Congress for Progressive Change, led by the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the Social Democratic Party and the Action Congress of Nigeria, among others.

Okunniyi, however, expressed sadness that the experiment collapsed a few months to the 2011 elections.

He said, “Faced with the reality that you cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect to get a different result, opposition leaders received wise counsel and decided to do what many considered the impossible prior to that time-they dissolved their various platforms to birth Nigeria’s first truly national opposition party, the All Progressives Congress.


“The then new party received a boost from five sitting governors of the then ruling party Peoples Democratic Party who moved in with their party structure in states hitherto considered the PDP strongholds.”

Interestingly, the supremacy battle within the PDP over the issue of zoning back then strengthened the APC. This resulted in the PDP’s first taste of defeat in 2015, a failure the party has been unable to recover from till this day.

But five years into the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, now, some Nigerians have described both the PDP and the APC as two sides of the same coin.


Another group of Nigerians, who tried but failed to come together to form a third force to challenge the dominance of the two political parties in 2019, has renewed their bid to create another broad-based platform which they believe will succeed this time.

Politicians like a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’abba; former National Chairman of the National Conscience Party, Yunusa Tanko; academics including Professors Pat Utomi and Kingsley Moghalu; Mrs Remi Sonaya; Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, and a host of others, who came together to form the National Consultative Front, have indicated interest in floating an alternative platform ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking on the new project, Okunniyi, who is one of the prominent promoters of the new group, explained, “We are still consulting and mobilising Nigerians towards this latest move towards rescuing Nigeria from the misgovernance we have been exposed to since 2015.

“It was not as if the PDP was any better, it is just that the current APC regime is progressively worse, Nigerians have never had it this bad.

“The truth is that both the PDP and the APC are two sides of the same coin, they have both failed Nigerians. We are launching a Mega Political Movement in January and have a full inauguration party in June.”

However, a legal practitioner and a chieftain of the APC in Gombe State, Abdullahi Jalo, expressed the opinion that under the APC, Nigerians had seen what good governance and accountability could deliver to a nation.

He said, “I was a member of the PDP but I am now a full member of the APC because of the type of leadership President Muhammadu Buhari has provided since taking office in 2015.

“Nigerians now understand the true meaning of progressive politics. The policies and programmes of our president are non-discriminatory. All he is interested in when a project is proposed is whether it will be to the benefit of a majority of Nigerians; he doesn’t care whether the benefiting state is a PDP or an APC-controlled state. This attitude explains why unlike previous leaders, he doesn’t care who started a project; as long as Nigerians will benefit, he goes ahead to complete it. Is it his achievement in the railway sector you want to talk about or the repayment of money spent by states to rehabilitate federal roads? Nobody is saying there are no challenges, there are but genuine efforts to surmount these challenges are on.

“Without doubt, the APC will remain the party to beat in the next election.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Kola Ologbondiyan, disagreed with this position.

He said, “Most Nigerians are today regretting the decision to vote in the APC in 2015. Walk on the streets in any state in Nigeria and speak to the people. Will people in the President’s home state of Katsina, or the people of Borno, Zamfara, Yobe states, or in fact, anywhere in Nigeria today sincerely tell you that their lives have improved for the better since the APC came on board? The answer is definitely no.

“How much was the Naira exchanged for the dollar in 2015? How much is it today? How much was a bag of rice then? How much is it today? Most Nigerians today cannot travel home because roads are no longer safe due to banditry, kidnapping and robbery. Nigerians can’t wait to vote the APC out in 2023.”


A chieftain of the Enugu State chapter of the APC, Osita Okechukwu, on his part, said, “The Nigerian political system has always favoured a strong two-party system. Other smaller parties can exist on the sidelines but we have had a situation where two strong political tendencies exist just like in the United States where our system of democracy was copied from. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

A former Secretary of the Bauchi State chapter of the defunct ACN, Abdullahi Dauda, who has been a long-time opposition figure before the merger which gave rise to the APC, however, expressed doubts about the possibility of Nigerians taking a risk with a new political platform.

He ruled out this possibility as regards to the 2023 presidential race.

He wondered if Nigerians would be willing to once again risk going for a little-known marriage of strange bedfellows in the name of a political party like they did in 2015.

“I think for many of us the maxim ‘the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know’ holds true. The APC and the PDP may be two sides of the same coin but Nigerians have now tasted the two and are likely to make better informed choices in 2023. I honestly don’t see any serious threat to their dominance of the political scene yet.”

Dauda further explained that the situation in 2015 was remarkably different from what is on the ground today.

According to him, one factor stood out in 2015; there was a general consensus especially in the North, that the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, breached the zoning arrangement which had been in place since 1999.

He noted that the deteriorating security situation as well as what many considered unprecedented corruption among the ruling elite at the time made matters worse for the then ruling PDP.

There are also those within the new political movement who are optimistic that the brains behind the #Endsars movement could spring a surprise by bringing in their energy to join the experience being paraded by some of the promoters of the Mega Political Movement, to drive the process.

Those in this school of thought pointed out that the youth had tasted the power of unity and focus and could deploy the same with likeminded people to wrest political power from the dominant political parties.

However, another school of thought expressed the view that the problem would always come from the clash of interests among those who felt they could do a better job given the chance.

Recall that prior to the 2019 general elections, several youth groups came together in an attempt to throw up a consensus candidate but their efforts failed largely because personal ambitions failed to yield the floor to reason.

The Executive Director, Civil Societies Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Awual Musa, is of the view that what is currently in high demand is attitudinal change among Nigerians.

“We must change the way we do things; our value systems must change if we are to get things right be it politically or in any other sector.”

Events of coming months will indicate if the fresh attempt to provide an alternative to the dominance of the APC and PDP will gain traction ahead of 2023.

JOHN ALECHENU examines the fresh attempt by a group of Nigerian activists, intellectuals and political actors to birth another platform to challenge the dominance of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

The 2023 general elections are only two years away but intrigues by actors in the political space have undoubtedly started.

Prior to the 2014 merger of three opposition political parties, the then ruling People’s Democratic Party had made good use of the divide and rule tactics to run over the opposition especially during presidential elections.

Recall that the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, as well as a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance had merged to form the All Progressives Congress to enable them to defeat the then ruling PDP.

The National Secretary, Project Nigeria, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, who was part of the moves to initiate a coming together of opposition political parties back in 2007, said, “It was late Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the leader of the Nigeria Unite for Democracy, and chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties in 2007, who proposed an alliance of opposition political parties against one-party rule in Nigeria. This later gave birth to the Mega Party Movement under the leadership of late Anthony Enahoro, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Chief Olu Falae, respectively.”

He recalled that the realignments gave rise to the Congress for Progressive Change, led by the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the Social Democratic Party and the Action Congress of Nigeria, among others.

Okunniyi, however, expressed sadness that the experiment collapsed a few months to the 2011 elections.

He said, “Faced with the reality that you cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect to get a different result, opposition leaders received wise counsel and decided to do what many considered the impossible prior to that time-they dissolved their various platforms to birth Nigeria’s first truly national opposition party, the All Progressives Congress.


“The then new party received a boost from five sitting governors of the then ruling party Peoples Democratic Party who moved in with their party structure in states hitherto considered the PDP strongholds.”

Interestingly, the supremacy battle within the PDP over the issue of zoning back then strengthened the APC. This resulted in the PDP’s first taste of defeat in 2015, a failure the party has been unable to recover from till this day.

But five years into the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, now, some Nigerians have described both the PDP and the APC as two sides of the same coin.

Another group of Nigerians, who tried but failed to come together to form a third force to challenge the dominance of the two political parties in 2019, has renewed their bid to create another broad-based platform which they believe will succeed this time.

Politicians like a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’abba; former National Chairman of the National Conscience Party, Yunusa Tanko; academics including Professors Pat Utomi and Kingsley Moghalu; Mrs Remi Sonaya; Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, and a host of others, who came together to form the National Consultative Front, have indicated interest in floating an alternative platform ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking on the new project, Okunniyi, who is one of the prominent promoters of the new group, explained, “We are still consulting and mobilising Nigerians towards this latest move towards rescuing Nigeria from the misgovernance we have been exposed to since 2015.

“It was not as if the PDP was any better, it is just that the current APC regime is progressively worse, Nigerians have never had it this bad.

“The truth is that both the PDP and the APC are two sides of the same coin, they have both failed Nigerians. We are launching a Mega Political Movement in January and have a full inauguration party in June.”

However, a legal practitioner and a chieftain of the APC in Gombe State, Abdullahi Jalo, expressed the opinion that under the APC, Nigerians had seen what good governance and accountability could deliver to a nation.

He said, “I was a member of the PDP but I am now a full member of the APC because of the type of leadership President Muhammadu Buhari has provided since taking office in 2015.

“Nigerians now understand the true meaning of progressive politics. The policies and programmes of our president are non-discriminatory. All he is interested in when a project is proposed is whether it will be to the benefit of a majority of Nigerians; he doesn’t care whether the benefiting state is a PDP or an APC-controlled state. This attitude explains why unlike previous leaders, he doesn’t care who started a project; as long as Nigerians will benefit, he goes ahead to complete it. Is it his achievement in the railway sector you want to talk about or the repayment of money spent by states to rehabilitate federal roads? Nobody is saying there are no challenges, there are but genuine efforts to surmount these challenges are on.

“Without doubt, the APC will remain the party to beat in the next election.”

The National Publicity Secretary of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Kola Ologbondiyan, disagreed with this position.

He said, “Most Nigerians are today regretting the decision to vote in the APC in 2015. Walk on the streets in any state in Nigeria and speak to the people. Will people in the President’s home state of Katsina, or the people of Borno, Zamfara, Yobe states, or in fact, anywhere in Nigeria today sincerely tell you that their lives have improved for the better since the APC came on board? The answer is definitely no.

“How much was the Naira exchanged for the dollar in 2015? How much is it today? How much was a bag of rice then? How much is it today? Most Nigerians today cannot travel home because roads are no longer safe due to banditry, kidnapping and robbery. Nigerians can’t wait to vote the APC out in 2023.”

A chieftain of the Enugu State chapter of the APC, Osita Okechukwu, on his part, said, “The Nigerian political system has always favoured a strong two-party system. Other smaller parties can exist on the sidelines but we have had a situation where two strong political tendencies exist just like in the United States where our system of democracy was copied from. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

A former Secretary of the Bauchi State chapter of the defunct ACN, Abdullahi Dauda, who has been a long-time opposition figure before the merger which gave rise to the APC, however, expressed doubts about the possibility of Nigerians taking a risk with a new political platform.

He ruled out this possibility as regards to the 2023 presidential race.

He wondered if Nigerians would be willing to once again risk going for a little-known marriage of strange bedfellows in the name of a political party like they did in 2015.

“I think for many of us the maxim ‘the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know’ holds true. The APC and the PDP may be two sides of the same coin but Nigerians have now tasted the two and are likely to make better informed choices in 2023. I honestly don’t see any serious threat to their dominance of the political scene yet.”

Dauda further explained that the situation in 2015 was remarkably different from what is on the ground today.

According to him, one factor stood out in 2015; there was a general consensus especially in the North, that the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, breached the zoning arrangement which had been in place since 1999.

He noted that the deteriorating security situation as well as what many considered unprecedented corruption among the ruling elite at the time made matters worse for the then ruling PDP.

There are also those within the new political movement who are optimistic that the brains behind the #Endsars movement could spring a surprise by bringing in their energy to join the experience being paraded by some of the promoters of the Mega Political Movement, to drive the process.

Those in this school of thought pointed out that the youth had tasted the power of unity and focus and could deploy the same with likeminded people to wrest political power from the dominant political parties.

However, another school of thought expressed the view that the problem would always come from the clash of interests among those who felt they could do a better job given the chance.

Recall that prior to the 2019 general elections, several youth groups came together in an attempt to throw up a consensus candidate but their efforts failed largely because personal ambitions failed to yield the floor to reason.

The Executive Director, Civil Societies Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Awual Musa, is of the view that what is currently in high demand is attitudinal change among Nigerians.

“We must change the way we do things; our value systems must change if we are to get things right be it politically or in any other sector.”

Events of coming months will indicate if the fresh attempt to provide an alternative to the dominance of the APC and PDP will gain traction ahead of 2023.

About five persons have been reported killed when the Nigerian Army personnel clashed with bus drivers in Ilesha-Baruba motor park in the Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The cause of the misunderstanding was said to be over an alleged N100 bribe which the soldiers, which mounted a roadblock in the area, demanded from the bus drivers.

It was learnt that the crisis started on Friday after a bus driver on Ilesha-Sinawu Road refused to part with N100 for the soldiers, and an argument ensued.

SaharaReporters learnt that in the course of the argument, the soldiers slapped him and he angrily left, came back and mobilised his other colleagues from the motor park.

After that, the soldiers opened fire on the drivers and five persons were feared dead, while several others were injured.

An eyewitness noted that the soldiers had been notorious for extorting money from the bus drivers and the altercation ensued because the drivers could not take the harassment any longer.

“Friday was the market day, and people came from several neighbouring areas to Sinawu for trade. Vehicular movements from and outside Sinawu area were so high. So, the soldiers had a field day collecting money from drivers.

“The soldiers on the Ilesha-Baruba highway, which is a distance of 25 minutes, were found extorting commercial vehicles which ply the road, ranging from N100 to N500 depending on what you are carrying. It was while extorting one of the commercial vehicles that the incident happened.

“The driver refused to give the soldiers N100, and they slapped him several times. He then reported them to the motor park, and his colleagues came to question the soldiers. That was how the soldiers shot at them,” the witness, Abdul Ganiyu, narrated.

“The altercation led to the shooting of no fewer than five persons who are feared dead as we speak while others were injured. The soldiers have also fled from the scene,” another witness added.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Governor Kayode Fayemi, has announced that governors will take the COVID-19 vaccine on live television to demonstrate to their residents that the vaccine works.

Governor Fayemi made this known on Friday to State House correspondents after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari where security, the economy and vaccine management were discussed.

He also noted that the president has agreed to convey to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the need to use influencers such as religious leaders, entertainers, and athletes to engender the confidence of citizens at the state and local level.

This, according to the governor will help to address the cultural and religious concerns around taking the vaccine.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is in talks to raise about $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt. The Port Harcourt complex consists of two plants with a combined capacity of 210,000 bpd. In 2019, the Port Harcourt plants including other refineries lost some N167 billion ($439.47 million).

Reuters, which reported this yesterday, quoted seven sources familiar with the discussions, including the spokesperson for Afreximbank. If the financing is concluded, the long overdue rehabilitation of the refinery should reduce Nigeria’s hefty fuel import bill.

This would also mark Nigeria’s second oil-backed financing since the COVID-19 scourge that has added to the difficulty of finding investors as fuel demand is sapped by lockdowns and renewable energy is gaining ground over fossil fuels.

The money would be repaid over seven years through deliveries of Nigerian crude and products from the refinery once the refurbishment is completed, the sources said. Cairo-based Afreximbank is leading the financing. “Afreximbank is looking into a facility for the refurbishment of the Port Harcourt Refinery.

However, the borrower is yet to be determined,” a spokesman for the bank said. NNPC declined to comment. The sources said discussions were taking place with a range of foreign and Nigerian trading houses, including some who have previously worked with Nigeria and who asked not to be named. Apart from the problems of COVID-19 and increased investor preference for carbon- free energy, defaults and fraud in commodity trading, mainly in Asia, have reduced the appetite of foreign banks for exposure to commodity trade finance.

A source at one foreign bank, also asking not to be named, said it was unlikely to participate in Nigeria’s latest effort because of lower credit availability and increased reluctance to take out exposure in a high risk country. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has four refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd): one in Kaduna and three in Warri and Port Harcourt. In April 2020, all refineries in Nigeria were shut pending rehabilitation. Nigeria has struggled with the poorly maintained units for decades.

Successive NNPC chiefs have announced a series of unsuccessful plans to revamp, privatise or expand the refineries. NNPC abandoned a similar attempt in 2019 to partner with oil traders, producers and engineering firms to fund refinery revamps after over a year of talks, saying it would fund the projects itself. The barely functional plants leave Nigeria completely dependent on imports and subsidy schemes also cost the country billions of dollars.

In December, NNPC opened a bid round for a contract to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt complex. NNPC GMD, Mele Kyari, also said last year that private companies would run the refineries once they were rehabilitated. In July, global energy trader Vitol and Nigerian firm Matrix backed by banks agreed to lend NNPC $1.5 billion to support its upstream arm, NPDC, although the discussions that led to the deal predated COVID-19.

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics have decried the lapses in the controversial payment system introduced by the Nigerian government, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, saying it has led to the disruption of activities in the nation’s polytechnics.

ASUP stated this on Thursday, even as it warned that it could embark on an industrial action.

Speaking in a chat in Lagos on Thursday with Vanguard, the Yaba College of Technology, Yabatech Chapter Chairman, Mr Remi Ajiboye, said salaries of members were being cut indiscriminately, citing an instance in which he was paid N4, 000 as monthly salary.

Ajiboye is a Senior Lecturer whose salary should be over N300,000 monthly. This is as many federal workers are complaining about the irregularity in the payment of their salaries A Vice Chancellor in a federal university in the North was reportedly paid N72,000 as salary at a point in time.

The IPPIS became a compulsory means of receiving salaries for federal workers in February, 2020.

Ajiboye added that members of the union were also being owed 10 months’ new minimum wage arrears and that despite the promise to clear the arrears by July last year, nothing had been done.

“We are in support of our Council of National Officers, who have been battling for months to get many of the issues redressed. Actually, we can say that the government is killing us gradually with this IPPIS of a thing. Deductions like for cooperative societies are not remitted. Even our union dues are not remitted regularly.

“Now, nobody can say this is what he or she earns a month. The salary has become an undulating object, you only get whatever catches the fancy of those in the IPPIS office.

“There was a month I was paid N4,000 as monthly salary. And it is not that the money forcibly taken away would be repaid any time soon,” he said.

https://i0.wp.com/www.pmnewsnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Hassan-Ebere.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1
Hassan Ebere

By Hamza Suleiman

A 33-year-old suspect, Hassan Ebere, has revealed how he sold 6,000 dead poultry to residents of Maiduguri for five years so as to raise money for his livelihood since he lost his father.

Ebere made the revelation while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), after being paraded by the Borno Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), on Wednesday.

“I usually go to the Ngadabul river, behind Borno Radio Television (BRTV) complex, to pick the carcasses of poultry that are thrown away from poultry farms.

“So every week, I pick at least ten or even more than that, then process it and take it to sell to unsuspecting customers.

“My market base are usually Baga fish market, where I sell some of them as bush meat, Monday market, suya joints and some selected restaurants within the metropolis.

“The products usually go for N700, N800. But if it had spent some days, I take them to local beer parlours at the back of Ngomari ward and sell them for N250,” he said.

Ebere said he was pushed by the devil to engage in such nefarious activities, and begged for forgiveness.

Speaking, the Borno Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim, said that the suspect was arrested, while processing the meat behind BRTV complex on Jan. 2, 2021.

Ibrahim said that the command got intelligence reports about the nefarious acts before swinging into action to apprehend him, adding that the arrest of the suspect had stopped what had been a serious health hazard to the people.

He called on the Ministry of Environment and the the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to fight the circulation of such unwholesome products, in order to ensure the safety and health of the people.

On his part, State Coordinator of NAFDAC, Mr Nasiru Mato, said the implication of such an act was in the threat it posed to public safety.

“The carcass of the poultry from the farm must have died from one or two infectious diseases which could easily be transmitted to humans.

“So it can be very disastrous and dangerous to consumers. There are severe penalties on any one found engaging in this type of unwholesome activity.

“We, therefore, urge the general public to make sure, when buying live chicken, they should either slaughter them by themselves or are slaughtered in their presence. They must also make sure that the chicken are certified by a registered vet to ensure public safety”, he said.

China’s internet erupted in mirth at America’s troubled democracy after supporters of President Donald Trump broke into the US Capitol, comparing the chaos to the Hong Kong anti-government protests of 2019.

On Thursday morning, state media tabloid Global Times tweeted side-by-side photo comparisons of Hong Kong protesters occupying the city’s Legislative Council Complex in July 2019 with Wednesday’s Washington riots.

The latter saw hardcore Trump fans invade the US Capitol to protest the election defeat, taking selfies, scuffling with security and ransacking parts of the building.

“@SpeakerPelosi once referred to the Hong Kong riots as ‘a beautiful sight to behold’,” the Global Times said in the tweet, referring to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s June 2019 comment about Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy demonstrations, which were mostly peaceful at that time.

“It remains yet to be seen whether she will say the same about the recent developments in Capitol Hill.”

China’s Communist Youth League also described the unrest as a “beautiful sight” on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

The hashtag “Trump supporters storm US Capitol” pinballed across Weibo on Thursday, racking up 230 million views, as users compared the global support for Hong Kong’s protesters with the outpouring of condemnation for the pro-Trump mob.

“At present, all European countries’ leaders have shown double standards and condemned it (Washington rioting),” read one Weibo comment which gained over 5,000 likes.

“I don’t know what kind of double-standard reports will be carried by Hong Kong or Taiwan media this time.”

“What happened in the Hong Kong Legislative Council last year is being repeated in the US Capitol,” wrote another user in a comment with over 4,500 likes.

Hong Kong protesters had stormed the legislature to demand democracy — a battle they appear to have lost as China smothers the territory with a national security law, sweeping oppositions figures and activists up in mass arrests.

US President-elect Joe Biden said the US rioters were undermining democracy by trying to overturn Trump’s defeat in November’s election.

[AFP]

By Fredrick Nwabufo,



We love scandals. By ‘’we’’ I mean both the dramatis personae in a scandal and the spectators sitting in judgment. Why would a superior at a workplace get entangled in a sexual congress with a subordinate if not driven by depravity and adrenaline rush from eating a forbidden fruit? It is predatory for anyone in authority or in a higher position to get in the hay with a subordinate. It is classical animal predation.


I once worked in a financial institution. I regard that experience as an ‘’incident of the past’’ I do not want to relish. It is suspended in the past. Let’s just say I witnessed the transactional potential and perils of sex in the workplace. I have also worked in places where the MD serially exercised his manhood on female staff without care that his sexual exploits and libido are stuff of office gossip. I have seen things.

When the sordid details of an alleged affair between Adam Nuru, managing director of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and Moyo Thomas, a former member of his staff, rippled on social media, I sighed to myself: ‘’another one’’. Nuru was alleged to have sired two children with Moyo while she worked at the bank. Moyo’s husband, Tunde Thomas reportedly died of trauma after he discovered the children did not come from his loins. There is another version of the tale which says Moyo revealed to Tunde that the kids were not his after she moved to the US and that the deceased had strayed into the arms of another woman before his death.

The ‘’facts’’ we have at the moment are mere conjectures and social media tittle-tattle. The characters in this alleged star-crossed affair have not given their own side of the story. ‘’We all need to hear both sides of the story’’ – the song by Phil Collins is my buffer. So, it is safe not to apportion blame or sit in judgment on this matter – not until all sides have their say.


FCMB says it is investigating the alleged affair and Nuru has been put on leave. This is a quick-witted response to an issue that could cause the bank loss of goodwill. Already, there is an avalanche of memes hitting at the moral fabric of the bank. Really, there is nothing more that chips away at brand perception than sexual scandals. In the eye of the public, any bank caught in the undertow of a sexual scandal is a whorehouse.

I think this incident is a clarion call to all corporate organisations, institutions and agencies; in fact, every workplace to check office relationships, particularly when they involve staff of their different cadre. There is an epidemic of ‘’office husband’’ and ‘’office wife’’ in workplaces. I have heard of cases where an ‘’office husband’’ eventually ended up sexually ravaging an ‘’office wife’’ who is married and has kids, destroying her home. I have also heard of cases where an ‘’office husband’’ conspired with his buddies at the workplace and took a married ‘’office wife’’ on an official trip to Dubai, sexually invading her in a hotel.

These office ‘’sexcapades’’ are rife. They have become an abnormal normality in our work culture. We do not need to pretend about it; rather we should take back our workplaces from red-light avenues. The office is not a place for sexual relationships. Office romance complicates work relationship. It damages cohesion and trust. It creates room for animosity and vicious gossip. A situation where a superior is sexually involved with a subordinate fouls the sanctity of the workplace.

Also, considering that most people spend more time in their workplaces with colleagues than with their spouses and families, it is the more reason there should be strict enforcement of moral codes. Really, there is a tendency for the so-called ‘’office husband—office wife’’ relationship to snowball into a passionate and deadly affair that can cost a business gravely. Families and lives should not be destroyed in the corner office.

The workplace is a temple that should not be defied with sexual impurity. It is a workplace, not a red-light district.

On Aliko Dangote, a video of him in his moments poppled on social media a few days ago – with some alleged consorts fighting over a right to his access. Well, Dangote being a billionaire does not make him a moralist or puritan. He is not a preacher or an Imam, and he never made pretensions of being celibate. Most importantly, he is not married. As they say, he is single and free to mingle.

By Adekunle Jimoh,

Two petitioners at the Judicial Panel of Enquiry on “EndSARS” sitting in Ilorin, Kwara state capital Wednesday narrated how officers and men of the disbanded Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) tortured them to implicate former Senate President Bukola Saraki in the April 5, 2018 Offa robbery incident.

The petitioners alleged that the dreaded SARS personnel also forced them to lie against Saraki by saying he bought guns for them.

The petitioners, Alhaji Kehinde Gobir and Alhaji Shuaib Jawando dubbed their petition as ‘the SARS officers of alleged high depth of impunity and human rights abuses.’

The people, who said they spent over 73 days in police detention in both Ilorin and Abuja, added that the police accused them of collecting guns from the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to allegedly participate in the robbery operation.

In their separate testimonies, the duo said that SARS granted them ‘administrative bail’ with a stern warning to desist from associating with Saraki.

The petitioners denied being used by Saraki for criminal activities, adding that they were tortured and subjected to inhuman conditions in both Ilorin and Abuja police detentions.

They confessed to be only political supporters of Senator Saraki, adding that the police threatened them to implicate Saraki during their alleged ordeal in detention.

The petitioners also accused the disbanded SARS officers of confiscating their property, which include two Toyota Corolla, handsets and N250, 000 collected before they were granted bail.

They also urged the panel to help them redeem their battered image in the eyes of the public as they had been suggested to unwarranted stigmatization and disgrace which they said had affected their livelihood and economic fortune.

They said: “In view of the foregoing and in the interest of justice, we urge your esteemed office to intervene swiftly to this situation by returning our property as this action is tantamount to infringement on the fundamental human rights to be enjoyed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

“We did not participate in any crime nor involve in any Offa robbery killing or having any criminal records whatsoever as being wrongfully alleged by the SARS officers. We urge the panel to do the needful by facilitating the quick recovery of our property.”

In his response, the police counsel, Adekunle Iwalaye, urged the panel to dismiss the petitions in their entirety.

The chairman of the panel, retired Justice Tunde Garba, later adjourned the matter to January 13, 2021.

Robert Egbe


THE Lagos State Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS-related abuses and the Lekki Toll Gate shootings of October 20, on Tuesday said forensic experts have been hired to comb the facility.

Judge emeritus Doris Okuwobi stated that the analysts paid for by the Lagos State Government, will examine the scene for 21 days.

The Nation gathered from experts that the forensic analysts will, among others, search for evidence of live bullets or shells at the toll gate and adjourning roads.

The analysis will also be expected to search for evidence of blood from gunshot wounds.

The government, Okuwobi explained, paid a “huge amount” for their services.

She said: The forensic analysis will clear a lot of issues in the incident of October 20, 2020.

“The desire is that the panel will unearth the truth of what happened. The application by the LCC for permission to have access to the toll gate must, therefore, await the outcome of the forensic examination.”

The judge emeritus said the experts would have commenced work but for the inaccessibility to a building where the equipment needed by them were kept. She disclosed that the analysts gained access to the building yesterday.

The disclosure followed an application by the operators of the Lekki Toll Gate – Lekki Concession Company (LCC), seeking to regain access to the facility.

A counsel for the first set of the #EndSARS protesters, Mr Adesina Ogunlana, had told the panel that its enquiries suggested that it would cost no less than N25million for a forensic analysis of the toll gate.

Ogunlana’s clients submitted petitions to the panel alleging that men of the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army shot at and killed several #EndSARS protesters at the toll gate last October 20, a claim the Army denied.

The protesters had on two occasions’ secured adjournments for the purpose of hiring forensic experts to prove their claim that the army fired live bullets at the scene.

The lawyer prayed that the toll gate, which has been in the panel’s custody since it began full sitting last October 27, be not released to the LCC, pending the forensic analysis.

Granting his prayer, Justice Okuwobi – for the third time since the panel began sitting – declined LCC’s request to retake possession of the facility.

The proceedings were the panel’s 23rd sitting and its first upon resumption from the yuletide break.

The panel adjourned till January 29 for a report on the outcome of the analysis.

As part of a related proceedings, Reddington Hospital, Lekki submitted medical reports of 30 persons who accessed its services during the #EndSARS protests at the Lekki Toll Gate.

The hospital’s attendance at the panel followed a summons issued by the panel upon Ogunlana’s application.

Ogunlana’s request was based on the premise that the hospital, among several others in Lagos, “played certain roles to qualify as being part of those who can give relevant and useful information to the Panel for use to it purpose as regards the ‘Lekki shootong”’

The tribunal adjourned till January 30 for examination of the hospital’s witnesses.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has given reasons as to why he sold off his shares in Integrated Logistics Services Limited (Intels).

He accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of destroying his “legitimate business that employed thousands of Nigerians.”

But top government sources told Daily Trust Monday night that the claim by Atiku was a tissue of lies, saying President Buhari had nothing to do with his travails.


Founded in 1982 as Nicotes Services Ltd, Intels is regarded as Nigeria’s largest logistics company. It provides comprehensive integrated logistics services for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.

Atiku was said to have sold his shares to Orleal Investment Group, the parent company of Intels, for various amounts totalling over $100 million in a deal that spanned two years.


A statement on Monday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, confirmed the sale of the shares, saying the former vice president has redirected his investment to other sectors of the economy.

“Co-founder of Integrated Logistics Services Nigeria Limited (Intels), Atiku Abubakar, has been selling his shares in Intels over the years.

“It assumed greater urgency in the last five years because this government has been preoccupied with destroying a legitimate business that was employing thousands of Nigerians because of politics.

“There should be a marked difference between politics and business. Yes, he has sold his shares in Intels and redirected his investment to
other sectors of the economy for returns and creation of jobs,” the statement read.

While some experts attributed Atiku’s plight to politics, others said since the whole activity of Intels revolves around a contract between some individuals or body corporate on one side and the government on the other, any of them can call it off if he feels uncomfortable with the arrangement.


The Face-off

Daily Trust reports that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had in September 2020 terminated a boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement that the agency had with Intels, saying that the contract was illegal.

The federal government earlier in April 2020 approved the recommendations of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami, breaking the near monopoly of Mr Atiku’s Intels in the handling of oil and gas cargoes in the country.

Malami had in a letter addressed to the NPA argued that the agreement, which had allowed Intels to receive revenue on behalf of NPA for 17 years was in contravention of the Nigerian Constitution, especially because of the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the government.

Intels, however, kicked against the termination of the agreement, describing the action as “preposterous” and highly injurious to Nigeria.

How transaction took 2 years
The latest assets sold off by Atiku is said to be worth $100 million or about N38.1 billion spanning a tranche transaction of two years.

Officials at Intels, which has its operational base at Onne Port in Rivers and in Lagos, said the deal was completed in December 2020, with Atiku exiting the company after he sold off his stake.

One of the officials who spoke in confidence said the stake was sold to Orleal Investment Group, the parent company of Intels, for $100m but in three tranches of $60m, $29m and $24.1m.


PDP blames Buhari

Reacting, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, told Daily Trust in a telephone
chat on Monday that President Buhari’s policies were killing investment and the nation’s economy.

“Under President Buhari, all security, economic and social indicators have gone negative.

“The Buhari administration has not encouraged direct foreign investment and it has wrecked our economy.

“Why won’t Nigerians be fed up with the Buhari Presidency when under its watch, businesses have collapsed while over 60 million Nigerians have lost their means of livelihood due to obnoxious economic policies that scare away both domestic and foreign investors?

“So, if it comes to a point that people are now selling their investments, it is because of the poor economic policies of this administration.

“The Buhari administration is killing investment and this is having a very negative implication on the nation’s economy,” the
PDP spokesman said.

But the Secretary of the APC Caretaker Committee, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, neither picked his call nor responded to a text message sent to him by our correspondent up to the time of filing this report.


Count Buhari out

A senior government official in one of the ministries on Monday dismissed the claim by Atiku that the government of President Buhari was destroying Intels because of politics.

The official wondered why the Wazirin Adamawa was raising the issue now when the sale of his seven per cent shares in Intels was not a new thing. The top government official queried the political colouration being given to a legitimate request to a company to pay tax and remit revenue collected on behalf of the government.

The senior official said: “The sale of Atiku’s seven per cent shares in Intels is not a new thing and I wonder why they are bringing it up now.

As far back as 2017, the chairman of the company, Gabriel Volpi, came to us in the ministry to say that he and their Italian partners had bought out Atiku’s shares and had taken full ownership of the company.

“The claim that President Muhammadu Buhari is political in dealing with the company is a lie.

“Nigerians know how the NPA under the present management fought to force Intels to remit revenues and pay taxes.

“What is politics in asking you to pay tax and remit revenue collected on behalf of the government?”

Another government official said everything they said would be misconstrued, adding they would give Atiku the right answers at the appropriate time.

“But before then, if he had met his obligations nobody would fight him…If he has been responsive there is no way he
would be on the defensive,” he said.


‘Not our concern’

When contacted, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it was not bothered by the exit of Atiku from Intels. It also said the case with Intels was still in court.

The Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communication, Ibrahim Nasiru, said officials of NPA only read of Atiku’s exit from Intels in the news and that the authority is not bothered.

“I can’t comment on the alleged exit of Atiku from Intels for certain reasons.

“One, the matter is an internal issue. Secondly, we only heard of it in the news. There is no official statement to that effect and lastly, the case with Intels is still in court.

“We can’t comment on it until the suite is determined by the court,” he added.


Investors’ confidence

Some experts have allayed fears that the pullout of Atiku from Intels may threaten investors’ confidence in the Nigerian business economy.

One of them who agreed to have his name on print is a Forensic Accountant and Managing Director at Qeeva Advisory Limited, Matthew
Ogagavworia.

He said: “Unfortunately, Intels did not put much on the ground in its position on the withdrawal of Atiku.

“The government has alleged that Intels was collecting bills, which it was supposed to remit to the government, which it failed to do.

“Intels did not provide the public with any hard evidence on what they have paid or how they have paid.

“All we heard eventually from Intels was that the issues had been resolved, case closed.”

He said Atiku’s decision to sell his shares may be for reasons best known to the former vice president rather than what he termed a convenient excuse advanced in the public domain.

Ogagavworia said: “The action or decision of Atiku to sell his interest in Intels has no impact on investors’ confidence whatsoever.

“To anyone watching, it reinforces the fact that the authorities are alive to their responsibilities.”

But another expert who does not want his name mentioned said the federal government was not fair to Atiku.

“I am looking at the matter from a political perspective. Do you think the FG will force him out of the business if he were a member of the
APC?

“Don’t you think they are just after him because of the 2023 elections? If I have my way, I would have advised the government to allow the
courts to decide on the issue instead of frustrating Atiku out of the ring,” he said.

Jesusegun Alagbe

David Adewuyi groaned for a few seconds as he slowly sat on a white plastic chair at a security post at Gloryland Estate in Arepo, Ogun State. His body ached as a result of bruises allegedly inflicted upon him three days earlier by some soldiers stationed in the community. Adewuyi, a security guard at Gloryland Estate, said the offence that resulted in his beating was preventing a Hausa scavenger from entering the estate.

In the past, Adewuyi said scavengers were allowed into the estate, but they were banned from doing so about two years ago due to incessant cases of burglary allegedly traced to them.

On Monday, December 14, 2020, when a scavenger pushing a wheelbarrow, holding a toggle and carrying a bag tried to enter the estate, Adewuyi said he and his colleague stopped the scavenger.

Little did they know that their action would pit them against some soldiers stationed in the community to guard against oil pipeline vandalism.

Adewuyi said, “Around 4pm on December 14, 2020, a Hausa scavenger was about to enter the estate, but my colleague prevented him from doing so. Scavengers used to enter the estate, but the estate residents have told us not to allow them to enter the estate again due to security issues.

“So as the scavenger was about to enter the estate, my colleague told him he couldn’t enter. I was inside the security post. Despite the fact that my colleague asked the scavenger not to enter, he was defiant and entered the estate. I was about to have my bath, but when I saw what was happening, I wore my clothes again and stepped outside to tell the scavenger to leave at once.

“The scavenger claimed that a resident of the estate asked him to come. I was surprised, so I told him to call the resident for confirmation. But the porter said he had no phone with him. I was baffled because he was the one who just told us that he was called by a resident to come. Since he could not call the resident who asked him to come, I told him to return to wherever he was coming from. But he was defiant.

“One thing I noticed was that he had inhaled some substance, so I concluded that maybe because he was high on drugs, he didn’t know what he was doing. As he insisted on entering the estate, I used my hand to guide him out of the gate. But as I was doing so, he pushed me forcefully. That was how we were engaged in a fight, and I beat him that he had to lie on the ground. Before I knew what was happening, about 15 motorcyclists of northern extraction had stormed the estate’s gate. I asked them to leave, that I had no business with them. I later lifted up the scavenger from the ground and put him on one of the motorcycles, and they left.”

However, about 30 minutes later, Adewuyi said the scavenger and some motorcyclists returned to the estate’s gate with a soldier.

He said, “I had gone out on patrol, so they met only my colleague at the security post. However, because I forgot an item at the security post, I returned there. As I was about getting there, I heard the soldier asking my colleague where I was. I thought I didn’t do any wrong doing my job, so I was not afraid to approach him.

“After identifying myself, the soldier asked me to board one of the motorcycles. I told him I could not obey the directive without informing my employers. I told him to follow me to meet with my employers. The motorcyclists started speaking Hausa with the soldier. Luckily, there was a couple who understood Hausa and were inside a church near the scene of the incident. One of my colleagues went to call them, and they conversed in Hausa with the soldier and the motorcyclists. But the soldier was not receptive to them.”

Adewuyi said not long after, the soldier picked up a big stick from the ground and wanted to hit his head. But he (Adewuyi) quickly took to his heels and ran inside the estate.

The security guard said the soldier kept chasing him inside the estate, and at that point, the motorcyclists who came with him wanted to invade the estate, so his (Adewuyi’s) colleagues quickly locked the estate’s gate.

According to Adewuyi, the motorcyclists left, only for them to return later with a group of soldiers.

He said, “I learnt that the motorcyclists told a lie to the soldiers that we were beating a soldier inside the estate. However, those soldiers asked what really happened, and after meeting with some of the executives of the estate residents’ association, the matter was settled and they left.”

However, around 9pm that same day, Adewuyi said he was manning a security post when he saw three soldiers wielding AK-47s walking towards him. He said two other soldiers sat in a truck parked some metres away from the estate.

He said, “They had arrested my colleague who we were together in the morning and he was in the truck with them. They had beaten him. When the soldiers got to me, they asked me if I was the one who beat a scavenger earlier in the day. I told them that the case had already been settled. But they were angry that I made the comment.

“They ordered me to follow them and board their truck. I told them I would have to inform the executives of the estate residents’ association before leaving with them. They said it was not necessary for me to do so. I told them that if the estate security was breached because I was away, they would be held responsible. I told them this because from my experience, thieves usually rob homes in the estate when no security guard is around. They told me to shut up and forced me to board their vehicle.

“I carried my torch, and a loaf of bread and soft drink that I was eating as I boarded their truck. They said I didn’t need to eat anything because I would ‘eat better food’ where they were taking me to. I understood what they meant, but I thought, ‘Well, I’m not a criminal, so I’m not going to start crying.’ As we were going, the scavenger, who was also in the truck, said he was hungry, and the soldiers gave him my bread. The scavenger also accused me of stealing N5,000 from him.”

Thereafter, Adewuyi said he and his colleague were taken to the army base at Arepo, where they were allegedly battered by the soldiers.

He said, “They turned our faces upside down, our legs raised up, and started whipping us with clubs and hitting us with their boots. When all these were happening, the soldiers asked the scavenger to sleep on the floor. They even gave him a carton to sleep on.”

As the battering was going on around 11pm, Adewuyi said some executives of Arepo residents’ association arrived, and after some minutes of heated argument between the officials and the soldiers, the security guards were released. Due to the injuries inflicted upon him and his colleague, Adewuyi said they were taken to the hospital from the army base for treatment.



Days after the incident, the security guard said he was still in severe pains.

“I have been having headaches and back pains,” he said.

Also speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Adewuyi’s colleague, Olaniyi Adeyemo, who was also allegedly battered by the soldiers, said his body still ached.

“My legs are swollen, and I am still taking medications,” he said.

Adeyemo, who showed our correspondent a phone whose screen was broken, alleged that it was destroyed by the soldiers when they smashed the device on the ground.

“Up till now, I still ask myself why the soldiers were involved in a matter that was not in their jurisdiction. I was simply doing my work,” he added.

A witness to the incident and security guard, Oladapo Oladejo, said he was surprised that the soldiers beat his colleagues for doing their job.

“I was at the scene when the soldiers returned to arrest my colleagues in the night. It was clear that the soldiers backed the scavenger – well, maybe because most of the soldiers were of the same northern extraction as him,” he said.

Another security guard, Adewumi Olorunwa, said it was not the first time that soldiers would beat security guards in the community at their duty post.

He said, “In October 2018, a similar incident occurred when I had a similar issue with a scavenger. I prevented him from entering the estate. Some hours later, the man came with some soldiers. But by that time, I had gone for patrol. The soldiers unleashed their anger on my colleagues, ordering them to sit on the ground and beating them in the process.


“A similar incident also occurred in 2019. My observation is that the soldiers are always too quick to support scavengers and motorcycle riders of northern extraction anytime there is a confrontation between them and us security guards or other residents. They would not even demand explanations from us before harassing us.

“They would come with guns as if there was a war going on. I don’t think it’s fair that we are harassed for doing our job. The soldiers should stop being one-sided when issues like this come up.”

Meanwhile, three days after the incident, some thieves burgled about five homes at Gloryland Estate, an incident that has stirred curiosity among the residents and security guards.

Speaking with our correspondent, the 2nd Vice-President, Arepo Central Community Development Association, Mr Debo Ajiga, said they stopped scavengers and others from entering the estate due to cases of theft linked to them in the past.

“We also stopped workmen from sleeping on building sites or uncompleted buildings in the estate. It’s not only scavengers that were affected,” he said.

However, Ajiga said he was in his house on December 14 when he was called around 5pm that there was hostility between a soldier and one of the security guards.

He said, “I saw the soldier wielding a big stick and insisting that our guard must go with him. I told the soldier to allow us to settle the issue. Later, some other ACCDA officials joined us. We all saw the scavenger. He was not coherent. It was clear he was high on drugs. We asked the soldier himself to check the man, and he too confirmed that the scavenger was high on drugs.


“Our stand is that the soldiers had no right to arrest our security guards for doing what they were employed to do. Scavengers are aware that they are not allowed to enter any of the estates in Arepo again. We banned them two years ago when we discovered many cases of theft linked to them. And since we banned them from entering the estate, we have not had any incident of burglary again.

“On that Monday, we all shook hands with the soldier who was harassing our security guard and everyone departed in peace, only for me to be called again later around 9pm that some soldiers had come again and taken two of our security guards to their base. I called some other ACCDA officials and we went to the base.

“Right there at the army base, we heard serious hits on our security guards; they screamed hard. They beat them, we saw wounds on one of the guards, David’s head. He was so badly beaten that he couldn’t walk. We had to carry him to the hospital for treatment.”

Ajiga said the painful part in the matter was that less than a month earlier – in November 2020 – the ACCDA security team met with the army and naval officials in Arepo and they all agreed that the military would not intervene in civilian matters.

Ajiga said, “The soldiers and naval officials said they would face just illegal oil bunkering-related issues. We were all amazed that less than a month after the agreement, the soldiers mistreated our guards. The guards were harassed for doing their job.

“The most puzzling thing in all of these is that two days after the incident, thieves broke into five homes in Gloryland Estate and carted away laptops, smartphones and money. It’s just obvious that after the weakening of our security men by the soldiers, there was a security breach. We intend to take this up with the army authorities. We have all the necessary records, including picture evidence,” he added.

Reacting, the commander of the Nigerian Army base at Arepo, Lieutenant Kingsley Umealor, denied that his soldiers beat the security guards.

He said he personally directed his men not to touch the guards, adding that he only ordered the guards to sit on the ground pending when they would be taken to the police station.

However, Umealor told Sunday PUNCH that one Chief Balogun from Gloryland Estate called him and pleaded that the guards should not be taken to the police station.


He said, “The soldiers did not beat anybody. The security guards have no right to beat a civilian, no matter what. The (Hausa) boy did not breach the estate security. He was only looking for what to scavenge. But the security guards, five of them, beat him up and collected N5,000 from him. I have the video of the boy who was beaten. He came to my base, rolling on the floor and complaining of stomach pains. I have the video evidence.

“On seeing his condition, I asked for his family members because he needed to be taken to the hospital. Then, I went to arrest two of the five security guards who beat him; the other three guards ran away. I brought the guards to the base and they testified to the story. One of them was even the one who confessed that they were five who beat the boy. I authorised my soldiers not to touch any of the guards. I only asked them to sit on the ground.”

Umealor said the security guards’ accusation of being beaten and having body pains “is an act of malingering,” insisting that no soldier beat them.

He added, “I was to take the case to Warewa Police Station and hand it over to the police, but one Chief Balogun called me and pleaded that I should not take the guards to the police. He said they would handle the matter internally. Else, the guards would have been taken to the police station. So, no soldier touched anybody.”

Ishilove:
You've been married 5 years and you still look this young? Kudos to you, unlike these agbayas looking for excuses not to settle down. They come online to be ranting redpill and marriage na scam. They are looking for whose daughter to impregnate without the responsibility of commitment.

May your home continue to be blessed. You have a beautiful family

FOR the people in Ibarapa in Oke Ogun Area, Oyo State, it is one day one trouble. A day hardly passes without a story of someone being killed or attacked. Such is the situation in the area that the people now sleep with one eye closed. Sadly, the female population is most vulnerable. It is as if there is no end in sight to the plight of the residents of the villages in that part of Oyo State.

Some weeks back, the murder of Dr. Fatai Aborode, the CEO of of Kunfayakun Green Treasure Limited and former House of Representatives candidate under the banner of the Accord Party in the 2015 general election, again brought to fore the worsening security situation in the area and the South West in general.

Aborode was said to have been murdered near his farm around Apodun Village in Igangan, Ibarapa North West Local Council Development Area by suspected herdsmen while leaving his farm on a motorbike with his farm manager at about 4 pm.

Describing Aborode’s death as painful, Akeem Adeoye, an indigene of the town, recalled that the victim only returned to Nigeria from Germany about two years ago to start a farm.

“This year alone, he cultivated 300 acres of soya beans, 200 acres of maize and 100 acres of cashew. It is something that had never happened in the history of our local government,” Adeoye told The Nation.

He reckoned that the feat alone would have provided employment for a lot of the youths in the community.

Speaking in the same vein, Pa Ganiyu, a supervisor at the farm, who was said to have been with the late Aborode some 30 minutes before he was murdered, described the deceased man as a good Muslim.

Aware of the security situation in his domain, one would have expected Aborode to go about with security details, but Pa Adeoye said he (Aborode) had no reason to keep a retinue of security aides because “he was a man of peace and extremely generous.”

According to Adeoye, the workers on the farm have since returned to continue the harvest on the instruction of Aborode’s wife.

He said: “The woman begged us to return so that the soya beans would not spoil. On the day of the incident, we had harvested one ton.

“His death really hit me. If not for the wife, I would not want to go back to the farm. The man invested billions of naira in the farm.”

Also speaking with The Nation, the manager of the farm, Olanrewaju Bolanle Saakin, who was with the CEO of Kunfayakun Green Treasure Limited before he was murdered, said they were attacked by four men. He, however, would not be categorical as to the tribe of their assailants, saying: “Only God knows what no man knows. All I can tell you is that they spoke Fulani.”

Olanrewaju said in a move that looked like a planned attack, the first thing the attackers did was to separate him from his boss and make them run in opposite directions. He said that some of the attackers held him in one part of the bush, the others took the late Aborode to another direction where he was murdered.

Another source said the late Aborode actually engaged his attackers in a fierce battle before he was eventually subdued. Olanrewaju said the attack was not anticipated because the occasional attacks previously recorded in the area were limited to cattle rustling and were not targeted at farmers.

To prove that there had been a cordial relationship between the farmers and the herdsmen, he said when the farmers had poor maize harvest this season because of lack of rain, the herdsmen were invited to graze their cattle on the farm in order to clear the land.

A source told the reporter that Olanrewaju was arrested and whisked to Ibadan, Oyo State for questioning shortly after he spoke with The Nation.

Attacks on women

Some months before Aborode was shot dead, a female farmer and certified pharmacist, Mrs Muyibat Taiwo, who dwells in Akoya, one of the villages in Ibarapa, was also attacked by some people believed to be herdsmen but she escaped by a whisker.

Before then, there were said to have been several unreported attacks on women. Her case, however, attracted attention because of the serious efforts made to draw attention to several attacks in that part of Oyo State.

Narrating how Mrs Taiwo was attacked, a close relation of the 50-year-old woman said she was one of the most popular personalities in the community.

According to the source, she was always in high demand among the people in the community because aside from selling medicines to the Fulani and their Yoruba hosts, she is also a farmer and it was on the farm that she was attacked.

A family source said but for providence she would have been killed by some of the herdsmen she had helped in the past.

Recalling the circumstances of the attack, the source said: “It was around 1 pm and she was working on her farm when two herdsmen passed and they exchanged greetings. Apparently, one of them was very familiar with her. They said they were looking for their lost cow, but mama told them that she had not seen anything like that.

“She is familiar with almost all the herdsmen in the area because she treats them often. Whenever they had injuries in the bush, they would come to her shop for treatment.

“When they came back, they told her that they still had not found their cow and Mama prayed for them that they would find it.

“Unknown to her, one of them had come back quietly and lurked in the bush. According to Mama, it was a kind of shadow she saw that jolted her because she was backing the road.

“She asked what the matter was, and it was that question that brought the beast in the herdsman out.

“He said you are the one that carried our cow and today we will butcher you.

“Mama said she pleaded that they should spare her for the sake of her children. But rather than listen, the herdsman drew the dagger and wanted to drive it into her forehead, but Mama used her hand to cover her head, so instead of the herdsman’s target, it was her phalanges that he cut.”

The source said as Mrs Taiwo was shouting, her children who had come with her to the farm also joined in raising the alarm. This attracted sympathisers and the woman was rescued.

He said: “Immediately the herdsman macheted her, he ran away, thinking that she had died.

“And while they were running away, they went to attack another guy popularly called Biggy. They ambushed him and he dropped his motorcycle and took to his heels. Seeing that they could not catch up with him, they returned and set fire on his bike.”

Unfortunately for the herdsmen, the phone of one of them dropped while he was running. The following day the police came to the crime scene, they found the phone.

“It is three months now and we have not heard anything from the police,” the source said in frustration.

The Nation gathered since Taiwo’s case there had been several others in the area.


Why attacks persist in Ibarapa

The absence of security operatives in the area are believed to have predisposed farmers to attacks. The Nation gathered that most farmers in the community depend on the vigilante groups for their security.

Speaking on the security situation in Ibarapa, a man who preferred to be identified simply as Yinka said if there are no enemies within, a stranger cannot do any harm.


“I suspect some level of conspiracy within the community,” he said.

The Nation gathered that it is the natives who come to the police station to bail them when some of the criminal elements are arrested.

“Because they have properties with some of these indigenes, they believe it is a licence to do whatever they want.

“They now see it as a culture to machete Yoruba men and women. Go to Igangan and adjoining villages and do a survey, you will hardly find five out of 10 Yoruba men with a complete set of fingers. Many who are with a complete set of fingers are without ear, and we have been shouting and shouting about this.”

The Nation also gathered that apart from constant attacks on indigenes in this part of Oyo State, kidnapping is currently at its peak.

“Recently, a friend’s relation was kidnapped and the family had to pay N7 million as ransom. That is how miserable and harrowing our lives have been,” a source in the community told The Nation, adding that they had cried to the state government to no avail.

He said that many of the affluent people in the community had been dealt with by the criminal elements among the herders in one way or the other.

“The women can no longer go to the farm without their husbands. If they do, there is no assurance that they would come back in one piece. And for the farmers here, the fear of the Fulani is the beginning of wisdom. They come to your farm and tell you that they want to graze on it. Any attempt to resist them, they will machete you.”

To make the matter worse, some of the leaders of the town, whenever there is a problem, rather than address it, they prefer to cover for these herders. A few of them are married to the herdsman and most times, their judgments lack objectivity.

According to Yinka, some of the leaders, because of the alliance they have through marriage, sell land to them indiscriminately.

“This is the laxity they exploit. So, any time there is a problem, the sing song is, ‘It is a local thing; we will settle it.’ That is what they always tell the police.

“The monarchs are helpless because they have taken too much from them. The Seriki of the Fulani is as powerful as a Yoruba monarch.

“Things are getting worse in Igangan. There is no difference between the Yoruba and the herdsman. They have almost outgrown us in population. That has been the case from Igboora down to Igangan and Elekoko. The rural women are the ones feeling the pains most.”



Monarch denies shielding herdsmen

Reacting to the incessant attacks by herdsmen in the area, the traditional ruler of Iganganland, Ashiganaga, Lasisi Adeoye, said efforts were being made to arrest the insecurity situation in that part of Oyo State. He said consultations were ongoing and peace and security meetings were being held within and outside the town to prevent future occurrence.

While recognising the fact that some of the cows belonging to Fulani herders sometimes destroy the farmlands, he said it was not possible for the community to drive them away as they had been around for long.

He denied the claim that traditional rulers are shielding the herders, saying: “Most times when they enter the town, they enter at night. You know they (herders) settle in the bush. They don’t rent houses. It is only when the crisis has escalated that we get to hear anything. That is the problem we are facing.

“But anytime their cows destroy farmland, they are made to account for it.

“We are working on it and we are trying to stop the incessant attacks.

“We are meeting, we are dialoguing and we are working on how to curtail the crisis. They come to us for meetings.”



We’ll call them to order — OPC

The Oyo State chapter of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) said that it would not fold its arms and watch the continued killing of other innocent citizens of the state by herdsmen.

According to a report, OPC said it was disturbed with the way the herdsmen were disturbing the conducive atmosphere in the state, adding that the OPC was battle ready to curtail the excesses of the so called herdsmen in the state.

The group said it was putting a lot of strategies in place to make sure that citizens Oyo State can sleep with their two eyes closed.



‘Why it may be difficult for Amotekun, OPC to fight insecurity’

A security expert and a certified golden member of the International Security Association, Switzerland, Mr Jackson Lekan Ojo, said it may be difficult for both the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Operation Amotekun (Leopard) and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) to win the war against insecurity in the South-West

According to him, the two groups do not have the required tools to do the job. “What are they going to use. Can the defenseless defend people?” he wondered.

He said the two outfits do not have the necessary encouragement to arrest the trend, warning that the people being engaged to fight crime could be tools to sabotage the system if they get tired.

Ojo said: “OPC and Amotekun cannot do much to arrest the trend. Who are the OPC boys? The OPC boys are not gainfully employed, the OPC boys are not traders.

“I want to clearly tell you that the OPC boys are those that are jobless; they have nothing doing. If they are engaged in one form of employment or the other, I don’t think they will have time for OPC.

“OPC is a voluntary organization. Nobody is paying them and nobody is appreciating them. They are trying their best, but a time is coming when the level of economic crisis will hit them hard. Most of them will withdraw, and where are they withdrawing to?”


He said the two cannot stop criminality in the South West

He observed that the police too do not have the necessary encouragement, “and the military are overwhelmed with what they are seeing in the North.”

While describing the security challenge as a national problem, he warned that nobody should expect anything magical from the police in the South West, because it is a national issue.

He noted that police in the South West are not being funded better than any other part of this country. “The police in the South-West are not better equipped than the police in other regions. The police in the South-West are not better motivated than those in other parts of this country,” he said.

He advised those little things like accommodation, uniform, booths, operational vehicles and other things that have to do with the welfare of the police to be taken care of in order for them to perform optimally.

By Ebuka Onyeji

The frantic bid to save Femi Odekunle from COVID-19 complications yielded donations and pledges of over 170 cylinders of oxygen from his family, friends and close associates, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

Mr Odekunle, a professor of criminology and member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), battled the highly infectious disease for 12 days.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the professor was left gasping for air during his treatment due to shortages in oxygen supply at the isolation centre at the Abuja University Teaching Hospital Gwagwalada. He died on Tuesday evening at the facility.

In a bid to save him, his friends, largely top government officials and politicians rallied for oxygen from far and near to support his breathing, those familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES.

This resulted in the donation of over 170 oxygen cylinders by friends and associates. It is unclear if some of the pledges were eventually redeemed since the professor died before a good number of the equipment are delivered.

The hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Bissallah Ekele, admitted there was shortage of oxygen in the facility, a situation he blamed on the recent surge in coronavirus infections officially declared the second wave.

He, however, said Mr Odekunle died because of the “severity of his infection.”

The medical director, in a text message Thursday afternoon to this reporter, said “when we had the crises last week, some patients and other Hospitals in the FCT supported us with cylinders of Oxygen but that was resolved as soon as the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 waged into the matter and we now have adequate supply!”

Scramble for Oxygen

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, signing the Y2021 Appropriation Bill into Law at Lagos House, Marina, on Thursday, December 31, 2020.

According to details obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, there were multiple interventions by the governors of Lagos and Osun, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Adegboyega Oyetola, the health ministry, the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, and the Air Force to procure oxygen for Mr Odekunle.

Rauf Aregbesola, the minister of interior, led the intervention process, our sources said.

While efforts to get oxygen began over the weekend, many of them did not arrive before Tuesday evening when Mr Odekunle died.

Our sources said the Gwagwalada isolation centre hurriedly sent 100 big cylinders, through the efforts of the Nigerian Air Force, for refill in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. Those were billed to be delivered to Abuja on Tuesday.

The facility was also to receive about 50 big cylinders from Jos on Tuesday. It is unclear who made that donation.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that 10 oxygen cylinders were delivered to Mr Odekunle’s bedside by a donor identified as NHA late Monday.

Also, four big cylinders were stationed at Air Force base, Ikeja, Lagos, to be flown to Mr Odekunle’s ward on Tuesday morning.

Another 10 big oxygen cylinders were also arranged by Olu Aina, a professor, and Mr Aregbesola, from Osogbo, and were scheduled to be flown to Abuja by special helicopter.

This newspaper also learnt that one big cylinder was donated by the Nigerian Air Force and was delivered to Mr Odekunle’s ward by his son, Dayo, and an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

“A lot of the oxygen procured for Professor Odekunle were not delivered before he died,” an associate of the late University teacher said. “I think in the interest of humanity, his friends and family should ensure that all the oxygen cylinders donated and pledged are delivered to the isolation centre to save the lifes of patients still alive.”

In a statement he released after Mr Odekunle’s passage, former Minister Olu Agunloye said the late professor’s “friends rose stoutly to his support … but it was just too late.”

“Top Government functionaries amongst them led by Hon Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola along with President’s Spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, SGF Boss Mustapher and two sitting Governors tore through bureaucracies and red tapes and pulled stunts but the damages to Femi’s health appeared to have gone too far for remedy,” Mr Agunloye said.

President Muhammadu Buhari addressed Nigerians on the first day of the new year.

Most Nigerians are actually looking forward to a better year, having passed through a very turbulent 2020.

In the broadcast, Buhari outlined the government’s plans for Nigerians in the new year.

We have picked out 12 prominent things he said in his broadcast below:

1. Borders are open to neighbours ready for fair, equitable business
President Muhammadu Buhari said the message to the West African neighbours with the recent opening of the country’s borders was that Nigeria was “fully open” for those willing to conduct business in a fair and equitable way.

He said: “With the recent opening of our borders, we expect that the pent-up demand of legitimate cross-border and international trade will boost the fortunes of the many small businesses and agricultural enterprises that depend on Nigeria’s trade and commerce.”

2. Challenges will be faced head-on
The President restated his pledge to ensure that the ongoing challenges in the country are faced head-on with renewed determination and with all the appropriateness and urgency required.

3. 2020, a very tough year
President Buhari said 2020 was a very tough year that put “our national resilience and ability to survive these tough times” to test due to the challenges posed on collective humanity by the novel COVID-19 pandemic.

The President, however, said that it gave renewed hope that “we will again brave any storms that lay ahead in 2021 and beyond.”

He said 2020 came with a lot of challenges ranging from security and economic issues across the regions to “understandable protests that were mainly led by our youths and served notice to the demand for police reforms and accountability.”

4. The future of the Nigerian youth
Buhari, who used the occasion of New Year to reaffirm his commitment to the people of Nigeria, especially the youth who needed collective encouragement and support, stressed the need to secure the future of the youth in order to secure the nation.

“As a Government, we are committed to actively engaging with the creative energies of our young people.

“In this regard, we will partner with the legislature to develop an enabling environment to turn their passions into ideas that can be supported, groomed and scaled across regions.

“This will create vast opportunities in fintech, agriculture, business process startups and in the entertainment industry,” he added.

5. Buhari pledges to reorganise armed forces, police
Buhari said: “Some of the key priority areas we would direct our attention and strengths to include: “re-energizing and reorganizing the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police with a view to enhance their capacity to engage, push back and dismantle the operations of both internal and external extremist and criminal groups waging war against our communities in some parts of the country.”

6. Diversification agenda has reduced food inflation
“On the economy, our focus is on revamping the economy through the national economic diversification agenda that supports the primary goal of national food self-sufficiency.

“This has helped reduce the growing food related inflationary figures and have in considerable measure positively impacted our food security status during the long months of the pandemic lock down.”

7. ‘We will eradicate corruption through collaboration’
“On the anti-corruption drive of our administration, we have recorded substantial gains so far and this year, we are committed to continuing along the path of eradicating corruption, through collaboration with all the arms of Government to effectively prosecute this fight.”

8. No grudges
He said: “I am aware that for some of our compatriots, the progress we have registered since the inception of this administration is not nearly as fast or as sufficient as they would wish.

“I do not begrudge them their views in so far as they signify a wish, in which we all share, for only the very best for our country.

“Nevertheless, I call upon all Nigerians to carefully recall the circumstances of our coming to office, the facts on the ground and the resources at our disposal since 2015 with the accomplishments of this administration.”

9. Reinforcing hope in 2021

President Buhari said his administration will use the year 2021 to “work to reinforce the hopes of fellow Nigerians in the vision of a united and progressive Nigeria.”

10. Boko Haram, others thwarted efforts to improve quality of life
He said in parts of the country where chronic poverty, social exclusion, and disillusionment among sections of the youth were already a problem, the cycles of violence that have been unleashed by mindless groups like Boko Haram and others have thwarted the efforts of government to undertake the social policy and associated investments that could make a huge difference in the quality of life of our citizens.

11. Persistent violence threatened inter-community harmony
He said the persistence of various forms of violence has meant that in the most affected parts of the country, the fabric of inter-communal harmony woven through years of investment of effort at building trust, mutual respect, and harmony has been threatened.

12. Stopping terror attacks needs more proactive, pre-emptive postures
Buhari said the administration recognised that; “we rapidly have to move to a more proactive and preemptive postures” to ensure that terror attacks on citizens “do not become a norm.”

“Our administration is fully aware of the responsibility we have to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians, and we will not relent in learning and adapting to changing threats to our national security and civic wellbeing,” he added.

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A 20-year old mother, Faith Alhassan has been arrested in Kaduna for killing her one-year-old daughter, allegedly to enable her to marry her former boyfriend who was not ready to accept her with a baby.

Faith, who is a Secondary School certificate holder, however, said that, until she carried out the dastardly act and saw the dead body of her daughter, she did not know what she did.

Kaduna State Police command disclosed that on 28th December 2020 at about 0700hrs, the corpse of a baby girl was found in a well at Gantan village of Kachia local government area of the State.

The police further informed that, upon receipt of the report, an investigation was carried out and it was discovered that the mother of the dead baby girl ‘Faith Alhassan’ was the culprit.

According to the police, the culprit went into Gantan village with the baby girl to meet her former boyfriend by the name Dolan Yakubu whom she jilted years back.

She equally told the police that it was when Dolan’s father complained of the baby that she quietly in the night went and dumped the baby into the well where the baby died apparently for her to be able to marry her ex-boyfriend.


The culprit however denied her earlier statement told the police when she simply said she doesn’t know what came over her when interviewed.

Speaking to journalists at the Kaduna State Police Command headquarters where she is currently undergoing investigation, she however denied that she killed her daughter because she wanted to marry her former boyfriend whom she had jilted some years back.

The young lady who said she stays with her grandmother, also disclosed she doesn’t know the whereabouts of her dead daughter’s father.

When asked why she was at the police command, she said, “I am here because of my daughter that I threw into the well and she died, I don’t know what came over me when I carried out the act”.

Asked whether it was because she wanted to marry her ex-boyfriend that she killed her daughter, she said ” I did not kill her because I want to marry, I just don’t know what entered me, I am not happy for doing it” as she burst into tears.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Police Commissioner CP Umar M. Muri said, she will be arraigned in court upon completion of the investigation.

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Photo of the journalist

Nigeria’s secret police known as the State Security Service (SSS) on Wednesday, arrested a journalist with an independent broadcast station, Television Continental (TVC) in Lagos.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered the journalist, Bukola Samuel-Wemimo, the anchor of Fireworks, a political programme on TVC, was detained unlawfully at the agency’s Magodo office in Lagos

Narrating her ordeals on Twitter, Mrs Samuel-Wemimo said it was the practice of the SSS operatives in the axis to intimidate commuters during gridlock.

“I am being detained unlawfully here by the @StateDeptDSS on CMD road Magodo for doing no wrong. It is the practice of the DSS to stop traffic when it builds up to their office from the center for management and development. My driver crossed unknowingly, we explained to them that it was unintended.”

“I even told them that it happened to me before when I drove myself and I parked immediately apologizing. But obviously they don’t like outspoken Nigerians. By stopping traffic in front of their office beside cmd road, @StateDeptDSS contributes to the Gridlock.”

She explained that while it is good that the secret police are securing their area, they are causing more harms to drivers.

“If the intention is to secure their area, it is good, but the collective safety of drivers is also important. The first DSS official had actually let us go, but another farther off who wants to prove tough has detained us. I will not be intimidated.”

Mrs Samuel-Wemimo said as soon as she started tweeting about the irregularities of the operatives, she was released.

“As soon as I started tweeting the overzealous officials went into their office. They thought I would come begging. I refuse to be intimidated @dss_nigeria stopping traffic during gridlock in front of your office doesn’t make sense. Newcomers to the route will inevitably skip it. And it is also not a safe approach to security. ”

“I have been released. I refuse to be intimidated. Thank you everyone. I have been released. Happy new year!”, she wrote.

The spokesperson of the SSS, Peter Afunaya, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES calls and text messages asking if the force is aware of alleged bullying by its operatives in Mogodo area.

The SSS is notorious for the abuse of fundamental human rights. It also has a penchant for disobeying court orders.

The SSS is headed by a Director-General who is chosen by the president and reports directly to him.

Mr Buhari hardly condemns the illegal activities of the operatives and his appointees have repeatedly defended the crass disobedience for human rights and court orders by the secret police.

A former governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday accused the state Governor, Hope Uzodinma, of destroying the All Progressives Congress in the state.

Okorocha said that he boycotted the APC South-East zonal stakeholders meeting which held in the Imo State Government House in Owerri because Uzodinma was indulging “political jamboree.”

The former governor who spoke to our Correspondent in Owerri through his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, on Thursday said that Uzodinma was demarketing the party in the state.

Okorocha’s aide said, “How many people did you see at the meeting? How many House of Reps members were there? Did you see Senator Rochas Okorocha, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and other leaders of the party there?

“It is almost one year since Hope Uzodinma became governor and he has not called any APC leadership meeting in Imo state. At the appropriate time, we will separate truth from falsehood. That meeting was a political jamboree.

“All those who brought APC to South-East were not there and you called it APC stakeholders meeting. We challenge them to bring the 2015 and 2019 booth results. Okorocha had produced Senators, Reps members and House of Assembly members for APC.

“Politics is a game of numbers and at the right time truth shall be unveiled. Hope Uzodinma inherited a sound APC in Imo state but sadly APC is no longer breathing in Imo state. The truth of the matter is that APC only exists in government house in Imo state.”

Barely a week after a 300-level student of Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Gbenga Favour Olaoye Akanbi, poisoned himself to death for being defrauded to the tune of N300 million in a forex deal, a student of Ogun State Institute of Technology (OGITECH) has reportedly committed suicide for being dumped by his girlfriend.

The deceased, simply identified as Nonso, was a fresh National Diploma graduate of the institution from the department of Businesses Administration.

According to a close friend who confirmed the incident, the deceased had recently sent his girlfriend, one Miracle, to Dubai, “but Miracle went ahead and got married to another man.

One of his friend posted on his status that as they left the hostel for home to celebrate Christmas last week, Nonso did not go with them.

“While he was in school, he posted ‘Miracle Way’ on his WhatsApp status. We called his number for days but it was switched off. Some of us were not worried about that because we thought maybe he wanted to be left alone by himself. It was when some friends contacted his mom who told them that she had not seen or heard from her son for days that we became worried.

“Some friends went back to his hostel and broke the door to see what was happening but to their surprise, he was found lying lifeless on the floor and had started decomposing. He was sad to see Nanso kill himself because his girlfriend dumped him for another man,” the source said.

This is coming a day after a young lady, Ohirenua Giwa-Amu, committed suicide. Ohirenua had recently written an open letter to her father and popular pastor, Femi Giwa-Amu, for allegedly repeatedly raping her when she was seven years old. Ohirenua’s death was confirmed by her friends who also wrote several tributes on her social media pages.

The lady’s uncle, Ozolua Giwa-Amu, also confirmed her death in a Facebook post. He said: “On behalf of the SIO Giwa-Amu family and specifically Obafemi Ehimigbai Giwa-Amu (my elder brother), family of Evbiobe (Sabongida-Ora) Edo State, I state the following: it is with the utmost regret it falls on me to announce that our most beautiful daughter, Ohirenua Giwa-Amu, youngest daughter of Femi and Ngozi, passed away last night. This is a most heartbreaking day for us all.

“On behalf of her parents, my mother, brothers, sisters, and the whole family, I ask that you kindly say a prayer, light a candle, sing a worship song for our little girl, that she may find eternal rest. Renua was a beautiful soul, may the Almighty have mercy upon her and receive her soul. Renua, with so much pain, please know we will love you forever. I thank you all.”

There is disquiet among Kano State Government workers and pensioners, over an alleged reversal of N18,000 minimum wage by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

DAILY NIGERIAN recalls that Mr Ganduje had approved the implementation of the N30,600 new minimum wage since December, 2019.

But six months after implementation, the governor slashed the salaries of the civil servants by 10% to 23%, prompting labour unions to issue a two-week ultimatum to the state government.

After series of meetings with the organised labour, an agreement was reached that the state government should continue the payment of the N30,600 minimum wage, but would slash the arrears from January to May.

However, DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that the governor failed to respect the agreement and even reverted to old salary regime of N18,000 as minimum wage.

In November and December, sources told our correspondent that the governor did not only pay the salary using the old minimum wage model, he also slashed the monthly pension of retired civil servants by 15 percent.

Speaking to newsmen in Kano, the state chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Kabiru Ado-Minjibir, said the government did not consult the organised labour union before reverting to old minimum wage regime.

He noted that at no point did the labour unions reach agreement with the state government to pay salaries using the N18,000 minimum wage model during their meetings with the committee set up by the governor.

According to him, the union was dismayed to have realised that the government had cut the December salary, even after meeting with the committee last week to resolve the issue of salary cut for the month of November.

Mr Minjibir said: “After we noticed the salary cut for the month of May, we issued a two-week ultimatum to the government, which then set up a committee to resolve the matter.

“After the meetings, we had agreed with the government’s reason for cutting the salaries but on condition that the arrears would be paid subsequently. At no point did we agree that the N18, 000 minimum wage models be reverted to.

“Even last week, in the wake of salary cut for the month of November, we sat with the committee and reached an agreement.

“But, to our dismay, as we wrote our position that we stick to the payment of salary on new regime of N30, 600, even before the letter reach the government, we heard that it had again slashed the salaries for December,” Mr Ado-Minjibir lamented.

The chairman, therefore, stated that the NLC and its sister unions in the state did not agree with the salary cut, disclosing that the organised labour unions would soon meet and take action against the governor’s decision, in accordance with the provisions of the law.

On his part, a pensioner in the state, Mohammed Idris, lamented that instead of Mr Ganduje to continue on the five-year periodic review of pension regime, the governor had resorted to slashing the money at the expense of the “weak” retired civil servants.

Mr Idris reminded Mr Ganduje that his predecessors, governors Ibrahim Shekarau and Rabiu Kwankwaso had implemented upward review of pension in the state, lamenting that the governor had failed to follow suit.

He lamented that Mr Ganduje, who failed to implement the upward review of pension in 2017 and also refused to increase the pension after implementing the new minimum wage regime, “had now resorted to slashing the already negligible amount of the pensioners”.

“This is a sheer injustice and insensitivity to the plight of the masses by the governor. Your predecessors had increased pension for the retired civil servants in this state. Instead of you to further increase it, you are now slashing it, what an injustice.

“The governor has no reason to slash our money. He can’t tell us that there is no money in the government coffers. If he says so, let him tell us where he took the series of bailout given by President Muhammadu Buhari to offset pension, salary and contract backlogs. Where are they?

“Where is Paris Club refund fund? Let me tell you that Ganduje has not executed projects of even one percent of the bailout he had received from the government house.

“I am an APC member, but these people are justifying the notion that they are just siphoning public funds for their own use. They are trying to loot Kano treasury without executing meaningful projects,” Mr Idris alleged.

When contacted for comment, the spokesperson of the office of the Head of Civil Service, Hajiya Bintu, said she was not authorized to speak on the matter.

She added that only the Head of Civil Service could speak on the issue but she is attending a meeting at the Government House.

Also, the spokesman of the Kano State Pension Board, Umar Kurmawa, did not return the call placed to him by DAILY NIGERIAN correspondent as at the time of filing this report.

The International Criminal Police Organisation, popularly called Interpol, has traced a €500,000 COVID-19 fraud to Nigeria.

The organisation made this known in a statement on its website titled, ‘Unmasked: International COVID-19 fraud exposed’.

According to the statement, the scheme was coordinated using compromised emails, advance-payment fraud, and money laundering.

It stated that the fraud was uncovered by financial institutions and authorities across Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, as part of a case coordinated by INTERPOL.

The statement read in part, “In mid-March, as a number of countries were going into lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, German health authorities contracted two sales companies in Zurich and Hamburg to procure EUR 15 million worth of face masks. With a global shortage on medical supplies complicating usual business channels, the buyers followed new leads in the hopes of securing the masks.

“It all started with an email address and website which appeared to be linked to a legitimate company in Spain selling face masks. Unbeknownst to the buyers, the site was a fake and their legitimate email addresses had been compromised.

“Through email correspondence, the company initially claimed to have 10 million masks, only for the delivery to fall through. As consolation, they then referred the buyers to a ‘trusted’ dealer in Ireland. The Irish middleman promised to put them in touch with a different supplier, this time in the Netherlands.

“Claiming to have a strong commercial relationship with the company, the man provided assurances that the alleged Dutch company would be able to supply the 10 million face masks. An agreement for an initial delivery of 1.5 million masks was made, in exchange for an up-front payment of EUR 1.5 million.

“The buyers initiated a bank transfer to Ireland and prepared for delivery, which involved 52 lorries and a police escort to transport the masks from a warehouse in the Netherlands to the final destination in Germany.

“Just before the delivery date, the buyers were informed that the funds had not been received and that an emergency transfer of EUR 880,000 straight to the Dutch supplier was required to secure the merchandise.

“The buyers sent the wire transfer and the masks never arrived. It turns out the Dutch company existed, but their website had also been cloned. There was no official record of the order.

“When the buyers realized they had been duped, they immediately contacted their bank in Germany, which in turn contacted INTERPOL’s Financial Crimes unit, setting off a race to intercept the funds and follow the money trail.

“The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service quickly tracked down the EUR 880,000 which had been transferred from the German company. Nearly EUR 500,000 of those funds had already been sent to the United Kingdom, all of which was destined for an account in Nigeria.”

The Nigerian Diaspora Movement (NDM) said the COVID-19 pandemic truncated the annual social lifestyles for many Nigerians in the U.S. in 2020.

The Chairperson of NDM, Apollos Nwauwa, made this known in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

The NDM comprises 20 million Nigerians in the diaspora working together to build a progressive nation where every citizen is empowered to become and give the best.

Mr Nnauwa, who is also the Secretary-General and Public Relations Officer, African Diaspora Congress (ADC), said Nigerians indeed missed the fanfare often experienced during yuletide.

According to him, instead of thinking about home-bound travels this year, Nigerians in the diaspora have been frozen to a standstill by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Nnauwa said: “Every year, come rain, come sunshine, Nigerians travel home to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their families and friends back home.

“From January of every year, Nigerians in the U.S. begin to save money to travel home, by April, almost all international flights to Nigeria are usually sold out for December travels, due to the rush to purchase tickets.

“This is usually to secure reasonable fares and guarantee seats on home-bound flights, but COVID-19 pandemic has truncated this annual migratory pattern and social lives for many Nigerians in the U.S.

“Given the huge death tolls, Nigerians, like other U.S. residents, have spent the better part of this year locked inside their homes just to stay safe.”


FCT hospitals not running skeletal services — Official

He described COVID-19 as a deadly disease that kills with reckless abandon in the U.S., saying Nigerians are not only stuck there, but are now facing untold depression which the pandemic engendered.

“For the first time, Nigerians had no choice than to spend their Christmas in solitude in the U.S. with no fanfare, with no friends and larger family.

“For many, 2020 Christmas is the worst ever for Nigerian and African Diasporans; it is typically lonely and dreadful, the same lonesomeness will mark the upcoming New Year celebration.

“It is certainly a year that most Nigerians and Africans in diaspora will prefer to forget, though not even in a hurry because of its long-lasting devastations and deprivations,” he added.

The NDM chair said millions of people, including Nigerians in the U.S., had been laid off from work, just as breadlines had gotten longer and domestic crises worsened.

Moreover, he said, endless safety measures truncated all manner of celebrations, not only in the U.S. but worldwide.

“This includes usual annual 4th of July Independence carnival, thanksgiving celebration, Christmas festivity and New Year blast; no doubt what COVID-19 has done in history is to lose a year.

“Since the beginning of the year, almost all social events and activities in the U.S. have been paralysed by COVID-19 and its associated repercussions.

“Nigerians and Africans have been affected in extraordinary ways; traditionally Africans, especially Nigerians, are socially active and boisterous people with unusual penchant for communal lifestyles and merriment.

“Unlike typical individualistic Americans, Nigerians in diaspora do not like isolation, but naturally showy, therefore one can better understand the impact of loneliness forced upon them by the pandemic,” he added.

African Diaspora Congress is a coalition of the various groups and concerned citizens from Africa and African Diaspora.

(NAN)

A governance and accountability group, Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in Diaspora, AESID, has criticised Governor David Umahi for allegedly donating no fewer than 300 25kg bags of branded rice to a serving Federal Director as Christmas largess.

DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the said bags of rice which was meant to be delivered to a serving Federal Director was mistakenly delivered to Human Rights Radio, Abuja.

In a viral video, a distressed driver who reportedly conveyed the said rice from the Ebonyi State capital, Abakaliki, to Abuja was seen lamenting over non-payment of his money because he delivered the rice to a wrong address.

The boss of the Radio station popularly known as Berekete family, Ahmed Musa, was also seen in the video footage paying the driver N50,000 as his delivery money as well as donating to the driver 10 bags of the rice he delivered.

Ordinary President, as he is fondly called, lambasted the state government for giving out the branded 25kg rice to just one rich individual when poor civil servants in the state were living in abject poverty.

Issuing a statement on Monday in Abuja, the AESID President, Ambassador Pascal Oluchukwu, described the incident as one of the, “uncommon but shameful Father Christmas behaviour of Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Umahi and his aides”.

The group said the governor’s action has betrayed every logic of compassion, adding: “How Ebonyi State government would give out less than 5kg bags of rice per two civil servants in some cases and one bag of the same less than 5kg in others to it’s workers but send a massive 300 bags of rice to just a single Director in the Federal Civil service who ordinarily can afford what to eat this yuletide.

“We also recall that the same Governor Umahi promised civil servants N10, 000 each as their Christmas bonus- a pledge, we reliably gathered is yet to be redeemed as at the time of making this Press release. Yet, the greedy and over-ambitious Umahi is expending our very limited resources on those who may not have need for it just to curry the favour of the northern oligarchs in his new defection enterprise.

“This despicable outing proves our claims right that Governor Umahi definitely orchestrated the abject poverty that is now the order of the day in our dear State. Governor Umahi has no human feelings at all and does not feel any bit the pains and agonies of Ebonyi people.

“We condemn this shameful looting and wastage of Ebonyi’s scarce resources by a man who claims to be a father but has preferred to focus his attention on mere frivolities while using multiple decorative flyovers to deceive some gullible Nigerians. Our people are truly suffering deprivation under the Umahi regime that is battling to convince the world that Ebonyi has become an Eldorado because of his numerous deceptive cosmetic projects.”

The group, therefore, called on the state government to speak up and tender an unreserved apology to Ebonyi people within 48 hours, adding that silence won’t be golden any longer.

“Finally, we demand more humane approach to governance issues by the Umahi-led administration that has already caused our dear people so much penury. Enough, we believe, should really be enough,” the statement stressed.

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

No fewer than 12 state chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are enmeshed in leadership crisis as chieftains battle for control of the party structures in their states ahead of the 2023 general elections.

States affected by intra-party squabbles include Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateue, Adamawa, Kano, Cross River, Ebonyi and Edo. Apart from Edo and Cross River, the PDP is the opposition party in the other affected states.

Daily Sun learnt that in Lagos, Adamawa, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Osun and Plateau have instituted various legal actions against the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. In Ekiti, the PDP is torn between former governor, Ayo Fayose and his deputy, Senator Biodun Olujimi, while in Lagos, party chieftains led by Deji Doherty are at daggers drawn with Chief Olabode George for the control of the party structure.

The same scenario, it was learnt, is playing out in Kano where former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is on a warpath with Aminu Wali over control of the party machinery, just as in Cross River, Governor Ben Ayade, is locked in a bitter tussle with some members of the National Assembly over who controls the party structure.

In Ebonyi, the recent defection of Governor Dave Umahi to the All Progressives Congress ( APC) and subsequent dissolution of the PDP structure has led to a legal tussle while in Edo, crisis is brewing over an alleged insistence of Governor Godwin Obaseki for a dissolution of the party structure to accommodate his loyalists.

The South West chapter of the PDP is, however, polarised between Governor Seyi Makinde and Ayo Fayose.

The NWC recently inaugurated a Reconciliation and Strategy Committee headed by Bukola Saraki to address the crisis in the party.

A former member of the PDP National Executive Committee(NEC) from the South West in an interview with Daily Sun blamed the NWC for the festering crises in state chapters.

The former NEC member, who pleaded anonymity accused the NWC of taking sides with different factions in the leadership tussle in the states.

“There is confusion. For instance, there is no state that is free from crisis in the South West, except Oyo and Ondo. Party leaders are part of the problem. The National Working Committee (NWC) which is supposed to supervise this thing and make sure the right thing is done are taking sides with different factions in different states. The NWC takes side with one faction against another for whatever reason. If the NWC was an impartial arbiter in these, it would have done the proper thing. But the NWC has always been on one side or the other, so the problem continues.”

Leader of one of the factions in Adamawa State, Umar Ardo, also accused the immediate past national caretaker committee of foisting “an illegitimate exco” on the state even as he alleged that the current NWC has done nothing to address their complains.

“We are still in court trying to resolve the issue. For Adamawa, I would not entirely blame the current NWC because they met the problem. If they are to be blamed at all it is for their inability to resolve the problem. Of course, the NWC is joined in the suit. We sued the PDP and the PDP is represented by the NWC.”

Stalwarts are apprehensive that the crises, if not quickly resolved, would affect the party adversely in the 2023 general election, especially in the South West where four of the six states are embroiled in a leadership tussles.

Former minister of transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope told Daily Sun that there there was no cause for alarm, noting that the PDP would resolve all crises before the next general elections.

He said the intra-party squabbles “throw up a challenge of coming together to face the election against the APC. I am not afraid of that. We are going to resolve all these crises. And we will be set and prepared to face the APC.”

However, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan said it was not correct for anyone to accuse the NWC of creating crisis in state chapters. He said the party through the Saraki-led reconciliation committee was working assiduously to resolve all the issues.

“All the issues emanated from the states. Where will you go to and say it is the NWC that went there to formulate crisis? It is not correct. Any state where you have issues in the party, you cannot hold the NWC responsible,” he stated.

For Ebonyi State, the opposition spokesman added: “As far as the party is concerned we have set up a caretaker committee in Ebonyi. Any party that goes to court, we will meet it in court.”

The perennial constitution amendment exercise by the National Assembly is characterised by proposals that keep resurfacing despite gulping billions of naira yearly, a Daily Trust analysis has shown.

The federal parliament had from the 5th to the current 9th National Assembly made several attempts to amend some provisions of the 1999 Constitution to no avail.

At every session, the parliament officially spends N1 billion shared equally between the Senate and the House of Representatives.

There are reports that the lawmakers spend more than what is appropriated for the exercise.

While some amendments were successful, several others suffered serial failures but kept appearing in new proposals.

Considering the huge spending, lawyers and civil society groups have pointed out that no significant amendments could be said to have been made to address the yearnings of Nigerians.


First attempt

The first attempt at amending the 1999 Constitution failed woefully in the 5th National Assembly under the chairmanship of former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu and Deputy Speaker Austin Okpara.

The exercise failed when an attempt was made to smuggle the purported third term agenda of then President Olusegun Obasanjo, when the lawmakers discovered that a clause to that effect was allegedly inserted into the document.

The bill was roundly rejected.

The second attempt to review the constitution in the 6th Assembly under the chairmanship of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Representative Usman Bayero Nafada was said to be successful as some sections were amended.

These included the financial autonomy of the National Assembly, which gave it the power to draw its funds directly from the federation account, otherwise known as the first-line charge.

In the 7th and 8th assemblies, the constitution review exercise was a mixed bag of successful and failed amendment attempts.

Chief among the failed attempts was the provision stripping the president of the power to sign the constitution amendments, which is required for them to become law.

Then President Goodluck Jonathan’s government argued that the legislature overreached itself in seeking to abridge presidential power, especially the power to “check and balance” the lawmakers.


Why amend the constitution?

When Daily Trust contacted the Senate for comments on why there were still grey areas in the constitution despite the billions of naira expended to amend it, its spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, declined to comment.

He said: “I am only here in the 9th Assembly; I can’t help you since you are concerned with previous assemblies.”

However, speaking during the inauguration of his panel in February, the Chairman, Senate Constitution Review Committee, Ovie Omo-Agege, had said the 9th National Assembly is amending the constitution to make it consistent with the agitations and aspirations of Nigerians.

“Over the years, our people appear to have been polarised along different fault lines, which often make it impossible to reach the much-needed consensus in some critical areas where fundamental changes are required.

“We must guard against this if we are to succeed,” he said.

For the constitution to be reviewed successfully, the amendments must be passed by the National Assembly, approved by two-thirds or at least 24 state assemblies, and signed by the president.


Some successful amendments

Sections 145 and 190 were amended successfully to compel the president/governor to transmit a letter to the National Assembly/State Assembly to enable their deputies to act whenever they proceed on vacation or are unable to discharge their functions.

If they fail to do so, the vice president or deputy governor automatically assumes office in acting capacity after 21 days.

Another amendment was the one that enables a person sworn in as president or governor to complete the term of an elected president or governor, but disqualifies the same person from election to the same office for more than one more term.

Sections 135 and 180 of the constitution were amended to straighten the remaining term of office of a president/governor who won a rerun election to include the period already spent in office.

Amendments to sections 81, 84, and 160 of the constitution were also made to make the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) financially and administratively independent.

Section 156 of the constitution was amended to remove membership of a political party as a qualification for appointment into INEC, thereby insulating members from partisan politics.


Other successes

Amendments were effected to section 285 (5) to ( to set time limits for the filing, hearing and disposal of election petitions to quicken justice, and sections 76, 116, 132, and 178 to provide for a wider timeframe for the conduct of elections.

Amendments to section 285 and the Sixth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution to reduce the composition of tribunals to a chairman and two members and the quorum to just a chairman and a member were also successfully done.

Other amendments included those on sections 66(h), 137(i), and 182(i) to delete the disqualification of persons indicted by an administrative panel from standing for election.

The stipulation of timeframes for filing, adjudication and disposal of pre-election lawsuits in order to quicken justice was also amended, and the reduction of age qualification for political offices (Not Too Young to Run Bill).

Amendments to sections 134, 179 and 225 of the constitution to extend from seven to 21 days the period within which INEC shall conduct a run-off election between the two leading presidential/gubernatorial candidates were made.

Sections 6, 84, 240, 243, 287, 289, 292, 294, 295, 216, 318, the Third Schedule and Seventh Schedule to the constitution were amended and a new section 254 inserted to make the National Industrial Court a court of superior record and equal in status to the Federal High Court.


Recurring issues

Records at the current National Assembly show that there are dozens of bills seeking to alter constitutional provisions as well as memoranda on various issues.

An analysis of the bills and memoranda showed that many of them are on issues already considered by previous assemblies but which failed to get presidential assent.

Such constitutional issues include independent candidacy to contest for an elective office; creation of state police; federal structure and power devolution; fiscal federalism and revenue allocation; judicial and electoral reforms; immunity; full local government fiscal autonomy; state creation; youth inclusiveness in governance; and gender parity amongst others.

The unsuccessful attempts to amend the constitution in previous assemblies include the one on reorganising the legislative lists; separating the office of the attorney general of the federation/state from the office of minister/commissioner for justice; change in procedure for the enactment of an entirely new constitution, which includes referendum; including basic education and primary healthcare in fundamental and justiciable human rights; and independent candidature.

Other failed amendments are the inclusion of electoral offences as a ground to disqualify candidates from future elections; mandatory presentation of the yearly state of the nation address to a joint session of the National Assembly by the president; removal of presidential assent to constitution amendment bills; financial autonomy for Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation; amendments to section 59 compelling the president/governor to transmit assent/veto of a bill to parliament within 30 days, failing which such bill becomes law automatically.

Others are the inclusion of all former presidents of the Senate and speakers of the House of Representatives in the membership of the National Council of State; prohibition of courts/tribunals from granting a stay of proceedings on account of interlocutory appeals in electoral matters; conferment of criminal jurisdiction for electoral offences on the Federal High Court; pension for former presiding officers of the legislature as is the case with heads and deputy heads of the executive and the judiciary; compulsory presentation of budget estimates by president/governor latest September and passing same latest December 31.

Also, unsuccessful were the reduction of the period the president/governor could approve expenditure from the federal/state treasury based on the previous year’s budget (in the absence of a new budget) from six to three months; timeframe for submission of ministerial nominees, which must also be accompanied with their respective portfolios; compulsory saving of a defined percentage of oil revenues for the rainy day; decentralisation of policing to create state police; single term of five/six years for president and governors; abrogation of the immunity clause; removal of the Land Use Act from the constitution; devolution of the Prisons (now known as the Nigerian Correctional Service) and state creation.

The 9th National Assembly had hinted that it may consider in the current constitution review exercise the proposals that failed to scale through in previous assemblies.

Recently, the Senate Constitution Review Committee constituted sub-committees to review the bills and constitution-related reports, including the 2014 confab report and that of the Governor Nasir el-Rufai-led committee on restructuring.

The committee, chaired by Omo-Agege, said the sub-committees were mandated to study the constitutional amendment bills sponsored and passed by the previous assemblies, why they were declined presidential assent, the possibility of reconsidering them and advise the panel appropriately.


Lawyers, CSOs speak

Lawyers and civil society groups have expressed reservations on the constitution amendment exercise, saying the perennial review has not had a tangible impact on the lives of citizens.

The lawyers expressed preference for more enduring constitutional reforms against the current patchy amendments by the National Assembly.

Ahmed Raji (SAN) said although no amount is too much to fix the country’s legal framework, deeper work on the constitution is required.

“Perhaps, a far-reaching but more enduring approach may be a proper national conference with the independence constitution as the working document.

“We must get our bearing before it gets pretty late. The current constitution appears grossly inadequate and incapable of ensuring good governance.

“It was not a product of any negotiation by the constituent units unlike both the independence and republican Constitutions,” he said.

On his part, Dayo Akinlaja (SAN) maintained that the reality on the ground is that the country needs to rework its constitution to berth a better nation, “the Nigeria of our dreams.

“It is rather disconcerting and discomfiting to hear that huge sums of money are spent from time to time over botched efforts at amending the constitution,” he said.

“Having regards to the fact that a radical overhaul of the constitution is a sine qua non, the least we should do is ceaselessly push those involved to speed up whatever they are doing and get things right at the earliest time possible,” he said.

Similarly, Obioma Ezenwobodo described the constitutional amendment efforts of the National Assembly as a time-wasting exercise, which would not resolve the fact that the constitution is an imposition by the military.

“The best is to make a new people’s constitution through a constitutional conference. This is the best way to restructure the defective structure on which the country is currently faltering,” he said.

However, Levy Uzoukwu (SAN) stated that the current constitutional amendment is necessary to build a country of the dreams of the founders while calling for “constitutional amendment pertaining to a president who finished the term of another running for another term.”

Uzoukwu said the clear intention of the framers of the constitutional amendment is to prevent a scenario where a president who inherited an uncompleted term of office goes ahead to enjoy two consecutive full terms of eight years.

The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said the continuous constitution review exercise had not addressed issues of accountability and job creation and as a result, Nigeria continued to witness poor accountability mechanism, because “nobody will say what those billions are being used for and what are the results.”

According to him, “We cannot continue to do this because the economy cannot sustain it. The resources being committed to the exercise are disappearing without commensurate results or proper accountability.

“It appears to me that the executive and the legislature always want to embark on constitutional amendment every four years.

“The main issues that are a stumbling block to our unity and contentious issues regarding devolution of power, security sector reform, fiscal federalism and other issues should have been taken seriously for these reforms,” he said.

By Yusuf Akinpelu



When you ask some Nigerians, they would summarise 2020 to be January, February, Lockdown, #ENDSARS and Weddings, all in the bid to tell you how long the year has been for them.

From having to survive a ravaging pandemic that grounded economic activities and forced the nation into total lockdown to a nationwide protest against police brutality and to the worst recession in decades, 2020 has been unprecedented.

Despite these, however, Nigerians have a way of cracking humour at the gloomiest of times. This they have done by creating humorous and witty slogans online to, in local parlance, “catch cruise.”

Here are some of the slogans that were popular in 2020.


Sọ̀rọ̀ sókè

Arguably the year’s most significant slogan, sọ̀rọ̀ sókè resonates well among young Nigerians, 80 per cent of whom are below 40. This generation has often been taunted as docile and indifferent to national socio-political discourse.

Meaning “speak up,” the catchphrase became the face of the #ENDSARS agitation by Nigerian youths which demanded an end to police brutality and justice for victims of police brutality.

The slogan had been around before now. Not only was it a street lingo used sarcastically to urge on a sluggish person to wise up, it had featured in the lines of some singles and a few Yoruba movies to spur a bland character to brace up.

But the slogan made its full debut this year alongside “werey dey disguise” (to show faux-shyness), and it was infectious too that even Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu used it to appeal to a horde of agitated protesters in the bid to reassure them during the #EndSARS protests.

After meetings with the President, IGP, Lagos CP and the NGF today, I will like to sòrò soke about what we are immediately doing in Lagos to build trust, #EndPoliceBrutality and ensure we don’t have to address these issues again.


After meetings with the President, IGP, Lagos CP and the NGF today, I will like to sòrò soke about what we are immediately doing in Lagos to build trust, #EndPoliceBrutality and ensure we don't have to address these issues again. pic.twitter.com/g0wt3dHcu0

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) October 15, 2020

Although the protesters won’t have any of that, he was able to calm some nerves.


Don’t leave me.

Haunted by a pandemic and months of forced lockdown, the “don’t leave me challenge” served as a precious reprieve for millions of Nigerians and it quickly spread across the world particularly on Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok.

The brainchild of Josh Alfred, a Nigerian comedian popularly known as Josh2funny, the challenge involves using puns and prop comedy to spark humour.

Egged on by his hype man, Bello Khabir, Josh2funny electrified the social media in March when he punned about the word “leaf”, saying he could not talk because he was on leave. Beneath his feet was a leaf. Since then the challenge has gathered a life of its own and has not looked back since then.


O wrong nau

When a Nigerian wishes to rebuke you for doing something, they tell you “O wrong nau,” a code-switch catchphrase from Yoruba and English meaning “it is wrong.”

But that’s not to say what you are doing is wrong. It could just be your interlocutor craving to crack you up.

For instance, why would you not share this piece after reading it? O wrong nau.


This life no balance

This slogan is used to describe how unfair and uneven life is. At times it is yin for some and yang for others.

Or how do you explain how a Nigerian billionaire flew with his daughter to Italy for an hour to get gelato, an Italian variant of ice cream made from milk and sugar and other flavouring, when there is another man’s son somewhere who barely gets pipe borne water to drink?

Quick stop in Italy for some ice cream!��� #FamilyFirst pic.twitter.com/D4wKMdhcNs

— Cuppy � (@cuppymusic) July 18, 2019

They would tell you it’s because this “life no balance.”


Wahala for who no…

When 24-year-old American singer, Enisa, wanted to warm her way into the hearts of Nigerians, she first adopted a Nigerian name, Eniola. For that, she got an overwhelming outpour of love on twitter from Nigerians.

Her Nigerian fan base would rise when she told her twitter followers she was learning pidgin and she used the slogan “wahala for who no like Enisa”

Wahala for who no like Enisa ��� (Follow my Instagram too @iamEnisa) pic.twitter.com/2XYRApiNQu

— ENISA (@IAmENISA) December 21, 2020

“My tomorrow, did I tell you I fell for you before I met you?” came the response of a fan. “Did I tell you that in your eyes I can see my tomorrow Enisa?” Other fans had a good laugh too.

My tomorrow , did I tell you I fell for you before I met you? Did I tell you that in your eyes I can see my tomorrow Enisa? pic.twitter.com/RUlqSUduY1

— Mac Henry (@iammachenry) December 21, 2020

Another variant of the slogan is “wahala be like bicycle.”


We meuvve

To urge themselves on to move on after a miss, Nigerians would say “we meuvve”. The slogan is used to buoy up someone to try again and not give in but show the typical Nigerian can-do spirit.

It also used to inspire someone to dwell more on positivity and what can be changed as against despairing over a down moment. So let’s “meuvve” on.


Na the matter we dey settle
Imagine a situation where the situation is so dire that to resolve it would require some ingenious conflict resolution masterstroke, that’s when this slogan is used.

Here is an example from a twitter user:

“Mr. A bought (a) Twitter account from Mr B. Mr. A only paid 70% that he will balance up. To cut it short, Jack suspend(s) the account after 2 days. Mr. A want(s) to collect his money. Mr. B want to collect his 30%. Na the matter we dey settle here. Please A or B?”

Premium Gist:�

Mr. A bought Twitter account from Mr B. Mr. A only only paid 70% that he will balance up.

To cut it short, Jack suspend the account after 2 days. Mr. A want to collect his money. Mr. B want to collect his 30%

Na the matter we dey settle here � Please A or B? pic.twitter.com/KDnJMahsb0

— Engr Dray � | 1Cor. 9:27! � (@Dray4lyf) November 3, 2020


Forget the urge to always shalaye

Talk less, act more – that is the message passed by this slogan. It is often used to discourage people from being loose in order to stay out of troubles or indict themselves.

It was the stunning last line used by Nigerian artiste Falz in his movie Quam’s Money which served as a cliffhanger in anticipation of the second part of the comedy.


Ko kpor ké (KPK)?

When you look dapper, you get “kò kpor ké?” as a compliment. When you achieve a goal, you get the catchphrase as a compliment. When you are seen as being affluent, “kò kpor ké?” is how you are praised.

That’s to tell you, with a subtle hope that it continues to blossom, you drip with riches and grace. This is done by waving the index and middle fingers.


Me as a…

One of the latest of the year, this slogan is purely aimed at hurl jibes. The face of the meme is Nigerian artiste, Osita Iheme, also known as Pawpaw.

The “me as a Nigerian” series, for one, is a satirical depiction of the Nigerian society and how people in different professions are likely to behave.


Mad o

To show shock, surprise or awe, you say “mad o” (or in a funkier way, “mehd o”).


E Be things

To show perplexion, you hear E Be things. Once you hear that, look out for the tone of finality because that will be all. E Be things.

Other slangs that trended in 2020 include: I cannot comman goan kill myself; sense will not kill me; ko necestri; God no go shame; mofo o; he shock you?; E choke.

We hope you add other slangs that were left out as you have fun.

As 2023 elections are two years and two months away. Already, notable politicians from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have begun discreet campaigns to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

While a few of them, like Senator Ahmed Yarima, have openly declared their presidential ambition, others have been using allies to test the waters. Because of the uncertainty over zoning, some presidential hopefuls are being cautious, biding their time to see which way the pendulum would swing.

But as we go into 2021, it is expected that the agitation for the presidential ticket in the two major parties would set off a chain of events expected to culminate in who becomes president in 2023.

Daily Trust looks at 12 political heavyweights believed to be warming up to enter the ring in 2023.

Atiku Abubakar

He was Vice President from 1999 to 2007 during the reign of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections but lost to APC’s Muhammadu Buhari.

Atiku, a business mogul and political heavyweight, is thought to have a deep pocket with political machinery and structures spread across the country.

He ran for governor of Adamawa State first in 1990 and again in 1998 (when he won, before being picked as VP candidate) and was a presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress (AC) in the 2007 presidential elections.

He contested the PDP presidential ticket before the 2011 general elections but did not make it.

In 2014, he joined the APC ahead of the 2015 presidential elections and contested the presidential primaries but lost to Buhari.

He would later support Buhari’s run to Aso Rock. After being sidelined by the APC, he would return to the PDP in 2017 and secured the party’s presidential ticket for the 2019 general elections.

Though Atiku has not openly declared his intention to contest in 2023, indications show that he would.

He has been a constant critic of the Buhari administration and his son, Adamu Atiku, had in June 2020, said that his father would contest again in 2023.

Adamu, who spoke at the presentation of his scorecard as Commissioner for Works and Energy in Adamawa State, said, “I don’t see anything wrong with my father contesting for the presidency.

“In 2023, my father will be aspiring to the Number One office in the land because he has been an astute, strategic, master politician for almost four decades,” he said.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

The APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has not openly declared his intention to run for the 2023 presidency but his allies, loyalists and supporters have commenced early campaigns for him to succeed President Buhari.

Though Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, has at every fora reiterated that the time is not yet ripe for 2023 electioneering, those around him have already started mobilizing.

Immediately after the 2019 elections, a group in Lagos, Tinubu 2023 Non-Negotiable (TNN), began actively campaigning for him nationwide. Only last week, a new group, South West Agenda (SWAGA), led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye, compromising of former lawmakers and other politicians, asked Tinubu to make a run for 2023.

Tinubu has also recently embarked on a national tour, which analysts say are surreptitious moves to sell himself to the people and invigorate his national appeal.

But his 2023 ambitions are being challenged by forces within the party and he would have to overcome this threat to secure the party’s ticket.

Also, a group of young Nigerian professionals recently unveiled a political movement in Abuja to work for the actualisation Tinubu’s perceived presidential aspiration.

The movement known as Young Professionals for Tinubu 2023, with membership across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, said it has been in existence for almost two years, noting that the occasion was to mark its formal inauguration.

The National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Ahmed Muhammed Ibrahim, noted that Tinubu’s leadership qualities and knack for development informed the group’s resolve to work for his emergence as the APC candidate, as well as his success in the 2023 presidential election.

Tinubu has easily dominated South-West politics since 1999 and had been a thorn in the sides of the then ruling PDP.

He battled then President Obasanjo to a standstill and has managed to install every governor in Lagos, since 2007, and many others in the South West.

His biggest challenge yet might just be surviving the APC, a party he helped form and still leads, to make his presidential ambition a reality in 2023.

Rotimi Amaechi

Recently, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, a former two-term governor of Rivers State and current minister of transportation, stressed the need for the APC to respect the gentleman agreement to zone the presidency to the South in 2023.

This, pundits say, suggests he has ambitions for the seat.

Amaechi is one of the most visible ministers in Buhari’s government. He served as the Director-General of Buhari’s Campaign in 2015 and 2019.

He has experience as a former speaker in Rivers State, a two-term governor, former chairman of the NGF and now a minister driving a critical ministry in the present government.

But there are odds stacked against him as he may have to battle former President Goodluck Jonathan for the soul of the South-South. He is also going to contend with the infighting in his home state, which has left the party deeply divided in recent times.

While he has not also declared interest in the presidency, people around him say he has his eyes firmly fixed on the seat and he is not leaving anything to chance.

Kayode Fayemi

Though Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has not declared for president in 2023, remarks made recently by a leader of the APC in his state suggest that the former minister of mines and steel development may be gearing up for the exalted seat.

Penultimate Saturday, the Paul Omotoso-led APC caretaker committee endorsed the governor for the presidency in 2023.

Omotoso, who spoke through Ade Ajayi, the APC caretaker publicity secretary, at an event organised by Olusegun Osinkolu in Ayede Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of the state, said the party would drag Mr Fayemi into the presidential battle forcefully if he refuses to join willingly.

“On the 2023 presidency, the time has come for the president to come from Ekiti. That is why we are pleading with you to support Governor Fayemi.

“Though Governor Fayemi has never said he wanted to contest, we will force him to plunge into the race because of his competence, dedication and loyalty to [the] APC,” he added.

Fayemi can also leverage on his current position as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to pursue this ambition with the support of governors in the ruling party.

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso

Pundits believe Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a two-term former governor of Kano State, is likely to pursue his presidential ambition again in 2023.

Though the former minister of defence has not declared interest yet, he has, at different times, sought the presidential ticket of both the APC and the PDP but lost to President Buhari and former Vice President Atiku respectively.

Kwankwaso, who enjoys widespread support in Kano, is the leader of the Kwankwasiyya political movement.

He was in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1990s, rubbing shoulders with the likes of the late General Shehu Yar’adua, his former boss Senator Magaji Abdullahi, Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, late Tony Anenih, late Chuba Okadigbo, Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila and late Lamidi Adedibu amongst others.

Donald Duke

Donald Duke was the governor of Cross River State and the SDP presidential candidate in 2019.

He left the PDP, where he had served as a two-term governor to run for the presidential seat on the platform of the SDP.

Duke had initially declared his intention to run for president in 2007 but stepped aside in favour of the late Umaru Yar’Adua.

Analysts say his ambition to become president remains alive with his constant engagements at important occasions across the country.

Already, there are some social media groups like Team Donald Duke which has over 40,000 members reportedly from the South-South, South East and South Western parts of the country championing the 2023 presidential ambition of the former governor.

Owelle Rochas Okorocha

With the deafening agitation for a Southern presidency in 2023, Rochas Okorocha, the former Imo State governor and Senator representing Imo West, qualifies as one of the candidates to fly the APC’s flag.

As a former chairman of the NGF, he may enjoy a nationwide reach and with the Igbo fighting tooth and nail to get the presidency, he might enjoy some advantage.

But the argument in some quarters has been that his influence appears to be limited in Igboland.

He, therefore, might not be accepted as the face of the Igbo and the right candidate to champion that course.

Okorocha should be ready to face even tougher challenges than he did in 2019 when he could not secure the APC ticket for his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu.

Ahmed Sani Yarima

He was governor of Zamfara State from 1999 to 2007.

He represented Zamfara West in the National Assembly and equally served as Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate.

He is currently a member of the ruling APC.

Yarima is the only person to have declared his ambition to be president in 2023.

He had attempted before in 2007 but later stepped aside for Buhari.

Recently, he told reporters in his Abuja residence that he would contest the 2023 presidency, insisting that the APC leaders did not reach any agreement before the 2015 general elections that there would be power rotation to the South at the expiration of President Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

If there is a zoning arrangement, it would most likely scuttle Yarima’s ambition, but the former governor seems determined to plod through, arguing that zoning was alien to the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the APC’s Constitution.

He insists that no one could force him out of the race on grounds of zoning.

“You see, I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr President.

He led the group. Asiwaju was there. I was part of it. There was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there was such an agreement.

“Agreements can’t be verbal, it has to be written. In any case, any agreement that is contrary to the laws of this country is not an agreement.

“The Constitution is very clear, the Constitution of the political parties, the Electoral Act.

“We are in a democracy and democracy is governed by processes and procedures and bylaws.

“The Constitution of Nigeria doesn’t recognize anything called zoning and likewise, the APC’s Constitution. If there is that agreement, why didn’t we put it in the Constitution?” he said.

Aminu Waziri Tambuwal

The current Sokoto State incumbent clinched the governorship seat in 2015 using the APC ticket.

He was a founding member of the APC, after he and some other governors defected from the PDP and helped form the coalition that became the APC.

He would later return to the PDP, vied for the presidential ticket in 2019 and after losing that to Atiku Abubakar, secured a second term as governor of Sokoto State on the party’s ticket.

Tambuwal served as the 10th speaker of the House of Representatives and represented the Tambuwal/Kebbe Federal Constituency of Sokoto State at the National Assembly.

He is currently the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF).

Daily Trust reports that the governor has started consulting some notable political leaders across the six geo-political zones over his presidential ambition.

On August 22, 2020, Tambuwal held a closed-door meeting with a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Pent House.

The Special Assistant on Media to the former President, Kehinde Akinyemi, confirmed the closed-door meeting in a statement he issued the following day.

The statement titled “Obasanjo still relevant for consultations on issues of governance and challenges” described the visit by Tambuwal as an unscheduled one.

The statement also quoted the governor as saying he visited Obasanjo for consultation on governance and other issues.

The governor also consulted former Senate President David Mark, former Defence Minister, Gen TY Danjuma (retd) and many other prominent politicians.

Pundits say Tambuwal is counting on his age, political experience in the legislative and executive arms of governments, his clout, and political pedigree to become president.

Yahaya Bello

There are strong signals that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is among those eyeing Buhari’s seat in 2023.

Already, giant billboards have been erected in strategic locations in the state, urging him to run for president in 2023.

Recently, the Kogi State House of Assembly, at its plenary, passed a resolution calling on the governor to run for president.

House Majority Leader, Hassan Abdullahi, while moving the motion said the call was predicated on the ‘sterling performance’ of the governor since he assumed office in 2016.

Besides the resolution by the state lawmakers, the governor’s foot soldiers and loyalists, including commissioners and special advisers in his cabinet, have all been drumming support for his (Bello’s) presidency in 2023 through various social and traditional media platforms.

According to them, it is now the turn of the North Central geopolitical zone to produce the next president.

David Umahi

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State is also one of the politicians from the South East believed to be interested in Buhari’s plum seat in 2023.

Umahi, who has been a top chieftain of the PDP for many years, recently defected to the ruling APC in a strategic move to position him for the 2023 presidency.

Although Umahi has said that his defection has nothing to do with any presidential ambition in 2023, pundits and political watchers are of the view that the Ebonyi governor was being economical with the truth.

In the fullness of time, it would be clear whether Umahi will throw his hat in the ring for the presidency or not.

Bala Mohammed

Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State is a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from 2010 to 2015.

Senator Mohammed of the PDP defeated an incumbent APC governor in the 2019 elections, thereby creating a major upset in a key State that has always voted for President Buhari.

The governor of Bauchi State has not shown any interest to run for the presidency but a civic group, Abuja Coalition of Youth and Women, has called on him to contest the elections.

The group made the call in a communique issued at the end of its meeting in Abuja and signed by Aminu Zakari and Christiana Jacob, president and secretary-general respectively.

According to the group, by 2023, Nigeria would be in dire need of a competent, transparent and resourceful leader to pilot the affairs of the nation and save it from chaos and disintegration.

The names of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe), Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State are being mentioned in certain quarters, but it is not yet clear if they would contest.

Sources said they are being circumspect about their ambition because of the zoning factor and would most likely contest when the cloud gets clearer.

At least 20 doctors have died of COVID-19 across the country in the last one week , the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) branch has said.

The chairman of the branch, Dr. Enema Amodu, made the disclosure Thursday while briefing newsmen in Abuja.

He said : “In the last one week alone, we have lost professors, consultants, residents both senior and junior, and other senior medical doctors.


“This shows that this virus is still much with us.”

He said inspite of the risks doctors encounter, their hazard allowance per month is only N5000 .

He urged the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabimiala, to push for an appropriate legislation to review hazard allowance as many doctors are suffering and dying.

He said,”We hope that the government will start the new year with a review of hazard allowance.

“We as personnel trained to handle emergency conditions are ready for anything that comes; we need things to work with.

“We need Intensive Care Units, drugs, facemasks, hand sanitizers and others.

“Let there be an appreciation and motivation through enhancing the hazard allowance.”

Dr Amodu said the second wave was overwhelming because a lot of people have gone back to the old way of doing things thinking the virus had gone.

He also called on Nigerians to be honest with information when they visit health facilities, adding ,”wear your mask and tell us the truth about your past medical conditions. Don’t hold any information back, and follow the laid down rules.”

By Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja with agency report


The schoolboys who were kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina State, by suspected bandits on December 11, have given more insight into the developments that led to their release by their captors.

Speaking to Wall Street Journal (WSJ), based in the United States, some of the boys narrated how they were thoroughly beaten by the bandits, adding that a ransom was paid to the kidnappers before they were freed.

Their narration conflicted with that of the federal government, which said no ransom was paid.


Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, on Tuesday, said the rescuing of the 344 schoolboys from their captors who took them to a forest in Zamfara State, was facilitated by repentant bandits. He also reiterated an earlier statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the federal government didn’t buy freedom for the pupils.

The WSJ, in a report yesterday, quoted three of the 344 boys as saying in interviews that the kidnappers told them a ransom had been paid for their release, while a person familiar with the kidnappers’ talks with the government said a sizable sum had been paid for the boys’ freedom.

Eight of the freed students, boys as young as 13, the report said, were forced to eat raw potatoes and bitter kalgo leaves to survive. They were seldom allowed rest and slept on rocky ground.

“Government officials denied paying ransom and said the kidnappers released the schoolboys because the military had surrounded them.

“However, three boys said their kidnappers told them they were initially paid 30 million naira, equivalent to around $76,000, but decided not to release the boys because they had demanded 344 million naira-1 per head.

“They threatened to release only 30 of us when the 30 million initial ransom was paid, said 16-year-old Yinusa Idris. They even took 30 of us away on motorcycles ready to release,” the news medium stated.

It quoted another of the abducted pupil, Imran Yakubu, a 17-year-old, as saying that the kidnappers told them: “One million naira must be paid per each student…or we will recruit or kill you.”

The paper also noted that person familiar with the negotiations said a ransom was transferred in three batches.

The boys were further told, according to the WSJ, on December 16, that if they returned to school, they would be kidnapped again.

“There were more than 100 armed men in the school courtyard. They were shining bright flashlights and streaming into the pastel-coloured buildings. ‘Gather here. We are soldiers,’ they said.

WSJ added: “The gunmen, some on foot, others on motorcycles, ordered the boys to walk in a long column, hitting anyone who walked too slowly with a whip or rifle butt.

“At one point, when the guards were looking at the sky, two students close to the back of the convoy tried to slip away. The hostages were all told to halt so they could watch their classmates being punished.

“The older one’s hands were tied to a tree and he was beaten. Water was poured on his body in the early morning so that he could feel the freezing cold,” one of the students narrated.

However, the Nigerian military said that “ kinetic and non-kinetic approaches were used to ensure all the boys were rescued unhurt”, saying that there was resistance from the abductors who laid an ambush against the troops.

The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, and Ahmed Jibrin, former Director, Military Intelligence, who spoke when they featured on an NTA programme, “Good Morning Nigeria”, insisted that no ransom was paid.

“Following the directive, the troop closed in on the abductors from four different fronts, including the reinforcement that was made from other divisions to ensure that the entire location was sealed off.

“The bandits were all under siege and they were fully aware of that, feeling the impacts of the presence of the troops both from the air and on the ground,” said the military.

Two professors were among the 27 local government chairmen sworn in in Borno State on Wednesday.

The two professors are Adamu Alooma and Ibrahim Bukar.

Alooma, who is a Professor of banking and finance, was a former Dean, at the faculty of management sciences in University of Maiduguri, took oath as chairman of Damboa Local Government Area.

Bukar, who is a Professor of education, also at the same university, took an oath as chairman of Gwoza Local Government Area.

They were among the 27 elected during the election conducted into all the Local Government Area of the state on November 28, in which the All Progressives Party won all the seats for chairmanship and councilorship levels.

During the swearing in ceremony of the chairmen, which took place at the multipurpose hall of the Government House in Maiduguri, Zulum recalled that election was not conducted in the state for over 10 years, due to the lingering security situation in Borno.

Zulum, in his remark, directed the ministry for local government and emirate affairs to immediately release to the elected chairmen, all funds allocated to the 27 local government councils from the federation account so they could begin to impact lives at the grassroots.

He, however, called on the elected officials to discharge their duties with the fear of God, but without fear or favour.

He charged all the elected officials to operate in their respective local government headquarters that are safe and with citizens living there.

He said governance will not make sense if chairmen choose to operate from Maiduguri whereas those who cast votes for them live in local government areas outside Maiduguri.

Zulum noted that the chairmen need to live and operate from the midst of their people in order to know problems of the moments and address them.