* 80% of president’s cabinet members should be sacked, prosecuted – Bashir Tofa
* Buhari should resign, apologise to Nigerians – Dr Bugaje
* President indifferent to our plights – Katsina residents
* Why C-in-C won’t resign – Sen Abu Ibrahim

The festering insecurity across the 19 northern states has turned the northern establishment, comprising elders, academics, promiment clerics, traders, farmers and a segment of the public against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Cutting across parties and faiths, the regional leaders, who hitherto were supporters of the president, told Daily Trust on Sunday in exclusive interviews that Buhari had woefully failed in meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the region, thus the calls for his resignation.

The gale of the calls for the president’s head was aggravated by the recent massacre of rice farmers in Zabarmari village in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that killing, kidnapping by armed bandits and other non-state armed men have become the norm in most parts of the northern region.

Buhari rode on the electoral strength of the region to win the presidency in 2015 and 2019.

Setting the tone, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) said President Buhari should resign, saying he had not demonstrated any will to bring an end to the insurgency and killings in the North.

Through a statement by its director of publicity and advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the forum noted, “In civilised nations, leaders who fail so spectacularly to provide security will do the honourable thing and resign.”

The NEF’s request came days after the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the umbrella body of the region, told the president to fear Allah and live up to his oath office.

Specifically, the ACF told the president that, “We feel there is no need to call on President Buhari to live up to his oath of office. He knows more than anybody else, the implications of swearing on the Quran and refusing to honour your oath to the Almighty.”

Summing up the situation, the Sultan of Sokoto and President of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, said the North was the worst place to live in the country, in view of the escalating insecurity.

Also, a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, has asked Buhari to seek for forgiveness from Allah for the country to live in peace. Speaking on BBC Hausa service, Lamido said Buhari should drop his arrogance and seek for Allah’s forgiveness, adding that maybe he has committed sins that are affecting the country.

Also, prominent Islamic clerics like the National Chairman of Jama’atu Izalatul Bidi’ah wa Ikamatus Sunnah, Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau; the Secretary- General of Jamatu Nasril Islam, Dr Khalid Aliyu; and Sheikh Abubakar Gero Argungu, among others, have all raised their voices calling on the president to wake up and save the North from extinction.

But the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the calls amounted to playing dirty politics with the issue of security.

The minister said, “Mr President was elected in 2015 for a four-year term and re-elected in 2019 for another four-year term. No amount of hysterical calls for resignation will prevent him from serving out his term.’’

Buhari should resign, apologise to Nigerians – Dr Bugaje

The Convener of the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP), Dr Usman Bugaje, said Buhari should not only resign as president but apologise to Nigerians for destroying the country.

Bugaje, a political activist and civil society leader, said it would be good for the country if the president simply left office, adding that he has failed to uphold the country’s constitution, which gives him the mandate to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.

“He needs to leave because he came and destroyed the country. What is he going to do again?

People need to ask what he would stay to do. People are being slaughtered and you can’t even take a plane to go and commiserate with the people; you are sending people on errands. Your military has failed and you are still sitting there. He swore to a constitution that says your primary role in government is to protect lives and property. You are not doing that and you are sitting there; doing what?” he asked.

Speaking in the same vein, the youth leader of the Brethren Nigeria (EYN Church), Lafia Nasarawa State, and National Youth Leader, Congress of Northern Nigeria Christians (CNNC), Daniel Kadzai, an engineer, told Daily Trust on Sunday that Buhari was dignifying failure.

According to him, the president should be impeached without further delay, for gross incompetence.

“Perhaps those calling for his resignation lost confidence in the National Assembly, otherwise, how can they allow Buhari to continue after dozens of impeachable offences? In 2016, Buhari allocated $2 billion to fight insurgency without recourse to the National Assembly.

The constitution allows 35 years or 60 years, today the service chiefs have overstayed amidst the embarrassing incompetence, and have failed woefully in discharging their duties despite huge sums allocated to them.

“Under their watch, their colleague, a General, cried for lack of weapons from the battleground and he was court marshalled and convicted. Many soldiers fighting insurgency committed suicide because of frustration,” Kadzai said.

He said the call was an indication that Buhari scammed Nigerians, especially northern elders and most of the clerics wailing on the social media, to clinch power.

“You know the Sultan of Sokoto hardly talks, except something is happening. Even the Emir of Katsina has almost disowned Mr President. Something is certainly wrong.

On his part, an Associate Professor of Political Sociology and Dean of Student Affairs, University of Abuja, Dr Abubakar Umar Kari, said the calls for Buhari’s resignation were a reflection of the level of disenchantment of an increasing number of Nigerians with the president and his government.

“Many citizens, including those who used to be core Buhari supporters, have been deeply outraged, disappointed and angry with his mishandling of the deteriorating security situation in the country. The government does not seem to be serious, ready or even capable of addressing the problem, and this state of affairs is unacceptable to most people,” Kari told Daily Trust on Sunday.

He said although the calls were being spearheaded by the opposition and those with an axe to grind with the president, it has been gaining momentum, and even Buhari’s supporters are fast joining the calls.

According to him, “The country has been literally taken over by bandits, insurgents and armed non-state actors, who have been killing, maiming and terrorising citizens, while the government appears indifferent, helpless, or, at least, not meeting up to the challenge.”

He said the calls constituted a great setback for the president, particularly given that even northerners have joined the fray.

“A number of diehard Buhari’s supporters are now calling for his head. This shows the magnitude and depth of the disenchantment. It also represents a negative turning point for the president. Unless something decisive is done in the coming days, history will not be kind to a presidency that enjoyed so much support and understanding from the people.

“Buhari must act fast and decisively. Order must be restored forthwith. The criminals must be confronted and defeated. Anything short of that is unacceptable to Nigerians,” he said.

Like Kari, Dr Tukur Abdulkadir, a political scientist in the Kaduna State University (KASU), said those clamouring for the president’s resignation were reacting out of anger, which he said was the manifestation of the level of frustration among Nigerians.

He, however, said the call was a clear indication that the president had “woefully failed” in addressing the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

“I think there is no need for him to resign at this stage, but honestly, it is a clarion call and he should have a rethink,” he said.

“In the National Assembly, which is dominated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), you can clearly see the level of frustration and despair, even among his party members. If care is not taken, the APC might be taught the same lessons the people of Nigeria taught the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, unless they wake up from their slumber,” he said.

The political scientist, however, advised the president to have a rethink about the way and manner he conducts the business of governance and stop his personalisation of the issue of power.

“If he, as a person, is contented with the performance and level of commitment of the service chiefs, the situation in the grassroots suggest otherwise. The people of Nigeria voted for him; they did not vote for General Buratai, Air Marshall Saddique and other service chiefs. Therefore, he should subordinate his personal interest to the collective yearnings and aspirations of the people, otherwise history will be harsh on his regime. I am sure he wouldn’t want to be seen in the next three years as one of the worst leaders the nation ever had, or one whose lethargic approach to governance led us to where we are today,” he said.

The Federal Government said on Friday that despite that fake news and misinformation on social media fuelled the recent #EndSARS crisis, it would not shut down the internet or stifle press freedom.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed while speaking with newsmen in Lagos reiterated that the government would not sit down and allow “a reckless use of social media to aggravate our fault lines and throw the country into turmoil.”

“But in curbing the excesses of social media, rest assured, gentlemen, that we will neither shut down the internet nor stifle press freedom or free speech, as some have insinuated. We also acknowledge that social media is here to stay,” he added.

Mohammed said, “The issue of how fake news and disinformation aggravated the EndSARS crisis has dominated our previous meetings with various stakeholders.

“We have no doubt that fake news and disinformation fuelled the crisis. But we are also not surprised. This is because since 2017, we have been raising the alarm about the dangers of social media abuse. In 2017, we dedicated that year’s National Council on Information to the issue of fake news, hate speech and disinformation. The following year, in 2018, we launched the national campaign against fake news and disinformation, partnering with a number of print and electronic media organizations.”

The Minister also decried that less attention was paid to the “barbaric and gruesome murder of security agents by hoodlums” during the recent #EndSARS protest, saying security agents were treated as “sub-humans.”

He said, “While everyone was fixated on the fake massacre at Lekki Toll Gate, few paid attention to the way and manner policemen and soldiers were killed.

“In particular, policemen were hacked down in the most gruesome manner that calls into question the sanity of their killers.”

He further lamented that all human rights organizations “ignored the fact that six soldiers and 37 policemen were killed, some of them dismembered and cannibalized.”

“The media report of the killings was perfunctory, at best,” he said, warning that Nigerians should resist the temptation of tarring all the security agents with the same brush.

“Now, this is hunting all of us. Wittingly or unwittingly, we have succeeded in scaring policemen off their beats. Today, many of them are even afraid to wear their uniform. And the result has not been pleasant, in terms of security of life and property,” he said.

According to him, every Nigerian owes it a duty to “empathize with and appreciate our security agents.”

The Minister said, “No life is more important than the other, and respect for human rights should not be selective. I want to commend the state governments that have taken bold steps to shore up the morale of the police. While at it, I want to remind all of us of the saying that a society that makes war against its police had better learnt to make friends with its criminals.

“For the record, six soldiers and 37 policemen were killed all over the country during the crisis. Also, 196 policemen were injured; 164 police vehicles were destroyed and 134 police stations burnt down.”

He disclosed that the Federal Government had commenced a review of the whole #EndSARS crisis by consulting with various stakeholders, saying the “outcome of these consultations will feed into an overall review of the whole crisis by the Federal Government.”

As much as death is inevitable, many are naturally scared and worried about anything that has to do with death or the dead. To some, the mere sight of a corpse can send them into a fit. However, there are some fearless people who have commercialized activities organized for the dead, and are smiling to the banks through them.

In spite of the fear for the dead, there are people who make a living from activities related to death and the dead. Pall bearing and funeral undertaking business are some of the jobs a lot of people are quitting their regular jobs for.

These days, people stop at nothing in giving their departed loved ones a ‘befitting’ burial. Apart from expensive caskets, mausoleums, organizing burial parties etc, the presence of pall bearers seems to lighten up the atmosphere, help ease tension and brighten the faces of relatives of the dead, friends and visitors in attendance.

Before the dead is finally committed to mother earth, these people, whose job is to carry coffin, play and even dance with it to the admiration of people around.

In western cultures, the pallbearers are usually male family members, close friends, or colleagues of the deceased while in some Asian cultures, pallbearers are not to be members of the family but outsiders, given a tip to perform the services.

Initially in Nigeria, pall bearers were family members, close friends or colleagues but today, the trend is to acquire the services of professional pall bearers (for those who can afford it). Those who can’t afford it stick with family members or close friends of the deceased.

While a pall-bearer in the USA will carry a casket by the handles and at around waist height, in the United Kingdom, the casket is carried on the shoulders, and the handles are for the most part decorative. Pall bearers in Nigeria mostly carry the casket on their shoulders and sometimes at waist level.

In Nigeria, pall bearers are making brisk business as there seem to be an increasing demand for services rendered by them.

Mr. Akinbode Saheed Adeoye, the Director of Calvary Funeral Undertaker in Lagos who has been into the pall bearing business since 1999, described pall bearers as people in uniform who carry casket and dance with it while the band boys perform.

People tend to mistake pall bearers for undertakers but Adeoye clarified that funeral undertakers are people who sell casket, render ambulance services and other services needed for a funeral while pall bearers work under undertakers.

To stand out at funerals, Adeoye explained that they wear uniform so that they can appear different from the relations of the deceased.

On how he came about the business, he said, “My brother introduced me to the business and I see it as a very good business, so I decided to remain in it since 1999. I am very happy with the business because it is highly rewarding. I am also a funeral undertaker and I have many pall bearers working under me.”

Testifying to how highly rewarding the business is, Adeoye, who before now was a builder having studied Building Construction at the Lagos State Manpower Technical School Epe, had to quit being a builder since he delved into funeral undertaking and pall bearing business.

“I had initially just wanted to try the business out but when I went deep into it, I saw that it was a very good business that one can rely on,” he stressed.

On what it takes to be a pall bearer, Adeoye noted that it doesn’t take more than courage, honesty, good manners and looking good because of the various clients you will be working for.

The ‘courage’ needed to succeed in the business brings to mind a Yoruba adage that says ‘Money (wealth) resides right in the lion’s mouth’, which means fortune favours the bold, and willingness to take risks is crucial to success.

Just as nothing comes easy, pall bearers too face a few challenges in the course of their work. “One of the challenges we face sometimes is carrying a fat dead body with an extra-large casket, but in the end, we always overcome. Pall bearing requires physical strength, power, courage and the understanding that you are dealing with a dead body.”

Many would think that pall bearers feel inferior because of the job they do or that they would suffer stigmatization in the society. Adeoye said he is very proud of his work, adding that he feels super excited by the sound of the drums and trumpets. He also noted that he does not suffer any form of rejection or stigmatization in the society.

“For me, I do not suffer any form of stigma; in fact, we are very neat and we even woo girls of our choice,” he said.

Contrary to the belief that the spirit of dead people can turn back to haunt the living, Adeoye said he has never been attacked by any spirit and that he lives freely like every other sane and normal human being.

Another pall bearer, Mr. Adekunle Mogba, who has been in the business since 1998, said he was a trumpeter and played for MIC and Ebony funeral homes before he developed interest and decided to venture into his own business. Today, he is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of All Saints Undertakers at Akintan Street off LUTH Road, Mushin.

Mogba, who described himself as a professional undertaker, said there is no difference between an undertaker and a pall bearer. To him, the compound name is ‘Undertaker’ for those who handle activities organized for the dead while the pall bearers carry the casket. So, pall bearing is just a department among others.

Operating since 1998, he described the business as an all season one as people die on a daily basis. While he says his job is highly rewarding, he noted that they charge for funeral services based on what the children or relatives of the deceased want.

“We have different kinds of caskets and motor hearses. I have my own Band boys, flower girls and pall bearers that are working with me while I am also a pall bearer.”

Commenting on what it takes to be a pall bearer, Mogba said, “If you want to become an undertaker, you have to come to us and we teach you because we have different departments. We have people who preserve and dress the body, we have those who construct the casket; we have the pall bearers who dance with the coffin while band boys play music for them. We do our rehearsals every Tuesday to know the number of people going for an outing, which usually ranges from 10 to 15 and sometimes more.

Mogba started his undertaking business with just N50,000. He was however quick to note that irrespective of the money involved, they opt for seeing death certificate before carrying out any activity on the dead, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

“Due to COVID-19, before we go for any burial, we make it mandatory to see the death certificate of the deceased so as to ascertain the cause of the death.”

Unlike many others, Mogba and his workers are never afraid of handling the dead while they also don’t feel pain because their bodies are already accustomed with carrying and dancing with coffins. “It is something we have been doing for years, so, it is just as though we are playing. In fact, we don’t take any drug for energy. Constant practice makes perfect.”

On their dress code at various funerals, he said clients choose dress code for them, which could be corporate, native, casual wear or even prayer gown among others, depending on what clients want to see at their event.

Our reporter gathered that the cost of funerals varies depending on the number of services that would be rendered during the ceremony such as provision of casket, ambulance, pall bearers, flower girls, band boys among others. While there are expensive funeral services, there are also low-cost funeral services.

To streamline and steer the operation of undertakers in Lagos State, Mogba said they have an association named Lagos State Association of Funeral Directors registered by the Lagos State Government.

dawnomike:
All Northerners are not Hausa...

dairykidd:
So Kogi don turn Northern state

Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Sunday urged the security agencies to redouble their efforts and end mindless violent crimes in the country.

Lawan, in a statement by his spokesman, Ola Aowinyi, condemned the killing of rice farmers by terrorists in Borno State.

He described the incident as another act of barbarism against innocent Nigerians minding their own business.

He condoled with the families of the victims, government and people of Borno State.

Similarly, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the killings of the farmers had once again brought to the fore the need for more military action against the terrorists.

Gbajabiamila, in a statement by his spokesman, Lanre Lasisi, said: “Their lives should not go in vain. This should call for more action from our military. As a house, we’re ever ready to give them all the necessary support, especially through budgetary allocation, to deal decisively with the insurgents,” he said.

Brandstudio01:
The answer Is pretty simple. Because he had no affiliate with OBJ Like other. Or has he forgotten the Nigerian history as office holder?

Then again, Please how does that reduce the price of a cup if garri in the market your Excellency sir

A former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, has dismissed allegation that he assaulted an airport official at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had, in a tweet on Wednesday, accused Yari of violating COVID-19 protocol at the Kano airport.

“He refused to adhere to the protocols and procedures put in place by the Federal Government through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on #COVID19 by forcefully pushing away an officer of the Environment department when he insisted that his luggage must be disinfected,” the FAAN had tweeted.

But the former governor, in a statement by his media aide, Mayowa Oluwabiyi, said the incident cited in the tweet never happened. Yari said he followed all the COVID-19 preventive protocols set by FAAN.

He described the FAAN tweet as “odious and distasteful” and demanded that it retracts the “offensive tweet and tender an immediate public apology to him for the falsehood published about his person.”

The statement said, “We wish to re-affirm that H.E Abdulaziz Yari, the former governor of Zamfara state is a law-abiding Nigerian who will never resort to violence on any issue whatsoever. “H.E Yari holds the Federal Government of Nigeria in very high esteem and supports all steps taken by the Presidential Task Force on COVID 19 to fight the deadly pandemic.”

FAAN had condemned violation of the new protocols and guidelines at the airports by some Very Important Persons (VIPs) barely a week after the airports were reopened. The Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Hamisu Yadudu, said there were two incidents where VIPs broke the COVID-19 protocols and assaulted airport officials.

He said at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, there was an incident when a VIP said to be a former governor allegedly assaulted a FAAN Aviation security personnel.

Also, on Tuesday, there was another incident in Port Harcourt when a governor and his entourage allegedly broke the protocols at Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State.

A religious organisation, Muslim Community Centre (MCC), Abuja, has proposed the establishment of Monument University, Bwari, Abuja.

In a statement, a member of MCC’s University Planning Committee (UPL), Prof. Ismail Junaidu, said documents on the centre’s intent for the development of the private university were submitted to the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, on July 8, in Abuja by the Chairman of UPL, Prof. Ismaila A. Tsiga.

Prof. Junaidu said the centre proposed the institution “considering its experience in the provision of educational services to the general public, particularly in the FCT, and cognisant of its obligation to meet the current demand for higher education with strong moral perspectives in Nigeria.”

The decision to set up the university was taken in 2012, and thereafter, UPC was formed to handle the necessary modalities, including how to meet the requirements of NUC.

He said, “So far, the MCC has acquired 100 hectares, as well as processed and obtained the official Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) for the allocated land”, adding that the Academic Brief, Master Plan and the University Law had been developed.

According to the statement, MCC was established in November, 1991, as a registered association by a group of concerned Muslims who sought to establish a social and comprehensive educational centre for all Muslims.

It has an approved constitution, Board of Trustees (BOT) and governing board, which make policies and oversee its operations. The members come from professional backgrounds: academia, finance, architecture, engineering, among others, who are all volunteers and do not receive remuneration for their services.

The MCC earlier founded the first Islamic-based secondary school, Fou’ad Lababidi Islamic Academy, in the FCT in 1995, which has more than 1,000 learners enrolled into its five schools and other learning programmes.