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A day of honour for Ahmad Lawan in Yobe

By Ola Awoniyi

Saturday, 3rd September, 2022 was historic in Yobe State and a day to remember for the people of the state and their guests. The atmosphere was ecstatic as a mammoth crowd gathered at a reception held in Gashua by the state government in honour of one of the great sons of the state, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the distinguished Senator representing Yobe North Senatorial District and 14th President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It was a carnival of some sort. Right from the outskirts of the town, security officials had a hectic day controlling the surging crowd eager to get a glimpse of Lawan making a triumphant entry like an ancient warrior returning from a successful heroic exploit.

As part of the grand reception, an ultra-modern market built in Gashua by the Governor Mai Mala Buni administration was also commissioned. The state government named the facility after Lawan.

Why Ahmad Lawan? What precisely has he done to deserve such honour? What did his people see in him to deserve such monumental fanfare? Why would Governor Mai Mala Buni commit state resources to honour a Senator?

The answers are not far fetched for minds familiar with the state. All through his public life, Ahmad Lawan has been a worthy ambassador of Yobe State. Some people watching from a distance may not know that he is from a minority ethnic group in Yobe. Yet, he has effectively represented his people at the National Assembly right from the commencement of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

Indeed, the Saturday event pulled people together from across ethnic and religious lines. For example, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo resident in Yobe were well represented at the reception. The group delivered a plaque to the Senate President as well as Governor Buni. Just to say thank you.

Lawan's gift was in appreciation of the many lives that he has touched in Yobe. It was an appreciation of his stewardship and a recognition of his contributions to the development of the state.

It was also probably to reciprocate Lawan's unflinching support for Governor Buni, who he often calls his "brother and friend." And as speaker after speaker said at the event, it was an honour and recognition Lawan well deserves.

Governor Mai Mala Buni described Lawan as "an excellent ambassador, uncommon parliamentarian and a pride of our dear state" and explained why his government decided to honour him.

"It is imperative for us as a society to always appreciate and celebrate those who have improved the lives of our people. I believe that such recognition will spur them to do more to add to the lives of Nigerians and humanity generally.

"It is with utmost gratitude that the Senate President ensured that Yobe State is never shortchanged, having missed out for 16 long years under the PDP administration."

The governor reeled out a few of the tangibles which the "uncommon parliamentarian" has attracted to the state:

"Among some of his numerous contributions to Yobe State, the Northeast sub-region and Nigeria are his pivotal roles in the approval of the new railway line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri via Damaturu and Gashua, Damaturu Regional Water Supply, the reconstruction of Wachakal Airport, the Fika Water Project, the upgrading of 132 KVA power line, the ongoing upgrade of Geidam, Gashua and Nguru power substations.

"This is in addition to the numerous roads, electrification and medical facilities that he secured to the state, as well as Federal Government appointments he also secured for many people, and many others too numerous to mention."

In his response, the man of the moment, the Sardaunan Bade, Senator Ahmad Lawan, returned all the accolades to his constituents, the people of Yobe North Senatorial District:

"It is not about me. You made it possible. If you didn’t elect me in 2019, I wouldn’t have been Senate President. I appreciate the support over all these years, and I want to promise you that so long as we remain engaged with the federal government, we will have the best of treatment.”

***Awoniyi is Special Adviser on Media to the Senate President

LAWAN AS SHETTIMA’S WATERLOO – BY IYKE EKEOMA

BY IYKE EKEOMA

Senate President Ahmed Lawan’s bid to reposition the country through a shot at the presidency continues to generate positive expectations across the land. His proposed reforms in agriculture and education animate daily headlines.

Lawan’s campaign strategies which have endeared him to the people is giving some of his opponents sleepless nights. In fairness to them, they have every reason to panic because someone who is coming with a whiff of fresh air is a hot cake indeed.

Senator Ibrahim Shettima speaks for himself most of the time but pretends to voice the view of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Shettima, a former Borno State governor is Director- General, Tinubu Campaign Organisation. He was on holiday most of the time but now that we are faced with the All Progressives Congress Presidential Primaries, he suddenly woke up from stupor.

For a man who seemed to have woken up from the wrong side of the bed, the first thing he did was to attack the person of Senator Lawan.

Suddenly, erstwhile camera shy Shettima began to grant television interviews like monsoon rain in the tropics. He spoke most of the time like a banker apparently oblivious of his background as an educated farmer.

Shettima said : ” Go to Ohafia and ask of Ahmad Lawan, the first thing that will come to their mind is that of a tomato dealer from Maidugiri. Go to any other part of the South, does the name sell?”

This is laughable. Shettima holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics, from the University of Maiduguri. What he has done is to denigrate Kanuri farmers who he could not

help as governor even with his connections as a banker.

At a time we are talking of diversifying the economy, Shettima is looking down on farmers. He has forgotten that Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo is a big time farmer. President Muhammadu Buhari does well in animal husbandry.

Senator Lawan is not ashamed to be identified with tomato farmers. They are human. Shettima knows that between 1987 and 1997, there was a lecturer at the University of Maiduguri known as Dr. Ahmed Lawan.

Lawan was a lecturer before Shettima

graduated from the same university. With a doctorate in Geography, the Senate President is at home in all the Geo- Political Zones.

Lawan is well known in Ohafia as a bridge builder. Shettima may not know that the Ohafia people are enlightened enough to respect the tomato dealer. The first Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Eni Njoku hailed from Ohafia and was a Botanist.

Shettima only displayed his inadequacies. Little wonder he is known as ‘Accidental governor’. It was the assassination of Modu Fannami Gubio by gunmen in 2011 that threw up Shettima. He would have continued in Bornu as commissioner.

The same Lawan he mistakes for tomatoes dealer, made him chairman Senate Committee on the Interior. Shettima has not found a way out of the innumerable jail breaks across the country and lopsided appointments in the Interior ministry.

Shettima fears that a Lawan presidency will relegate and bury his chances of becoming Vice President to Jagaban. We can understand that. It is all about stomach infrastructure.

Ekeoma is Spokesperson, Ahmad Lawan Campaign Organisation.

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Any person aspiring for leadership must have had some credentials to look at. The testimonies about collective and inclusive stewardship of Senator Ahmad Lawan overtime, given by Nigerian Legislators - Upper and Lower Chambers altogether, as well as his constituents, and many well meaning Nigerians are enough to cherish, and these testimonies were obviously and conspicuously detailed - practically visible, and still trending on public domain.

Distinguished APC Delegates - you are chosen by God to be the deciding factor during the presidential primaries. I present you Senator Lawan, craving your support to vote for him, to decide the future of Nigeria.

2023: Lawan Campaign Organization Appoints Orji Kalu DG, FFK, Others Named In Committee

With a few days left until the much awaited Presidential primaries of the All Progressive’s Congress (APC) , the Ahmad Lawan Campaign Organisation has approved the appointment of the former Governor of Abia state and current Chief Whip of the 9th Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu as its Director-General.

Lawan who is also the Senate President and Chairman of National Assembly is running for the office of the Nigeria President alongside 22 others under the platform of the APC.

Making the disclosure at a high powered meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, well attended by members, the Ahmad Lawan Central Campaign Organisation also announced the appointment of eight other Party Stalwarts as National Executive Officers to sit as chairmen inorder to oversee eight Committees of the Campaign Organisation.

The team met behind closed doors to fine tune strategies and consolidate on the gains made so far . Lawan’s team led by Kalu is expected to strengthen the campaign organization and build a stronger cohesion that would deliver the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to the Senate President during the presidential primaries, and ultimately lead him to victory in the general election.

The names of Chairmen of the eight committees include:

1. Finance and Budget Auwal Lawan
–Chairman
Senator Sani Musa–Co-Chairman

2. Strategy and Planning Senator Ikechukwu Obiora –Chairman
Senator Betty Apiafi –Deputy Chairman

3 . Contact and Mobilization Senator Barau Jibrin –Chairman
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi—Deputy Chairman

4. Media and Publicity Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi –Chairman
Femi Fani Kayode–Deputy Chairman

5.Security and Intelligence Mallam Lawal Daura–Chairman
Commodore Mohammed Barau(Rtrd) –Deputy Chairman

6.Transport and Logistics Senator Bello Mandiya–Chairman
Hon. Hillary Bisong—Deputy Chairman

7. Youth Groups Prince Mustapha Audu —Chairman

8. Women Groups Hon. Aisha Ismail–Chairperson Progressives Congress.

South East APC Chieftains endorsed
Sen. Ahmad Lawan as best option for APC Presidential candidate to win the 2023 General Elections.

PRESS STATEMENT

Ahmad Lawan screened by APC panel, states agenda if elected President

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday took his turn to be screened by the All Progressives Congress(APC) screening panel on Presidential aspirants.

Lawan who stormed the Transcorp Hilton Hotels, venue of the screening with dozens of Senators, friends and political associates was formally received and ushered into the screening room by the Chairman of the Panel, former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Oyegun.

The screening was conducted behind closed doors but Lawan told newsmen thereafter what transpired between him at the panel and his agenda for Nigeria if he finally got the Presidency job.

In response to a question, Lawan said: "The screening was very successful. I was asked very fundamental questions about what our party stands for, about what I believe I can bring to the Presidency of Nigeria.

"And of course, our party stands for progress, our party stands for national stability. And what we have done in the last seven years as an administration, we have recorded so much successes across the country but we also have some challenges that we have to deal with.

"As someone who is aspiring to be candidate for APC and by the Grace of God, the President of Nigeria in 2023, I have gone through the Mills. I have worked before I came to the National Assembly in 1999.

"In 1999, I came to the National Assembly and I am still in the National Assembly, having served eight years in the House of Representatives.

"I chaired two very important, strategic and critical committees of Agriculture and Education in the House and served as chairman Public Account Committee for eight years in the Senate, served as the Chairman of Defence Committee in the Senate, served as Senate Leader in the Senate and serving as the Presiding officer, the President of the Senate today.

"I have worked very closely with Mr President, President Muhammadu Buhari in my capacity as Senate Leader. In my capacity as President of the Senate.

"I know the issues of development. I know where we have recorded so much successes. I know where we need to rework, retool and re-kit our systems and strategies and operations.

"By the Grace of God, if I'm given the opportunity, Nigeria will experience improved education, improved security, improved economy.

"I want to reform the educational sector because I want to see an education sector that serve the sons and daughters of nobody so that we are able to take away from the street the 15million or so children out of school because I believe this has a link with not only education but security as well as economy.

"So I want to see a situation where I come out as the aspirant, become the candidate and of course go ahead to beat the PDP and other political parties to win the Presidency for APC and for Nigerians.

Responding to another question, Lawan said he had no problem with the issue of having a consensus candidate for APC.

"We are sons and daughters of the same father, the same mother, those of us in APC. All of us who took the form to run for the highest office of the presidency believe in the ideals and ideology and philosophy of our party.

"Therefore, we are one and the same. So I will support anybody who the party and the President think can do better for us. I have no problem with that. But I want to also believe that at the end of the day, that day will be mind," Lawan said.

Signed:

Ola Awoniyi
For
Ahmad Lawan Presidential Campaign Organisation

Tuesday, 31st May, 2022

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We are not Hausas and Igbos and Yorubas and any other Nigerian tribes or religions by choice, We are because that's how God wants it to be, and nobody can question Him for doing so.

No Nigerian is superior to the other interms of citizenship rights. We therefore need each other to salvage our country. Unity of this country is sacrosanct, and when unity is successfully achieved, every other sector and aspects of development will automatically bounce back and get its groove back.

Senator Lawan is an exemplified Stabilizer and Unifier. He did it as Chairman of the National Assembly, and by the grace of God, he will do it as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, if entrusted by Nigerians come 2023.

#VoteLawan4President!
God bless #Nigeria.

Youth in Yobe State took the streets in solidarity to support the Senate President, who is also a presidential aspirant under the platform of the APC.

The march which was in solidarity and support of the presidential hopeful was held in the hometown of the Senate President; Gashua, Bade LGA. Yobe State.

The Nigerian National Assembly has over the years experienced series of disputable and disruptive legislative proceedings, until in 2019, it eventually got its groove back following the emergence of Senator Ahmad Lawan as its Chairman, who amicably, collectively and diligently stabilized the system, by playing a bipartisan role.

The antecedents of Senator Lawan are enough reasons to cherish his outstanding performance, and to earn him a credit for leading the country as President.

Cowardly Nnamdi Kanu and the Rise of Yahooism, by Hassan Gimba.

I once had cause to quote Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s 1980 hit song, “Authority Stealing”, where the Afrobeat maestro sang “You be thief” while the chorus chanted “I no be thief”, “You be rogue”, “I no be rogue”, etc,

The song readily comes to mind because Nnamdi Kanu denied being an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) member.

Judas Iscariot, who gave Jesus Christ “the kiss of death” and betrayed him, two weeks ago in the court, Nnamdi Kanu, who Igbo separatists see as their infallible and courageous leader, denied them vehemently. The “lion” of Isiama Afara, who calls on his diehard followers to kill and burn, could not roar because now that he is caged, his true cowardly self shows clearly. Still, many of those led by the nose cannot see through the scam that this man is. Like the fools that they are, they will rise and insult their fathers so as to defend their scammer.

Ditto for those blindly applauding Nnamdi Kanu’s soul mate, that gadfly that goes by the name Sunday Igboho. While in Nigeria, the pestilence was everywhere in the South West, destroying communities of residents who had settled there before his grandparents were born in the name of fighting “Fulani invaders.”

Since his migration to Benin, a land that believes in the rule of law, his gullible followers, like those of Nnamdi Kanu, have been waiting for Godot. No more roaming the bushes, killing and burning cows and settlements of innocent Fulani. And we have not heard of any make-believe Fulani invasions.

But slowly we are coming to terms with the truth that those who are “fighting” for the so-called freedom of their people are in reality hoodwinking those same people and squeezing them out of their hard-earned sweat.

Because crimes are not being punished and criminals go scot-free, Nigerians do anything to make money at the expense of others. We are witnesses to the upsurge in ritual killings in which Godforsaken people take the lives of others, hoping to make it big, as it is called in local parlance.

In all its devilish ramifications, human blood does not give money. Satan, fishing for those to take to hell, tells his recruits these tales of making money through blood.

However, these agents of darkness, who the lives of even their parents are not safe with, do not differ from so-called freedom fighters that goad their foolish tribesmen to kill and burn. That’s their own blood money rituals because what they seek in reality is worldly gain. They are not Mahatma Gandhi, and they can never be. Neither are they martyrs like Malcolm X, and they fear replicating the life of Nelson Mandela. They are more like their modern-day hero, Donald Trump; they use their gullible followers as cannon fodder towards acquiring a life of comfort for themselves and their families at the expense of their victims.

Nigerians have a way of identifying those who set out to make money through killing, maiming, obtaining by deceit, etc. They call them Yahoo boys. Everyone does what they are equipped to do. Those who instigate their tribesmen to kill others are Yahoo boys drenched in hatred; they are just plying their trade. Those who kill and make use of human parts are Yahoo boys that are servants of ignorance and greed. Those who swindle others based on various false claims are Yahoo boys steeped in deceit and greed.

These Yahoo practitioners have, unfortunately, impacted our young. Many would-be insurgents and separatists are waxing strong, those lusting for human blood and parts for money-making rituals are increasing. Nigeria is hurtling towards a free fall. The rule of law has been jettisoned and people are living like prehistoric Neanderthals. But even them, it has come to light, had rules they abided by, anyway.

Because we live in denial, refusing to respect the norms and values that make a sane society, everyone does what they like, and it is becoming a normal affair.

Killings in whatever name are now threatening to be an everyday occurrence. Something that started as droplets is daring to become a deluge. And because we forgot the meaning of “a stitch in time saves nine”, we failed to act and now we are being overwhelmed.

The get-rich-quick-at-whatever-cost syndrome is becoming a macabre pledge. Yahooism, that art that makes people kill or instigate killings to become rich, has taken over our once safe nation. They have violated our nation’s innocence; we can no longer travel through the night as we used to, or sleep outside during the hot season. The days when we accommodated strangers or stopped on the road to assist those whose vehicles broke down are gone, I am afraid, never to return in our lifetime.

We cry over the northern out-of-school kids and the almajiri kids. Some believe the current menace in the north results from our age-old inability to make life meaningful for these time bombs that are now exploding.

Unfortunately, there are a growing number of such in the south. They are almajiri but theirs is not to study the Bible as the northern almajiri are supposed to study the Qur’an. The southern mirrors of the northern almajiri move out of their homes to learn ‘Yahoo business’. Methinks we have cause to fear. I recently saw a screenshot of a Facebook page that teaches Yahooism which has over 700,000 followers!

The love for lucre has so permeated every fabric of our society. Agreed that it is because culprits are not punished, but that our society values people based on their worldly accumulations, too, does not help. And so, while some look for other humans or their parts to use for money rituals, others sell their parts for the same purpose.

Unfortunately, our clerics also do not help matters. Some no longer talk of good and bad, hellfire and paradise. It is now all about riches. Some tell their congregations that their “God is not a poor God” and so they must be rich. They make it look like the reward of serving God is wealth – those God does not love will remain poor. And so they have years, months, or days in which they must make it – and make it they must through whatever means! Again, our religious leaders compete for wealth and followership with one another. The more you have either of these, the closer you are to God. This is the impression they give their sheepish followers.

The government must come down heavily on all practitioners of money-making through unconventional means. Unconventional here also refers to those the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) are supposed to deal with. Letting them go scot-free is also one reason those with no access to the government’s “free funds” devise devilish ways to make it as well.

Our problems are all tied to the death of the Rule of Law because once we are lucky to have a leadership that will govern based on it, then our despair will turn into hope. Hope for a better and safe society. Our mission must be to identify such potential leadership and support it as we approach the baton changing point.

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Declare IPOB A Terrorist Organisation - American Don Tells Biden.

There seems to be a string of compounding woes for the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Kanu is currently in the custody of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) following his arrest in Kenya in June.

However, his ongoing treason trial does not seem to be the end of his travails as international forces have now joined demands for the proscription of his group.

The Federal Government had declared IPOB a terrorist organisation in 2017.

Ivan Sheehan, an American academic who is the executive director of the school of public and international affairs at the University of Baltimore,
in a piece published in The Washington Times, gave reasons why IPOB should be designated as a terrorist group by the US.

Sheehan said the establishment of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) by IPOB signalled the end of the group’s “pretenses of being a peaceful movement”.

He accused IPOB leader of supporting terrorism and issuing threats via Radio Biafra.

“Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB’s leader, is clearly unconcerned. That he feels no need to even disguise his support of terrorism is worrisome.”

“Though IPOB’s principal aim is to restore a breakaway state of Biafra in the southeastern parts of Nigeria, Mr. Kanu’s rhetoric has become increasingly strident, “I don’t want peaceful actualization (of Biafra).

“Mr. Kanu has said through his Radio Biafra channel, used to project threats, instructions, and propaganda into Nigeria from the safety of London, “If they don’t (give us Biafra), they will die.

“Neither does Mr. Kanu make idle threats. The December revelation of IPOB’s 50,000 strong-armed paramilitary wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), complete with a Swastika-style flag, marked the end to all pretenses of being a peaceful movement.

“What had been largely unspoken was publicly declared. Since then, violent IPOB attacks on both security personnel and civilians have surged by a terrifying 59%; deaths by 344%,” he wrote.

Sheeran further explained that tagging the secessionist group with a terror label would “hit IPOB’s wallet hard”, adding that if done, no organisation that uses the US currency would be able to conduct legal transactions with IPOB.

“As soon as the designation is applied, no organization that utilizes U.S. currency would be able to legally conduct transactions with the organization. By cutting off IPOB’s funding, the U.S. would weaken the 50,000 strong paramilitary outfit, and provide Nigeria’s security forces room to train their sights squarely on ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram in the Northeast of the country.”

“Counterterrorism operations against Boko Haram have long been assisted by U.S. agencies working in close coordination with the West African government,” he added.

Northern elders gave an indication of how a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari should emerge in 2023.

Spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba Ahmed, on Tuesday, while throwing light on the statement of the forum that the North will not allow itself to be seen as second class citizens, said the North is in trouble because of the quest by the South for one of their own to be president.

Speaking on Arise TV monitored in Abuja, the northern elder said the North will not succumb to any manner of intimidation or harassment by those from the South that are demanding that one of their own must be president in 2023.

He said leadership has failed Nigeria and it was time that the whole country comes together to elect a president that will not be a regional president but a Nigerian president.

“In a democracy, numbers are what are relevant; people doubt the voting power of the North, the population of the North. They need to go back to the last few elections and check. It does not mean that every northern vote is for a northern candidate, the pattern of elections consistently shows that millions of northerners have voted for southern candidates and millions of southerners have voted for northern candidates.

“Also, northerners have voted for southern leadership. Olusegun Obasanjo 1999 and President Jonathan became president largely because northerners who were in the National Assembly decided that we need to do something serious when late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua became so ill that they were not sure he was going to continue to be president.

“The doctrine of necessity was actually a mechanism that was contrived and pushed through by northerners. We elected Goodluck Jonathan, so there was nothing in the North that shows that we are against southern presidency, so we understand that people are desperate, people that will say if you want peace, justice in this country, you must bring the southern presidency.

“What we say is that is not the way to ask for a southern presidency. You cannot threaten us, using violence and intimidation. We read the constitution, we can read, we know what it takes to be a president.

“We know no northerner can become president unless he gets support from the South; by the same token, no one can be the president from the South without support from the North. We know there might be times and circumstances that someone from the South will become president and we will live with it, but he must be someone both northerners and southerners like and vote for.

“He must be a Nigerians’ president, not an ethnic president, not a religious president, not a regional president. We have learnt a lesson from the North. This tendency to say only one of our own… We are in trouble today because one of our own has put us in trouble.”

Dr. Baba Ahmed said if the South has not learnt their lesson “they should look at the South East, which is locked down by their own people, and the South West is fighting like mad.

“Leadership has failed Nigerians. If we cannot move beyond these issues we will continue to move in circles.

“Nobody is a second class citizen; no northerner, no southerner. If people reported what I said in terms of the South being a second class citizen, I am providing the correction now, apparently, the media has gone to town with the idea that the North is arrogant and will not play second class citizens, we don’t want to be and we will not be second class citizens. And we don’t want anyone from anywhere in the country to be second class citizens,” he said.

Meanwhile, the member representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency of Oyo State, Shina Peller (APC, Oyo) has disagreed with the position of the NEF on the zoning of the 2023 presidency to the southern part of the country.

Peller, in a statement on Tuesday, argued that having the majority votes, as claimed by the NEF, doesn’t mean that the principle of equity and equality should be ignored.

Lock screen

Tomorrow you'll blame the North ?

The Northerners are safe guarding their infrastructures and other buisness places. None are set ablaze !

Here, your hatred have motivated you to set vital buisness places and public institutions ablaze. Tomorrow , as children and descendants of Lamentation you'll in your shameless manner start blaming the north .

Digital fools , you make noise about European Education ? Very Educated people. How has your education contributes to the destruction of your region by setting it ablaze?

Continue to wallow in your hatred and blind revo-hoodlums .