₦airaland Forum

Contrary to the claims by many Nigerian leaders that the unity of the country is non-negotiable, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, has declared that the unity of Nigeria is negotiable.

Speaking Saturday at The Sun Newspaper Awards for 2020 held in Lagos, Kingibe however said even the union between a husband and wife is negotiable.

“I was born in Nigeria. I was groomed in Nigeria. I believe in Nigeria. People of my generation believe in Nigeria. We have no doubt about the fact that we have no option, but Nigeria.

“However, I think that a few of my colleagues believe that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable. Of course, it is negotiable. Even the unity of a family is negotiable. Even the constitution of husband and wife is negotiable. The moment either parties feels this union is no longer bearable, that he or she will rather go his/her way. You help them to sit down consider their condition after a careful and rational examination of the pros and cons of how to be married that they take the decision which suit them best.

“It is enough just to say I do not farewell where I am. So, I am going,” Kingibe explained.

He, however, added that any party that wants to pull out from the union should consider the implications.

“Are you sure where you are going? Are you sure of the consequence of where you are going? Do you really feel that the grass is greener on the other side? If you do, sit with your partner in respect, in mutual respect, in love if possible, but without demonising your husband or your wife because you will always remain the ex of the other person. But discuss quietly so that even if you separate in the future you can inter-relate with love and respect,” he added.

Speaking specifically on the issue of those agitating to leave the country, Kingibe said: “When we ever say we want to go away, I do not think they realise the going away. It is not that you carve out the piece of land, take it up and put it in other side of Ghana. The piece of land will be here. You will be here. Everybody will be here. And we all want to prosper. My appeal to everyone is, please, let us be respectful of one another. Let us not demonise one another. Let us respect the views of everybody,” he noted.

Sustained opposition by organised Labour forced Federal Government to suspend increases in petrol pump price, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.

He also explained why Nigeria’s debt portfolio continued to soar, saying his administration kept the economy on its feet by spending out of recessions.

The President’s explanations were contained in the next year’s Appropriation Bill he presented for consideration at a joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja.

He said next year’s Appropriation Act will be the last full year budget to be implemented by his administration.

The National Assembly, Buhari said, would recall that in March last year, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) announced that the price of petrol would henceforth be determined by market forces.

He, however, noted that the rising crude oil prices and exchange rate combined to push the price of petrol above the regulated N145.00 per litre price.

According to the President, labour unions led the opposition against the price deregulation policy, saying that the government had to suspend upward price adjustments to engage labour leaders.

He added that the subsidy on petrol significantly eroded revenues that should have been available to fund this year’ Appropriation Act.

All Progressives Congress chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, says an Igbo candidate cannot be trusted in the 2023 presidential election.

According to him, nobody is going to vote for people who would use the same position to divide Nigeria.

Igbokwe, who is an aide to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated this in a PUNCH Live interview on Thursday.

He said the South-East geopolitical zone has indeed suffered “injustices”, adding that in “everything we share in this country, we get the least.”

He, therefore, urged the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to facilitate the creation of one more state to make states in the South-East six like other geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

States currently in the zone are Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi.

Speaking on the PUNCH Live programme, the politician, however, noted that despite the “injustices”, violent agitations and killings were not the way to press for justice, equity and fairness.

Hoodlums took advantage of the situation to scatter some wares already displayed by shop owners who had fled.

A tricycle was on Monday morning burnt by unknown gunmen who were allegedly enforcing the sit-at-home order of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Enugu State.

The gunmen were said to have intercepted the tricycle at Amechi Road, beside Romchi filling station in Enugu.

SaharaReporters gathered that soldiers who were called to calm the situation fled after a gun battle with the gunmen.

“The gunmen asked the rider why he refused to remain indoors. The owner and his passengers were unhurt. The Keke (commercial tricycle) was carrying passengers. They forced the occupants out, collected their phones, and set the Keke ablaze.

“When Nigerian soldiers came for the distress call, the gunmen engaged them and they fled. The army zoomed off from unknown gunmen around St. Paul’s Primary School, Achara Layout, Enugu,” a source told SaharaReporters.

Also, gunmen suspected to be members of IPOB have stormed the streets and markets of Owerri, the Imo state capital to ensure residents stay indoors even though the pro-Biafra group has kicked against such enforcement.

There was pandemonium in the town as gunmen forced traders to close shops.

In a report by Daily Trust, motorists quickly made U-turns while many passengers disembarked from their vehicles.

The confusion, which started at Wethral Road, spread to neighbouring Mbaise Road, Douglas Road, and Naze along the Aba- Owerri Road.

Some traders at the multi-million Alaba International Market and Naze Cluster markets were said to have closed their shops and locked the gates leading to the market.

Hoodlums took advantage of the situation to scatter some wares already displayed by shop owners who had fled.

Schools were closed while parents rushed to pick up their children. It was not immediately known what actually happened, but it was gathered that the gunmen had arrived Owerri from Aba ostensibly to enforce the order in Imo.

• Says party shifted Uba’s campaign over Buhari, Osinbajo’s absence
• APGA, APC, PDP importing new form of ‘Boko Haram’ to S’East, ADC alleges

Anambra State government has accused the state chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) of indicting President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government for insecurity in the state.

Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, stated this while reacting to APC’s insistence that Governor Willie Obiano should be held responsible for the worsening security situation in the state.

He stressed that the Buhari-led administration should be held accountable for insecurity in Anambra State and the entire country, as against holding particular state governments responsible.

Adinuba, who argued that the 36 state governors were merely titular chief security officers (CSOs) of their states, stressed: “No governor has control over the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS), or the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in his state.

“Even the Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG) is supervised by the state police command, like any other state vigilante service. The APC in Anambra State is aware of the facts but insists on playing to the gallery anytime there is a security issue.

“The people and government of Anambra State are convinced that the state APC is indicting President Buhari deliberately over security lapses, because it is frustrated with the President for not attending its governorship campaign in the state, causing the Andy Uba Campaign Organisation to change plans thrice.”

On the last-minute cancellation of the APC rally for its governorship candidate in Onitsha, yesterday, he added that there were no indications that even Vice President Yemi Osinbajo could attend the campaign.

Continuing, Adinuba pointed out that the president was fully convinced that the primary election did not hold on Friday, June 26, 2021, to nominate the APC candidate for the November 6 governorship poll.
But, the APC in Anambra State berated the Obiano-led All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) administration for its inability to stop the killings in the state in recent times.

State Chairman of the party, Chief Basil Ejidike, specifically urged Obiano to resign over his failure to check the constant killings, kidnappings, cultism, destruction of property and attacks on security formations across the state.

Ejidike, who made the call at a stakeholder meeting with the 326 ward executives in Awka, said the governor had demonstrated his inability to protect the life and property of the Anambra people.

MEANWHILE, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the killings in the Southeast, insisting that they have political undertones.

Specifically, the party traced the killings and violent attacks in Anambra State to lack of internal democracy and judgment buying by APGA, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, adding that the political parties had imported a new form of ‘Boko Haram’ to the Southeast region.

National Chairman of ADC, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu, who spoke in an interview with newsmen in Awka, maintained that the killings posed a serious threat to the forthcoming November 6, 2021 governorship election.