It is clear from his speech that Soludo has little interest in fundamental change, and would like to see tinkering around the edges of the system that have little chance of transforming Nigeria from its failed state situation. Despite his posturing, the mask slips when he thinks that the richest black man and woman in the world being Nigerians is worthy of celebration. The policies of Soludo and his boss, then President Olusegun Obasanjo, helped enrich billionaires like Aliko Dangote and Folorunso Alakija. Franklin Roosevelt said: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little”. Soludo doesn’t seem to understand that the increase in the wealth of the few like Dangote and co is related to driving more Nigerians further into poverty. The charity Oxfam clearly made the link between Dangote’s riches and poverty in Nigeria.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/articles/charles-soludos-solution-free-independence-day-speech/

Paderborn defender Jamilu Collins struggled at the start of Saturday’s game against Bayern Munich but then gave his team hope. Despite defeat, the 25-year-old Nigerian’s first performance on a bigger stage was promising.

Jamilu Collins looked as though he had just finished a training session. He had taken his shirt off, revealing his six pack, but there wasn’t a drop of sweat to be seen on the 25-year-old. Collins had just run 11 kilometers around Paderborn’s pitch, though. “This was the toughest game of my career,” the Nigerian said, smiling but in some pain.

He and Paderborn had just lost 3-2 at home against Bayern Munich, putting up a strong fight against the defending champions. The newly-promoted side weren’t too far away from securing a point against their all-powerful opposition. And Paderborn had Collins to thank for Bayern’s wobble.

More + highlights video: https://www.naijiant.com/sports/jamilu-collins-facing-bayern-munich-was-the-toughest-game-of-my-career/

Agnes Callamard, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, has published her report following a visit to Nigeria.

The overall situation that I encountered in Nigeria gives rise to extreme concern. By many measures, the Federal authorities and the international partners are presiding over an injustice-pressure cooker. Some of the specific contexts I examined are simmering.

The warning signs are flashing bright red: increased numbers of attacks and killings over the last five years with a few notable exceptions; increased criminality and spreading insecurity; widespread failure by the federal authorities to investigate and hold perpetrators to account, even for mass killings; a lack of public trust and confidence in the judicial institutions and State institutions more generally; high levels of resentment and grievances within and between communities; toxic ethno-religious narratives and “extremist” ideologies – characterised by dehumanization of the “others” and denial of the legitimacy of the others’ claims; a generalised break down of the rule of law, with particularly acute consequences for the most vulnerable and impoverished populations of Nigeria.

These nation-wide and broader regional pressures applied against Nigeria’s diverse eco-political-economic systems are producing localised systems and country-wide patterns of violence, many of which are seemingly spinning out of control. They are claiming the lives of thousands and include, for instance, arbitrary killings in the context of:

The military conflict in the North of the country, against Boko Haram and splinter groups;

The conflict in the Middle Belt, along with some parts in the North West and South, between Fulani herdsmen and farming communities belonging to various ethnic groups;

Cultism in the oil-producing South States and other well-organised criminal gangs;

Local militias engaged in mining and cattle rustling in the North West, particularly Zamfara;

The repression of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP);

Arbitrary Killings of Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)

Since 2015, members of IPOB have faced arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial executions, predominantly in the context of demonstrations. Between 2015 and 2016, it is alleged that law enforcement officials killed at least 100 IPOB members in different events in Aba (Abia State), and Awka and Onitsha (Anambra State). On 29 and 30 May 2016, during a demonstration, the Nigerian military opened fire on IPOB members and bystanders in Onitsha. At least 60 persons were killed and over 70 injured, mainly shot in the back. The exact number of deaths remains unknown.

Between 12 and 14 September 2017, IPOB followers gathered at the family home of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in Afara-Ukwu (Abia State) to take part in a peaceful vigil. The military operation (as part of Python Dance II) carried out in the afternoon of 14 September 2017 is alleged to have resulted in the killing of 150 persons. The IPOB leader went in exile and some of its followers remain disappeared since then. No Nigerian soldiers were killed in the operation. Following this event, the Federal High Court in Abuja proscribed IPOB and designated it as a terrorist group.

Full report here: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/nigerian-govt-presiding-over-an-injustice-pressure-cooker-united-nations-human-rights-expert/

UN calls for urgent action to end violence in Nigeria: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/un-calls-for-urgent-action-to-end-violence-in-nigeria/

Kanu's propaganda trip exposed: https://www.naijiant.com/videos/kan-eu-believe-ipob/

If he [Kanu] had indeed spoken to any gathering of Members of the European Parliament, he would have been quick to share pictures and videos to boost the credibility of his movement. But he understands that many of his supporters know very little about how things work in the West. The EU parliament is a public building. And the parliamentarians, MEPs, are supposedly representatives of the people. As a British national, and while the UK remains as a member of the EU, Kanu should have access to his MEP, Seb Dance, and the EU parliament is a public building where any member of the public can visit by applying for something like a day pass and see their representatives. So Kanu going to Brussels to allegedly present the case for Biafran secession to the MEP does little to move the Biafran dial any further from where it is today.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/videos/kan-eu-believe-ipob/

El-Rufai is a shameless hypocrite. https://www.naijiant.com/articles/nasty-nasir-el-rufai-shameless-shrimp/

A picture of Harold Wilson, the British prime minister during the Nigerian civil war – 1967 to 1970 – has emerged on social media, with him allegedly saying that half a million dead Biafrans wouldn’t result in a change of British policy from supporting the Nigerian side against the Biafran rebels.

It is not quite clear if Wilson actually said this and where, but journalist, documentary-maker and author John Pilger shed more light on British policies during the civil war in his book “Hidden Agendas”. Australian Pilger was the British Daily Mirror’s war correspondent and reported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra.

He wrote: In the 1960s, the Wilson Government, far from promoting human rights around the world, supported the American invasion of Vietnam, sold arms to racist South Africa and armed and conspired with the Nigerian military regime to crush Biafra.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/articles/john-pilger-on-british-hypocrisy-during-the-biafran-war/

The Nigerian government’s impotence in performing its primary duty is portrayed at home and abroad in full unedifying glory and personified by the criminal negligence of President Muhammadu Buhari – foreign minister Onyeama’s boss. In the early 2000s, then governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu said Buhari’s “ethnocentrism would jeopardize Nigeria’s national unity”. Buhari’s disdain for Nigerian lives – in stark contrast with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa – was demonstrated fully during the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in London in April last year. Violent protests and looting in South Africa forced Ramaphosa to cut short his stay in London. Buhari carried on in London despite many Nigerians dying from Fulani herdsmen attacks and the police using live ammunition during Shia protests in Abuja.

So on the very serious matter of Nigerians being victims of attacks in South Africa, the Nigerian government has no credibility whatsoever. Nigeria’s official condemnation of such attacks runs the risk of turning these tragedies into a morbid joke, in which the government seems to be saying that the right to kill Nigerians should be the exclusive reserve of Nigerian security forces and their partners in crime such as Fulani herdsmen.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/articles/the-nigerian-govt-lacks-the-moral-authority-to-condemn-xenophobic-attacks-against-nigerians-in-south-africa/

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, is at the bottom in the 2019 Safe Cities Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The index ranks 60 cities on 57 indicators, covering digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security.

Tokyo tops the list as the safest city, with Singapore and Osaka, making up the top three. London and New York are 14th and 15th. Johannesburg is 44th, with Yangon, Myanmar, crisis-torn Caracas, Venezuela and Lagos bringing up the rear at 58th, 59th and 60th.

On the specific categories, Lagos is last on health security and personal security and 56th and 58th on digital security and infrastructure security.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/articles/lagos-comes-bottom-of-2019-safe-cities-index/

This happened in June 2016. https://www.naijiant.com/videos/pro-biafran-protesters-disrupt-geoffrey-onyeama-meeting-austria/

This happened in June 2016. https://www.naijiant.com/videos/pro-biafran-protesters-disrupt-geoffrey-onyeama-meeting-austria/

When Ike Ekweremadu, the senator for Enugu West and former deputy senate president, accepted the invite to attend the annual “New Yam” festival of the Igbo community in Germany, held on Saturday at Nuremberg, he must have thought it was going to be a routine “meet the plebs” tour that is typical of the Nigerian elite, where they get off their high horses and allow a bunch of sycophants perform a bout of arse-licking.

What happened next could turn out to be a game-changer in putting the fear of the people at the heart of Nigerian politics. Members of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) reportedly pelted the senator with eggs, dragged him from the venue, roughed him up a bit, and he was lucky to be bundled into a waiting car that sped off.

Watching the images that went viral over social media, reminded me strangely of when Denmark beat Nigeria 4-1 at the World Cup in 1998. George Kay, a DJ at London’s Choice FM, said then that he always thought “Nigeria had a good beating coming its way”. Nigerian politicians have been literally and figuratively getting away with murder since civilian rule returned in 1999. They use armed thugs to rig elections, which allow them to gain power and access to obscene wealth – in the case of senators $2m a year in a country where over 70% are below the poverty line.

Then they flaunt their wealth in the faces of their disenfranchised people with mansions in Nigeria and all over the world. Ekweremadu is no exception to this, going from a lawyer struggling to make ends meet in 1999 to stupendous wealth from first becoming chief of staff to the Enugu State governor and then a senator from 2003.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/videos/Igbos-egging-of-ike-ekweremadu-a-case-of-chickens-coming-home-to-roost/

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar’s choice of Peter Obi as his running mate during the (s)election in February was quite controversial, especially as one or two PDP governors from the southeast were reportedly against that choice. There was a lot of speculation around their motives for not wanting Obi.

Obi was a two-term governor of Anambra State under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) before switching to the PDP. A source close to the former governor told Naijiant.com that Atiku “sold the vice presidential ticket to the highest bidder”.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/beer-parlour-gist/how-atiku-atikulated-the-vp-position-to-peter-obi/

Since Wilfred Ndidi departed King Power Stadium in May after Leicester City’s final fixture of 2018/19, it’s been summer unlike any other for the 22-year-old midfielder.

A fairly hectic few weeks saw him get married in Nigeria, before playing in every game to help his nation to a third-placed finish at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

And while the Super Eagles star has had a limited amount of time off due to international duties, Brendan Rodgers deemed him match ready to start Sunday’s clash with Wolves, labelling him as ‘naturally fit’ ahead of the game.

“I had about eight days off before the Africa Cup of Nations,” Ndidi told LCFC.com. “I had to prepare for my wedding, before the training camp with Nigeria.

“It was a good day, everything went well and everything was fantastic. It took place in Nigeria, and there was a good turnout from my friends and family. Both families were happy, and we enjoyed ourselves.”

More: https://www.naijiant.com/sports/its-been-a-busy-summer-for-wilfred-ndidi/

It took President Muhammadu Buhari 54 days after his second term began to send a list of ministerial nominees to the Nigerian Senate for screening. This is a better record than his first term, which began in May 2015. Then Nigerians had to wait six months before the list of ministerial portfolios and offices was announced.

This time around the Senate took just a few days to approve the list, the vast majority of whom served in Buhari’s previous cabinet. Only 14 out of 43 were first-term cabinet members.

The big change was that Buhari elected to expand cabinet positions from 36 to 43. This is likely to mean an expansion of the ministries from the current 23 to accommodate all the appointees.

In Buhari’s first term there were 15 women. That number has more than halved to seven.

In 2015 the excuse for the lengthy delay was that the president needed time to make the selection. This was because he was seeking to appoint individuals untainted by the endemic corruption that has come to typify politics in Nigeria. Back then, Nigerians were open to giving the president a grace period. Several analysts agreed that the blatant corruption seen under Goodluck Jonathan’s administration played a major role in the goodwill towards Buhari.

But it soon became clear that Buhari’s administration would not be radically different. The first cabinet was made up of individuals who were known more for being the president’s political bedfellows than for their technocratic qualifications or achievements.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/why-buharis-long-awaited-cabinet-leaves-a-lot-to-be-desired/

Jhigan:

Yea. Basketball court, opposite Queen Amina Female Hall. I can relate.
Meeting point at night

Amina Hall - Golan Heights, the Land flowing with milk and honey. Many guys started watching basketball just because of the location of the court.

The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) tells Iranian state-owned Press TV that the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia have been behind the Abuja government’s bloody crackdown on supporters of senior Muslim figure Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been jailed for over four years.

Mohammad Hassan Shojaeifard, representative of Sheikh Zakzaky in Iran, said in an interview with Press TV that the IMN under the leadership of Sheikh Zakhzaky has had “peaceful” relations with the government over the past three decades.

He said “the situation was absolutely cultural and peaceful,” but after the start of large pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the African country in 2014, “Israel, Saudi Arabia and, on top of them, the American government tried to stop the activities.”

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/imn-us-israel-saudi-arabia-behind-nigerias-deadly-crackdown-on-zakzakys-supporters/

Gava Ideology

Gava Cab was born out of necessity that could not be better timed. If you have been to Enugu (and indeed other Eastern Nigeria cities) recently, you will immediately understand the vacuum Gava Cab has come to fill and this vacuum is very real if you ask Enugu residents. This is a city that was voted one of the 100 Most Resilient Cities in the world in 2017, fast-forward to 2019, it even holds an excellent promise for the future. A beautiful and sprawling city that was the capital of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria.

Enugu, nicknamed “Coal City”, was also the capital of Biafra that was short lived in the committee of nations but forever lives in the minds of the proud residents of Coal city also code named 042! The city continues to be seen as the headquarters of Igboland and boasts of a strong middle and upper class, with very good road networks and clean air. There are very many beautiful, classy, cool and exhilarating hotels, malls, nightclubs, eateries, joints and all kinds of fun-filled sites, and more are springing up daily.

This city deserves way better than the popular tricycle taxis, known as keke, which have become infamous for ghastly motor accidents and other road hazards. Without air-conditioning or good cover from rain, these tricycles now form the staple means of transport in a city where the middle classes and visitors alike have no choice riding them. The conventional yellow taxis that donned the city in the 1980s-90s are now extinct, giving way to the tricycles.

Into this public transportation vacuum steps in Gava Cab, owned by young professionals, who grew up in Enugu, migrated to the USA, and came back to the city they love, with their self-styled pink/purple-logo on-demand cab service, which they have sworn to make the pride of Enugu.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/gava-cab-set-to-revolutionise-public-transport-create-jobs-in-enugu-southeast-nigeria/

4 of the fastest Enugu Rangers players in a sprint relay against the Nigerian national relay team. Who do you think won?

Rangers legend Sam "404" Onyeaka tells the story here: https://www.naijiant.com/sports/the-day-enugu-rangers-players-beat-nigerias-sprinters-at-their-own-game/

The Nigerian authorities must immediately investigate the deaths from gunshot wounds of at least three members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) while in police custody, and provide urgent and adequate medical care to 15 others who need treatment for life-threatening gunshot wounds, Amnesty International Nigeria said yesterday.

The 15 individuals, including two minors, have been held incommunicado at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) detention facility since 22 July, following a government crackdown on IMN supporters protesting against their leader’s detention. The three who died, after being denied medical treatment for their injuries, are understood to have died between the date of their detention and 24 July.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/amnesty-international-calls-on-nigeria-to-investigate-the-deaths-of-three-shia-protesters-in-police-custody/

Lagos is about growth without development.
https://www.naijiant.com/articles/lagos-case-study-growth-without-development/

Al Jazeera’s Inside Story programme last night took a look at the Nigerian government’s decision to get a court to proscribe the predominantly Shia group, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). Nigeria’s Muslims are mostly Sunni, including most of the northern Nigeria ruling elite, from President Muhammadu Buhari to state governors and military top brass. Many observers are concerned about the perception that the decision to ban the IMN may be for sectarian reasons.

Host Martine Dennis first asked Ibrahim Musa, an IMN spokesman, how they will respond to the ban. He said they will challenge it in court because it is unconstitutional and against the freedom of association, religion and expression. Musa also denied allegations that his group engaged in violence. When asked why the Nigerian state has used violence against the IMN, he replied that they “want to kill” their leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been in detention since the military raided his compound in Zaria, Kaduna State in December 2015.

Musa also said that the violence against them was in order to “create an insurgency”. He argued that insurgency was a money-spinner for a “corrupt” military, that he alleged had made billions of dollars from fighting the Boko Haram insurgency. He said the attempts to instigate violence from the Shia won’t work because the sect doesn’t “subscribe to terrorism”. Musa also denied allegations that they were influenced by Iran.

More + video: https://www.naijiant.com/videos/why-has-nigeria-banned-a-shia-muslim-group/

A ban on a Shiite Muslim group came after a court in Abuja ruled the government could classify it as a “terrorist organization.” The ban raises fears the group could go underground, posing serious security challenges.

Announcing a government ban on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), presidential spokesman Garba Shehu accused the Shiite Muslim group of running “terrorist activities, including attacking soldiers, killing policemen, destroying public property and consistently defying state authority.”

IMN followers have been holding protests to demand the release of their detained leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky. At least 20 members of the group were killed over the past week in a series of demonstrations that have shown little sign of abating, increasing pressure on the government.

Zakzaky, a pro-Iranian cleric, has been in detention since 2015 despite a court order to release him. On Monday, a court adjourned his bail hearing until August 5.

Ibrahim Musa, a spokesman for IMN, has denied the government accusations. “All the people we interacted with know that we are not terrorists, because we don’t carry arms even during our processions,” he said.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/nigerias-ban-of-shiite-muslim-group-risks-boko-haram-repeat/

There is growing concern about the potential for the message and media sharing platform WhatsApp to undermine democracy in a number of countries across the world including Brazil and India.

Because WhatsApp is encrypted – and so offers users far greater protection from prosecution than Twitter or Facebook – it has become particularly notorious for spreading “fake news”.

This is a major concern in Africa, where WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in 40 countries. This is due to its low cost and the ability to easily share messages with both individuals and groups.

But is this really how WhatApp is used? And if it is, to what extent does this compromise the quality of elections?

A joint team from the Centre for Democracy and Development (Nigeria) and the University of Birmingham (UK) has spent the last few months researching the impact of WhatsApp on the 2019 Nigerian elections held in May.

Their report comes to conclusions that are both troubling, as well as encouraging.

The research reveals that the platform was used to mislead voters in increasingly sophisticated ways. But it also shows that Whatsapp strengthened democracy in other areas.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/whatsapp-played-a-big-role-in-the-nigerian-election/

Dahiru Yahaya, a professor of history at Bayero University Kano, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is doing the bidding of “world powers” by continuing to detain Shia leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, whose Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) was proscribed last week as a “terrorist group” by an Abuja High Court.

Yahaya, speaking in Hausa during an interview, named those “world powers” controlling Buhari as America, Saudi Arabia and Israel, alleging that Buhari is “a staunch ally of Israel”. This is unlikely to go down well in Buhari’s Sunni-Islam dominated northern Nigeria stronghold.

Details: https://www.naijiant.com/videos/buhari-heavily-controlled-by-world-powers-historian-dahiru-yahaya/

The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) holds the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria responsible for the bloody turnout of the protest by members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) to demand the release of their leader, Sheikh El-Zakzaky. We hold the Buhari-led regime responsible based on the failure of the regime to obey all court orders ordering the release of the detained Shiites’ leader and previous recorded cases of Police and army brutality including extra-judicial killings against the Shiites anytime they embarked on protests and religious processions.

While not endorsing violence as a legitimate form of protest, we however, believe that the violent form which the Shiites hitherto peaceful protest has started to assume chaotic nature is a logical consequence of repeated brutal experience at the hands of the police and army. We recall that this was the same way and manner Boko Haram emerged in 2009 into a deadly force as a result of similar mishandling and extra-judicial killings by forces of the Nigerian capitalist state. We warn the Buhari government not to open another front of terrorism, insecurity and instability for Nigeria through its clueless, heavy-handed and unnecessarily brutal handling of the Shiite issue.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/socialist-party-of-nigeria-buhari-responsible-for-deaths-at-shia-protests/

I pity people that take the drug addict seriously. https://www.naijiant.com/articles/no-sane-igbo-indeed-nigerian-take-femi-fani-kayode-seriously/

Nigeria's longest-serving governor - still ruling Lagos 20 years later.

Nigerian police fired apparently unlawfully on a peaceful protest by the Shia Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) in the capital, Abuja, on July 22, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today.

Eleven protesters, a journalist, and a police officer were killed, while dozens of others were wounded or arrested, according to witnesses and authorities. The Shia movement was protesting the detention since 2015 of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky, and calling for the authorities to allow him proper medical care. Parliament shut down for an afternoon after a July 9 protest by the group at the Nigerian National Assembly.

“The Nigerian police’s apparent rush to use firearms against Shia movement protesters is unlawful and counterproductive,” said Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should bring an end to their violent crackdown on the Shia Islamic Movement in Nigeria, and investigate the excessive use of force by the police.”

More: https://www.naijiant.com/guestcolumn/nigeria-deadly-crackdown-on-shia-protest/

Emeka Nwajiuba is the Igbo man that is closest to Bubu and was behind Rochas Okorocha's woes. See details:
https://www.naijiant.com/beer-parlour-gist/who-is-the-force-behind-rochas-okorochas-woes-in-imo-state/
https://www.naijiant.com/beer-parlour-gist/buharis-closest-igbo-ally-struggling-to-sell-the-president-in-the-southeast/

West Bromwich Albion have today completed the signing of Semi Ajayi from Rotherham United for an undisclosed fee.

The 25-year-old became the third recruit of the summer window after he agreed a four-year contract with the Baggies.

Measuring in at an imposing 6ft 5in, Semi followed 6ft 2in Kenneth Zohore into the building to certainly add even more height to Albion’s numbers.

More: https://www.naijiant.com/sports/semi-ajayi-joins-west-brom/