Chairman, Northern Committee on Restructuring and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has called on Nigerians to give peace a chance in spite of agitators calling for the restructuring of the country.
He assured that the northern region remains committed to the unity of the country while reaffirming the position of the North on burning national issue bothering on restructuring.
The governor, who stated this shortly after the inaugural meeting of the committee in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria, appealed to agitators across the country to be calm, saying that even if the country goes to war, people would still have to come back to discuss their issues, hence the need to stop beating war drum.
According to him, “We agreed that a technical committee be set up to work on the previous documents, conferences and position papers and then come back to us within three weeks.
“Thereafter, every state will conduct public hearing and we will be meeting on 24th October 2017 by the grace of God to review all that. So by the end of October, God willing, we shall be able to get back to a larger body of the northern governors forum and northern traditional leaders and Council.
“All the issues that are going to be brought up by a technical committee that has been constituted by this body will be critically looked into so that we can subject them to a very robust database debase across the North and the outcome of that will be presented to northern governors and traditional rulers.”
On agitations, he said, “There is a process going on in the country for engagement and I am sure the federal government is willing to listen to all these agitations at the end of the day.
“And don’t forget that, even if you embark on a war at this stage, don’t get result through war, you will always come back to the round table and discuss the issues. So I want to call on all Nigerians to give peace a chance.”
In a remark, Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said, “I believe in the conversation. We have just looked into three main items that stood out clearly.
“The first is that we have heard our commitment to the unity of the country and we are going to have a regional conversation to express the pressing issue that have been raised.
“The second point is that, we have to look into constitutional reform of Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is important because it will help us to answer questions like what exactly is the division of power of state, what exactly should be the role of local government and whether there should be an opportunity for different states to discuss issues around fiscal responsibility, sharing revenue and all that can be discussed.
“And not just sharing of revenue, but whether the entire revenue of the government should be used for payment of salaries, constitution amendment on issue of National minimum wage,” he said.
“With this development, the North is yet to come up with its own position as regarding the issue of restructuring that is already heighten tension among political and social classes of the country,” he observed.
Gombe (Nigeria) — Chairman Gombe State Committee on Environmental Sanitation and other Related Matters, Nasiru Haruna says, his committee has embarked on removal of illegal structures in the streets, including billboards and posters of politicians in the state.
Haruna was reacting to allegations by opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) who accused the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), and Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of political persecution and infringement of their rights to political association, as well as removal of billboards and posters of President Muhammadu Buhari in Gombe.
The Chairman of the Committee, who is also the General Manager and Special Adviser to the Governor on GOSEPA (Gombe State Environmental Protection Agency), said, the Governor had to consult with INEC before embarking on the removal of the posters and billboards.
According to him, “Please go to INEC and ask if it is time for campaigns. We have many laws, please go and confirm from INEC. Before the government formed this committee, I’m fully aware that the Governor directed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) to get some clearance from INEC before forming this committee. I believe the Government did it. So that question should be passed to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC, he will highlight you more”, when asked the fault in joint posters with President Buhari.
Nasiru said, “We have removed that poster and I am ready to exhibit it to you now, His Excellency has directed that any joint poster should be removed, he has respect for the President of Nigeria and Gombe is his constituency, but anybody who makes a joint poster and place it without authority should remove that poster.
“It is not true that we are harassing the opposition party by removing their posters. Even anybody who join poster with the Governor, we do remove it. If you want to contest in any party, do your own poster and follow due process”, he stressed.
He gave the mandate of the seven-man Task Force Committee which included him as; enforce/remove any illegal/unauthorized bill boards, banners, notice boards, posters and their likes within the State.
The Committee was also mandated to co-opt any security outfit in exercising their function within the state and commence duty with immediate effect. The function of the committee will be relieved by His Excellency the Governor whenever he deems fit.
Members of the seven-man Task force Committee comprise of two representatives from the Gombe State Agency for Social Services, the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and Haruna Umar Malala, Director of Finance and Supply at GOSEPA who is the secretary to the task force.
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36 out of the 38 registered political parties in Kaduna state (northwest Nigeria), have vowed to boycott all political activities organized by the Kaduna state Independent Electoral Commission (KAD-SIECOM), stressing that, until all political parties as well as relevant stakeholders are carried along and a realistic time table/programs for the local government elections are released.
Briefing newsmen Thursday in Kaduna, Chairman of the aggrieved parties under the umbrella body of Joint Leadership of Opposition Political Parties, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, accused the State Governor, Nair Elrufai of having a nonchalant attitude towards the conduct of the elections, saying it would no longer be tolerated.
According to them, “after a very critical study of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s activities and programs as regard Local government elections as well as SIECOM’s activities that are directed by him, it is very clear that he is never interested and willing to conduct the local government polls within the period of his administration. The so called process is a charade aimed at short-changing the electorates.
“That a high court judgment had directed state independence electoral commission to conduct Local Government election within 90 days since November, 2016 but the directives had not been complied with, that is total disrespect and disregard to the court of law.
“The APC led government went ahead and procured electronic voting machines (EVM) even before the law backing the process by the State House of Assembly is debated and passed. More so, no opposition political party or stakeholders were involved in the process,” the Chairman noted.
While calling on the National Assembly to hasten the process of scrapping state’s Independent Electoral Commissions, the group pointed out that the Kaduna state government has usurped the functions of the state’s electoral body and rendered its independence doubtful.
The aggrieved political parties include; Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Kaduna State Coalition of Political Parties (KCPP) and Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP).
They boycotted SIECOM’s stakeholders’ sensitization program of voter education held Thursday in the state.
The Headquarters of 82 Division Nigerian Army has commenced investigation to ascertain the source and actors in a video clip trending on social media and other platforms purportedly showing troops humiliating some people at a check point in Abia State, southeast Nigeria.
The Division’s Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sagir Musa, in a statement noted that the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement of the Army are quite clear, as such, any officer or soldier that infringed on any of such directive will face full wrath of the military justice system.
According to him, claims of human rights violation would be investigated and when substantiated, appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against the erring personnel.
Colonel Musa further pointed out that, “We would like to inform the public that 82 Division is also aware of the planned misinformation and propaganda arrangement by the secessionists Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). They intend to churn out prerecorded video clips aimed at discrediting the Nigerian Army, causing disaffection among the citizens of this country. They will be using bogus, manipulated and photo-shopped photographs as well as video clips.
“The public should be wary of such mischief, scrutinize and report same to the Nigerian Army or any of security agencies.”
The Division however reassured the public of its determination to ensuring the safety of lives and properties, particularly the entire South East geo-political zone as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We do not condone any act of indiscipline in the conduct of our operations and training exercises,” he stated.
In Nigeria, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) have alerted government on the urgent need to expel the Turkish Ambassador from the country for allegedly meddling into internal security matters with regards to the alleged invasion of residence Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), by the men of the Nigerian Army.
A statement by CNG spokesman, Abdul-azeez Suleiman in Kaduna said, “it becomes necessary for the fact that the Turkish diplomat was quoted as having made undiplomatic suggestions to the possibility of the Biafrans taking up arms against the Nigerian state.
“We find it ridiculous that the diplomat, by extension speaking for the Turkish government, should throw all diplomatic ethics to the winds by tending to believe the fabricated invasion story, even after the Nigerian authorities have denied it.
“The diplomat and his home government must accept that Nigeria is a sovereign state with the sole responsibility of handling its own internal security matters.
“We call on the federal authorities to take urgent proactive measures to check the Turkish activities in Nigeria in the light of Erkahraman’s veiled reference to the likelihood of arming the Biafrans against the state and the recent interception of arms being smuggled in through Lagos.
“We note with disgust that earlier, the same Turkish diplomat was said to have paid a personal solidarity to Nnamdi Kanu which suggests some form of conspiracy to aid the destabilization of Nigeria.
“While we unequivocally restate that we are not waging war or calling anyone to violence, we also reaffirm our unwillingness to further tolerate the malicious campaign and threats of war waged by the Igbo led by Kanu against the North in particular and the Nigerian state in general.
“Since all people have the right to agitate, to demonstrate and to criticize in a civilized manner, Biafra as an agitation, is not our problem. What we find unacceptably frightening is the open genocidal campaign by Kanu and his IPOB that incessantly and unapologetically refers to Nigeria as a ‘Zoo’ and calls for outright violence against its people, by the kind of war that nobody has ever seen.
“And now, a few days after a container of arms was intercepted by the authorities in Lagos, this Turkish diplomat came up with his suggestion of armed confrontation giving credence to suspicions of a much wider conspiracy against the Nigerian state.
“To prevent the impending war and genocide being incited by Kanu’s IPOB, we urge the Nigerian government to investigate the utterances of this Turk in relation to the intercepted arms and make a necessary decision in line with what International law and the international criminal court laid down as precedents in dealing with people and groups that openly call for war and genocide.
“We warn that CNG would mobilize for a nationwide protests to push home this call for the immediate expulsion of the Turkish Ambassador before it becomes too late,” the statement explained.
President Muhammadu Buhari has advised Nigerians to ensure that the green picture given by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, is accepted and confronted headlong with courage and perseverance.
Speaking at the commissioning of the 150m dollar Olam poultry and feed mill in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria Tuesday, he said, “About six months ago, we announced to the world that we are in a recession. We announced the recession ourselves. We were bold enough to admit it and we were honest about it.
“When the national Bureau of Statistics presented a green picture of this state of affairs, we accepted the reality and confronted it headlong with courage and perseverance.
“Now a few months down the road, the Bureau of statistic has released the cheering news that we are getting out of the fit of recession.
“Even though the statistics are still fragile and we have no illusion that we need to even work harder to get to that economic level that is satisfactory, we are happy to note and we believe that the majority of Nigerians are also happy that we are getting out of possibly the worse economic scenario in our country’s history.
“Giving this positive development and with the gradual recovery of our economy, we think the great signs of growth and prosperity for this country are at hand.
“We are also aware that the pessimistic ones in our midst may be reluctant to admit that positive development is occurring in economic space for obvious reasons, evidently, the undeniable reality is that we are getting out of the wood.”
Speaking on the commissioning of the Olam poultry and feed mill, President Buhari observed, “This massive edifice put in place by Olam is one of the largest agricultural firms in our beloved country. I am told that this is one of the biggest investments in poultry industry in Nigeria.
“We are particularly pleased to participate in this event because it is clear evidence that in spite of all odds, economic growth is taking place especially in the agricultural sector.
“This was our promise at the inception of our administration when we came in to deal with challenges in the economy which was almost appearing insurmountable.
“It is our article of faith and our Ernest believe that agriculture offers the most viable and all encompassing options in our attempt to diversify our national economy.
“It is in this connection that we must first be able to say to ourselves that we must be able to feed ourselves on what we grow and grow what we eat before we can comfortably turn our attention to many of the other key concerns of our daily lives.
“The commissioning of this massive facility is a living testimony to our claim that growth, serious and lasting growth is taking place in our economy and that growth can only last if it begins at the grassroots.”
Earlier, the Governor Nasir El-rufai of Kaduna State had told the President Buhari that the state government had given Olam free land, which they built the plant, adding, “We spent over N500m as compensation to the land owners.”
According to him, the commissioning of the project was not by chance as it was based on a careful investment study and interaction with the leadership of the company.
“This was a company that had invested in Nigeria in the early 80’s and had to migrate to Singapore . Your excellency may wish to recall that when you invited me to be part of your delegation around 2015 for the United Nations General Assembly and I told you that I have an investment trip, you gave me the full support and approval to go.
“This was the out come of the trip as on 8th April, 2016 the ground breaking foundation laying ceremony was held and after seventeen months it has become a reality.
“The plant will be producing 1.6m chicks weekly, while it has so far created about 50,000 jobs.”
The electioneering campaign is on and we gather ward by ward and unit by unit to receive aspirants of political positions in 1999 and hear their manifestoes. They promise us of a better living like good roads, hospitals, qualitative education, constant electricity and other people-oriented need.
While we listen to them, many of us do not believe their sermonizations. They say that politicians are not honest in the entire global political environment, they are not frank. They say that politicians just speak in the language that they feel will arrest the minds of the people, seeking to engage the people, but not actually to do what they promise after the people must have voted them.
There are today tears and anguish written all over our faces – we are now refugees in our country, christened Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). I look for explanations to define the relationship of politics with the people; it is a strong and importunate relationship of disagreements. The word politics is dirty to people. Nigerians say that politics has become about power and conflict and this explains why many people are especially irrational about politics.
The displaced are victims of politically-motivated insurgencies being carried out by Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the northern part of Nigeria. The last time I checked, there were nearly 4 million people in the camps where the government provided for them. These people are excluding hundreds of thousands that have been killed since the mayhem started in 2009. We are facing a problem of political foolishness. It is a social problem greater than any crime in the world; politics has prevented our leaders from solving the problems they promised the voters that they would solve if voted for.
We have been having politically-motivated religious wars between the two dominant religions of Christianity and Islam in the country. The United Nations (UN) will always have politics or is it humanitarian services to play in such crisis whereas it is very hard to see a country that is united with each other across the world. Politics has divided countries and peoples. Yet, we hear that in the last 20 years alone, the United Nations (UN) has presented electoral support to more than 100 countries. However, the drums of wars and rumours of wars in diverse places, being brewed by politics continue to skyrocket.
We once saw Palestine on 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 where people lost everything they had due to political conflict. I have heard of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the decades of dictatorship under Ben Ali and his predecessor Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, where Tunisians gnashed teeth in their experience of bad governance, dearth of liberty and poor panoramas. They later engaged the government of Ali in December days of 2010 and on 14 January 2011, they achieved their objective and the government was ousted. By then scores of people have been pummeled to the soil. All boiled down to politics and the people.
I’m looking for the truthful person who will engage us actively. I would have joined politics but one has to know how many millions of dollars that he or she has, hence politics isn’t for people, but for the capitalists, who have for centuries been transforming in circles from the times of lords and feudal and found themselves in democracy. Around the world, I’m seeing a lot of people who are not engaged in politics and policymaking, due to politics. Yet, over the years, you hear of politicians, clerics and opinion leaders advising more people to join politics.
Hardly can we explain political decisions and hardly can journalists be given freedom of information. We saw Zambia in 2011, when for the second time since independence in 1964, Michael Sata from the Patriotic Front vanquished the sitting president and was elected to the country’s presidency with the highest choice, after three unsuccessful endeavours. This makes politics boring to me and it has created long distance with voters. We have sentences like German sociologist Max Weber stating in his capacious sociology of religion in 1920, that the direct problems with the world people are material interests which come first, followed by mental interests, and not ideas.
We perceived that the earlier European colonization relegated the Aboriginal peoples to abysmal political approaches that contempt or pay-no-attention-to Aboriginal peoples’ cultural rights. There was the Queensland Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, regarded as the most heinous, geared towards pointing out where the natives should live, who they should associate with or even marry. It is politics that drove more than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015. The last time I checked, 135,711 people got to Europe by sea since the start of 2016. In 2015, Germany received more than 476,000 asylum applications. More migrants made the journey on land through Greece and the Western Balkans, and sought for asylum in Hungary, which had 177,130 applications by the end of December 2015.
We heard the International Organization for Migration (IOM) saying that more than 1,011,700 migrants entered by sea in 2015, and about 34,900 by land. More than 3,770 migrants were reported to have died while on their expedition. We also heard and saw the crisis that it sparked. Many countries were literarily held hostage by the flood of people. Europe nearly divided over decisions to handle the menace. Many migrants drowned in the seas and many arrived by seas to their respective countries of refuge. We saw that Turkey and Albania didn’t rest.
The conflict in Syria drove many citizens away with the violence in Afghanistan and Iraq, molestations in Eritrea, poverty in Kosovo, compelled people to leave. They were looking for better life elsewhere due to political issues in their countries.
But upon how politics has treated the people, we are still struggling to be like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the First indigenous President of Nigeria; Fidel Castrol of Cuba. You see Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President (non-U.S.1954–). There is Hillary Clinton, Government Official, U.S. First Lady, Women’s Rights Activist and once presidential hopeful in 2016 (1947-). There was Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister (1925–2013). There is John Major, Prime Minister (1943–); Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen (1542–1587); David Cameron, Prime Minister (1966–); Alexandra Feodorovna, Princess, Tsar/Tsarina (1872–1918) and a host of others.
Notwithstanding, we heard a former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in 1998 that democratization gives people a stake in the society. Its importance cannot be overstated for unless people feel that they have a true stake in the society, lasting peace will not be possible and sustainable development will not be achieved.
Odimegwu Onwumere is an award-winning journalist based in Rivers State. Tel: +2348032552855. Email: apoet_25@yahoo.com
Chairman, Northern Committee on Restructuring and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has called on Nigerians to give peace a chance in spite of agitators calling for the restructuring of the country.
