₦airaland Forum

fakuta:
Our son-in-law dissappoint us, we shall vote you son

You must be from Adamawa State

Emperormartin:
Imagine This man talking like a toddler... I keep saying it "Maradona is not a good role model for all and sundry"

Sarcasm!

RussianKGB:
The incompetent Nigerian army has become utterly frustrated with the bokoharam war they're now going berserk and turning on themselves and civilians instead of the ragtag ISWA insurgents.
Is quite unfortunate that the Nigerian army has been fighting bokoharam that's been confined to a single state in the northeast and it's surrounding borders for more than 9yrs now.
One wonders if this war will ever see victory on the Nigerian Army's side cause as months and years pass by with the back and forth losses and minimal gains, bokoharam may just live with us forever.

It will interest you to know that the Nigerian military has never won a war in history, except the enemy voluntarily surrenders. In fact, their internal engagements have instead inflamed conflicts all over the country. I see this trend playing out in Boko Haram's case!

Auladimeji:
They are still learning from Russia

Well, Russia may be up there, but they are not really as good as the US.

Ayo Olukotun

“We ask, Mr President, are we still one country? Southern and Middle Belt leaders criticising the appointment of Yusuf Magaji Bichi as the Director-General of the Department of State Services.”

–The PUNCH, September 13, 2018.

Ordinarily, last week’s appointment of Yusuf Magaji Bichi, a retiree of the Department of State Services, and the removal of the acting Director-General, Mathew Seiyefa, would have attracted little notice, and in all likelihood passed over as a routine exercise of President Muhammadu Buhari’s powers of deployment. Against the tumultuous background of the removal by then acting President Yemi Osinbajo of Lawal Daura, the former Director-General, who authorised an invasion of the National Assembly, however, the final chapter in a rich national political drama was bound to attract more than casual inspection. Leading the charge against Bichi’s appointment was a group of elder statesmen from the Southern and Middle Belt states, quoted in the opening paragraph of this write-up. The group said that the recycling of Bichi, who hails from Kano State, suggests that “Buhari does not care a hoot about the unity, cohesion and oneness of Nigeria”. Tireless advocates of the political and administrative restructuring of Nigeria, the elder statesmen spoke candidly, in a tenor and vigour appropriate to an election season.

As a preliminary remark, let us remember that there are those like the late radical historian, Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, who argue that public discourse in Nigeria makes too much of political appointments, whereas they do not significantly alter the material conditions of the majority of the citizens. According to this line of thought, the questions to ask are: Did the advent of a President from the Niger Delta region change the fortunes of that afflicted part of the country beyond creating a handful of billionaires? Has Buhari’s Presidency altered in any significant way the economic and social conditions of the deep North? If one can hazard a guess, the answer will be No, judging by the voluminous data on deepening poverty in both regions. So, there are obviously class limitations to the politics of , and hoopla over, elite political appointments.

That said, we raise the question: Do political appointments count? Yes, they do, partly because in a fragile nation, waiting to be built, appointments are symbolic and semiotic resources to build, or to divide the nation. Appointments can also be used to denote a moral compass, to the extent that appointees are mirror images of the appointing authority. The federal character provisions in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution specifically state that “The composition of the government of the federation or any of the agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty”.

Of course, there is a debate as to whether the application or abuse of this bridge-building provision has turned federal character into “federal discrimination” as Prof. Sam Oyovbaire once expressed it. That notwithstanding, the constitution at least in broad terms envisages fairness, equity and sensitivity to our ethnic and religious composition in making key national appointments. That is why the lopsided appointments in the security department, where close to 90 per cent of the chief executives in the intelligence department, as well as service chiefs come from the North, has generated allegations of sectional bias and insensitivity.

To be fair, Buhari’s spokespersons insist that the extreme lopsidedness of appointments in the security sector does not represent the broader base of political appointments in the current administration. That point is noted, but it still does not answer the query why the security sector appointments are dramatically skewed, considering the importance of that sector. So, when Daura who comes from Buhari’s home town was removed and replaced by Seiyefa from Bayelsa State, not a few critics of Buhari argued that, in spite of the transgressions of Daura, the President in all probability would not have removed him, if he was in Nigeria at the time.

Seiyefa, many felt, constituted a breath of fresh air and technocracy in an environment dominated by politically oriented bureaucrats. Interestingly, Seiyefa, in a bid to reposition the organisation, reached out to the civil society and the human rights community, to show that the authoritarian and opaque ways of the past had gone for good. Another way of looking at Seiyefa’s reformist outlook, is that he had started to give the administration a new image and had brought into security a liberal outlook, more in tandem with the national and global human rights communities. Had Buhari retained him, he would have achieved several objectives, namely, he would have reduced the heavy concentration of northern appointees even if minimally; he would have directly associated himself with what can be referred to as the human and liberal face of the security department, and last but not the least, he would have endorsed the kind of competence that Seiyefa is acclaimed to represent.

Those apart, he would have shown that one does not need to be the good boy of any key figure in the administration to reach the apex job. There is a broader issue playing out here: Can Nigeria build a system in which hard work, merit, and of course loyalty in broad terms become the drivers of success? Is there a system properly so-called in the first place, that can accommodate high flyers who have no political agenda or godfathers? Too often, those who get to the top do so through cronysm, the composition of fawning and adulatory praise songs to the high and mighty, rather than on their own steam. Is the polity so unstable and uncertain that it cannot tolerate an outstanding personnel who does not chant glory to the boss every morning?

That is another way of saying that if we are to build institutions and if those institutions are to endure, we must somehow find ways of making them run on auto-pilot, supported by rational and meritocratic norms. Former President Goodluck Jonathan has obviously fallen on hard times, blamed for monumental sleaze that characterised his administration. Nonetheless, he once granted an interview in which he claimed that he never met Prof. Attahiru Jega, before appointing him the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission. Of course, not all of Jonathan’s appointments were as clean as that of Jega, who conducted a largely free and fair election that increased the stature of our democracy.

The point being made is that when important appointments are directly yoked to serve political interests, the system diminishes. Can it be true, in this connection, that Seiyefa’s removal and the appointment of Bichi is the handiwork of a cabal within the administration, which must carefully scrutinise all key appointments according to the criteria not made known to the public. If that is the case, then it will be interesting and important to see to what extent Buhari will either free himself from, or become totally captive of this cabal, as he contemplates a second term. That is another way of saying that for Nigeria to turn around, it must enlist in a search for respite, all the devices of building credible and efficient institutions that can assist the journey towards a viable future.

https://punchng.com/controversy-over-bichis-appointment/

Nigeria’s former finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, has left the country, a day after her resignation, sources close to her told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

Mrs Adeosun, finance minister since November 2015, stepped down from office on Friday after owning up to parading a forged youth service scheme certificate.

President Muhammadu Buhari accepted her resignation on Friday night, 69 days after PREMIUM TIMES first published a detailed investigation of how she obtained the fake document and went on to secure plush employments with it, including as head of Nigeria’s finance ministry.

Mrs Adeosun explained in her resignation letter that the PREMIUM TIMES investigation was true, but said she did not know the certificate was forged as she relied on associates who helped obtain it after she returned from the UK.

The former minister expressed her gratitude for the honour to serve her country.

Although Nigerians welcomed her resignation, which many even complained was long overdue, they also demanded her immediate prosecution. Some civic groups have already instituted legal action to compel federal authorities to file charges against her.

But a day after she stepped down, Mrs Adeosun, who was born and raised in England, departed the country, according to her associates who notified PREMIUM TIMES of the development Saturday evening.

She has left Nigeria,” a source said. “She most likely is in the UK by now.”

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/283860-kemi-adeosun-departs-nigeria.html

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved with effect from the 14th of September, the appointment of Yusuf Magaji Bichi (fwc), as new Director-General (DG) of the Department of State Service (DSS).

He replaced Matthew Seiyefa, who had headed the outfit in an acting capacity since August 7, 2018.

Seiyefa, from Bayelsa State, assumed the position as the most senior member of the service following the removal of the substantive DG, Lawal Daura, over the siege on the National Assembly.

According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President.
(Media and Publicity), the new appointee is a core Secret Service operative.

He attended Danbatta Secondary School, the Kano State College of Advanced Studies and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he graduated with a degree in Political Science.

The new Director-General began his career in the security division of the Cabinet Office in Kano, from where he joined the defunct Nigerian Security Organization (NSO), the precursor of the present DSS.

Bichi has undergone training in intelligence processing analysis, agent handling recruitment and intelligence processing in the UK, as well as strategic training at the National Defence College.

The new DSS boss comes to the job with skills in intelligence gathering, research analysis, conflict management, general investigation, risk and vulnerability operations, counterintelligence and protective operation and human resources management.

In the course of his career, Mr. Bichi has worked as the State Director of Security in Jigawa, Niger, Sokoto and Abia States.

He was at various times the Director, National Assembly Liaison, (National War College), Director at National Headquarters in the Directorate of Security Enforcement, Directorate of Operations, Directorate of Intelligence, Directorate of Inspection and Directorate of Administration and Finance.

He also served as Director at State Service Academy.

Mr Bichi is married and with children.

https://www.tribuneonlineng.com/164320/

That boy deserves an Ivy League school or Oxbridge and not UNILAG.

Ok

DannyJ19:
PHED are really bad



Nung-Oku ibesikpo residents are been neglected despite the excess amount charged.

My brother, I tire o, Afaha Nsit no light for one week now!

Students of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, have criticised the institution’s branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for rejecting the staff duty register recently introduced by the school management.

The critics, who are mainly students’ union leaders, expressed their views in interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday. They alleged that the union’s opposition to the policy, which has been suspended, was based on selfish interests.

Tagged “Time and Attendance Device”, the policy was announced through a July 31 memo signed by the Deputy Registrar of DELSU, Mr Emmanuel Egheneji. In the memo, the management said with effect from Aug. 1, academic staff members were to “clock-in and clock-out” each time they resumed and closed from work.

But ASUU-DELSU, in a letter to the state Commissioner for Higher Education, rejected the policy, describing it as “unacademic, unprecedented and a deviation from best practices of the global academic community”. The letter was signed by the branch Chairman, Prof. Abel Diakparomre, and the Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Ufuophu-Biri. Consequently, in an Aug. 10 memo signed by the Registrar, Mr Daniel Urhibo, the management announced the suspension of the policy, citing a directive from the state government.

The “disappointed” students, who craved anonymity, said they were, however, not surprised by the union’s stance. According to them, ASUU-DELSU is only protecting the “regime of truancy and moonlighting among its members” in the institution. Moonlighting is the act of working at an extra paid job, especially without the knowledge or consent of the employer.

“Many lecturers in DELSU don’t attend classes regularly because they are busy pursuing their private businesses or doing extra paid jobs in private universities at our expense,’’ one student said. “What they do is prescribe textbooks and other study materials for us on their first day in class, and then disappear till the end of the semester.

“We were happy when the attendance policy was introduced by management because it was a good measure to put an end to the lecturers’ excesses but our joy was cut short,’’ another student said. Responding to the allegations, the ASUU-DELSU secretary, Ufuophu-Biri, reiterated the union’s position on the policy. “The beauty of the academia all over the world is academic freedom but this is lacking seriously in Nigeria.

Read More at: https://leadership.ng/2018/08/22/delsu-students-flay-asuus-rejection-of-duty-register/

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association has stated that it is tired of the leadership of Senate President Bukola Saraki and now want him out

Speaking in an interview with the PUNCH, the national coordinator of the association in Benue State, Alhaji Garus Gololo, stated that it was in Saraki’s best interests to resign honourably or be forced out by the Miyetti Allah

Gololo is of the opinion that Saraki has been a thorn in Buhari’s side and that this has led to a drop in the economic growth of the nation.

He said: “It is on this note that we are saying that Saraki ought not to be in office again as Senate President, more so, Saraki has failed to coordinate and organise the National Assembly to offer quality legislation that Nigerians need.

“Nigerians are in dire need of people that have the interest of the masses. Miyetti Allah is looking for a leader that would preside over the affairs of the Senate with ultimate respect for the executive and the judiciary, not someone like Senator Saraki that would always scheme to outdo the Presidency.

“We are now tired of Saraki’s style of leadership at the National Assembly. Therefore, we are now warning him to honourably resign his position as president of the Senate or we will force him out”,

Gololo also reacted to statements by Benue state’s governor, Samuel Ortom, that a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav was an agent for the Miyetti Allah group and was working with them to bring their plans to fruition.

He said this was false and that Ortom should focus on other problems

“Ortom should forget about anything called Miyetti Allah and grazing law and fight for his re-election because Benue people and his new party (PDP) have rejected him,” Gololo said

https://www.herald.ng/saraki-should-resign-or-well-get-him-out-miyetti-allah/?utm_source=&utm_medium

The mystery of why people divorce is worryingly Googled, furiously mulled over and frantically discussed - but no one seems to get any closer.

Whatever insight scientific studies might give, it's hard to relate hard, cold facts to our heated emotional lives.

But poet Taylor Myers gets straight to the the heart of the sticky matter in a viral Tumblr post, where she shared her existential fear about love.

A lot of people ask me what my biggest fear is, or what scares me most. And I know they expect an answer like heights, or closed spaces, or people dressed like animals, but how do I tell them that when I was 17 I took a class called Relationships For Life and I learned that most people fall out of love for the same reasons they fell in it. That their lover’s once endearing stubbornness has now become refusal to compromise and their one track mind is now immaturity and their bad habits that you once adored is now money down the drain. Their spontaneity becomes reckless and irresponsible and their feet up on your dash is no longer sexy, just another distraction in your busy life.
Nothing saddens and scares me like the thought that I can become ugly to someone who once thought all the stars were in my eyes.

The accuracy actually hurts a bit.

She had no idea the post would take off this much, so she wrote a follow-up post to clarify a few things about the class and the love lessons she learned.
Describing how their teacher asked the class about their marriages, she said feels the class had a huge influence over her view of love:

After my teacher introduced us to this theory, she asked us, “is love a feeling? Or is it a choice?” We were all a bunch of teenagers. Naturally we said it was a feeling. She said that if we clung to that belief, we’d never have a lasting relationship of any sort.
She made us interview a dozen adults who were or had been married and we asked them about their marriages and why it lasted or why it failed. At the end, I asked every single person if love was an emotion or a choice.
Everybody said that it was a choice. It was a conscious commitment. It was something you choose to make work every day with a person who has chosen the same thing. They all said that at one point in their marriage, the “feeling of love” had vanished or faded and they weren’t happy. They said feelings are always changing and you cannot build something that will last on such a shaky foundation.
The married ones said that when things were bad, they chose to open the communication, chose to identify what broke and how to fix it, and chose to recreate something worth falling in love with.
The divorced ones said they chose to walk away.
Ever since that class, since that project, I never looked at relationships the same way. I understood why arranged marriages were successful. I discovered the difference in feelings and commitments. I’ve never gone for the person who makes my heart flutter or my head spin. I’ve chosen the people who were committed to choosing me, dedicated to finding something to adore even on the ugliest days.
I no longer fear the day someone who swore I was their universe can no longer see the stars in my eyes as long as they still choose to look until they find them again.

https://www.indy100.com/article/tumblr-divorce-reason-love-explained-why-8497181?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm

CodeTemplar:
If OP values his time and wants to avoid the usual "suffer head" associated with Nigerian school lecturers he should go for a school like @HigherEd has suggested. It makes sense for you to gather extra half a million naira and save yourself some 12 or 18 months of unnecessary time wasting.

I have always seen private universities postgraduate programmes as suspect until I saw that they have a lot of NUC-accredited programmes, which even public schools struggle to get accreditation.

HigherEd:
Where's your place of work located?

Madonna and Igbinedion are a "No No" for me. One, they aren't reputable, two, they are yet to toughen up their undergraduate offerings not to talk of postgraduate. Lastly, i doubt they even get up to 20 postgraduate students to enroll per year.

AUN is fantastic if you can live in Yola - they've got amazing facilities and faculty.....

Akwa Ibom. I have heard that AUN has fantastic facilities, but it is highly unlikely I will go up north because distance will constitute a problem to me.

HigherEd:
I would only recommend the following five schools

ABUAD
African University Of Science and Technology
Babcock University
Covenant University
Lagos Business School


Lalasticlala writerights codetemplar

Thanks, I appreciate. What about American University of Nigeria, Madonna and Igbinedion? Are they also good for postgraduate? I am considering a school that is close to my place of work.

I have scholarship to do postgraduate in a private university of my choice, but I am a bit wary due to tales of discrimination flying all over the place. I would much appreciate if someone enlightens me about how it feels like doing a postgraduate programme in a private university as well as recommend schools with academic pedigree at the postgraduate level. Thanks.

Come to Maid and be made.

One man's meat is another man's poison!

Passenger27:
I wanna know the finest university in 9ja.
Some say OAU
Some say UI
Others say ABU, Zaria
However I won't pick Unilag coz Unilag has got lack of nature. Mostly tarred roads but little agriculture
However, the most beautiful I have been in is FUNAAB. Its a really beautiful place. Was there last two months. The scenery, the green agricultural looks, buildings and all make FUNAAB really beautiful. Its almost like a heavenly place in Nigeria. And they also have good organisation too
Only thing I dont feel about them is their student's lack of style
#ReppinOOU[



The most beautiful university is university of maiduguri. Oh lord, I missed those shuwa babes.

Come to Unimaid and be made.

A Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the powers of the National Assembly to make laws including the Bill amending election sequence.

The appellate court also dismissed the judgement of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which on April 25 stopped the National Assembly from overiding the assent of the president in the Bill.

A four-member panel of justices presided by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa on Wednesday held that the decision of the trial court in delving into the matter amounted to a breach of the Doctrine of Separation of Powers.

She said that having not signed the Bill into law, it remains within the powers of the National Assembly as provided in Section 4(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which the court has no jurisdiction over.

blacknp:
Name the few men of valour you know and please don't mention your papa because you can't be a product of a decent consummation.

"Whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants."

– Bertrand Russell, An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish (1943)

I have seen only few men who have left politics with their integrity intact. I doubt Buhari will be one of them!

Nature can be funny at times. There are financially capable people searching for this blessing to no avail.

The Nigerian community in South Africa has confirmed the killing of Mr Chibuzo Nwankwo, a 42-year-old member from Enugu State.

The community said that Nwankwo’s death brings to 121 the number of Nigerians killed in South Africa since January 2016.

Mr Habib Miller, the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, confirmed the killing to the News Agency of Nigeria on the telephone from Pretoria on Saturday.

According to him, the victim was shot in the early hours of Friday at a local bar in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, following a disagreement with an unknown person.

“The deceased, a patron of the bar, got drunk and started harassing a female worker.

“Information available to the union said that Nwankwo was chased out by security personnel, but he kept on coming back; became very aggressive and rude before the ugly incident occurred,’’ he said.

Miller said that the South African police later intervened and arrested the murder suspect.

“A murder case has been opened and an investigation has started. We call on Nigerians to be calm and allow the law to take its course,” Miller said.

He said the union was against any form of violence, adding that it would monitor the case to ensure that justice prevailed.

https://punchng.com/gunman-shoots-42-year-old-nigerian-dead-in-south-africa/

A killer whale whose calf died on Tuesday shortly after birth has been spotted pushing its body in waters off the west coast of the US and Canada.

The mother was last seen with the deceased calf at 7:00 pm local time on Thursday (2:00 Friday GMT).

The newborn died on Tuesday off the shores of Victoria, British Columbia.

Killer whales have been known to transport and support their dead calves for as long as a week.

The baby's carcass was sinking and being repeatedly retrieved by the female whale, according to the Center for Whale Research, which studies the Southern Resident killer whale and works on its conservation.

A team member with the research centre first spotted the newborn calf swimming with its mother, a whale dubbed "J35", and other members of the pod on Tuesday.

But the calf appeared to die after about a half hour when a team of researchers arrived, the US-based centre said.

The calf's mother was seen carrying the newborn on her forehead and pushing it towards San Juan Island in the Pacific Northwest near Washington state, according to the centre.

The whales can travel an average of 120km (75 miles) a day.

A resident of San Juan Island, quoted in a release by the centre, said she spotted a group of five or six female killer whales at sunset with the deceased calf.

They "gathered at the mouth of the cove in a close, tight-knit circle, staying at the surface in a harmonious circular motion for nearly two hours", she said.

"As the light dimmed, I was able to watch them continue what seemed to be a ritual or ceremony. They stayed directly centred in the moonbeam, even as it moved."

Both Canada and the US list the Southern Resident killer whales as endangered. The whales depend on Chinook salmon - which have been in dramatic decline in recent years - for food.

The community of three pods, made up of some 75 whales, is frequently encountered off the southern end of Vancouver Island in Canada and in inland marine waters of Washington State in the US.

Research indicates that only about a third of the Southern Resident killer whales that have been born in the last 20 years survive. No pregnancies in the last three years have successfully produced viable offspring, the centre says.

Following the defection of former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), his spokesperson, Binta Spikin, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will not win in Kano State in the 2019 general election.

She said this to PREMIUM TIMES while reacting to Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi’s comment on Mr Buhari’s chances.

According to Punch Newspaper, Mr Amaechi had on Friday said Mr Buhari will win in Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi States in the 2019 general elections even if he was taken to the states “on a sick bed”.

Mr Amaechi also said the governors of Sokoto and Kwara states, Aminu Tambuwal and Abdulfatah Ahmed, will leave the APC.

“On those that defected at the House of Representatives and Senate, where do they come from? They come from areas that the President is comfortable. Do you honestly believe that the President will lose election in Sokoto? We are not God, but it’s one of his comfort zones,” the Punch quoted the minister as saying.

Mr Amaechi heads Mr Buhari’s 2019 campaign organisation.

“If you bring the President on a sick bed to Bauchi and Kano, he will win and he has never lost election in Bauchi. But that is a bit arrogant on our side; we should not underestimate them,” he said.

In her response, Mrs Spikin said Mr Kwankwaso’s defection will not only affect the votes in Kano State but has brought down the APC.

“I think his defection will greatly affect the votes in 2019. His defection will not only affect the chances of the APC in Kano, his defection has brought down APC.

“If you look across Nigeria today, not Kano alone, there’s nowhere in Nigeria that you don’t have the presence of Kwankwasiyya (supporters of Mr Kwankwaso).

“Kano is his home base and he is well grounded in Kano. Even without the government, he had a 60 percent of the voters, so what do you think will happen now that he has joined forces with people like Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau?” she said.

She further said the government needs to know that there is a path that is blocked “even if you fight it.”

“Even if the government puts whatever in place, there is no way President Buhari will win in Kano, there’s no way.”

When asked if Mr Kwankwaso stands a chance of winning the 2019 general election should he officially declare his ambition to run for presidency, she simply said, “He stands a very good chance to win Buhari. We are covered.”

Mr Kwankwaso was one of the 15 senators who defected from the APC on Tuesday.

In his reaction, the governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, had said the mass defection will not affect the party’s chances politically.

He also said Mr Kwankwaso’s exit will not be felt in the state: “I want you to go and study the situation on ground in Kano, his (Kwankwaso) defection does not change the political mood in the state. Nobody cares to be disturbed by their action,” Mr Ganduje said.

Mr Kwankwaso has been locked in a fierce political confrontation with Mr Ganduje. Over the past two years, several attacks and reprisal attacks between the supporters of the two politicians have been reported.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration would look into the constitutional 13 per cent derivation benefit to the Niger Delta region to ensure even spread of development projects across the region.

Mr Buhari gave the assurance when he received traditional rulers and some other eminent personalities from Isoko, Delta, led by Ovrawah, Omogha 1, Odiologbo of Oleh, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

Mr Buhari assured them that the constitutional provisions for Niger Delta development would be carefully studied for inclusiveness, especially in the prioritisation of Federal Government projects.

He said: “I have listened attentively to your address; I will still update myself with details of development in your area as it relates to oil and gas, and lack of infrastructure.

“I will look at the constitutional 13 per cent derivation and what previous governments have done, in order to know what we can do.’’

The president noted that the Isoko land had citizens who had distinguished themselves in various professions and entrepreneurial skills.

He promised to do his best to ensure that Isoko land would be fairly treated.

Earlier, the president-general of the Isoko Development Union and spokesman for the traditional rulers, Iduh Amadhe, hailed Mr Buhari for “performing well”.

He urged the president to look into the spread of development projects in Niger Delta.

“With eight oil fields of flow stations in Isoko land, we appeal to His Excellency to direct NNPC to establish a gas plant and a modular refinery in Isoko land.

“It will be beneficial to the nation; it will create employments and generate revenue,’’ he said.

Mr Amadhe claimed that Isoko Community had been sidelined in Federal Government appointments, with last appointment of a minister in 1975.

He said that the area had also ignored in siting of federal educational institutions, skill development centres and infrastructure.

“Your Excellency, no meaningful project has been sited in Isoko since the inception of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs,’’ he added.