₦airaland Forum

I have been offline for a while now due to the numerous death threats I’ve been receiving for speaking up against the killings of Christians by Islamic Jihadists in my community.

I don’t know when this threats will end but one thing I know for sure is that God will intervene in this matter.

See you all soon

Peter

Did You Know That It Was Discovered That One Of The Muslim Fulani Attackers Who Slaughtered Over 200 People In Yelwata, Benue State, Was An Active Military Officer In The Nigerian Army? – Franc Utoo, SA To The Ex-Governor Of Benue, Reveals That Sponsors Of These Killings Are Well Known In Nigeria.

I have said this before and I will continue to emphasize that the Nigerian Government, The Military and the Police are aiding, Sponsoring and protecting the Muslim Jihadists killing the Christians in Yelwata.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

STOP KILLING US

S.O Peter

My name is S.O Peter, I have been Receiving Numerous Death Threats from anonymous phone calls over my posts on Social Media and the Interviews I granted from A Civil Society Organization Exposing The Ongoing Christian Genocide In Nigeria, As Well As Revealing The Involvement Of Nigeria’s Government and The Military In Sponsoring Islamic Terrorism In The Country.

My life and that of my family is in Danger. I don’t know who to call. Please HELP

Again, we Yalwata Christians will not stop saying the truth about the Christian Genocide going on in our land and the involvement of the government and security forces. The truth is the truth Even if it’s uncomfortable.

90% Of All Killings And Persecution Of Christians Worldwide Over The Last Five Years Have Occurred In Nigeria.

Lastly, President Trump’s decision to redesignate Nigeria is a momentous step forward for international religious freedom. His actions can serve as a model to protect persecuted Christians in Nigeria.

S.O Peter

The government have has taken over the media. The media don’t report such anymore, just to cover up for this failed administration.

muyico:
And no any daily news paper 🗞️🗞️ update it??

My name is S.O Peter, I was born and raised in Yelwata community, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. I am married and I have 2 daughters.

June 11th 2025, we noticed strange movements of Islamic Terrorists on our farmland, myself and some community leaders informed the Security personnels( Nigerian Army and Police) who are few kilometers away. But they ignored us and warned to arrest and jail us if we report such to them again. June 13th, more 300 people were slaughtered in what i will describe as a targeted massacre of we Christians in the Yelwata community.

The Islamic terrorists razed our homes, destroyed our properties, and displaced hundreds of residents in the coordinated killings.

The Nigerian Government and the Security Personnels controls the local press in manipulating the narrative of violent incidents to downplay religious persecution and shield the perpetrators.

Right now as I type this, a lot of families are now taking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons IDPs camps across Benue State.

We the people of Yalwata and Benue State in general are in support of the moves by United States President, Donald Trump to come to our aid and end Christian genocide in Yalwata and Nigeria as a whole.

Peter S.O

June 2022, the world’s attention was more focused on Nigeria, as gunmen – alleged to belong to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) – attacked a church in Ondo State, killing dozens of Christians. The official death toll stands at 40, though by some estimates the true number of fatalities could be higher than 50.

The massacre led to an international outcry, with the United Nations condemning “in the strongest terms the heinous attack”.

Yet while this attack was certainly horrifying, and unusual in an area as far south as Ondo, it was no isolated incident. In Nigeria’s Middle Belt violence against Christians is sadly common. In the same month as the Ondo atrocity, at least 35 Christians were killed in several attacks across Kaduna State, while 37 were massacred in a single Sunday morning attack in Benue State and more than 250 in Plateau State.

This Islamic character is the main source of anti-Christian persecution in Nigeria. Many violent attacks on Christians take place in the Middle Belt, and in the North where Christians and Muslims are roughly equal in number. These tensions can be traced back to the British plan to grant Nigeria independence as a single entity, realising Lugard’s vision of a “forced union of marriage” between North and South.

It is believed with evidence that the Security Forces with the support of the Government are backing up the killings of Christians in Nigeria.

Lastly, the call by The US president is a welcome idea to help the Christians in Nigeria.

On November 17, Sudanese security forces in the city of Khartoum Bahri beat, shot, and detained Farsab, a reporter for the local independent newspaper Al-Tayar, according to news reports, a statement by the local press freedom group the Sudanese Journalists Network, and Yuosif Doka, a local journalist familiar with the incident, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app.

Farsab was covering protests against Sudan’s recent military coup when security forces began beating him, breaking his collarbone and finger; one officer fired a bullet that grazed Farsab’s head, according to those sources.

The officers arrested Farsab after the beating, and held him at Khartoum Bahri’s Murqin Police Station until today, when authorities transferred him to a hospital, where he remains in their custody, according to a local journalist who knows Farsab and spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“Sudanese security forces’ shooting and beating of journalist Ali Farsab make a mockery of the coup government’s alleged commitment to a democratic transitional phase in the country,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. “Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release both Farsab and detained journalist Maher Abugoukh and ensure that members of the press can work safely without fear of being attacked by security forces.”

During anti-coup protests throughout the country on November 17, security forces shot and killed at least 15 people, according to news reports, which described it as the deadliest day since the military seized power and dissolved Sudan’s civilian government on October 25.

Nigeria Travel Risk Advisory as at 30th of May 2021.

Reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, killing and kidnapping of Journalists and maritime crime. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.

#Nigeria #Crime #Kidnapping #Killings #Injustice[color=#990000][/color]

50 journalists and media workers were killed in connection with their work and over 200 journalists and bloggers Kidnapped in 2020, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders... To them and to those who daily risk their lives in pursuit of the truth happy #WorldPressFreedomDay

Nigerian Police Salary Scale....
This article will enlighten you more on how much Nigerian Police pay its officers starting from the highest rank to the lowest vacant position. See the full information in picture.

This is a police barracks in Nigeria.... This is a total shame.

The Department of State Services has invited a journalist in Plateau State, Masara Kim, for questioning over a report exposing potential attacks in some farming communities by herdsmen.

Kim is expected to appear at the DSS office in Jos on Monday, September 21.

His invitation comes amidst a crackdown on free speech by the secret police under President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.

Kim on Friday published a story on his website reporting the killing of a mobile police officer and a civilian in Malul, Daffo Village under Bokkos Local Government Area.

The policeman, who was on special duty and one Sati Bulus, were ambushed on a motorbike around 8:30pm on Thursday.

As part of his story, Kim exposed meetings held by Fulani groups in the state to purchase weapons and resume hostilities on farming villages, information he attributed to trusted sources.

The report said, “A meeting of Fulani herdsmen leaders held on Monday in Fass, a native community in Barkin Ladi LGA displaced and renamed Tafawa by herdsmen, allegedly resolved to resume hostilities in Daffo and three other Plateau communities before December 2020.

The Alliance for the Survival of COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) has asked Nigerians to participate in the September 23 nationwide protest called by the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The protest follows the recent hike in electricity tariff and fuel price which the TUC and other groups have described as anti-people.

ASCAB, a coalition of about 80 groups chaired by Femi Falana, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in a statement on Tuesday, said it will mobilise the civil society to join the protest tagged ‘Enough is Enough’ in support of working people and poor Nigerians who face the daily agony of survival.

ASCAB said it will go along with the TUC while waiting for the Nigerian Labour Congress, (NLC) to join after its Wednesday meeting.

“We call on all Nigerians, workers, farmers, students, traders, the poor and the defenseless people alike, women, men, young and the aged to come out on September 23 to show their disdain against institutionalised poverty, hunger, deprivation and the the country’s slide into a cesspool of anomie in the face of violence and spineless killings,” the statement signed by Falana read.

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has become popular for clamping down on peaceful protesters and opposing voices in the country.

Officers of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested journalists covering a protest against the increase in price of petrol and electricity tariff in the country.

It is completely unacceptable, and we enjoin all Nigerians interested in preserving this country's hard-earned democracy to condemn this emboldened descent into a civilian-military dictatorship.

Total of 18 arrested including four journalists: Dagga Tolar SPN NEC member, Bar Ayo Ademiluyi, Chinedu Bosah, SPN National Secretary, Lexan Ali, Fidel Davynovich , Oluwole Engels and Hassan Taiwo Soweto, SPN National Youth Leader and eight others.

Journalists that were arrested are Ifeoluwa Adediran of Premium Times, Abiodun Ayeoba of SaharaReporters, Awoniyi Oluwatosin of Objectv media and Daniel Tanimu of Galaxy TV whose camera was seized. Some journalist’s phones were also seized. Now at the Lagos State Police Command.

A Delta State High Court sitting in Otor-Udu has ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Adamu; the Officer in-Charge of the IGP Monitoring Unit, DCP Abba Kyari; and detective Reuben Noah, to pay three Delta State-based journalists the sum of N350,000 for their unlawful arrest and detention in Warri.

The affected journalists are Matthew Omonigho, Christopher Odamah and Onyekachukwu Meluwa of the Daily Post, Delta Trumpet and The PUNCH, respectively.

Justice Roli Harriman also directed the respondents to tender an apology to the applicants in three national dailies within 14 days.

Reports have emerged on how Nigerian music producer, Michael Ajereh widely known as Don Jazzy, and Tiwatope Savage popularly known as Tiwa Savage, were invited by the Department of State Service in for questioning over alleged political utterances against the administration of President Muhamamdu Buhari.

In recent months, following a sharp rise in sexual assault cases across Nigeria especially against women, Tiwa Savage began a movement known as “WeAreTired” in protest of the situation.

Together with Don Jazzy, Savage was invited to the DSS office in Lagos two weeks ago during which they were warned to be careful with their posts on the social media.

Shortly after that episode, the two celebrities together with colleagues Yemi Alade and Waje were summoned by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, who while sharing efforts they were making to tackle rape and other problems in the state and country, warned the musicians to steer clear of political comments in order not to incur the wrath of the President Buhari administration.

SAHARA REPORTER

Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina has been re-elected as the President of the African Development Bank President for a second five-year term.

The election took place electronically on Thursday at the virtual annual general meeting of the bank.

Adesina’s reappointment on Thursday at the helm of the 56-year-old bank is considered a formality as he is the sole candidate.


The head of the African bank had appealed on Wednesday for a second term in office after a months-long storm over alleged corruption and poor governance that ended after he was cleared in an independent probe.

In a speech at the AfDB’s annual meetings, Adesina formally requested a second term as president, declaring that he was “doing it with an acute sense of duty and commitment.”

“I do it to serve Africa and our bank, in an unbiased way, to the best of the abilities that God has given me,” he said, according to a statement issued by the bank.

Lawyer Sues Lai Mohammed, NBC For Raising Hate Speech Fine From N500,000 To N5m (Photo)

IgbereTV reports that human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has sued the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; the Federal Government, and the National Broadcasting Commission for arbitrarily amending the Broadcast Code and hiking the fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5m.

The NBC had threatened that any TV or radio station that allows elected officials to be insulted on its platform would be fined N5m or shut down.

Effiong in his supporting affidavit told the court that the actions of the NBC, the Minister of Information and the Federal Government had gravely affected his freedom of expression and that of broadcast stations, broadcasters and other Nigerian citizens who also appear as guests on radio and television stations to express critical views about the government and public officeholders.

The lawyer argued that “abusing” or “insulting” the government cannot be criminalised in a democracy.

The lawyer also asked the court to nullify and set aside the penalty of fines or other penalties imposed on broadcast stations by the NBC.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.

People who exercise their right to freedom of expression through journalism should be able to practice their work without restrictions.

My next article will be published soon about Freedom of Speech and the Hate Speech bill passed by Nigerian Government recently.

A fire broke out in a major government building in Nigeria’s capital Abuja recently before the fire service extinguished it, local media reported.

The fire erupted at the Nigerian Federal Government building, dubbed Treasury House, where the office of the Nigerian Accountant General is located.

The fire, according to local reports, started at the third floor of the building, razing it upwards including the Accountant General’s Office as well as other offices.

The Treasury House is located beside the country’s Federal Capital Territory FCT Police Command in Abuja’s Garki area, according to local Van Guard newspaper.

“The fire at the Accountant General's Office has been extinguished,” the Federal Fire Service said on Twitter.

The cause of the incident has yet to be ascertained as no one claims to take responsibility for the fire incident.

I urge the the appropriate Authority to Investigate this fire incident and ascertain the cause of the fire in the said Accountant General Office. Also, Government should provide fire safety instruments like Extinguisher in all public facilities to curb such incident in future occurrence.

SOKOYA OLAOLU PETER

CURRENT STATE OF AJAOKUTA STEEL COMPANY- By SOKOYA OLAOLU PETER

No Nigerian can visit Ajaokuta Steel Company ASC, see investments of more than $8b rotting in the African sun and not cry. I went there, I cried. what exactly is the problem? I have written severally on this topic, but today let me do a comprehensive post.

Ajaokuta Steel is massive, 68km road network, 24 housing estates. Some of the estates have over 1,000 homes, a seaport, a 110mw power generation plant. There are 43 separate plants in Ajaokuta alone. It is estimated that if Ajaokuta becomes operational, it will create 500,000 jobs.

There is no industrialized nation on earth that does not have a steel sector, it’s that simple. The Central Bank of Nigeria reports that Nigeria currently imports steel, aluminum products and associated derivatives of approximately 25 metric tonnes per annum estimated at $4.5bn.

Ajaokuta is an integrated steel company, it was designed by the Russian to be self-sufficient to get all its inputs from Nigeria and make steel. Ajaokuta strength is also its weakness, Ajaokuta can only work with all inputs available.

A technical post, but please try and follow

Steel is an alloy of iron & carbon. Iron is the base metal in steel, to make steel, you need Iron Ore, Coke from Coal, Limestone as main components. These components are mixed in a blast furnace to make liquid steel which can be long steel for rail lines or flat steel for auto

To give a simple example, look at steel as making jollof rice, iron ore is the rice, the limestone and coke are the pepper and salt the pot is the blast furnace. At a steel plane the blast furnace is ONLY turned on when the steel company is ready to make steel.

Blast furnaces operate continuously and are never shut down. The raw material to be fed into the furnace is divided into several small charges that are introduced into the furnace at 10- to 15-min intervals.

This means everything must be in place BEFORE the blast furnace is turned on, the iron ore, the coal, the limestone, everything, why? Because you do not switch off a blast furnace for another 10 years or however its campaign life is.

Nigeria has all raw materials needed to produce steel including iron ore in Kogi, coal & limestone in Enugu
Nigerian iron has very low iron concentration. Agbaja has the largest iron ore deposit in Nigeria with about 2b tonnes but the Agbaja ore has a high phosphate content.

Phosphate can cause brittleness in steel making it to fracture, thus Agbaga was abandoned for Itakpe. Itakpe iron ore has no issues with phosphate but has low iron content.

Stay with me

Thus to make steel with Nigeria iron ore, a process called “beneficiation” has to be done to process the Itakpe ores to raise its iron content to meet the required standard for steel production.

Coal? Most of the coal found in Nigeria is non-coking, thus, unsuitable for steel production. coal deposits in Enugu, have no impurities but are non-coking. The good news? Nigeria has abundant deposit of limestone and we have natural gas to provide power

So back to Ajaokuta, what really happened? why can Nigeria not make steel anytime soon? let’s link up the elements
1 Policy Failure:
The Ajaokuta contract was signed between the FGN & the Soviet state-owned company, Tiajpromexport (TPE) was scheduled for completion in 1986.

In 2012, the Federal Government launched her backward integration policy. Going forward import licenses for steel products was only granted to companies producing steel locally.

TPE to ensure they could import steel parts for Ajaokuta simply went ahead and built the rolling mills in Ajaokuta BEFORE the actual steel plant was completed, they imported billet from Ukraine to accomplish this.

Ajaokuta was producing steel before the actual steel plant was started. Ajaokuta has a functional rolling mills but no operational blast furnace. Ajaokuta cannot produce steel from basic iron ore found in Nigeria. This is the definition of cart before the horse.

2 NIOMCO:
The iron ore in Nigeria earmarked for Ajaokuta is from Itakpe, it has low iron content thus the FG built National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) a 2.15 metric tonnes beneficiation plant to process the low-quality iron ore from Itakpe to iron ore suitable for Ajaokuta

Simply put, if NIOMCO does not operate, Ajaokuta CANNOT operate (unless Ajaokuta uses imported iron ore.) as at today, September 2019, NIOMCO is not operational

3. Railway:
15m tonnes of iron ore cannot be moved by road, as it will destroy the roads, thus a railway was to be built from Itakpe to Ajaokuta to take iron ore from the beneficiation plan in Itakpe to the Ajaokuta. Rail link not working today

4. Blast Furnace:
The furnace is the heart. It is the pot where the jollof rice will be cooked, however it has never been turned on, why? because there has never been any time Ajaokuta has had raw materials available to ensure continuous day in day out production for 5 years.

Why no raw materials? Because there is no rail to take iron ore from Itakpe to Ajaokuta. Why no railway from Itakpe to Ajaokuta? Because NIOMCO in Itakpe is moribund and not functional thus cannot convert Itakpe iron ore to high grade ore for the furnace in Ajaokuta.

For Ajaokuta to work, she MUST have three key critical paths

1 NIOMCO must be functional
2 Itakpe to Ajaokuta Railway line must be functional
3 Blast Furnace operational

All three are not functional, so its clear Nigeria cannot make steel in Ajaokuta for now.

Nothing however stops a corrupt government official from importing billets and running them in the rolling mills. So, when anyone tells you Ajaokuta will soon begin working, ask them, can a steel plant work without NIOMCO, railways and a blast furnace?

Ajaokuta is the only steel plant in the world built by the USSR, sold to Americans, then to Indians, all these teams have come and gone with their own technical style, there have even been accusations of asset stripping by the Indians.

Ajaokuta is Nigeria and probably Africa biggest failure. It has failed. Can it be made to work? yes but the cost to integrate Ajaokuta with her mines and rails can be used to build new smaller modern turn key functional steel mills.

The government should get out of Ajaokuta, sell the place and allow private sector capital and expertise restructure and own it.

If you want to make jollof rice and there is no rice the solution is not to keep boiling water without rice but to go and get rice.

SOKOYA OLAOLU .P.

THE DEPILATED STATES OF NIGERIAN POLICE AND ARMY BARRACKS:
By Sokoya Olaolu.
The sorry state of Police and Army Barracks across the country, especially the Barracks located in Lagos State have received heavy condemnation from the public in recent times due to the depilatory state of the buildings inhabited by the brave men and women of the Nigerian Police and Army Force and their families.
The devastating buildings in the Barracks in Lagos State first got his major spotlight when one Nigerian Television News station beamed it lens on the Ikeja Police College in 2013 – the pictures and videos shown to the world to see, prompted the then President, Goodluck Jonathan to pay an unprecedented visit to the College; promising to transform the structures.
As reactions began to trail the coverage of the Police College in Ikeja, Nigerians began to switch attention to another set of buildings that needed urgent attention from the Nigerian Government. Nigerians began comparison of the Police College and the Army Barracks in Lagos State and other States within the Country.
Those who once lived in the Barracks and people who still call the Barracks home began to speak out about the dilapidated buildings of the Barracks, authenticating their words with pictures. Soon, this stole the searchlight from the Police College. cry

These buildings are below per, some are with weak foundations, some of them are not even painted, and they will not pass the test if credible building regulatory bodies visit the buildings; but sadly and expectedly, these buildings are still standing and not marked for demolition like the government does eagerly when it comes to Private homes and buildings.

The Government being the judge in their own case makes it easier for them to overlook certain things that would have caused the leveling of non-government building. Apart from the Police and Army Barracks not being a conducive environment that an individual can be advised to reside, the situation of the buildings is likely to lead to the death and injury of many if proper attention is not dedicated to it.

The Police Barracks building which a part collapsed few years ago at Ikeja Police Barracks, killing two people around 4:00 am. And according to reports, the Southwest zonal coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, Yakubu Suleiman, stated that, “We have understanding that the building has failed integrity tests, twice.” the NEMA boss said this.




In Nigeria, it is believed that anything owned by Government or managed by government is destined for failure. So to many, it’s no news that the buildings are in such a state, but it only sad that men and women serving our Nation, putting their lives on the line when they kit-up to roam the street and purge us of criminals on a shallow pay, are sandwiched in a dilapidated building.

It is sad that the brave Policemen and Army who put their lives at risk every day, so that the citizens may enjoy peace are made to live in such a shallow building, while men and women whose job is to sit, deliberate and pass laws that are in most cases, not people oriented, live large in Mansions, private hotels both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria; with millions of naira pocketed every months.



The Nigerian Lawmakers; the House of Representatives earn a whooping $4000 while their counterpart at the Senate earns a total of $7000 weekly (this is excluding the extra payment they get for the position they head within the chamber).

Meanwhile, a Nigerian Police recruit (A newly employed officer undergoing training) gets less than $200 as Monthly Salary and $2400 as Annual Salary, while a Nigerian Police Constable (Grade Level 03) Monthly Salary is $350 and gets $4200 Annually.

So, it’s not surprising that the only thing the Nigerian Lawmakers overtime have shown they can give their life for is their seat in the Legislature, while the Nigerian Police and Army officers are expected to put the lives of the citizens they know not from Adam and foreigners residing in the country first.

Nigerian Government have often times played to the gallery, abandoning things that are of importance until it die a natural death, then begin campaign after election.

The best way to compensate the officers of the Police and Army Force is to provide them a better and top quality standard of living or demolish the depilated Barracks and increase their monthly salary, so that they can fund their apartment themselves.

Since the return to Democracy, every administration has had a budget set aside for the Police Service Commission, but how the Funds are disbursed is what is indecipherable till today; because nothing has changed in the Police Force except for Officers who come and go.

The Police officers still look unattractive and hungry, their black uniform still looks fade-out, they still carry a Rifle rather than the advisable Pistol, still complains of shortage of petrol when needed during emergency, the officers are still not kit-up enough to overpower assailants during exchange of fire, and they still live in a (unpainted) ramshackle Barrack.

It is left to see what the N35Billion and N100 Billion budgeted for the Interior Ministry (Police Service Commission inclusive) and Defence in 2019 budget allocations will be used for. Hopefully, it won’t be another year, another wasted budget, where the situation remains same, as the cries for attention is becoming deafening.

So, it is important for the Nigerian Government, both Federal and State to bear in mind that the officers of the Police and Army Force can’t function effectively as expected if their welfare is nothing to write home about.

Sokoya Olaolu

THE DEPILATED STATES OF NIGERIAN POLICE AND ARMY BARRACKS:
By Sokoya Olaolu.
The sorry state of Police and Army Barracks across the country, especially the Barracks located in Lagos State have received heavy condemnation from the public in recent times due to the depilatory state of the buildings inhabited by the brave men and women of the Nigerian Police and Army Force and their families.
The devastating buildings in the Barracks in Lagos State first got his major spotlight when one Nigerian Television News station beamed it lens on the Ikeja Police College in 2013 – the pictures and videos shown to the world to see, prompted the then President, Goodluck Jonathan to pay an unprecedented visit to the College; promising to transform the structures.
As reactions began to trail the coverage of the Police College in Ikeja, Nigerians began to switch attention to another set of buildings that needed urgent attention from the Nigerian Government. Nigerians began comparison of the Police College and the Army Barracks in Lagos State and other States within the Country.
Those who once lived in the Barracks and people who still call the Barracks home began to speak out about the dilapidated buildings of the Barracks, authenticating their words with pictures. Soon, this stole the searchlight from the Police College.

These buildings are below per, some are with weak foundations, some of them are not even painted, and they will not pass the test if credible building regulatory bodies visit the buildings; but sadly and expectedly, these buildings are still standing and not marked for demolition like the government does eagerly when it comes to Private homes and buildings.

The Government being the judge in their own case makes it easier for them to overlook certain things that would have caused the leveling of non-government building. Apart from the Police and Army Barracks not being a conducive environment that an individual can be advised to reside, the situation of the buildings is likely to lead to the death and injury of many if proper attention is not dedicated to it.

The Police Barracks building which a part collapsed few years ago at Ikeja Police Barracks, killing two people around 4:00 am. And according to reports, the Southwest zonal coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, Yakubu Suleiman, stated that, “We have understanding that the building has failed integrity tests, twice.” the NEMA boss said this.




In Nigeria, it is believed that anything owned by Government or managed by government is destined for failure. So to many, it’s no news that the buildings are in such a state, but it only sad that men and women serving our Nation, putting their lives on the line when they kit-up to roam the street and purge us of criminals on a shallow pay, are sandwiched in a dilapidated building.

It is sad that the brave Policemen and Army who put their lives at risk every day, so that the citizens may enjoy peace are made to live in such a shallow building, while men and women whose job is to sit, deliberate and pass laws that are in most cases, not people oriented, live large in Mansions, private hotels both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria; with millions of naira pocketed every months.



The Nigerian Lawmakers; the House of Representatives earn a whooping $4000 while their counterpart at the Senate earns a total of $7000 weekly (this is excluding the extra payment they get for the position they head within the chamber).

Meanwhile, a Nigerian Police recruit (A newly employed officer undergoing training) gets less than $200 as Monthly Salary and $2400 as Annual Salary, while a Nigerian Police Constable (Grade Level 03) Monthly Salary is $350 and gets $4200 Annually.

So, it’s not surprising that the only thing the Nigerian Lawmakers overtime have shown they can give their life for is their seat in the Legislature, while the Nigerian Police and Army officers are expected to put the lives of the citizens they know not from Adam and foreigners residing in the country first.

Nigerian Government have often times played to the gallery, abandoning things that are of importance until it die a natural death, then begin campaign after election.

The best way to compensate the officers of the Police and Army Force is to provide them a better and top quality standard of living or demolish the depilated Barracks and increase their monthly salary, so that they can fund their apartment themselves.

Since the return to Democracy, every administration has had a budget set aside for the Police Service Commission, but how the Funds are disbursed is what is indecipherable till today; because nothing has changed in the Police Force except for Officers who come and go.

The Police officers still look unattractive and hungry, their black uniform still looks fade-out, they still carry a Rifle rather than the advisable Pistol, still complains of shortage of petrol when needed during emergency, the officers are still not kit-up enough to overpower assailants during exchange of fire, and they still live in a (unpainted) ramshackle Barrack.

It is left to see what the N35Billion and N100 Billion budgeted for the Interior Ministry (Police Service Commission inclusive) and Defence in 2019 budget allocations will be used for. Hopefully, it won’t be another year, another wasted budget, where the situation remains same, as the cries for attention is becoming deafening.

So, it is important for the Nigerian Government, both Federal and State to bear in mind that the officers of the Police and Army Force can’t function effectively as expected if their welfare is nothing to write home about...

Sokoya Olaolu