₦airaland Forum

.

The attention some people give this man-Kanu is so funny. Upon everything (difficult situation) Nigeria is going through, Kanu should be least of Nigeria's problems.

I begged to feed, graduated with first class, yet no meaningful job –Bashir, ABU graduate

Twenty-six-year-old Abdulmalik Bashir, who graduated with a first class in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, tells GBENGA ODOGUN how financial challenges pushed him to academic success

Can you walk us through your academic background?

I attended primary school in the Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State. I attended the UBE Secondary School, Idatochi, and thereafter, attended the Egbira Community Secondary School, Ogaminana, where I completed my secondary education in 2012. After leaving secondary school, I had to stay at home for two years before I got admission into the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, for the 2014/2015 session, and studied Water Resources and Environmental Engineering. I graduated in 2019 with a first class degree and was the best student in my department.

Do you have a copy of your degree certificate?

I have yet to collect my certificate. I am currently using a statement of result in place of a certificate.

Why haven’t you collected your certificate?

I have been to the school several times without success to collect my certificate. The last time I was there, the Non-Academic Staff Union was on strike and is still on strike as I speak. There is no one to attend to me.

How did your parents support your education and upkeep?

When I got admission in 2014, my parents took care of me. But in 2016, I started facing financial challenges because my father, Ohieku Siyaka, is a teacher in a primary school in the Adavi Local Government Area before the long period of screening was carried out by the state government. He fell into the category of un-cleared teachers and since then, which is more than seven years now, my father, who is the breadwinner of our family, has not been paid a dime!

My mother is a petty trader, but two years after my admission, she developed health challenges that later resulted in a partial stroke and she could no longer trade. In my 300 level, things became extremely difficult for me. I had to resort to begging and meeting a few friends to solicit their assistance. Only a few of them assisted me and from what I got from them, I had to send money home to my parents because the situation at home was piteous.

How did you manage to forge ahead?

I encountered serious financial challenges that almost forced me out of school but for the grace of God and some friends, who lent me money that I later paid back during my service year. My mother’s health challenges affected my academic studies a lot, because before she fell sick, she ensured that I lacked nothing; but when she became sick, I had to turn myself into a beggar on campus before I could feed. There was one particular day I packed my belongings and wanted to abandon my studies, because I could no longer cope but I summoned courage and stayed behind to see what God would do for me. The suffering and financial challenges I faced while in school motivated me to aim for a first class degree. So, I decided to put hunger aside and concentrate on my studies. With severe hunger, I ensured that I read my book to meet my target.

At what point did you start working towards graduating with a first class degree?

It started in my first year. I had vowed to graduate with a first class degree so that I could free my parents from poverty and that I achieved at the end of my studies. However, I have been greeted with unemployment since I graduated and completed the National Youth Service Corps. I am appealing to the government at all levels, private individuals and corporate organisations to assist me with a job so that I can take care of my sick mother and my father, who has remained on the un-cleared list for the last seven years, and my siblings, who can no longer go to school because of the financial challenges my parents are facing. With my qualification, I can work in the ministries of water resources and environment. I can as well work in any oil company. If I have the resources, I can as well set up a business.
I dedicate my academic success to my father and mother, who deprived themselves of the comfort of life to see me through school, especially at the primary and secondary levels, before the challenges came. Their efforts posed a bigger challenge to me and made me decide to become the best student in my department and faculty. Today, I am partially happy that I have achieved the feat and I will be completely happy when God Almighty, individuals and the government assist me to secure a job and start taking care of my parents.

Where did you undergo national service and where was your place of primary assignment?

I underwent national service at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

How did you fund your movement to the state and community you were posted to?

I didn’t fund any movement. My father managed to squeeze out some money for me for my transportation.

Did you make efforts to be retained at your place of primary assignment?

Yes, but as of that time, the institution was facing serious financial challenges, which led to a delay in the payment of salaries to their employees, hence, my application was declined.

Have you applied to other academic and corporate institutions for a job?

Yes, I applied to the Nasarawa State University for a job when I saw the advertisement for recruitment online but I couldn’t complete the process because I was still serving. I completed service at the end of October 2021.

What do you currently do to earn a living?

I work at a private construction company. I joined the firm last December on an ongoing water supply and sanitation project, which is about to reach completion. My take-home pay is nothing to write home about. I am just doing it to avoid boredom.

Does the ABU not retain first class graduates as some other Nigerian universities do?

Did you take up extra jobs to make ends meet during your service year?

No, the institution paid corps members a monthly stipend of N7,500 only and the nature of the work didn’t allow free time to take up extra jobs.

Did you make efforts to be retained at your place of primary assignment?

Yes, but as of that time, the institution was facing serious financial challenges, which led to a delay in the payment of salaries to their employees, hence, my application was declined.

Have you applied to other academic and corporate institutions for a job?

Yes, I applied to the Nasarawa State University for a job when I saw the advertisement for recruitment online but I couldn’t complete the process because I was still serving. I completed service at the end of October 2021.

What do you currently do to earn a living?

I work at a private construction company. I joined the firm last December on an ongoing water supply and sanitation project, which is about to reach completion. My take-home pay is nothing to write home about. I am just doing it to avoid boredom.

Does the ABU not retain first class graduates as some other Nigerian universities do?

They do but not always. I think for some time now, they’ve stopped retaining their first class graduates.

What lessons can young Nigerians who face similar challenges learn from you?

I am calling on the Nigerian youth to be focused and not allow any challenges to push them into committing a crime. Rather, they should convert the challenges to success through seriousness, focus, and determination in whatever lawful enterprise they are engaged in because with determination, a lot can be achieved in the end.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/i-begged-to-feed-graduated-with-first-class-yet-no-meaningful-job-bashir-abu-graduate/%3famp

The fingers of Malami written on this latest quest to use the court.
Malami should do the needful & resign if he want to contest.

Nigerian Police: Shortlisted Candidates For 2022 Recruitment By Political Zones. - Chidi Cali.

1) North East - - - - 17,881.
2) North Central- - - 12,634.
3) North West - - - - 11,716.
4) South South - - - - 6,245.
5) South West - - - - - 5,304.
6) South East - - - - - 1,569.

The South East got only 2.8% of the recruits.
This is a zone that accounts for almost half of University graduation in Nigeria in the last 10 years. - @chidi2chidi.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10229666700830802&id=1202901411

Our President name is Buhari not "Bubari" OP pls correct immediately.
I hope the Presidency will not deny this news later.

Continuation of the interview:
Clark: Northerners Asking Jonathan, Others To Join Presidential Race Insincere:

And that is the reason why the northerners are saying that they couldn’t complete their term…

Are we God? The man (Yar’Adua) died and somebody (Jonathan) was in office. Will the man in office resign for a northerner to take over? Have you ever heard of that anywhere in the world, asking an incumbent President to resign for a northerner, who wants to complete the tenure of Yar’Adua?

That is the point they are still hammering on now. Is that a valid point?

Now, if they are hammering on it, at the time of the 2015 presidential election, the law was very clear that for an incumbent to leave office, he must have completed two terms – two elections and not swearing in, not taking oath, as my friend Yakubu was saying. We debunked all that. Well, if there was an amendment to the constitution, which says if you finish the term of a previous government and you can only contest once, then that is a different thing.

Now, some northerners are wooing southerners for the 2023 presidential race. For instance, they told the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to come out and run. They tell people from the South, such as Goodluck Jonathan, to come out and run. Do you think they are really sincere?

They are not sincere because all they want is to divide the South, to use southerners to divide the South. That is all what they are doing. More southerners are falling into the trap. I understand, for instance, that Adams Oshiomhole was supporting Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But I was surprised to see him declaring for presidency and more of them are declaring.

Why do you think that in the ruling All Progressives Congress there are so many people declaring for the presidential race?

Their (northerners’) intent is to use them (southerners) to divide the South. When this argument of the South, you will be surprised that the aspirants will divide themselves; they have their own candidate among them and will say that if you don’t want to contest, we will contest and they will use the army to terrorise people.

You have raised fears that if power is not given to the South-East, for instance, there are going to be problems. What gives you that impression?

In 2014, apart from Rochas Okorocha, who is always a participant in any presidential election, northerners contested in the newly formed APC, which brought Buhari to power. Buhari was number one. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State, came second; Atiku Abubakar came third, then (the late) Sam Ndah Isaiah of Leadership Newspapers came fourth, and Tinubu was to be the Vice-President of Buhari until he said, ‘No, we don’t want two Muslims to contest together’.

Then in 2019, 12 northerners contested the presidential primary in the PDP; they were all screened in my house. Atiku was the first to be screened, followed by Bukola Saraki, and so on. Now, a man like Atiku is now 75 years old; to say in a dishonest way with his people, including Ango Abdullahi, that rotation is dead and buried. Jonathan was gone, the PDP now reversed rotation. What has come to Nigeria now that has made them change their minds and say they want competence? Are there more competent people in the North than in the South?

In the 2014 national conference, you were one of those who canvassed devolution of powers and restructuring. Have you dropped the agitation?

In 2005, Obasanjo set up what he called the National Political Reform Conference; I was the leader of the South-South as I was in 2014, and we took a position that the constitution should be liberalised; that there should be devolution of powers; that there should be fiscal restructuring or fiscal federalism. So, I didn’t start in 2014 when Jonathan was not in power. I remembered at that time, President Obasanjo sent a constitution to the conference, but the mode of the conference could not give the courage to the people he sponsored to introduce the matter; that was why the issue of a third term for Obasanjo was not discussed. Otherwise, we discussed devolution of powers and the turning of Nigeria into true federalism.

Let me ask you, when in 2018, Buhari’s government set up a committee under (Mallam Nasir) el-Rufai, a competent and intelligent man, who is the governor of Kaduna State, with some other governors and past governors and other party leaders, about 19 of them, they produced a paper on restructuring; the report is almost 90 per cent of what is contained in the 2014 confab report. I have looked at the two and I have written an open letter to Mr President since he doesn’t want to see some of us: That please, if the 2014 national conference report is unacceptable to you, we, Nigerians, have agreed to accept el-Rufai and the APC’s report, which, according to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and el-Rufai himself, has been accepted by the APC.

Why do you think Buhari’s regime has not done anything about restructuring and devolution of powers? What do you think are his fears?

He doesn’t want it.

Why?

He wants to rule this country on his own or some people are behind him, advising him not to.

Do they think that will break Nigeria?

If they break it, we are waiting; some of us are already waiting to go to prison.

With what is going on, do you foresee another civil war because of the crises everywhere, especially in the South-East?

There is already a near civil war situation in the country. What happened in 1967 during the civil war? What is going on today is more than that. The Nigerian military forces were able to confront successfully the Eastern Nigeria Armed Forces, but today the same Nigerian Army, which we used to be very proud of, cannot bring an end to insurgency, banditry and kidnapping in the North-West, North Central, Boko Haram in the North-East and what is going on now in the South-East. And you want to hold elections, want to impose candidates on others and you think the people will say yes. No, they will not.

Do you believe that the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, through a political solution or any other means may calm the tension in the South-East?

Kanu’s case is subjudice, so one cannot comment on it because he has been freed of some of the charges. Out of 15 charges, eight of them are gone, it is remaining one. The remaining one, Kanu has now appealed to the Court of Appeal, so it is not proper for one to sit down and talk about Kanu. More so, if you release Kanu and you don’t zone the Presidency to the South-East, the situation has not changed, because as I asked General Yakubu Gowon, ‘You said there was no victor, no vanquished, but if that is the case, why are they (Igbo) still being regarded as a vanquished and conquered people? You should have allowed them to go if these people were to remain as second-class citizens in their own country after the civil war’. There is nowhere in Africa today where some people are second-class citizens.

Do you think Igbo presidency can be realised in 2023?

Why not! They have competent people.

Then, where did Nigeria get it wrong as a country with all the problems?

We got it wrong with bad leadership; we haven’t got a leader. Competence and incompetence do not arise in Buhari’s government; we haven’t got a leader in the country.

The APC government, even after many years in power, still blames the PDP and says Jonathan was incompetent. Do you have anything to say about that?

Every part of this country has competent people. Competence is not something given to one group of people and for any northerner to claim that they are more competent than southerners, then you can imagine what one will say to that.

What is your view on consensus, zoning, direct and indirect primaries? Which do you believe will strengthen Nigeria’s democracy?

You see, once there is no level-playing field, once the government is not responsible for the delegates, once some people can manipulate, there will be no free and fair elections in this country. So, consensus or no consensus, the law is very clear now. If you want to contest, all those who bought tickets, they are the ones to contest, they must give approval in writing for consensus to work and not by one President sitting in his house and manipulating and saying that this is my candidate – no way! That is not democracy.

Just as some people argue that zoning of political positions is not democratic…

What is democratic? Let me ask you a question: Are you coming to Nigeria whereby unless there is a candidate from the North, because of the population they said they have, no southerner will contest election? Is that what we are moving into? So, unless the APC produces a presidential candidate from the North, with their population, the PDP also wants to bring a candidate from the North believing that they have the population? What kind of country do we then have? A country where population is the competence? It won’t work.

In the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu wants to be President, while Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo and others also want to. Will you advise them to step down for a southern candidate?

Let them zone it to the South; once it is zoned to the South, we will put our house in order.

https://punchng.com/northerners-asking-jonathan-others-to-join-presidential-race-insincere-edwin-clark/

• Says he only expressed concern
• Malami: Only Appeal Court can upturn judgment against Section 84(12)
• Gbajabiamila advises political appointees to resign
• Falana describes Section 84 as draconian
• APC insists Amaechi, Ngige, Nwajiuba not obliged to resign before Monday

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, told a Federal High Court in Abuja that he did not order the Senate to remove the contentious Section 84(12) from the amended Electoral Act 2022.

Section 84(12) reads: “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election.”

Contrary to claims of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a suit filed against him and 12 others, President Buhari said he only expressed reservations and concerns in respect of the aspect of the Electoral Act.

The President’s position was contained in a counter affidavit filed at the Federal High Court at the instance of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

In the joint counter affidavit by President Buhari and Malami to debunk PDP’s claims in the suit, the AGF explained that the President on February 25, 2022, gave proper, full and unconditional assent to the amended Electoral Act.

President Buhari and Malami averred that the claims of PDP in its suit against them on the Electoral Act are totally false and replete with gross untruths aimed at misleading the court to give judgment against them.

“The first defendant (President Buhari) assented to the Electoral Bill but did not give conditions or directives to the National Assembly in the manner erroneously deposed to by the plaintiff (PDP). At no time did the first defendant give any directive to the management or leadership of the National Assembly as regards the removal of section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022 from the Act.

“On March 8, 2022, first defendant officially wrote the Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker to express his concerns about Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act and formally requested for amendment to be effected on the section so as to eliminate area of infraction with the Constitution. I am aware that the National Assembly neither accepted not acted on the opinion or suggestion of President Buhari.”

The Justice Minister said only the Court of Appeal can restore Section 84 (12) into the Electoral Act, 2022. The PDP had challenged the legality or otherwise of the National Assembly tinkering with the Electoral Act, after it had been signed into law by President Buhari.

Amid debate about the subject matter, Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia on March 18, ordered the AGF to delete Section 84 (12) of the Act.

Anyadike, in the judgment, held that the section was “unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and ought to be struck down as it cannot stand when it is in violation of the clear provisions of the Constitution.”

Anyadike held that Sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f), and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution already stipulated that appointees of government seeking to contest elections were only to resign at least 30 days to the date of the election.

Reacting, the AGF said that both the National Assembly and PDP had since appealed the judgment. He said “it is only the Court of Appeal that can restore the section into the Electoral Act and not any high court.”

The AGF, therefore, prayed the court to dismiss the PDP suit. Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until May 16 for hearing.

BUT the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has urged political appointees who have interests in the 2023 general elections to resign their position not to fall victim of the penalty stated in the 2022 electoral law. Gbajabiamila, who spoke with Channels Television correspondent yesterday hinted that some political appointees have resigned their position, while some haven’t under the cover that there is a court decision pending that nullified the prohibition of Section 84(12) of the electoral law.

He said: “Invariably, it’s a personal decision that has to be made. If the court says the National Assembly is within its right to make such a provision and you have gone to contest an election, while still a political appointee then you run a serious risk of your election being annulled and not only you as a person but you also put the party you belong to at risk.”

More:
https://guardian.ng/news/electoral-act-i-didnt-order-senate-to-remove-section-8412-buhari-tells-court/

Authorities in Cameroon say anglophone separatists have joined forces with Nigerian militants to shut down nearly all trade across the two countries’ border. Cameroon depends on Nigeria for 70% of basic commodities and most of them are transported across the land border. Authorities say about 90% of trade has been halted as militants from both sides attack and abduct merchants.

Njume Peter Ambang is a lawmaker from Cameroon's restive southwest region on the border with Nigeria. He said fighters within the past two months have taken control of many businesses, including palm oil plantations in Ndian, a division in the Southwest region.

"Maritime business has collapsed. The oil business has all collapsed. Palm oil fields have been seized by the separatists. They harvest the crops, they mill and sell. These guys are working with area boys (armed groups) in Nigeria,” he said.

Ambang was speaking in the Ndian capital, Mundemba, Sunday during a meeting to plead with local fighters to drop their guns and stop harassing merchants.

Cameroon’s military says several hundred fighters chased from towns and villages during raids by government troops relocated to the border with Nigeria. The military says the fighters have killed at least two dozen merchants and abducted scores of others for ransom since January.

Capo Daniel is deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, or ADF, one of the largest separatist groups in Cameroon.

He said many fighters have been deployed to the border with Nigeria but denies they fled intensive fighting with Cameroonian government troops.

Daniel said Cameroon's separatists collaborate with Nigeria's Eastern Security Network of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a secessionist group that advocates for the creation of an independent state in eastern Nigeria.

Daniel said the Ambazonia and Biafra groups are collaborating to help each other and undermine government control of the border area.

"We want to put in place our own security network to regulate trade and to control the movement of goods and persons between Biafra and Ambazonia. We will no longer allow Cameroon and Nigeria to enforce their law on the border between Biafra and Ambazonia. We will put an end to the exploitation of the Biafra people as well as the Ambazonia people as we work in alliance with our counterparts across the border in Biafra land," he said.

Daniel said the ADF and IPOB have been able to stop both Cameroon and Nigeria from collecting revenue from the sales of basic commodities and cash crops including rice, maize, tubers, plantain and cocoa in border localities.

He also said fighters are punishing merchants who collaborate with the two governments by paying taxes or agreeing to be escorted by government troops.

Nigeria and Cameroon have promised to crush all separatists who do not surrender.

The two countries’ governments announced in February 2021 that they would work together to combat separatists and armed groups.

Cameroon this week said it deployed more troops to the border to protect civilians, merchants and their goods.

https://www.voanews.com/amp/cameroon-separatists-nigerian-militants-paralyze-border/6543991.html

The Monday sit-at-home in the Southeast by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has continued to bite harder on residents despite the group denying being responsible for it.

Banks, markets, shops and commercial activities remained grounded in Anambra State as streets became playing fields for children.

Some members of the group also threatened to make the state ungovernable for Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

They claimed that the Governor has come to challenge them, thinking he has what it takes to stop their movement.

But the spokesman for the group, Emma Powerful, said those dishing out those threats were not members of IPOB but miscreants hiding under the group to cause problems in Anambra and Southeast.

It was contained in a statement made available to reporters in Awka at the weekend.

He warned that those issuing such threats would soon have themselves to blame, adding that IPOB was not responsible for the killings in Anambra.

Nnewi, Onitsha and Ekwulobia residents stayed indoors for fear of being attacked by gunmen on Monday.

https://thenationonlineng.net/banks-markets-others-close-for-sit-at-home-in-anambra/

IPOB is from the Igbo tribe, Avengers are from Niger Delta region, the Bandits terrorising the North are which tribe. Definitely they're not Hausa or Idoma.
Why are we afraid to call them who they are - Fulani Militias.

Who is this Lady with the Vice President Osinbajo

Marginalisation: How Did Southeast Suddenly Become Minority in Nigeria?

See list below...

Numbers of APC 2023 national delegates according to their geo-political zones and states are:

ZONES
North West: 1, 924 delegates
South West: 1,568 delegates
North Central: 1,278 delegates
North East: 1, 212 delegates.
South south 927 delegates.
South East: 838 delegates.
Total = 7,800 Delegates

Number of States
NW: 7 States
NE: 6 States
NC: 6 States
SW: 6 States
SS:. 6 States
SE: 5 States

Number of Local Govt Areas
NW: 186 LGAs
NE: 112 LGAs
NC: 115 LGAs
SW: 138 LGAs
SS: 123 LGAs
SE: 95 LGAs

Number of Federal Constituencies
NW: 92 Seats
NE: 48 Seats
NC: 49 Seats
SW: 71 Seats
SS: 55 Seats
SE: 43 Seats

Number of Senatorial Districts
NW: 21 Districs
NE: 18 Districts
NC: 18 Districts
SW: 18 Districts
SS: 18 Districts
SE: 15 Districts

https://www.nairaland.com/7086052/marginalisation-how-did-southeast-suddenly

The Oluwo Of Iwo said the truth

Marginalisation: How Did Southeast Suddenly Become Minority in Nigeria?

See list below...

Numbers of APC 2023 national delegates according to their geo-political zones and states are:

ZONES
North West: 1, 924 delegates
South West: 1,568 delegates
North Central: 1,278 delegates
North East: 1, 212 delegates.
South south 927 delegates.
South East: 838 delegates.
Total = 7,800 Delegates

Number of States
NW: 7 States
NE: 6 States
NC: 6 States
SW: 6 States
SS:. 6 States
SE: 5 States

Number of Local Govt Areas
NW: 186 LGAs
NE: 112 LGAs
NC: 115 LGAs
SW: 138 LGAs
SS: 123 LGAs
SE: 95 LGAs

Number of Federal Constituencies
NW: 92 Seats
NE: 48 Seats
NC: 49 Seats
SW: 71 Seats
SS: 55 Seats
SE: 43 Seats

Number of Senatorial Districts
NW: 21 Districs
NE: 18 Districts
NC: 18 Districts
SW: 18 Districts
SS: 18 Districts
SE: 15 Districts

https://www.nairaland.com/7086052/marginalisation-how-did-southeast-suddenly

Marginalisation: How Did Southeast Suddenly Become Minority in Nigeria?

See list below...

Numbers of APC 2023 national delegates according to their geo-political zones and states are:

ZONES
North West: 1, 924 delegates
South West: 1,568 delegates
North Central: 1,278 delegates
North East: 1, 212 delegates.
South south 927 delegates.
South East: 838 delegates.
Total = 7,800 Delegates

Number of States
NW: 7 States
NE: 6 States
NC: 6 States
SW: 6 States
SS:. 6 States
SE: 5 States

Number of Local Govt Areas
NW: 186 LGAs
NE: 112 LGAs
NC: 115 LGAs
SW: 138 LGAs
SS: 123 LGAs
SE: 95 LGAs

Number of Federal Constituencies
NW: 92 Seats
NE: 48 Seats
NC: 49 Seats
SW: 71 Seats
SS: 55 Seats
SE: 43 Seats

Number of Senatorial Districts
NW: 21 Districs
NE: 18 Districts
NC: 18 Districts
SW: 18 Districts
SS: 18 Districts
SE: 15 Districts

I wonder why the mods remove this topic:
https://www.nairaland.com/7086052/marginalisation-how-did-southeast-suddenly

.

Marginalisation: How Did Southeast Suddenly Become Minority in Nigeria?

See list below...

Numbers of APC 2023 national delegates according to their geo-political zones and states are:

ZONES
North West: 1, 924 delegates
South West: 1,568 delegates
North Central: 1,278 delegates
North East: 1, 212 delegates.
South south 927 delegates.
South East: 838 delegates.
Total = 7,800 Delegates

Number of States
NW: 7 States
NE: 6 States
NC: 6 States
SW: 6 States
SS:. 6 States
SE: 5 States

Number of Local Govt Areas
NW: 186 LGAs
NE: 112 LGAs
NC: 115 LGAs
SW: 138 LGAs
SS: 123 LGAs
SE: 95 LGAs

Number of Federal Constituencies
NW: 92 Seats
NE: 48 Seats
NC: 49 Seats
SW: 71 Seats
SS: 55 Seats
SE: 43 Seats

Number of Senatorial Districts
NW: 21 Districs
NE: 18 Districts
NC: 18 Districts
SW: 18 Districts
SS: 18 Districts
SE: 15 Districts

https://www.nairaland.com/7086052/marginalisation-how-did-southeast-suddenly

[b]•

Sit-At-Home Persists Alongside Easter Public Holiday In Enugu.

https://tribuneonlineng.com/sit-at-home-persists-alongside-easter-public-holiday-in-enugu/

Easter monday sit at home update in Aba, Abia state. 18/04/22

Onitsha bridge 18/4/2022
https://www.facebook.com/192893700739192/posts/5760003180694855/

KEN SARO WIWA could not believe what happened to him.
He never believed Abacha would confirm his death sentence!

From Oputa panel revelations, on the day of his execution, unable to face his fate with fortitude because he believed that his sentence would be commutted.

When they came for him, he kept on asking if Abacha was aware?

He Resisted being led to the execution point, kept on protesting for time as he expected reprieve would come at the 11th hour.

To calm him, he was shown the execution order signed by Abacha, but he frantically denounced it as fake, demanding audience with Abacha immediately.

The officer commanding the squad, a junior officer told him, the only report his superiors would listen to would be report of his death and nothing else.

Wiwa reverted to telling his killers how close he was to Abacha; the afternoons they spent playing tennis at 2nd Artillery brigade in Port Harcourt in the 70s, the nice evenings they used to have. That during the Ogoni protests, he had expected Abacha to have called him based on old times and asked him the least Ogoni would have accepted.

Wiwa pleaded and pleaded for his life to be spared. His pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Oh God", he screamed, let my pleas work. His eyes were greasy with welling tears.

Why should today be his last day on earth?
What crimes did he commit? That he asked for his people to have a share of the wealth that comes from their land? The land that no longer supports farming or fishing because of oil spillage.

He mistook the officer's dark reflections for contemplations of pity!

Any independent observer would conclude that Saro deserves pity and more. He had worked for it. His efforts during the civil war shortened the duration and saved thousands of Nigerian soldiers lives.

You see, while the Biafran blocked Omanelu and Isiokpo axis through Elele Junction, Saro was able to organise guides who guided the Nigerian soldiers to infiltrate through Etche, Alulu, link up to Ihiagwa and Nekede, connect Obosima and cutoff the Biafran soldiers who had successfully blocked the 3rd Marine Commandos Advance led by Black Scorpion.

Wiwa was rewarded with appointment as the Civilian Administrator of the port city of Bonny.
And it was really this bit of history that was the bone of contention.

He rightly or wrongly believed he had equal stake in the territory called Nigeria, having staked his life and helped in defeating those who were neigbours to him.

So, the shares of spoils of war, for which oil was the paramount spoil should be extended to his people, because without their efforts it would have been impossible to subdue Biafra in the battle field.

Remember that the 3rd Marine Commandos were eventually routed from Owerri, just before the end of the war, wherein Black Scorpion among the few to escape, had to escape dressed as a woman, for which he was court marshalled and dishonourably discharged. Adekunle the scorpion died a pauper, neglected by the federal side he fought for.

On the other hand, Wiwa's erstwhile partners in conquest/crime, believed they have more than adequately rewarded him by making him an administrator of the city of Bonny and also making him a commissioner in Rivers State.
So he should keep off the oil, whether it was drilled from his village or not.

Posterity would judge who was right between him and those Abacha represented. For me as a scholar, I believe his requests or demands were in other. Eye wey see deal, the follow share. The child who pounded the pepper is entitled to a share.

Wiwa's fate had been decided, the day he asked about the oil.

The recipients of the message were people from the oil-producing communities. None would dare ask questions about "our oil" after Wiwa's execution.

At that point, the captain gave his orders and he was lifted up, struggling and protesting till he was tied up and killed.

When the question of the whereabouts of Wiwa's body was raised at the Oputa panel, one of the soldiers giving evidence reported that it was completely dissolved in acid.

But I should add that Mr Saro-Wiwa - like Adaka Boro and many other "Niger Delta" youths who would betray their new republic - had studied at secondary school and university on Eastern Nigeria scholarship.

It should also be noted that because of Saro-Wiwa's betrayal, he was also rewarded with countless number of "abandoned properties", including some previously belonging to Chief John Anyaehie (late father of Barr Nnamdi Anyaehie, CoS to Governor Uzodinma).

Late Sani Abacha and late Saro-Wiwa onced lived together in one of the abandoned properties he had seized.

Ken Saro Wiwa's son, Ken Jnr also died very young. He died suddenly in London on 18 October 2016, aged 47, after suffering a stroke.

Finally, recall that, before Saro-Wiwa's arrest, he had run to the same Enugu and the same Chukwuemeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu he had betrayed, to ask for Igbo intervention in his murder case. It was then that Ojukwu uttered that immortal word "Okokorokoooo" to the frightened Ogoni man.

The meeting that Saro-Wiwa attended was at Hotel Presidential Enugu, built by Michael Okpara who had given Saro-Wiwa scholarship to study at Government College Umuahia - and also betrayed by Saro-Wiwa!

Copied.

Barely one week after it was attacked by vandals on March 29, the 24-inch Ogboinbiri/OB-OB gas pipeline has been vandalised and set ablaze, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The breach of the pipeline, operated by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), cuts the oil firm’s gas export feed to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas gathering and processing plant.

NAN reports that the vandalised point, located within Okaka and Azikoro in Yenagoa Local Government Area, was engulfed by fire on Wednesday.

Mr Idris Musa, Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), confirmed the incident to NAN on Thursday.

The spills response agency had on March 30 said that its investigations revealed a rising spate of sabotage-induced oil and gas leaks at oilfields in Bayelsa.

Musa had raised the alarm that three sabotage incidents had occurred on oil and gas facilities in Bayelsa within one week and advised operators to reinforce surveillance.

The NOSDRA boss explained that shortly after fixing the gas pipeline a few days ago, vandals blew it up and it went up in flames.

“The Nigerian Agip Oil Company is working actively to depressurize the pipeline in order to affect repairs on it,” Musa said.

Officials of NAOC declined to comment on the incident and negligence of the regulator’s advice to intensify surveillance on the asset when contacted for response by a NAN Correspondent.

The fire at the site, which had forced surrounding vegetation to wither, is yet to be put out as at Thursday morning. (NAN)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thenationonlineng.net/again-agips-ogboinbiri-ob-ob-gas-pipeline-in-bayelsa-vandalised-set-on-fire/amp/

Demands by the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from the Federal Government, when he met with South-East Governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo Leaders in Enugu shortly before the September 2017 military raid of his Umuahia family house, have been revealed.

Kanu’s family which made the revelation yesterday in Umuahia also sought explanations from South-East Governors why they allegedly failed to convey to the Federal Government, the demands Kanu made during the critical meeting held in Enugu as expected.

Speaking with our Correspondent in Umuahia, the Spokesman of the family and Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, said that the family was not happy that their son was being portrayed as a secessionist in some quarters “whereas he means well for the entire Igbo race”.

He said that after his brother was released from prison in 2017, the South-East Governors plus Ohanaeze Leaders met with him in Enugu about the reasons for Biafra agitation which he championed.

According to him, the IPOB Leader made some demands at the meeting which the Federal Government was waiting to receive afterwards.

He expressed shock that instead of conveying the outcome of the meeting to the Federal Government, the Governors for reasons best known to them, reneged, ” and the next thing that followed was python dance”.

His words: ” Let them explain why they did not convey to the Federal Government the demands made by my brother. Or are they saying that his demands are not genuine?”

Provided to reveal what demands Kanu made at the crucial meeting with Igbo leaders, Prince Emmanuel said that he made genuine demands “as a patriot who seeks the good of the people.

“One; he asked the Federal Government to make Enugu International airport a grade one airport so that our people in different parts of the world can easily fly in without having to stop over first in Lagos or Abuja.

” Secondly, he demanded that River Niger be dredged to reduce the heavy cost of importation which our people who dominate the sector painfully bear.

” He also demanded that Owerri airport which our people contributed money to build in the days of Sam Mbakwe be upgraded to a functional cargo airport. The federal government is using revenues generated from our oil to build airports and other infrastructures in other zones but our fathers levied themselves to build Owerri airport, yet the federal government has failed to upgrade and maintain the sweat of our fathers.

“My brother also demanded that the Port Harcourt, and Calabar seaports be made to operate in full capacity so that big ships can be berthing in them.

“He equally demanded the revival of all moribund industries in the South East and South-South to provide job opportunities for thousands of our youths graduating from higher institutions.

“He demanded functional rail lines in South-East and South-South regions; good primary health care and steady electricity supply.

“Are such demands not genuine? Why then did they not convey them to the Federal Government? If they did, what answers did they receive?

“Why would somebody resort to criminalising my brother as a secessionist while he has made genuine demands which our leaders shied away from?

“Could it be that those blackmailing him are doing so out of envy, maybe feeling that he was taking the shine out of them. But I want them to understand that people are created for different roles in destiny”.

Prince Emmanuel who said his brother committed no crime to warrant his rendition and continued detention, renewed the call for his unconditional release.

He said that Kanu’s agitation for the freedom of the oppressed people of Biafra was his guaranteed fundamental human rights “which are inalienable.”

Kanu’s brother further noted that “until there is a meaningful and genuine roundtable discussion, I don’t see this agitation fading away.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/04/nnamdi-kanus-family-accuses-south-east-govs-of-not-presenting-8-point-demands-to-fg/

,