₦airaland Forum

The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, says traditional and religious leaders that are supposed to hold the nation’s political leaders to account are being cowed into silence. He spoke in Abuja yesterday at this year’s Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace Third Annual General Assembly and Peace Conference, with the theme: “Interreligious Dialogue: Strengthening the Culture of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation”.

He said: “Whoever that takes life whether Christian or Muslim is a criminal and should be treated as such. Everything I heard today is hegemonic. The traditional and religious leaders that are supposed to hold political leaders to account for the people are being muscled into silence.

If youre an emir and you talk too much, you get removed. If you’re an Imam or a Bishop, you need money for charity; but be ready to do business with the devil so that you can do charity.” The Sultan, represented by the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, stressed that there was no crisis between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, saying ignorance had always been the cause of religious tension in the country.

The president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr Samson Ayokunle, said he was not in good mood to speak because of the killing of a CAN chairman in Adamawa State, Rev. Lawan Andimi. “From December till now, we’ve continued to lose church leaders and others without any array of hope that it will stop,” he said.

Co-chairmen of the IDFP, Ishaq Kunle Sanni and Bishop Sunday Onuaha, said the event was to ensure a continuous dialogue for peace between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, stressed the need for dialogue and reconciliation. The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev Hassan Kukah said political actors had not shown the willingness to address nation’s challenges.

The Ajaokuta Steel Company will begin full production in 2022 as the Russian Government, through the Russian Export Centre and the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), is expected to commit $1.465bn to the moribund steel company’s revitalization, the Minister of Mines and Steel, Olamilekan Adegbite, has said.

Adegbite said the Federal Government was expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia along with the two organizations – Russian Export Centre and Afrexim bank – by the end of this month. While Afreximbank would provide $1bn, the Russian Export Centre would make $460m available to complete the long moribund project in the next two years.

The minister, who disclosed this in Lagos yesterday at an interactive session with journalists on the developments in the mines and steel sector of the economy, said the Ajaokuta steel was between 95 and 98 per cent completion.

Former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) were the latest VIPs to spend the 2019 festivities behind bars over corruption charges despite attempts to secure their release on bail. Beside Kalu and Adoke, former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye and his Taraba counterpart, Jolly Nyame, are also cooling their heels after being sentenced to 10 years and 12 years respectively for corruption. Kalu was on December 5, 2019 sentenced to a 12-year prison term for diversion of N7.2bn by a Lagos Federal High Court alongside a former commissioner for Finance, Jones Udeogu and his company, Slok Nigeria Ltd. Sources told Daily Trust that he spent only one day at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre in Lagos before he was moved to Kuje Correctional Centre in the FCT on December 7.

He later made a post-sentence bail application seeking to be released on medical grounds. But Justice Abdullahi Liman refused the application, wondering why the haste as the appeal against his conviction on a 39-count charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had not been heard by the Court of Appeal.

Sources close to the former governor said he did not mark the Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year holidays in a special way. The source said there were no special gifts to the inmates of the correctional centre, as “he just stayed on his own.”

On his part, Adoke was arrested in Abuja on his return from the UAE on December 9, 2019 by the Interpol, his lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said. He was handed to the EFCC for investigation over the Malabu oil deal. He was later detained despite a court order, according to the lawyer. Adoke’s bail application suffered a setback on December 31 after the presiding judge, Justice Othman Musa, returned the casefile to the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court for reassignment to the court where he will be arraigned.

EFCC on January 2 obtained a fresh 14 days from the court pending investigation. One of his lawyers, who pleaded anonymity, said he spent the yuletide in the EFCC facility in Abuja facing interrogation by operatives of the commission and reading. “He was given a decent room, but it cannot be as comfortable as his personal house.

He had no time for any kind of celebration because he was interrogated regularly over the Malabu deal and his lawyers were always there,” the lawyer said. The spokesman of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Francis Enobore, who refused to speak on the condition of Kalu in prison, said the safety and comfort of inmates are of great concern to the service, and as such different kinds of offenders are not detained together. He said the service will not refuse any gift by VIP inmates and other public-spirited individuals and organisations as the correctional facilities nationwide are having shortage of materials.

“We try as much as possible to ensure that inmates are kept well. If it is not well with the coat, it will not be well with the person wearing it. So how can we maltreat or keep them in poor environment. It will be in our interest to ensure they are comfortable. When they are sick, the officials don’t sleep in the night. Everybody is on their toes,” he said.