₦airaland Forum

A political group has said that former All Progressives Congress deputy national publicity secretary is a hireling of Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The Initiative to Save Democracy (ISD) in a press statement signed by Oladele Peter, Publicity Secretary of the group on Thursday in Lagos said it had pictorial evidence to prove that Mr. Frank his doing the bidding of his paymasters.

It would be recalled that Mr Frank, a self-styled political activist came under fire on Wednesday night following a retraction by a national daily, Vanguard Newspaper of a libelous statement made by him against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He said Mr Frank is working for the opposition and its presidential candidate, Mr Atiku. He explained more evidences were emerging of their transaction including a meeting in Dubai where the plan was hatched.

“The picture is clearer now, Mr. Frank, a renegade and castaway from APC is doing the bidding of his master but legal actions will put all his toothless claims to rest.

“As Nigerians we have allowed fake news to fester for too long and that has to stop, we need to check fake news through all legal means possible and that is why I am happy that the Vice President has taken this route,” he said.

He said a source within the new strategies adopted by the PDP’s presidential candidate to boost his desperate quest to upturn the electoral victory of President Muhammadu Buhari through the Supreme Court co-opted Mr Frank.

Read more: https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/09/26/timi-frank-is-atikus-hireling/

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NewsHeadlines NewsNational NewsNigeria NewsPoliticsREVEALED: Timi Frank is Atiku’s hireling, says Group

September 26, 2019

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Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (right), Timi Frank and an unidentified associate in Dubai

A political group has said that former All Progressives Congress deputy national publicity secretary is a hireling of Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The Initiative to Save Democracy (ISD) in a press statement signed by Oladele Peter, Publicity Secretary of the group on Thursday in Lagos said it had pictorial evidence to prove that Mr. Frank his doing the bidding of his paymasters.

It would be recalled that Mr Frank, a self-styled political activist came under fire on Wednesday night following a retraction by a national daily, Vanguard Newspaper of a libelous statement made by him against Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He said Mr Frank is working for the opposition and its presidential candidate, Mr Atiku. He explained more evidences were emerging of their transaction including a meeting in Dubai where the plan was hatched.

“The picture is clearer now, Mr. Frank, a renegade and castaway from APC is doing the bidding of his master but legal actions will put all his toothless claims to rest.

“As Nigerians we have allowed fake news to fester for too long and that has to stop, we need to check fake news through all legal means possible and that is why I am happy that the Vice President has taken this route,” he said.

He said a source within the new strategies adopted by the PDP’s presidential candidate to boost his desperate quest to upturn the electoral victory of President Muhammadu Buhari through the Supreme Court co-opted Mr Frank.

Read more: https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2019/09/26/timi-frank-is-atikus-hireling/

Timi Frank, come to Nigeria if they born you well..... Omo Ale jatijati

Timi Frank is stepping the head of a COBRA, he should be arrested now.

Fake news peddlers should be dealt with seriously.
Talo ni oshi

Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information and one of the national leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in an interview with Daily Independent recently, speaks on the alleged plot to remove Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo by a powerful cabal in the Presidency.

As one of the national leaders of the APC, what is your take on the news making rounds of an attempt by some power brokers to remove Vice President Yemi Osinbajo?

The Vice President is busy doing his job and nobody is planning to remove him. How can anybody say they are planning to remove him? What offence has he committed?

There are reports that cabals in the Presidency are behind his travails…

Which cabal? People are just playing politics. As far as I am concerned, there is only one Presidency, not two; the President and the Vice President. Since 1999, there has not been a smooth working relationship between the President and Vice President like we have now between Buhari and Osinbajo. So, what is the proof that they want to remove the Vice President or reduce his powers? Is it because of the Economic Advisory Team set up by the President? What is wrong with that? He did that to smoothen operation and to ensure that we move to the NextLevel. In the struggle to fight corruption, unite the country and to address the country, any decision taken to improve the status or the level of achievements of the programme that the administration has cut for itself, why should that be misinterpreted as an attempt to remove the Vice President or to undermine him? Is the Vice President no longer the Vice- President? Why are people so mischievous? Who are the cabals they are talking about?

Are you saying there is no cabal in Aso Villa?

What is the name of the cabal? Is there any group called cabal? After the President, we have the Vice President and then all other staff there are personal staff. We have the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Ministers and Special Advisers. These people are there to help the President who is the only person on whose table the buck stops. If you look at the constitution, every person is working to enhance the work of the President. They do the work assigned to them by the President and there are some offices too that the constitution itself assigns. So, I really don’t know what people mean by the word ‘cabal’. If by cabal, they mean a group of political appointees who are powerful enough to create problems for the advancement of government, that is natural in the management of affairs of men. But the fact is, how much elbow do you give them to operate? When they operate to such an extent that they become a nuisance, then one must call their bluff. So, who is this cabal that people are talking about? Is it the Secretary to the Government of the Federation? Is it the Chief of Staff ? Is it the Permanent Secretaries in the Ministries that constitute themselves as cabals or the Ministers? Are these cabals outsiders in government or is it the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria that is the cabal? Is it the national chairman of the party that is the cabal or members of the National Working Committee? Are they political or financial cabals? Are these cabals faceless? People are just speculating. The Vice President and the President are together. They have never quarreled and there is no cause for them to quarrel. The fact is that at the end of the day, the buck stops on the table of the President.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/osinbajo-powerful-than-abba-kyari-momoh/

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has spent the past few days on covers of Newspapers and electronic media. The reason being that fake news was assiduously disseminated by some failed politicians which held in their contents that the Vice president had been stripped of some of his powers over some Federal Government Agencies under his supervision.

These same persons have also accused the Vice President of allegedly misappropriating N5.8billion in the grains scandal involving NEMA. They accused Prof. Yemi Osinbajo of breaching the constitution as well as the public procurement act.

Thankfully, the presidency has clarified that nowhere in the House of Representative committee on emergency and disaster preparedness report was an allegation of corruption against the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, stated.

The Vice President has always respected the law and will continue to do so, He is a seasoned professor of public law and duly knows his onions.

Osinbajo has been a true patriot and has only ensured to carry out his enshrined duties as the Vice President of Nigeria while protecting the lives of thousands of Nigerians by following section 43 of the procurement act which stipulates conditions for emergency cases.

COPIED

How is this strange?

Coming out from a northerners

Afenifere, can you see your life out side


Oma shey oh

TradeMoni is not vote buying, you people will not listen.


Nawaoh

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday presided over the monthly National Economic Council (NEC) at the State House.

In a tweet by Mr. Laolu Akande, the spokesperson to the Prof. Osinbajo, NEC is the constitutional body that advises the President on the coordination of the economic affairs of the country.

He noted that state governors, the Central Bank of Nigeria governor and some members of the Federal Executive Council were in attendance.

“Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is now presiding over the monthly National Economic Council, NEC meeting with state governor, CBN governor and some members of the FEC,” he tweeted.

He then added that, “NEC is the constitutional body that advises the President on the coordination of economic affairs of the Nigerian federation.

NEC under the leadership of Prof Osinbajo between 2015 to April 2019 passed 173 resolutions in 38 meetings.

Some of the resolutions include the approval of $650 million seed funding as the Federal Government established Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.

NEC also approved Community Policing in Nigeria as well as synergy among security agencies in a bid to improve intelligence gathering and end internal security crisis which included kidnapping.

The Council approved the National Transformation Livestock Plan (NLTP) which was launched by the Vice President in Adamawa on September 10.

NEC under Osinbajo’s leadership approved Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) clinics to help MSME with loans, materials and to make the process of doing business easy.

Source: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/osinbajo-presid-national-economic-council/

If he doesn't resign, you people should go and drag him out of his office, Nigerians are ungrateful. This man is working tirelessly to make Nigeria great and you people are out there peddling gibberish. Osinbajo will succeed and Almighty will reward him for all he has been doing. MyOsinbajo c
ares

The cabal should come out of their hide out, i hate nonsense.
We know their tactics , the so called cabals just want to create rift between the President and the Vice President.
You people will not succeed Osinbajo 2023 by Allah's grace

Like making mistakes is a big deal...Go sleep if you don't have better report to publish

The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has notified staff at its headquarters and at the Peoples Democratic Institute, of its plan to sack them.

The NWC set up a committee on the matter but is yet to receive and discuss the report of the committee.

It was further learnt that the downsizing of the workers was the main agenda of a recent meeting between the staff of PDP and PDI and an official of PDP NWC, who requested not to be named.

It was also gathered that the party plans to pay the staff that would be affected their severance allowances as contained in the party’s Establishment Manual signed by the PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus.

According to the highlights of the meeting signed by the Chairman of the PDP/PDI Staff Welfare Committee, Mr. Innocent Nwankwo, the monthly wage bill of the establishment staff (PDP/PDI) amounted to about N15m while their total staff strength is 96.

It was learnt that the plan to downsize the workers was necessitated by the need to rightsize the workforce, reduce redundant staff members and the over-bloated wage bill.

Nwankwo said that the rightsizing was not necessarily because the party’s fortune was dwindling.

He added that the party was still strong financially as it had 16 State Governors, 44 senators, 131 House of Representatives members and about 390 members of States’ Houses of Assembly.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/broke-pdp-notifies-staff-impending-sack/

Yinka Odumakin is a coward . He really don’t want VP Osinbajo to succeed without him

The Presidency has dismissed reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo did not follow ‘due process’ in the supervision of agencies under his watch.

In a statement by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Presidency noted that report by an online platform, The Cable, was false.

“Our attention has been drawn to a sensational report by The Cable published on September 17, 2019, which claims that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has directed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to seek approvals for agencies under him.

“The report suggests, falsely, that agencies under the supervision of the Vice President do not normally comply with established rules where presidential approvals are required.

“This is obviously misleading and aims only to plant seeds of discord in the Presidency, while attempting to create unnecessary national hysteria.

“The agencies in question are established by law and the Vice President has always insisted on due compliance with the enabling statutes and other established regulations.

“Depending on the particular scope of activity in question, agencies may require management approval only, at the level of the Director-General or Chief Executive Officer. In this category falls the great majority of their day-to-day activities.

“However, other activities, or procurement, with value exceeding a certain threshold, require Board approval. These may get to the agency Board chaired by the Vice President.

“In a few cases where Presidential approval is required, the Director-General must seek such approval from the President, through the Vice President.

“These rules have always guided the activities of statutory agencies and the ones under the Vice President’s supervision have always been so guided.

“To claim that in the first term of the Buhari administration, agencies of government have not been complying with the provisions (of getting final approvals from the President) is false, and the attempt to suggest the Vice President’s complicity in such irregularities is simply mischievous and reprehensible.

“The effective and mutually respecting relationship between the President and the Vice President is well known to Nigerians and it is futile to insinuate otherwise.

“Even though the Vice President has a statutory role as Board Chairman of some government agencies under his office, with appropriate approval limits, which often do not include contract approvals; it is ludicrous to even insinuate that a Board Chairman approves contracts.

“Evidently, the Federal Executive Council, which oversees Federal Ministries and agencies of government, is chaired by the President, and it is in its purview to approve or ratify award of contracts within the prescribed threshold.

“The Vice President remains committed to the service of his fatherland and will continue to do so despite the purveyors of fake news. We urge media organizations, as gatekeepers, to uphold truth, balance, fairness and objectivity in their reports.”

Source: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/osinbajo-followed-due-process-presidency/

This is an irritating report, VP Osinbajo doesn't have any agencies under him and he doesn't have the power to approve anything. Stop misleading readers now HABA

*Emir of Gwandu praises Osinbajo’s exemplary leadership style*

The Emir of Gwandu and Chairman, Kebbi Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar, has praised Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for his exemplary leadership style and for his loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Emir of Gwandu extolled the Vice President when he paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday as part of an official one-day visit to Kebbi.

He was accompanied by the State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and other senior government officials to the palace of the Emir.

Praising the Vice President, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar lauded the Vice President for his dedication to Nigeria and Nigerians.

Addressing Prof Osinbajo, he said, "I love the way you managed the country when the President was away. I love how you go around the country trying to make peace."

He added that, "Kebbi is the 24th State you have taken this programme too, we thank you for the great work of prosperity you are doing all over," the Emir said referring to the MSMES Clinics in particular.

The Vice President who was in Kebbi for the 24th edition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Clinics also carried out other engagements including Family Visit hosted by N-Agro beneficiary Abubakar Bunza and on-site assessment of TraderMoni at the Kebbi Central Market.

During his Family Chat visit to the home of Mr. Bunza in Bayan Kara, in Birnin Kebbi, the Vice President was briefed on the successes of the N-Agro programme and how it has impacted agriculture in the state.

Mr Bunza, a beneficiary of the N-Agro says that with the learning materials provided by the programme, he is able to help in tackling some of the problems of farming, poultry and livestock.

He helps provide solutions to the problems of local farmers encounter by showing them improved systems and techniques of modern farming and its effects to the society.

He has also been able to secure demonstrative plots of land from National Research Institute in Kebbi to prove practically, the modern systems of farming, using solar to power his rice farm irrigation system which produces enough water for 15 hectares. He is therefore able to irrigate even neighbouring farms as well. He produces 70-80 bags of paddy per hectare, compared to his neighbours 50 bags. He has also started a poultry farm.

At Kebbi Central Market, the Vice President engaged with market men and women who are beneficiaries of TraderMoni.

TraderMoni is an empowerment scheme of the Federal Government created specifically for petty traders and artisans across Nigeria.

Residents of Adamawa on Tuesday lauded the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) that was flagged off by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the state.

The residents displayed placards that showed their acceptance of NLTP and disapproval of the suspended RUGA. One the placards read, “No Foreign Herdsmen” while another read, “No To Mobile Livestock Husbandry”.

The placards were carried by the beneficiaries of the scheme who fully supported the Plan which emphasizes ranching and crop farming side by side.

The Gongoshi farm has 192 crop farmers and a ranch.

The placards which said “No foreign Herdsmen” and “No settlement of non-Fulani men” were displayed by the local herdsmen and farmers who are beneficiaries of the scheme.

The placards reading “No to mobile husbandry” were displayed by the beneficiaries who were extolling the scheme which is designed to make cattle stationary not mobile.

NLTP is ranching
The coordinator of the programme, Prof. Ambrose Alikidon Voh, is himself an indigene of Numan.

Others present at the ceremony was serving Senator, Pastor Binos Dauda Yarima who is from Mayo-Belwa, the local government in which the Gongoshi farm is located.



The National Livestock Transformation Plan at the Gongoshi farm in Adamawa yesterday was certainly not RUGA in any shape or form.

The NLTP is the plan agreed to by the 36 governors under the auspices of NEC.

The Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri invited the Vice President to launch the scheme which clearly seeks to show that if cattle are sedentary they will produce more milk and herders and crop farmers can co-exist peacefully. Many of the placards at the event expressed the same sentiments.

The residents also said NLTP will bring an end to grazing which has often led to farmer-herder clashes across the country including Adamawa state.

A farmer, Mathew Nyako told newsmen that NLTP will bring about jobs and economic stability for both livestock owners and farmers. “The idea by the government is good because all the livestock will be stationed in a place and would not interfere with our farms,” he said.

Similarly, Timawus Namdas said that more jobs will be created especially for those who were displaced. “Some members of our communities have been unable to find jobs but this has brought hope to them.”

A herder, Abubakar Aliyu, said he welcomed NLTP because his cattle can be nurtured in one place. “The cows will grow bigger if they are put in one place, we will not have to move them around,” he said.

He added that they have been assured of food for the cattle as well as water. “We will have food and water on this ranch and that is what we need for our cattle to grow.

Source: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/placard-support-nltp-mobile-husbandry/

The 24th edition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Clinics will hold on Thursday in Kebbi with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in attendance.

Over 400,000 MSME participants have so far partook in the MSME Clinics across 23 states so far, with the Vice President attending 21 of those Clinics.

The states that have hosted the Clinics since its inception include Bauchi, Plateau, Kwara, Sokoto, Cross-River, Eboyin, Ogun, Ondo, Edo,FCT, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Oyo, Ekiti, Abia, Enugu, Anambra Osun, Katsina, Lagos, Kogi and Akwa Ibom States.

Also since its inception, seven one-stop shops have been launched in the Federal Capital Territory, Osun, Cross River, Kwara, Abia, Plateau and Bauchi states by assembling relevant agencies together in one place so as to enable MSMEs access their services on an on-going basis with relative ease.

Through the Clinics, about 300,000 new business names have been registered by the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) at a reduced 50% price of N5000, from the normal N10,000.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/osinbajo-takes-24th-msme-clinics-to-kebbi/

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) at the Gongoshi Grazing Reserve in Mayo-Belwa Local Government Area of Adamawa.

Inaugurating the project on Tuesday, Osinbajo said the plan is designed to run from 2019-2028 as part of Federal Government’s initiative in collaboration with States under the auspices of the National Economic Council (NEC).

He said the plan, targeted at supporting the development of Nigeria’s livestock sector, is to be implemented in seven pilot states of Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara.

According to the vice president, the plan will be implemented as a collaboration project between the Federal and State governments, farmers, pastoralists and private investors.

“In this plan the State Government or private investors provide the land, the federal government does not and will not take any land from a State or local government.

“Any participating state will provide the land and its own contribution to the project. The federal government merely supports.

“It is a plan that hopes to birth tailor made ranches where cattle are bred, and meat and dairy products are produced using modern livestock breeding and dairy methods.

“This solves the problem of cattle grazing into and destroying farmlands. It ensures a practical response to the pressures on water and pasture by forces of climate change,” Osinbajo said.

He noted that the plan was designed to provide modern meat and dairy industry and in some cases integrated crop farming.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/national-livestock-transformation-plan/

The National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which will be commissioned by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Adamawa state on Tuesday is not the same as the suspended Rural Grazing Area plan (RUGA).

Some reports on social media and online have interchangeably used both programmes claiming that they are same programme but in the real sense, they are two different programmes.

Our correspondent reports that in July, President Muhammadu Buhari announced the suspension of RUGA, a programme of the Ministry of Agriculture in favour of NLTP.

The idea of NLTP was conceived at the National Economic Council chaired by Prof. Osinbajo. NEC in January 2019 set up a Technical Committee that went round the frontline states dealing with the Farmers-Herders conflicts and after a report was submitted agreed that NLTP was the way to go.

NEC agreed that each state government will decide what they will do with NLTP and how they want NLTP achieved.

For states that want to implement NLTP, the federal government will provide 80 per cent of the funds while state governments will provide 20 per cent. In all the Federal Government will not impose on any State government regarding its land.
NEC explained that the Federal Government and State governments decided on NLTP as a ranching option for livestock breeding.

NEC also approved the plan based on the recommendations of a Technical Committee of the Council chaired by Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State. Other State Governors on the committee and Working Group of NEC are those from Adamawa, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Edo, Plateau, Oyo and Zamfara – mostly the frontline States in the Farmer-Herder crises.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/nltp-is-not-ruga-report/

Different between NLTP and RUGA

• NLTP was developed from recommendations based on extensive stakeholder consultations by the National Economic Council (NEC) Farmer-Herder Crises Committee on the drivers of the conflict in 2018 and the plan was approved by all 36 governors in January 2019. This is different from RUGA; the plan was to finalize on design and procurement process, before engagement with States and Local Governments for identification and provision of sites while the Ministry of Interior would be engaged to finalize the logistics and modalities of mobilizing the Agro- Rangers for the provision of security.

• While RUGA focuses only on livestock, NLTP caters to the concerns of both pastoralists and crop farmers for a mutual coexistence.

• RUGA will provide amenities such as basic water, shelter, health and security infrastructure as well as feed sources and pasture, while the NLTP addresses the concerns of livestock modernization through the following six pillars: Conflict Resolution, Justice and Peace, Humanitarian Relief and Early Recovery, Human Capital Development; Crosscutting Issues of (Research, Youth and Gender) and Economic Investment (cattle production along the value chains).

NLTP is not RUGA

Be guided

Adoke is frustrated
Adoke is a fraudster
Common return the money you stole, then we can listen to you afterrall.


Don't involve the VP Osinbajo in your miserable life

WHO WILL EDUCATE NIGERIANS?
Sometimes I wonder, whose burden is it to educate Nigerians? Before now, I thought the problem was with the millennial who have almost dedicated their lives to social media but increasingly it is the adults that are most illiterate. So, I ask again, who will educate Nigerians? Most of the misconception and falsehood that holds sway today actually generated from them and was handed over to the next generation. So the question, who will educate Nigerians, is a big one. In today’s world, we have political and religious leaders who will distort history and spin our culture and tradition to a yarn that favours them. We have millennial whose smartphones are way smarter than them and to make it worse, Google Assistant and Siri are on most phones just to help but they fail to take advantage of these tools. One issue at hand that has shown that Nigerians are largely illiterate and uneducated is that of the Xenophobic attacks on Africans and including Nigerians. Two wrongs don’t make a right but not for some Nigerians, it’s retaliation or nothing most of which has been fuelled by fake news from supposed influencers on social media.
Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/who-will-educate-nigerians-by-seun-bisuga/

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WILL CHANGE FACE OF AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA – OSINBAJO
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says that digital technology and its application will change the face of agriculture in Africa. Osinbajo made this submission on Wednesday while featuring at the panel discussion session of the African Green Revolution (AFGR) being held at International Conference Centre, Accra, Ghana. The theme of the forum scheduled for Sept. 3 to Sept. 6 is “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Africa.” The vice president participated in the panel alongside host President Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, Edouard Ngirente, the Prime Minister of Rwanda, and AU Commissiner for Agriculture, Josefa Sacko. The panel was moderated by former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Osinbajo said that there were many companies that were interested in agriculture as a lot of them had already keyed in the agriculture space. According to him, one of the big advantages of technology is collaboration which is the major future of digital technology.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/digital-technology-agriculture-africa-osinbajo/

Nigeria has boycotted the World Economic Forum on Africa 2019 taking Cape Town, South Africa following Xenophobic attacks against its citizens in the last week.

The Forum which kicked off on Wednesday had no Nigerian delegation in attendance as other African countries joined Nigeria in boycotting the event. Some of the other African countries that have pulled out of WEF are Rwanda, Malawi and DR Congo.

As at the time of filing this report, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama to discuss next step on Xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

There Nigerian government is exploring possible options including sanctions against the South African government.

The government is also deliberating over possible actions from within after some Nigerians carried out reprisal attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria including attacks on one of Africa’s largest food retailer, Shoprite, and telecoms giant, MTN, forcing the organisations to scale down operations.

“President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have taken hands-on approach in resolving the Xenophobia issue with South Africa but they want everything done diplomatically,” a source in the Presidency said.

“The boycott of WEF is another strong statement to the South African government and people because the Buhari administration will not stand and fold its arms after attack on any Nigerian citizen. This is the right step in the right direction.

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Home News BREAKING: Buhari, Osinbajo meet over Xenophobic attacks as Nigeria boycotts WEF
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BREAKING: Buhari, Osinbajo meet over Xenophobic attacks as Nigeria boycotts WEF
September 4, 201911

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President Muhammadu Buhari (C), Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (L) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama meeting over Xenophobic attacks
President Muhammadu Buhari (C), Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (L) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama meeting over Xenophobic attacks




Nigeria has boycotted the World Economic Forum on Africa 2019 taking Cape Town, South Africa following Xenophobic attacks against its citizens in the last week.

The Forum which kicked off on Wednesday had no Nigerian delegation in attendance as other African countries joined Nigeria in boycotting the event. Some of the other African countries that have pulled out of WEF are Rwanda, Malawi and DR Congo.

As at the time of filing this report, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama to discuss next step on Xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

There Nigerian government is exploring possible options including sanctions against the South African government.

The government is also deliberating over possible actions from within after some Nigerians carried out reprisal attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria including attacks on one of Africa’s largest food retailer, Shoprite, and telecoms giant, MTN, forcing the organisations to scale down operations.

“President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have taken hands-on approach in resolving the Xenophobia issue with South Africa but they want everything done diplomatically,” a source in the Presidency said.



“The boycott of WEF is another strong statement to the South African government and people because the Buhari administration will not stand and fold its arms after attack on any Nigerian citizen. This is the right step in the right direction.

READ: Osinbajo commissions largest solar plant in Africa opens in Kano

It will be recalled that the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Onyeama met with the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Bobby Monroe, on Tuesday to express his displeasure at the Xenophobic attacks and to also condemn the attacks.

Mr. Onyeama said the federal government expected that such security operatives would eventually be incorporated in the South African police with a view to assisting it in pre-empting future attack against Nigerians.

“We have registered our strong protest to the government of South Africa but most importantly, we have put forward to the South African government what we think will make a big difference,” he said after the two met in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

“One, with regards to compensation for those who have suffered losses and most importantly, a security proposal that we believe will safeguard the security of Nigerians in the future.

“We are hoping to see the possibility of sending some security agents, deploying them initially in the Nigerian High Commission, to work closely with the South African Police Force.”

He dismissed any contemplation by Nigeria to embark on any revenge mission against South Africans or their businesses, saying two wrongs do not make a right.

The minister said South Africa was provoked by the attacks by its nationals and was striving hard to put the situation under control. “We don’t believe that two wrongs make a right. I think in terms of revenge on those kinds of attacks is not what we are looking forward to,” he said, adding that, “The South African government has assured us that they are doing everything possible to address the situation; that they are equally exasperated by the whole event.”

Source: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/buhari-osinbajo-meet-over-xenophobic-attacks/

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has summoned the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Moroe, over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

The envoy was expected to meet with the minister by 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

A senior MFA official, Kimiebi Ebenfa, confirmed the development in a WhatsApp message.

It read, “I am directed to inform you that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has summoned the High Commissioner of South Africa for a meeting this morning by 11. The meeting was confirmed a few minutes ago.”

Onyema had said that the Federal Government would take “definitive measures” in the aftermath of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

He was, however, silent on the measures that would be taken over the increasing violence against Nigerians and other foreigners in the country.

He described the attackers as mindless criminals, noting that the police intervention was ineffective.

Onyeama said this on Monday on his verified Twitter handle in reaction to the burning of Nigerian property by South Africans in Johannesburg, Marvel, Turfontein and Jamestown, on Sunday night.

Onyeama had tweeted, “Received sickening and depressing news of continued burning and looting of Nigerian shops and premises in #SouthAfrica by mindless criminals with ineffective police protection. Enough is enough. We will take definitive measures.”

The latest attacks on foreigners in South Africa started last week after a taxi driver was murdered by an alleged drug dealer in Pretoria.

Speculations that the alleged killer was a Nigerian sparked protest, looting and burning of foreign-owned businesses.

The police had struggled to bring the attacks under control.

Our correspondent reported that Onyema was also scheduled to meet with his SA counterpart to discuss the escalating xenophobic attacks.

Source: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/fg-summons-sa-high-commissioner-over-xenophobic-attacks/

On 20th of August 2019, Itunu Ajayi from Maryland USA revealed his standpoint on The Guardian about Vice President Osinbajo’s presumed silence on the incessant killings and security instability in many parts of the country.

For someone who is a 2014 Kurt Schork Fellow in International Journalism (yes, I looked him up), it was an uninformed, depressing take packed with personal bias and judgement that didn’t do justice to credit a man whose role is to deputise, support and advise the president.

This factless blasphemy by Itunu disguised in the suit of an opinion by one who prides to be a journalist is a valid reason why people’s faith in journalism is fast drifting.

Itunu’s evocative postulations give the impression of a hyper-deliberate attempt at slandering Yemi Osinbajo and undermining his achievements and contributions as arguably the most active, seen, heard and devoted Vice President Nigeria has ever encountered.

Itunu attempts to play a centrist. But too often, we confuse centrism with fairness, objectivity or common-sense truth. But centrism is none of those, it is a point of view, and it can be wrong, just as conservatism or liberalism can be; so opinions must be based on accurate information, sound logic, and expressed respectfully.

He wants us to believe, without any certitude, that Osinbajo is not deeply concerned about the current state of the country because of his own misinterpretation of events.

He consciously forgets to mention every instance the Vice President has spoken out on issues of insecurity in the country, every time he has condemned wrongdoing by enemies of our state, every time he has paid a solidarity visit to victims and reminded them that government cares, and would not forget them – passing the message of relieve and hope to the victims.

He consciously denies the truth to his readers when he pretends not to know that President Buhari has the ears of his number two man, and they, whether we know it or not, meet time without number to discuss issues of national interests.

In his essay, the writer consciously strips the Vice President off his constitutional capacity through deliberate ignorance of the roles and responsibilities that flow therefrom, but thereafter goes ahead to hold him liable for those functions that are not even his.

He then attempts to severe his office from the Buhari government, as if they are not one, and that the two elected leaders should act in discord. The story forces its readers to digest misconstrued analysis as facts and struggles to beg for empathy by connecting it to the general displeasure of nationwide killings.

Read more: https://www.chronicle.ng/2019/09/to-the-deaf-osinbajo-is-silent/

Beyond 10k TraderMoni Noise on Social Media

By Oladele Peter

Petty traders are often those women and men who sell certain commodities which are predominantly not sold to the ultimate consumer by the formal sector, examples includes fruits, vegetables, pepper, sachet water, bread, and so on. Petty Traders are highly indispensable in the distribution system providing useful goods to the community especially the lower middle class and the poor. The major problem facing Petty Trading is CAPITAL in the form of loans, which they can’t get from banks.

The Nigerian government under the leadership of President Buhari and his vice Prof. Osinbjo came up with the strategy to fight Hunger, Poverty and Lack of capital by most petty traders; they introduced a Programme called TRADERMONI which is part of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

TraderMoni as a scheme has generated a significant amount of buzz and national conversation: from those who laud its impact to those who view it as politically motivated. TraderMoni is one of three microcredit products of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

GEEP is a microcredit programme that provides much-needed capital to traders, artisans, farmers, petty traders. It is one of the social intervention progammes of the Federal Government, it comprises of three products: MarketMoni, FarmerMoni, and TraderMoni. GEEP was initiated in 2016 by the Federal Government, with an understanding that there are over 30 million Nigerians at the base of the pyramid who are in active commercial activity but never have an opportunity to access credit.

Findings on the TraderMoni programme shows that it is being implemented by the Federal Government and the Bank of Industry to empower petty traders. Tradermoni is an interest-free loans of between N10,000 to N300,000. After you apply and you are pick, you get N10,000 and if you pay back N10,000 you get N15,000 till you reach the top of the ladder which is N300,000. As long as you keep paying back you will keep climbing the ladder.

Research conducted in Utako Market, Abuja, Ikotun Market in Lagos, Ochanja Market in Onitsha, Eke Awka in Awka and Kasuwar Yankaba in Nasarawa, Gusau Central Market and Kebbi Central Market (Through some research assistance) shows that many traders are benefiting from the TraderMoni programmes.

It was learnt that VP Osinbajo never shared cash in any of markets listed above. Traders confirmed that TraderMoni is paid into bank accounts or mobile wallets not in cash to petty traders, which they can cash on their own or with help of relatives. We also found some other Traders who initially denied benefiting from the programme till they were told we are here to fast track their next stage of the programme which is N15,000 and N20,000 respectively at which point their stories changed.

Furthermore, we deduced from the findings that petty trading activity is an important sphere of our economy which plays a significant role in both rural and urban economic life. This sector contributes to higher living standards and greater material prosperity in rural and urban areas by making the goods and services available to the consumers at the right times and at right places

Petty trading also provides employment and income to millions of people who would otherwise lack the means of survival. To some, it even also serves as a breeding ground for entrepreneurship. Therefore, The Federal government should not only increase beneficiaries but also speed up the process. The FG should also create more awareness on TraderMoni and even other parts of GEEP and even the NSIPs in general.

God Bless Nigeria

Oladele Peter writes from Ile-Ife, Osun State