₦airaland Forum

Security operatives working on the trail of extremist elements and insurgents have foiled a plot by terrorists of Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) to establish a strategic base in Oyo State for the coordination of their activities in Oyo, Osun, and Kwara States.

Independent sources spoken to by the Nigerian Tribune confirmed that ISWAP members fleeing Maiduguri, Borno State had linked up with one of their members who operates around the Oke-Ogun axis in the Northern parts of Oyo State, to comb strategic locations where a coordinating base that would be responsible for operations in Oyo, Kwara, and Osun States could be set up.

It was learned that the said loyalist of ISWAP had been linked with kidnapping and other criminal activities around Oke-Ogun and had started making preparations for the establishment of a base in the Afijio local government area of Oyo State.

It was gathered that security agents got wind of his plan after he held a meeting with some members somewhere in Osun State, after which a number of the gang members were arrested.

Sources said that the link for the group is based in Oke Ogun, however, escaped the arrest and moved to the old Oyo national park, which links the Kamoko forest that stretches from Kaduna to Niger and Kwara States and also links the Old Oyo State in Oke Ogun axis.

The arrest of some of the insurgents by security men operating in Oyo and Osun States was, however, said to have resulted in the recovery of several AK 47 rifles, and a hot pursuit of the linkman said to have stayed in Ago Are town in Oyo State for sometime

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said on Monday that some insurgents fleeing from the North had attempted to set up camps near Fashola Farms in Oyo State.

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that the site mentioned by the governor, which was initially targeted as a suitable location is about five kilometers from Fashola Farms but that security agents have since blocked the secret plot.

“The Kamoko forest which stretches from Kaduna all through Niger and links Kwara and Oyo States through Old Oyo National Park is the route being relied upon by these terrorists to make their way into the South West.

“They intend to establish a base around the South-West and when security men got the hints, a hot pursuit was undertaken, leading to some arrests,” a source stated, adding that every effort was being made to neutralise the plot of the terrorists,” said the source.

Another independent source said that the terrorists’ linkman in Oke Ogun had planned to locate a suitable place ahead of a meeting of his collaborators and that the operatives had bursted the plot and scattered the bid for the secret base.

As a result of the development, it was learned that security agencies across the North West state of Kaduna, as well as North Central states of Niger and Kwara, and the South West States of Oyo, Osun, and Ogun States, are already placed on red alert to forestall any plot to establish a camp or base around the South West.

In another development, sources told Nigerian Tribune that security agents have arrested a traditional worshiper in Iseyin, Oyo State, for trying to incite religious disharmony.

It was gathered that the man was trying to dispute some claims in the Holy Quran and equally plans to extend the same treatment to the Holy Bible as a way of igniting confrontation among adherents of the different religions in parts of Oyo State.

Though the man was said to have escaped to Lekki, in Lagos State, Security agencies in Oyo and Ogun States were said to have worked assiduously to get him arrested.

PressMyButton:
nlfpmod Mynd44

MadamVanessa:



Batidiots with massaging the ego of their failed dullard self declared first class illiterate accountant.

The Minister of Works, Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE, while expressing satisfaction with the quality of work on the East-West Road, Section III (Eleme Junction – Onne Junction), has directed the Contractor, Messrs Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) to deploy more resources to hasten the pace of work or face re-scoping and re-award of the contract.

The Minister gave the warning yesterday, Wednesday, 8th January, 2025, while inspecting the progress of work on the project. He reminded the contractor that he has up to the end of April, 2025 to deliver a section of the carriageway.

Engr. Umahi, began the inspection of ongoing road projects in the South East and South South geopolitical zones on Tuesday, 7th January, 2024 with the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway, Section III (Umuahia – Aba). He applauded the contractor, Messrs Arab Contractors (Nig.) Ltd. on the quality of work but instructed them to deploy in two more sites to speed up the construction and, most importantly, meet the set dateline.


The Minister was also on Section IV (Aba – Port Harcourt) of the same alignment being handled by Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC). He expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work, noting that they have only been able to access N7, 000,000,000:00K (Seven Billion Naira) out of the N21,000,000,000:00k (Twenty -One Billion Naira) provided for the project, last year. Consequently, he instructed the Federal Controller of Works (FCW), Rivers State to issue a warning to the contractor, promising to terminate it, if there are no improvements in the tempo of work.

The tour of duty also took the Minister to the Bodo-Bonny Road, where he, again, voiced discontent with the level of work achieved. He prodded the Contractor, Messrs Julius Berger (Nig.) Plc (JBN) to upscale their deployment of men, materials and machines, despite working throughout the Yuletide holidays. The project, a critical component of the South-South zone’s infrastructure development, is a 2-lane road with hard shoulders, 17 bridges spanning 3,200 meters and reinforced concrete pavement on Bonny Island.

At all construction sites visited, Engr. Umahi stressed the urgency to meet deadlines, emphasising that all Federal contractors must intensify their efforts to ensure the timely realisation of projects, in line with the Federal Government’s resolve to enhance infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth, succinctly captured in the Renewed Hope Agenda. The essence is to improve connectivity, as well as stimulate socio-economic growth, he further explained.

The Minister issued clear directives to Federal Controllers of Works to present at least four (4) completed projects, each, for commissioning from February to 20th May, this year. “The expectation is that every Controller delivers on his mandates, according to specifications and time allotted. There is no room for further delays,” he declared.

In light of the delay in the delivery of some projects, the Minister cautioned that the Ministry is poised to take decisive action. “The Ministry will not tolerate delays. Any contractor, who does not meet his contractual obligations, will face consequences, cumulating into a 14-day Notice of Termination of Contract,” he added, emphasising that such actions would apply to all underperforming contracts.

Despite the challenges, he reassured Nigerians that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR remains fully committed to the completion of inherited projects., as well as the four (4) Legacy Projects he initiated. “The President has not abandoned these projects. It is the contractors, who have delayed the work. This year, we will be stricter in ensuring that projects are completed on course,” he assured.

Engr. Umahi guaranteed that the Ministry will continue to closely monitor all ongoing projects, ensuring that they align with President Tinubu’s vision for accelerated national growth and development. He concluded by calling for greater teamwork from all stakeholders
in the management and delivery of road and bridge projects.

“We all need to work together – government, contractors and the general public towards ensuring that deadlines are met. No contractor should collect government funds and fail to deliver on their promises. Henceforth, we will be more observant and take necessary actions towards ensuring the successful completion of these projects,” he reasserted.

Holycity:
it happened to us too
our house was destroyed though everything we had to renovate it again...
people were crying that day, fight almost burst if not for tear gas...

The Federal Government has allocated N15 billion for the dualization of the Benin-Akure-Ilesha road, a new infrastructure project covering a total length of 150.7 kilometers.

This initiative, part of the Ministry of Works’ budget within the proposed N49.74 trillion 2025 budget, includes two phases: Phase I focuses on rehabilitating the existing Benin-Akure road, while Phase II will add a new lane to the existing carriageway.

This allocation is detailed in the 2025 Federal Government Final Budget Proposal.

In addition to the Benin-Akure-Ilesha road dualization, the Federal Government has earmarked significant funding for other key infrastructure projects in the 2025 budget.

These include the N15 billion allocated for the rehabilitation of failed sections of the Bauchi-Jigawa state border road, aimed at improving critical transportation links in the region.

Another major allocation is the N11 billion set aside for the reconstruction of the Shagamu-Ore road, a 96-kilometer route connecting Ondo and Ogun states.

The N10.45 billion allocated for the dualization of the Akure-Ilesha road, spanning 66.15 kilometers, is also a significant part of the budget.

Furthermore, N9 billion has been earmarked for the construction of the Ukana-Ikot-Ntuen road in Akwa Ibom state,

while N8 billion will go toward the rehabilitation of the Lagos-Abeokuta road, enhancing the key transport corridor between Lagos and Ogun states.

Additional significant allocations include N8 billion for the construction of the Abak-Ekparakwa-Ete-Ikot-Abasi highway in Akwa Ibom state.

N7 billion will be invested in the construction of the Ugep road in Cross River state,

And N6 billion will be used for the construction of the Oferekpe bridge, improving connectivity between Cross River and Ebonyi states.

Similarly, N6 billion has been allocated for the rehabilitation and dualization of the Ado-Ekiti-Afe Babalola University road, spanning 30.55 kilometers,

And N5 billion for the construction of the Illara-Isolu road, which will enhance regional transport.

N4 billion has been allocated for the construction of a 23-span flyover bridge at Eke-Obinagu junction along the Enugu-Abakaliki road,

And N4 billion will be used for the rehabilitation of Ogunusi Road in Ikeja, Lagos.
Additionally, N3 billion will go toward the dualization of the Abakaliki-Afikpo road, including flyover works,

And N8 billion has been allocated for the construction of the Benin-Agbo road, improving access to Benin City.

These are just some of the new infrastructure projects that have received allocations in the 2025 budget for the Ministry of Works.

plumcomm:
People will be forced to reckon with us in this country,the enemies of this country will be put to shame

nairavsdollars:
Best country in the world plagued by poor leadership

Famous American media personality Candace Owens has expressed her admiration for Nigerian culture, declaring herself a “Nigeria stan” and praising the values and family-orientated nature of Nigerians.

On a recent episode of The Candace Show via TikTok, Owens shared, “I am a Nigeria stan. I think Nigerians just really have their ish together, their culture together.”

She went on to highlight the professional success of Nigerians in the United States, stating,
“Whenever you meet a Nigerian, they’re all doctors here in the USA. Their families are together; they take marriage seriously.”

Owens humorously expressed her wish to be Nigerian,
saying, “I wish I was Nigerian. I do, a little bit, but I’m not. Not even a little bit.”
She further acknowledged Nigeria’s cultural richness, adding, “They do have a very good culture.”

She also noted her growing affinity for the country,
saying, “I told you there’s something about Nigerians. I told you this yesterday or the day before.”

Owens jokingly suggested she might start identifying as Nigerian, stating,“I don’t know. I tell people I’m Nigerian. I’m going to start just saying I am Nigerian.

“Nobody can tell me I’m not Nigerian. Everybody can be whatever they want to be nowadays, but I am a Nigeria stan.”

She wrapped up her remarks by reiterating her admiration for Nigeria’s values and sense of humour,
saying, “They are funny. They have very good values,” and celebrating the unique qualities of Nigerian culture.

AfahaAbia:
OSUBI is in where

Reno Omokri served as an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2010 and 2015. The outspoken gospeller is an activist in his own right. In this interview with TAIWO ADISA, he speaks on Atiku, Obi, his open support for President Bola Tinubu and his association with the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, among other issues. Excerpts:

You were a loyalist of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar until after the 2023 election. Why have you abandoned him?

I helped Atiku Abubakar put together his Media Team and, in the course of doing that, I brought one or two persons who have served quite well in the Team. But a few of them turned out to be backstabbers and very disloyal to me personally. And I sat down and gave Atiku the opportunity to do the right thing because loyalty must be met with loyalty. When I am loyal to someone, it is 100 percent loyalty and I expect loyalty back, and with the kind of almost blind loyalty I gave him, I expected him to take action.

And when he did not take action, I didn’t take any action publicly until I went directly to him to say, ‘Sir, listen, because of this thing you have done, I can no longer be with you and Iam going to pitch my tent somewhere else’.

Was that after election?

Yes. I had made up my mind even before the election. I called a trusted person that was trusted between me and Atiku and I told the person that, whatever the case, after the election and either Atiku wins or not, I am going to leave him because of this thing. The person is still alive. Atiku Abubakar will continue to have that problem because he is not able to know the difference between loyalty and sycophancy.

Other than that, Waziri Atiku Abubakar has what it takes to be Nigeria’s leader. He is almost at the par with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
There are people that believe that you are being unleashed on Peter Obi by the current government. What do you say to that?
That is absolutely untrue.

This present government does not view Peter Obi as its main opposition. So, why will they unleash me on him? They view their main opposition, rightly or wrongly, as core northern politicians who are against the president.

If you look at the 2023 election result, Tinubu got more votes from the North-West than from his own region in the South-West. If I were him, I would be more concerned with what people from the North-West and other part of the North are saying.

The entire voting population of the South-East is probably not up to that of Kano State and the president is a very brilliant electioneering strategist. So, there is no point in unleashing someone like myself, with the capacity I have, on Peter Obi.

So would it be right to say your support for the president is a way of backing your sister, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu?

My support for President Tinubu is propelled by three factors. Two years ago, I went to Nigeria and I said that any government that has Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in it, I cannot fight that government. This is because I value my relationship with Ribadu more than the relationship I have with anybody other than my father, mother and immediate siblings. This man has been close to me and has trusted me and I won’t fight any government that he is in. I also said, while we were campaigning, because I was part of the people that helped Waziri Atiku to put together his manifesto.

I said we were going to do four major things; we will remove fuel subsidy; float the Naira; restructure the country for the local government to have autonomy and give students loans. Now, what we planned to do, Tinubu is now doing. My disappointment with Waziri is that, on some of the things we said we were going to do, which Asiwaju is already doing, he now said to me that Tinubu should not have removed it the way he did.

But I said there is no way to do it because Nigeria could not afford this thing because we were borrowing to sustain it and it was affecting our economy. And what were Nigerians using the subsidized Naira to do? $200m importing human hair. $75m importing French champagne. 25m pounds sterling importing Scotch whiskey. We were not using the money to transfer technology, maybe like buying books, getting heavy equipment and all that.

I was a bit disappointed when Atiku was taking back what we had agreed we were going to do. When I saw that, I said I was going to support Tinubu. Yes, there was pressure on me by prominent Itsekiris, but it was not because of that.

If it can be put down to one person, it is not an Itsekiri person that has done a lot for me other than my parents. You might not know this – I became a Special Assistant to president (Jonathan) because of Nuhu Ribadu. So, I am not going to turn around to fight a government that has somebody who has been so good to me. The man did not ask me to do what I am doing, though.

You’ve spoken about Ribadu and the policies, what is the other factor propelling your support for President Tinubu?

The other reason is historical in nature. Nigeria, as it is presently constituted, is not what we agreed with the British. It was forced on us by General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, after the coup staged by mostly Igbo officers, which wiped out the best of our post-independent leaders.For the first six years of our existence as an independent nation, Nigeria had regions with full powers of resource control and who were free to do as they pleased, except to secede.

For example, two of the three regions (the West and East) had diplomatic relations with Israel, while the North rejected it. There was economic competition, which spurred growth. At that time, the South-West was so advanced that the Saudi Royal Family used to have their medicals at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Western Nigeria had universal free basic education before many European countries and was the pacesetter for progressive policies in Nigeria.

The immediate post-independence Nigeria was not a British construct. Our leaders sat down and agreed to form a loose union. We would have even got our independence before Ghana, but the North was not ready, and there were quarrels between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo mooted the idea of a secession clause in 1954 during the Lagos Constitutional Conference, but Nnamdi Azikiwe rejected it, galvanising a majority of the conference attendees to kill the idea. After this was rejected, Chief Awolowo again wrote to the then Governor General of Nigeria, who rejected the clause on the grounds that the majority, led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, did not support it. Because of Nnamdi Azikiwe, section 86 was inserted into our constitution with the proviso that if any region should secede, it would be an act of treason.

With the coup of January 15, 1966, in which several of our best leaders were killed, there were initial nationwide celebrations until the dust had settled and the rest of the nation realised that the Igbo coup plotters did not kill leaders from the Eastern Region. And when Ironsi replaced the elected Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, instead of installing the next ranking member of parliament from the ruling Northern Peoples Congress (Zanna Bukar Dipcharima), protests broke out.

And then, rather unwisely, Mr. Ironsi promulgated Decree Number 34 on May 24, 1966, which effectively ended regionalism, took control of all resources, including oil resources, and domiciled them in his military government.

That decree ignited the counter-coup of July 29, 1966, during which Ironsi was killed and replaced with Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon. Over the years, there have been relentless calls for restructuring, a return to something close to what we had pre-1966.

So my support for President Bola Tinubu today is because he is the first Nigerian President to try to bring Nigeria to that utopian state we were before the January 15, 1966 coup. One of his cardinal programmes was the promise to reform Nigeria by devolving power to the lower levels of government. With the judgment of the Supreme Court on Thursday, July 11, 2024, that is coming to fruition.

And by the time the Tax Reform Billsare passed into law, Nigeria will begin to look more like the idyllic pre-January 15, 1966 paradise before we were cast out of the Garden of Eden.This leads me to see President Tinubu as our own George Washington, the father of modern Nigeria. This is beginning to look like the Nigeria we agreed with the British to have as a country.

Some people will also say that as a cleric and social critic, you should be criticising government policies that are harsh on the common man but we are seeing the opposite. Don’t you see confusion in that?

I have criticised Tinubu. The thing there is, he is doing many more things that are praised-worthy than things to be criticised. If he does things that demand criticism, I will definitely criticize him. Let me give you an example; if you recall when they had the days of rage in August, I wrote a public letter to him demanding that he comes back from France because you cannot be in France while your country is in turmoil.

I cannot just be attacking somebody for the sake of attack. There must be a reason. You can’t be doing well and I will be criticising you. There must be a basis. When Buhari was there, I commended him seventeen times. Was I his friend? No.

Are you still a member of the PDP and if Atiku comes out in 2027, will you support him or Asiwaju?

I will support Asiwaju over and over again and I have reasons for that. Look at his reforms, they are working. For the first time in Nigeria’s history, we have six cycles of trade surpluses, which means that we are now exporting more than we are importing. And this last December was a big example of that. The reforms have made the Naira to lose a lot of its value and, because of that, Nigerians cannot afford to buy imported things.

It means there was an influx of foreigners from Europe and also Nigerians in the diaspora who came to Nigeria, particularly Lagos and South-West for what they call ‘Detty December’. Things are now cheap in Nigeria for them because of the low value of the Naira.

Also, agricultural exports are going up because of the low value of the Naira. This is the same thing that happened in Vietnam. This was how they revamped their economy in Vietnam. They devalued their currency so that it made their people to stop importing and then you now ramp up local production and when it is so much that it cannot be consumed by the domestic population, it makes you to export.

When this man took over office, Nigeria was a net importer of PMS. We didn’t have a single refinery and in 18 months, we now have three refineries that are working. And for the first time in Nigeria, the price of petrol went down. It always goes up but this time it went down and there was no scarcity too.

You met Tinubu sometimes ago, what did you tell him or what did he tell you?

I told him that he is doing very well, at that time, Nigeria has just broken a record with our all share index of our stock exchange. We had two records last year. The first one was in February last year when we passed the 100,000 share index for the first time. In August, we got to about 108,000 all share index. In February, we were the most profitable stock exchange in the whole world. And by August, we had slid back and became the second most profitable stock exchange in Africa. Zimbabwe is the first and Nigeria is the second
So, what I told the president was that, see, you need to sing your praises more often. You are not singing your praises enough because a lot of positive things are happening. And because you are not blowing your trumpet, your enemies are blowing their trumpets. I gave him more examples to say that you have been in the office for about 15 months and there has not been one incident where the Abuja-Kaduna rail line has been bombed.

People now drive from Abuja to Kaduna and are not abducted. I also told him that we have gone up to almost two years whereby we have not had a single major Boko Haram activity. These are major improvements but if you are not talking about them, people won’t know.

I told Mr. President that before he became President, there were 42 police stations in the South-East, which were not working. They had been destroyed and the police officers had run away. As I speak to you, all of those stations have now been rebuilt and occupied.

I said in the eight years of former President (Muhammadu) Buhari, not one bandit leader was killed. In 15 months, that you have been president, Boderi has been killed, Sani Dangote has been killed, Ali Kachala has been killed, but you are not telling Nigerians and if you don’t tell Nigerians and Peter Obi and other critics begin to tell them all sort of things, they are going to believe. So, you have got to find a way to blow your own trumpet.

Your recent post on the social media on ‘Detty December’ called attention to the tourism potentials of the economy. How would you rate government performance in using tourism to boost the economy?

There are a lot of things that can be done. One of the reasons why people come to Nigeria is mostly for religious purposes and, in Nigeria, two people were the biggest drawer for tourism – TB Joshua who is now late and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). So, what I would recommend for the government to do is to work with the RCCG, Synagogue Church of all Nations, Living Faith Church (Winners’ Chapel) and Christ Embassy to offer packages so that anybody coming from any part of the world can just get these packages and picked up from the Airport with security and then taken to Holy Ghost ground. That is going to be the number one source.

Also, a lot of people are not aware that UNCTAD(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) has said that Lagos is now becoming the top global hot spot for health tourism. So, we need to help the Lagos State government. So when I heard somebody like Nasir El-rufai complaining that the FG is being very partial to Lagos and the Yorubas, I had to break that down. For instance, in the military, there are twenty heads of security organisations and only five of them are being headed by Yorubas. And out of those five, you cannot really say one of them is Yoruba because her husband is from Plateau State. So, if the South West has five and the North West has seven, who is dominating?

zero8zero:
You can see Ghanian President call Tinubu the President of Ghana . Ghana is the 37th state of Nigeria plus Abuja.

helinues:
I believe I can fly without wings...lol

immortalcrown:
Nnamani from the tribe that is considered unworthy to lead Nigeria.

Nnamani from the tribe where everyone is nicknamed IPOB.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has applauded former Senate President Ken Nnamani, for ensuring that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term bid was not actualised.

In a dramatic move, President Bola Tinubu has subtly taken aim at former President Olusegun Obasanjo as he praised former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, for his decisive role in thwarting the infamous third-term agenda.

The president said “some persons” wanted to “derail democracy” through the third term, but Senator Nnamani saved the situation, apparently referring to Obasanjo.

Tinubu spoke at an interactive session with South East leaders during his official visit to Enugu State at the weekend.

He said, “The man who saved democracy for us all to enjoy, our former Senate President, I cannot forget that memorable time. The time when the third term effort was killed. He put life into freedom, constitutional democracy.”

The president also praised Governor Peter Mbah for his development model and philosophy after inaugurating several projects executed by the state government.

He pledged that the federal government would continue to support Enugu and other states in their development efforts.