₦airaland Forum

jmoore:
Lai Lai Mohammed children that can't respect their elders. You guys were lying that Taiwo is his wife.
He debunked it and you had the yeye audacity to call him shameless.
Una go lie and when you are caught, una go shift goalpost.

FG’s 1,000 houses: Benue tribal leaders vow to resist planned Fulani colony


•Urge President Tinubu to resettle 2m Benue IDPs


The leaders of Benue State socio-cultural groups and tribal leaders have vowed to resist any plans by the Federal Government to build houses and settlements for Fulani herdsmen in any part of the state under any guise.

The leaders pointed out that the recent hasty announcement by the Federal Government of its intention to build 1,000 housing units in seven states including Benue smacked of mischief and would not be welcomed in the state.

In a statement issued weekend and signed by the President General of Mzough U Tiv, MUT, (Woridwide) Iorbee Ihagh and the President General of Ochetoha k’Idoma, OKI, AVM Toni Adokwu(retd), the leaders maintained that no part of the state would be ceded for the construction of houses and colonies that would house Fulani herders when over two million Benue indigenes displaced by armed herders still reside in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps scattered across the state.

The leaders urged the Federal Government to call off the project which it claimed was part of a broad plan to address conflicts in the northern part of the country and would have such facilities as schools, clinics, veterinanes and ranches for the Fulani community.

They stressed that “one would have thought that the construction of such a facility in Benue State will go through a process that would have the inputs of all stakeholders, particularly, the State Government, but the hasty manner with which the project was planned and subsequently approved, smacks of mischief.

“The signal we are getting is that the idea may have been conceived, hatched, packaged and handed over to the present administration for implementation; or how would one explain the hasty manner in which the project scaled through all the hurdles and even billed for implementation, without the State Government getting a whiff of the idea from its conception?

“But, be that as it may, one would have expected that the Federal Government should have settled the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in the State before thinking of bringing in outsiders, nay, foreigners and creating a haven for them within the state.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Benue State has over two million IDPs that have been neglected by the government to perish in various IDP camps across the State.

“The first thing one would have expected was for the Federal Government to work towards ensuring that displaced persons that have been abandoned in IDP camps across the state are returned to their ancestral homes, before contemplating the construction of houses for their antagonists, the Fulani armed herdsmen.

“The ethnic groups in the state have resolved to file behind the State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, not to cede any portion of the State to anyone; not even the Federal Government for the purpose of building settlements for our oppressors.

“Plans to ensure that colonies must be constructed in Benue State has become a recurring decimal, and we view the insistence of the Federal Government to establish Colonies in the State, under whatever name is an agenda that must be resisted by the Benue people, with the support of all.

“Without mincing words, we want to tell President Bola Tinubu that he should call off the project, direct the relevant agencies of government to without delay commence a resettlement and rehabilitation process for IDPs in the state to return to their ancestral homes and further ensure that the IDPs are assisted to live normal lives before contemplating to embark on such a project.”

The leaders drew the attention of President Tinubu to the situation in Moon Council Ward of Kwande LGA, where the locals had been sacked and their homes occupied by armed herdsmen.

They urged the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the matter as well as embrace the Benue State ranching law in order to ensure peaceful coexistence between farmers and herdsmen in the state.

omooba969:
What do you think would likely happen in a Naira Marley/Zino/Sam Larry show going forward?

SmartPolician:
This is how a sane society works, not some idiotic elements creating threads all over Nairaland and calling on busy Lagosians to start fomenting troubles because of Mohbad's death.

Bendeco2020:
Funny Northerners.

Hausas are either cowards, foolish or both. Allowing fulanis to be misbehaving in their land.

Where they supposed fight you won't see them. But if they hear that someone tore a corran or made a cartoon of Muhammed in far away Europe, you will see them killing defenseless Christians in their midst.

So far the fulanis madness ends in the North, no issues for now.

Winning123:
I trust President Bola Tinubu. They will not get shishi especially that polygamist by the name Ned Nwokolo.

Teammates, coaches tried to sleep with me – Female footballer


Athlético FC d’Abidjan versatile midfielder Favour Kalu, 18, talks about her career challenges on-and-off the pitch, playing abroad and her football dreams, in this exciting interview with ‘TANA AIYEJINA

Recently you helped Ivorian champions Athletico to a third-place finish in the WAFU qualifiers for the CAF Champions League. How did you feel?

I’ll start by saying God’s the greatest. I’m so excited that I’ve finally become a CAF player because it is a dream come true for me. I never knew a day like that would come because I was dropped from Bayelsa Queens in June last year, a month before the CAF Champions League preparations. At that point, that dream of becoming a CAF medalist was shattered. But God being who He is, made it come through again. All Glory to God Almighty for this great opportunity and the beginning of greater achievements in my career.

Has it been easy settling down in Ivory Coast in terms of the language, food and environment?


About that, it hasn’t been easy for me at all but I’m a strong girl and I’ve come to terms with it, that it’s part of life and hustling. So, I have no choice than to cope in everyway I can.

How do you communicate with your teammates in Abidjan?

(Laughs) It’s actually funny how we communicate. Sometimes I get to do some hand or face gestures for them to understand what I’m saying at that moment, likewise them, and I understand a little bit of French.


Parents usually kick against their daughters playing football. Did your parents support you?

(Laughs) It’s a long story but I’ll make it short. At first it wasn’t easy at all, but later on they gave their support because it was obvious that I wasn’t going to stop playing football for anything. So, they gave up and decided to support me in everyway they could.

How did you fall in love with football?

Can’t really tell, but football has been something I loved doing even as a child. And God blessed me with the gift of playing football, so, it was something I fell in love with right from my mother’s womb.

Was it easy when you started?

It wasn’t easy at all and I faced a lot of challenges. It was really terrible especially in camp because most times there won’t be food to eat, water to bathe, good clothes to wear, kits to play football and all of that. Sometimes, guys harassed me, wanting to sleep with me before they helped me or do anything for me, but I never allowed it to happen. Most times coaches and teammates would want to take advantage of me because to them I’m too beautiful to be a footballer, but thank God for where I am today.

So, the coaches also wanted to sleep with you?

Yeah, both male and female coaches back then, even till now, but I won’t call names. It wasn’t easy at all but God helped me through those times and till now He’s still helping me.

What are your best and worst moments as a footballer?

I don’t really have worst moments though a lot of things happened to me on my way up. But I’ll say my worst moment was when I was dropped from Bayelsa Queens just few weeks to CAF Champions League qualifiers. I’ve really been through a lot, like real tough moments but I had never been dropped in my whole life since I started playing football. So, it came as a surprise to me, though I wasn’t that bitter about the whole thing because at that moment I knew I was getting closer to my destination because I was created for greatness. My best moment so far as a footballer is participating and winning a third-place medal in the Women’s CAF Champions League qualifiers for the first time in my career.

There’s this impression that most women footballers are lesbians. Do you agree?

Yes I agree totally with that. I’m not trying to be judgemental but will say it the way it is. The thing there is that some people are naturally spoilt in the sense that if they misbehave or do something bad they’ll either pin it on bad friends or condition. A lot of people who are into lesbianism are always quick to blame it on the devil, bad friends or condition of life. But the truth is that somethings we do are the choices we’ve made already and sometimes it’s in us already but we’re just looking for something or someone to push us into it. And lesbianism is demonic that once you start it, you’ll never be able to come out of it. Like they say, some girls started it out of fear of getting pregnant while playing football, some started it in order to be able to take care of themselves and some are in it because they see it as fun because they prefer their fellow girls to guys.

What is the reaction of the society to women footballers?

On this, I think we are in the era where women footballers are gradually making waves and a lot of people globally are recognising women footballers, although so many people still think that women footballers are nothing but losers. They think women footballers are illiterate, like they have nothing to offer.

Do you think women footballers are properly taken care of like their male counterparts?

(Laughs) I’m sorry for laughing but no, they don’t care about us like they do for the guys, especially Nigeria my country, where people don’t value female footballers like the whites do.

Then what are the major challenges of women footballers compared to the men?

They face difficulties when it comes to buying menstrual pads, play on empty stomachs and so forth. There’s also menstrual pains, some players find it hard to play with it, while some ladies can actually play with it, though it’s very painful to bear. Male and female coaches always threaten players to sleep with them in order to feature them in matches. Sometimes, men take advantage of female footballers that go to them for financial assistance, especially for kits, food and accommodation.

How soon do you hope to play football in Europe?

Very soon by God’s grace I’ll play there but with my hope and faith in God, I’ll say before next year I’ll get a bigger and better offer. But before then, I’ll keep working hard, it’s not going to be easy, but God will do it.

Falcons put in a great performance at the last Women’s World Cup. Do you think you can break into the squad anytime soon?

Yeah, why not? I’ve got the talent and I have God by my side. With hard work, I’ll get there someday, that’s if it’s God’s plan for me, because you know God’s plans can be different from ours and it might even be another country that I’ll eventually represent.

So, if Ivory Coast invites you, will you play for them?

No, because it’s an African country but if one day I get invited by France, I’ll definitely play for them

How would you compare football in Ivory Coast and Nigeria?

Nigerian football is better organised than Ivorian football but they are better than Nigerian football in terms of opportunities to play abroad.

Who is your role model footballer?

I don’t have a role model but I love everything about Ronaldo, especially the fact that he’s a hard worker and doesn’t have any tattoo on his body because I hate tattoos a lot.

accordadoga29:
This yamiiri still dey talk.

We are Yorubas.

We don’t wake our parents and obas up with side-kicks.

What Obj did is a taboo in Yoruba land.

Obasanjo’s Bode Thomas discourtesy to Oyo Obas






The social and cultural setting in Yorubaland literally exploded last Friday. It almost took the shine off the Oyo state government’s highly commendable inauguration of a 34.85 km Oyo-Iseyin Road and the completed Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Iseyin campus. The highly disputatious ex-Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was in his usual sabre-rattling element.

At that event, he tongue-lashed Yoruba Obas in the most irreverent display of gross disdain for the traditional stool and institution. As I write this, the inclement anger of the people, like a vulture, is feasting on Obasanjo on social media. He is minute-by-minute lacerated with all manner of irreverent words. A group from Iseyin, where the tongue-lash took place, even declared him persona non grata in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo state.

The unkindest epithet given to Obasanjo as a comment on his Iseyin discourtesy to the Obas is the ar’obafin – disrespecter of the monarchy. It reminds me of Alukoro, a Yoruba movie starring Fuji singer, Saheed Osupa — a man who, to me, sings as if he is an incarnate of my musical idol, Ayinla Omowura. Osupa laces his songs with an effusion of language, culture, depth and native wisdom which all answer to the profound musical calling of Omowura. In the movie, Osupa played the role of Pela, a village bard. Strapping his agidigbo around his neck, with the musical instrument protruding on his belly, the flick began with him instigating townsfolk against an Ajisafe who he alleged had an incestuous liaison with his daughter. In rousing them up, Pela lectured the people on the boomeranging effect of silence to evil – “T’a ba ni ko kan wa, yi o kan eni ti o kan, ti o pada wa kan wa,” he counselled.

Then, a scene movie shifted to the palace. The whole village was in attendance, as well as a man called Olowoporoku and his wife. Still in his luxuriating voice and talent, Pela musically narrated Olowoporoku’s boldness in standing up to the monarchy headed by Oba Adewolu Adegoroye. He sang in denunciation of those who rise against the palace which Yoruba approximate as rising against the whole town. Pela announced that the enemy of the palace had been put to shame with the quashing of the conspiracy against the king and that haters of the monarchy were persons of mean repute. He sang this thus: “Ar’obafin, oju ti yin o//b’o je’yin le wa l’oni o//ab’Oba Adewolu… e l’aju le, gbogbo wa ni o s’oju…//ete kuku m’oni ete nwa, iyi m’eni iyi nba r’ode, eni ete mo’ra re l’awujo”.


Pela robed the king in the finest raiment. Oba Adewolu had a purity of character comparable only to the whiteness of a cattle egret (lekeleke) and Olowoporoku, not only was a mean character, but one whose moral standing was in the league of the filth of a pig. “Agberaga won a tun gbe’ra sanle, iru e ki s’eni iyi l’awujo…” Apparently, the script to disgrace Olowoporoku had been pre-arranged, a goat that was dressed in the exact apparel worn by Olowoporoku was brought to the palace. Pela then sang, asking the people to shout “monkey” – obo – “E ma pe obo ni! (Obo ni!)… eni wo’so bi obo (obo ni!) o de fila bi obo (obo ni!) o nb’oba da’sa (obo ni!)… aso ki le ro, t’e nkile t’e nru gaga?// Aso t’e ro t’e npon gege, s’ohun l’ewure ti nwo yi o!” He ended the musical narration by telling the palace hater that very soon, all those in his class would forcibly realise the majesty of the king – “isenyi le o m’oba//eyin t’e nb’oba l’eyin…”

At Iseyin, as the crowd savoured the occasion, amid effusive showering of praises on Obasanjo’s host governor, Seyi Makinde, the man known for always provoking verbal balls of fire suddenly sauntered into his familiar route. At the first occasion, the road inauguration, I was told that invited traditional rulers sat even when Obasanjo and his host arrived. When Obasanjo got up to address the crowd during the second event at the University of Technology’s opening, and the larger crowd of traditional rulers still sat, something snapped in him and Obasanjo went into his usual tempestuous tirade. If he had talked to the Obas in a very civil language, it would have gone down well with Yoruba people. Rather, the ex-president spat out poison like a venomous rattlesnake, talking down on the natural rulers like a teacher does to offending kindergarten pupils. Flapping his left hand like a salamander does its tail in a moment of extreme anger, Obasanjo then hectored the rulers to stand, “e dide!”, in the mode of a garrison commander at an army parade. His lips twitched awkwardly, and his countenance was like Sango, the god of thunder’s. He had earlier lectured the traditional rulers on giving honour to whom it is due.

The issue for determination in Iseyin on Friday is, who was the Ar’obafin? The Obas who dishonoured Ijoba (government) by refusing to join the upstanding people to welcome the governor or Obasanjo who upbraided them using a language meant for slaves on royalty?


Like many African societies, the Yoruba venerated their kings, almost to the point of idolatry. Their king was the incarnation of the concept of earthly sovereignty. He regulated peace and order, guaranteed harmonic social relations with their fellow beings and was the intercessor who interacted between them and cosmic forces. The palace where the king lives, though owned by the whole town, was the outward representation of the people’s reverence for their king. It is always located in the sacred centre of the town and surrounded by huge walls. The palace’s importance was partly due to the fact that it was the place where decisions of the most important texture concerning town life were deliberated upon and taken. It was where esoteric rituals were performed among a coterie of a narrow circle of initiates.

A number of weird lore and mores were curated to give the king his primus inter pares aura and dread. First, the title of an Alaafin of Oyo, for instance, symbolised his unlimited powers. He was “lord of the universe and life”, “the master of the land”, and “companion of the gods”, as well as the Kabiyesi whom no one dares contradict his authority. He was a sacred ruler and ideological and political centre of power of his people who held a dimension of power that was awesome. A number of secrecies, mysteries and dread of things unknown and incomprehensible kept alive the oeuvres of the sacredness of traditional institutions in him. He was the mythical intermediary between his people and the gods and the link that connected the people with all the deities of the land and in whom there was a fulfilment of the desires of the gods in the land of the living.

The legitimacy of the king’s royal power emanated from the dread and mysteries that were hoed around him. For instance, he must not see a corpse. The belief that begot this was that, as one who symbolised and embodied life and is a life-giving force himself, sighting a corpse detracts from that power. He was also reputed with magical powers that were beyond his subjects. That is why, upon the enthronement of an Oba, all magic men were required to scramble over one another to donate their amulets and powers to him. This is because the king was believed to be linked with the spirits of his deceased predecessors. As king, his major obligation was the sustenance of the prosperity and fertility of the land which he does by making sacrifices when required, engaging in innumerable annual rites, as well as magic rituals.

The life and death of Obas in Yorubaland are a testament to their assumed powers. According to Samuel Johnson, not less than 21, out of 36 kings that this respected Yoruba history biographer included in his dynastic list, died by excruciating violence. In Oyo Alaafin, not a single one out of the kings of the 17th century died of natural death at a period regarded as the highest flourish of that kingdom. Indeed, 15 of them, beginning with the 17th king Odarawu were compelled to commit suicide as a result of sentences passed by the oracle. As a means of implanting the authority and veneration of their kings in their minds, palace griots, who were mainly custodians of the historical oral tradition of the people, narrated in poetic renditions the official version of the history of their kingdoms, heroic feats of their kings and stories of warfare, conquest.

However, the conversation between Obierika and Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ seems to sum up the calamity that befell traditional institutions subsequently. Dissecting colonial incursion into Igboland and the various queer events that had since transpired, upset by the white man’s total and complete disregard for the Igbo cosmology and the people’s conception of justice, Obierika was stunned that the colonialists didn’t understand the people of Umuofia. Obierika had said: “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won over our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart”. This, to me, equates to the calamity that befell traditional institution in Yorubaland, the precursor of the Friday lacerating discourtesy heaped on Yoruba traditional institution by a man whose inscrutable disdain for the other person knows no bounds.

The white man indeed put a knife on the traditional institution that held Yoruba people together. This began with the gale of exiles it unleashed on the highly venerated and dreaded monarchical stool. Oba Akitoye of Lagos was about the first. He had ascended the throne of his forefathers in 1841 and attempted to end the inhuman trade in persons. In this bid, he sowed enmity in the minds of local slave traders who contributed to his deposition and eventual exile. After the white men annexed Lagos in 1861 as a British territorial colony, it was time for recalcitrant kings who insisted on the supremacy of their thrones to be dealt with too. Thus, Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the Oba of Benin, was equally chased off the throne and exiled to Calabar, alongside his two queens, leading to his eventual death in 1914.

Other kings who tasted the sour broths of the white colonialists were the Alake of Egba land, Oba Sir Ladapo Samuel Ademola, who ascended the throne on May 28, 1920. He was the father of Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, the first indigenous chief justice of Nigeria at the granting of independence in 1960. After 27 years of being on the throne, his power was eroded after a violent protest of about 2,000 women against the colonial government’s native authority in 1947. Under the leadership of Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti, with the assistance of her sister-in-law, Eniola Soyinka, the women virulently protested against taxes for women. Prodded on by colonial disdain for traditional rulers, it was bye to the highly venerated Yoruba monarchy as the women successfully chased Oba Ademola out of the palace.

Obasanjo’s shout on the Iseyin kings to stand up reminds me of the same call by the mercurial deputy leader of the Action Group, Chief Bode Thomas. Born in 1918, Thomas was one of the most brilliant solicitors of Yoruba extraction in pre-colonial Nigeria. In company with Chief Rotimi Williams and Chief Remilekun Fani-Kayode, he established a law firm named Thomas, Willams, Kayode and co. He was however far removed from the indigenous texture of his native Oyo town where he was born. He was also very haughty. So when in 1953, Thomas was appointed the Oyo divisional council chairman, it was obvious that he would find his measure in the father of the recently deceased Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeniran Adeyemi II, who reigned on the stool from 1945 to 1954. On November 22, 1953, the day the 35-year-old Thomas made his first appearance in council, just like the Iseyin Obas gathered at the Friday function, Thomas could not countenance why Alaafin Adeniran would sit while others stood for him.

Like Obasanjo, he immediately expressed his disavowal at this. He then asked the Oba, who was then in his 60s: “Why are you sitting when I walked in, don’t you know how to show respect?” During one of my discussions with Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi who just passed, he confirmed to me that his father merely rhetorically asked if it was him that Thomas was barking at – “Se’mi lo ngbo mo baun?” And then commanded Thomas, to continue in his bark – “Ma gbo lo baun!” Oba Adeniran was to pay dearly for this as he was deposed and died in exile at Egerton, a mosquito-infested guest house in Lagos. Thomas continued barking like a dog and passed on in the morning of the second day.

As they say, since then, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. By the constitutions of Nigeria since the advent of colonialism, the palace has always been put under the subordination of political authorities. This has colossally eroded the respect, veneration and contributions to the society of kings. As it is now, monarchs are under the subordination of local government chairmen who can instigate their deposition. Respected veteran journalist, Lekan Alabi, sent out a video of an interview conducted by the NTA Ibadan with him as the producer and presenter, with the late Kano state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi. Rimi was having a spat with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, during this period. In the interview, Rimi exploded: “The way you press and our political opponents (regard) the Emir of Kano is not the way we regard him. As far as we are concerned (thumping his chest) – we the elected government of Kano state – as far as I, the governor of Kano state, is concerned – the Emir of Kano is nothing, nothing, nothing but a public person… he is holding a public office… being paid from public funds and whose appointment is at the pleasure of the governor of the state and who can be dismissed, removed interdicted, suspended if he commits an offence. And there is nothing unique about Ado Bayero, the Emir of Kano… believe me, if he commits any offence which will make it necessary for us to remove him, we will remove him and we will sleep soundly”.

In the explanation of their cosmogony, it is Yoruba’s belief that as hot and red-eyed as Sango is, not only does it give respect to the blacksmiths and the forge, Ile Aro, it is not in his keel to strike it with its thunder. Why will Obasanjo, a man who has taught culture and tradition over time, be the hot anvil that will consume the anvil? Don’t Yoruba say that the reverse is unimaginable, “ina ewu kii jo ewu, ina ewiri kii jo ewiri?” Indeed, that Friday event was a mortal blow to the traditional institution.

Why Obasanjo’s Friday indecorous talk-down on the Iseyin Obas was unusual was that he had always shown the way to go to all political officeholders by publicly courtesying monarchs. He recently, even at over 80 years old, prostrated to the Ooni of Ife who is younger in age than his firstborn. This is why, as I said earlier, if Obasanjo had not made a public ridicule of the Obas, he would have had sympathies of the people. First, he was far older than virtually all the kings at the event and thus deserved their respect. Second, as Nigeria’s former leader, who was Nigeria’s Head of State at a time when many of them were in secondary school, they should have shown him some measure of honour. Sitting down when an elderly person stands is a disrespect of the first order in Yorubaland. I have also confirmed that protocol, especially since the constitutional de-robing of kings of their essences, has since demanded that kings should pay obeisance to political leaders, including even the chairman of their local governments, at public events. However, as they say, if you are sent a message as a slave, you should be knowledgeable enough to deliver it as a freeborn.

To be fair to Obasanjo, though the gradual loss of verve of traditional institution didn’t begin with him, he willingly offered himself as its pallbearer. Many of the traditional rulers on parade in Nigeria today wear such disreputable robes that no one in their true senses should pay them any regard. Nyesom Wike, as governor of Rivers state, publicly dressed down one of them. Today, Yoruba do not venerate their kings any longer and do not see them as embodying their sovereignty. Rather than regulating peace and order in their domains, they are disruptors of the peace therein. The palace has become a den of thieves and fraudsters with many of them kings only to maximise pecuniary interests. No esoteric rituals are performed in palaces any longer but cryptic deals of fraudulence among a circle of fraudulent initiates, with the sacredness of traditional institutions grossly destroyed. So, if Obasanjo talked down on them, he must have known that they were reverses of the natural rulers who deserved anyone’s respect.

I am actually interested in an aspect of the speech of Governor Makinde at the said event. On the vacant stool of the Alaafin, which is the subject of intense acrimony and tackles at the moment, Makinde had said: “Those of you fighting over the Alaafin stool should stop. Those who have collected money from people should know that Alaafin stool is not for sale. It is too important to Yorubaland that we will not sell it. For those who have collected money, I will take them to the EFCC”.

The governor’s homily is a representation of what ails traditional institutions in Nigeria today. It has gone to the dogs. If it is possible for Makinde and the Oyo Mesi to recreate the profundity in tradition, language and culture of Yoruba people, panache and Yoruba leadership which the late Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi manifested while alive, we probably would have none of those Iseyin Obas lacking the courage to damn Obasanjo’s bark at them to stand up. Kabiyesi, Omo Alowolodu, Iku Baba Yeye Lamidi Adeyemi, would rather die than be led by the nose to surrender as Obasanjo led those kings on Friday.

Harvest Your Crops Quickly To Allow Herdsmen’s Free Grazing, Prevent Clashes – Nigerian Police Tell Bauchi Farmers


This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Command, SP Ahmed Wakili.

The Nigeria Police Force, Bauchi State Command has asked farmers in the state to harvest their farm produce now in order to allow herders to graze freely and avoid farmers/herders clashes.

This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Command, SP Ahmed Wakili.

According to the police spokesperson, the Command has identified herders’/farmers’ clashes, communal clashes; armed robbery; kidnapping and abduction; road accidents; stealing of farm produce and mischief as well as thuggery, amongst other social vices as potential security threats for the Ember-months season in the state and other parts of the country.

On that note, the Command called on the general public for proactive security measures which everyone is required to be acquainted with and adhere to in order to enhance general safety and security in the state.

The police spokesperson stated that “to avoid herders-farmers and communal clashes, the Command called on the respective organs to refrain from acts of mischief or any acts that could lead to the breakdown of law and order and Public peace.

“However, farmers are advised to evacuate their farm produce in good time before herders start grazing freely and it degenerates into the aforementioned.

“Also, all herders are unequivocally warned to desist from trespassing into farmer’s crops before they harvest them.”

wittywriter:
SMH i pity peeps without multiple streams of income means yet come online to waste data defending maladministration clearly glearing.




Wittyness.

Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger sign pact to counter ECOWAS

Three military-led West African Sahel countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have signed a security treaty that will make them support one another against any external aggression.

They signed the treaty on Saturday, in a development that appeared to counter the threat posed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Recall that ECOWAS issued threats to intervene militarily following the July coup in Niger, that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Mali and Burkina Faso have vowed to come to Niger’s aid if it is attacked.

ECOWAS and the West have criticised the three countries over military takeovers, which have strained their relationships with them, even as they struggle to contain insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

In making their support formal, Mali junta leader, Assimi Goita, revealed on X that they signed pact.

“Any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracted parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties,” according to the charter of the pact, known as the Alliance of Sahel States.

It said the other states will assist individually or collectively, including with the use of armed force.

“I have today signed with the Heads of State of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Gourma charter establishing the Alliance of Sahel States, with the aim of establishing a collective defence and mutual assistance framework,” Goita wrote on his X social media account.

All three states were members of the France-supported G5 Sahel alliance joint force with Chad and Mauritania, launched in 2017 to tackle extremists in the region.

Mali has since left the dormant organisation after a military coup, while deposed Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum said in May last year that the force is now “dead” following Mali’s departure.

Basic123:
Instead of dealing with the truth, you are raining causes on me.Is that how you people were raised in Igbo land?

Basic123:
Including your brothers Aguyi ironsi and Azikwe that laid the foundation of destruction through their greediness and selfishness

My father was assassinated in our presence — Teni


Singer, Teniola Apata, popularly known as Teni, has revealed that her dad, Simeon Apata, a retired Nigerian army Brigadier-General, was assassinated in the presence of her and her family members.

The late Brig. Gen. Apata (rtd.) was assassinated by gunmen on January 8, 1995, in Lagos.

Teni said she was just two years old when the incident happened in their living room.

She revealed that the trauma of the incident affected her life.

The Uyo Meyo crooner said this when she featured as a guest in the latest episode of the Tea With Tay podcast hosted by actor, Temisan Emmanuel Ahwieh, aka Taymesan.

She said, “My father was a disciplinarian. He was a soldier and he owned a school; Apata Memorial High School. He was also a big philanthropist.

“Growing up with my father passing at such a young age, the trauma of losing my father at a young age affected me. You know, him being assassinated in the presence of all of us and all that stuff. I was 2 at the time.

“Him passing away robbed me as a child of having a father figure. It sort of made me have trust issues growing up. Because they [gunmen] came into our house purposely to kill him.”

yom2:
then find an intelligent and tactful way to push ur cause. Not by generating bad feelings for urself with ur approach

yom2:
he is making some sense even in that emptiness. U can not win alone

Peterobiisathie:
Reno Omokri is living good, he has travelled to many places that your lineage will never be