The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Insecurity

  • Will there be a rescue from this Overwhelming darkness in Nigeria?

     

    This is because there are equipment from the surplus power market on the ground that can be deployed as fast as possible once a PPA agreement is executed, and the natural gas infrastructure can also be in place within the above stated period.

     

    Not only that, there are capable human resources to operate and maintain the gas engines and turbines locally without losing forex (in dollars) to technical experts as before.

     

    The very interesting aspect of this is the fact that no payment upfront is required from the Disco or the community to build the required power plant by the IPP.

     

    The entire business transaction can be on Build Operate and Transfer or on Build Operate & Own basis.

     

     

     

    The power plant’s electricity upon inauguration would be sold to consumers directly or through the Disco network, this of course will be for a reasonable period of time to re-equip the money spent in building the power plant infrastructure. A win-win affair, you’d say.

     

    But talking seriously, our problem in Nigeria isn’t really that of generation but its evacuation, which is the transportation and delivery of generated power to consumers through the TCN and the various Discos.

     

    It may interest you to know that, Nigeria (through Gencos) produces far more electricity now than the capacity which is being transported to electricity consumers.

     

    The sad aspect of it is that these Gencos don’t get paid for all the electricity generated and delivered to Discos through the TCN and market operators, this bad habit of non-repayment for used electricity has put almost every Generation company (Gencos) in serious debt as of now.

     

     

    Debt to who, you’d ask? Debt to the natural gas suppliers to fire the turbine engines, debt to the bankers that funded equipment purchase, debt to experts handling supply of spare parts and equipment maintenance and even debt to the staff on salary payment which is not usually paid as at when due.

     

    Not forgetting the government agency (NBET), set up to guarantee the Gencos’ power supply vis-a-vis payment, this has been messed up and run aground due to lack of adequate financial instrument to provide continued guarantee.

     

    Hence, the reason why the current Minister of Power is seriously considering and promoting the willing buyer, willing seller model. A model which is sometimes referred to as embedded generation.

     

    This model will make communities or estates and clusters of industrial concern to have power on a 24/7 basis without going through middle organisations such as the TCN, MO, NBET and Discos.

     

     

    It’s a process whereby power substations within localities are directly supplied with dedicated generated electricity by the IPPs. In this way, electricity consumers won’t be disturbed by the usual network failures or breakdown excuses.

     

    We’ve been canvassing this type of generation vis-a-vis supply of power since the Goodluck Jonathan era, hoping that those managing the affairs of the nation’s power sector would wake up to reality at this time.

     

    But be that as it may, Nigerians should be prepared and ready to pay for the 24/7 electricity when it’s eventually received.

     

    The idea of circumventing power or idea of power is supposed to be given free of charge should be a thing of the past.

     

     

    Unfortunately, we usually forget that a lot of money goes into buying of owned generators (be it diesel or petrol), so also do we spend money on a daily basis in procuring fuel (diesel and petrol) to fire or run the same. How about service and maintenance of these owned generators, repair and spare parts procurement when the need arises.

     

    What about the generator operators or security guards operating the same at home (do you ever think of the salaries paid to them?).

     

    And if you don’t have operators, have you taught of the inconveniences of waking up at nights to switch on and off generators when normal utility power is available or taken?

     

    So, when you consider all these little amounts together, coupled with the regular money used in buying electricity credits from the Discos in your domain, you’d have been providing 24/7 power in your home at a rate ranging between N75/kwh and N90/kWh.

     

     

    Now, let’s take the lower rate quoted above and calculate as follows:

     

    We assume you’re using a 15.625kva (12.50kw) diesel generator for a four- bedroom wing of duplex with all necessary appliances like 6-8 x A/Cs, 2 x water pumping machines, deep freezers and fridges, cloth washing and drying machine, microwave oven, morning exercise machine like treadmill etc.

     

    You’ll spend nothing less than;

     

    24hrs/day x 12.50kw x N75.00/kwh x 30 days = N675,000.00 per month.

     

     

    In case you doubt the above, just wonder the diesel consumption alone if you’re running a 12.50kw (15.625kva) generator on a continuous basis of (24/7) per month, without Disco utility power supply.

     

    The generator will consume about 2.9 litres of diesel every one hour, this implies, it will take 24 hours x 2.9 litres to run the generator per day, which equates to 69.6litres per day.

     

    In 30 days therefore, we’ll require 2,088 litres (i.e. 69.6 x 30 days = 2,088) of diesel. Diesel cost in naira per month is therefore, 2,088 x N225.00/litre = N469,800.00/month.

     

    This amount doesn’t include servicing and maintenance of generators at every 250 hours, neither does it include amortisation cost of purchasing the generating equipment.

     

     

    Can you imagine spending this amount on a monthly basis only, to buy diesel to provide power on a 24/7 basis?

     

    Unimaginable, you’d say? Unfortunately, we don’t ever sit down to analyse the above budget simply because we just dip hands into our pockets to buy and pay for these stated products and services when the need arises.

     

    Have you also sat down to consider the environmental (exhaust and noise pollution) effects on society at large that we’ve learned to live with as normal?

     

    The time to wake up to realities in our society is now; if power can be available in other climes, it surely can be available in Nigeria and on a 24/7 basis.

     

     

    All that is needed is determination to make it work. Our problem isn’t the diesel generator vendor cartel, neither is it the petroleum products (diesel) importers association selling diesel as Nigerians do claim.

     

    All of these people equally want 24/7 power at very reasonable cost.  Let’s get our authorities to be serious and committed to this worthy cause just as we did for GSM during the Obasanjo era and see if 24/7 power won’t be realised.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Insecurity: One man, one gun; one woman, one rifle – Itse Sagay

    One man, one gun; one woman, one rifle. The above, Professor Itse Sagay appears to be saying, might be the panacea to Nigeria’s seemingly untameable security crisis, as insurgents, bandits and other criminals continue to seize the country by the jugular.

     

    Given the worsening insecurity situation in the country, the Chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay has called on the President, the National Assembly and all concerned authorities to empower every Nigerian to carry arms. It will help to make for a balance of terror, he insists, in the current situation whereby the country is gradually sliding into a Hobbesian state where life is brutish and where might is right, no thanks to the activities of kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and herdsmen.

     

    “I have made this suggestion before,” the Professor of Law told VINCENT KALU. “We should all be armed. Communities should be armed. Individuals should be armed so that anybody coming to attack you will know that he too has no chance of surviving.”

     

     

     

    In the interview, he also called on the government to force Sheikh Ahmed Gumi to lead security agencies to the abode of the bandits in the forest. He expressed his opinions on other burning national issues. Excerpts:

     

    Nigeria is being stretched to a breaking point. What gave rise to this?

     

    The country is really stretched. I have never seen this country like this before, where at every corner, there is somebody committing one violent crime or the other. Although it is more in the North, the South is not safe. In the Southwest now, you can’t travel by road because people will jump out of the forest and stop and then abduct you. I have never seen a thing like this; really the Federal Government ought not just to declare a state of emergency. It should have a major strategy session on this. A community would be sleeping, and then some people would just come killing them. I have made this suggestion before: we should all be armed so that anybody coming to attack you will know that he too has no chance of surviving. Communities should be armed; individuals should be armed. That is balance of terror. For example, if as a farmer, a village in the Southwest is under the threat of Fulani herdsmen who one governor has said were entitled to wield AK-47 rifles which they carry about, then I need to carry mine so that when they come to my farm, we confront each other. He, with gun, and, I with gun, then he will know that it is dangerous to come to my farm. At that stage, when there is certainty that the man whom he is sent to attack can resist and use equal force, you will see that this thing will die down.

     

     

     

    I always wonder when the youths cry out in various places, including my own Delta and other areas in the East and West that the Fulani herdsmen have overtaken our villages, our farms. Why can’t those youths gather together and seek arms and fight back? People need to fight back with arms and not with bare hands. The federal government should think of loosening the rules governing armsbearing and allow persons and communities that are under attack to have arms to defend themselves. Like in America, everybody has arms; if you are going to raid somebody’s house, you know that it is a big risk. Or, if it is a farmer and he is armed, you know it is a big risk going to kill him, to destroy his crops, to rape his wife or bring your cows to come and eat all that he has spent a whole year planting, probably with bank facility, destroy everything so that he has nothing to eat because you have cows? No, everybody is entitled to defence.

     

    When Ondo governor, asked the herdsmen to leave Ondo forests, it generated much tension. Some Northerners said the governor was wrong as Nigeria’s constitution guarantees freedom of movement in which anybody can stay where he or she likes, but the governor said it doesn’t mean you coming to destroy my investments. What is the legal interpretation?

     

    There are so many freedoms and many legal entitlements. Your freedom of association or freedom of movement is subject to other rules too. Like this question of forest reservations, the law allows you to have reservations. The whole idea is to preserve certain species from being destroyed. Government can make a law that nobody should live in such area so that they would not begin to cut down such trees or kill the animals. There is nothing like unchanneled freedom of movement. You can’t say that because you have freedom of movement, you just pack all your things into my sitting room and say: ‘I have come; I have freedom of movement under the Nigeria Constitution.’ What type of freedom is that? Your freedom ends where my right begins. So the freedom of movement ends where such laws that control reservations begin. So there is no such unchanneled freedom, otherwise there will be chaos.

     

    Since banditry started, there is the impression that the military and security agencies don’t know where these bandits are. But we have seen Sheikh Gumi walk into their abode for negotiations. Some argue that this seems to be a contradiction. What is your view?

     

    It is a really a contradiction. Gumi should be made to tell the secuirty organisations where these people are so that operatives can organise themselves and wipe them out wherever they are. He should be made to tell them. To create a situation in which the impression is given that bandits and kidnappers are legitimate operators with whom we should be negotiating, destroys the society. What this thing says is that there is no boundary to misconduct: it means that any misconduct you can carry out becomes legitimized. That is the impression. In such a case, life becomes brutish and nasty because there is no law; there is right, which is just the right to carry arms. Once you can use your arms and effectively do something dastardly, then you are recognised and you can carry on doing it. It is just not acceptable.

     

    Sheikh Gumi canvassed amnesty for the bandits in the mould of the kind granted Niger Delta militants, as a way of ensuring peace. Do you support his proposition?

     

    It is a totally different thing. The Niger Delta militants were not killing people. Yes, they did some kidnapping. But they didn’t go to school to kidnap schoolchildren. They targeted oil companies and those expatriates working for oil companies. It is not as if I support it, but it is not the same thing. Those people were engaged in political and economic protest. They were not just engaged in pure criminality to make gain out of evil.

     

    People are asking: why is it difficult to declare the herdsmen and the bandits terrorist groups?

     

    I don’t know. If they are not stopped now, they will bring this country down. Already, the economy is being affected. If where you are doesn’t have an airport, the elite will not go there; there will be no business there. Those in the elite group now travel by air; you can’t take the risk of going by road and enjoy the countryside. I have lawyers in this firm. Every time they have to go by road to anywhere, our hearts are in our mouths as to whether they would come back. That is not an economic way of surviving and living. So the roads will end up being empty because you have these terrorists. There is no other thing to call them. There had been instances where they hijacked buses, gathered all the people, trekked with them miles into the forest, raped the women, starved everybody almost to death and demanded money from relatives. And, if the money did not come or come early enough, they killed the people. For those who are a bit old and cannot walk fast enough into the bush, they kill them. That is totally unacceptable and I really want the Federal Government to deal with this thing in a very drastic manner so that they will know that what they are doing is intolerable.

     

    Are you not afraid of the rising cases of ethnic warlords? In the East, you have Nnamdi Kanu; in the West, you have Sunday Igboho; in the Northeast, there is Shekau, leader of Boko Haram; in the Northwest, the bandits have a leader, likewise the herdsmen, they have a leader?

     

    It is disturbing. I will make an excuse for Sunday Igboho; he seems to try to correct the situation. He is rising on behalf of his people to put down a situation in which they are being oppressed by marauders, robbers and bandits. He is not legitimately empowered to do so, but where those who are empowered to take up such responsibility are not doing anything. There is a vacuum which such people rise up to and try to bring justice which those empowered to do so are not doing. So, I don’t classify Igboho as one of those you are talking about.

     

    Yes, we have a problem in this country. Northeast, we have Boko Haram; Northwest, we have bandits and in the South and Middle Belt, you have herdsmen. So there is no peace; the whole country is boiling. The security agencies – the army, the police, the DSS, the Civil Defence Corps, if they need more recruitment into the forces, let it be done. But this thing has to be stamped out. Otherwise, Nigeria will be destroyed. I see its imminent break-up, especially by the time you have people roaming all over the places. Look at what is happening now: those who supply foods and meat from the North are saying they are not coming to the South because something happened to some of their people. They are not looking at this thing properly. The South didn’t plan anything against anybody except actions individuals might have been taken against those who were terrorizing them. But for such a situation to arise shows that the level of insecurity in the country is so bad that we are unconsciously creating a breach between the North and the South. If you say you won’t allow food that you sell for money (it is not as if it is a gift to anybody) to other parts of the country. Then that part will say okay, whatever that we have that goes to your own side will not go. Then very soon we are going to have confrontations. It is a very dangerous situation.

     

    Do you see politics of 2023 election as being behind these?

     

    I don’t. What is the person going to gain if this continues? There will be no country for him to rule in 2023 because there will be chaos and anarchy everywhere. I don’t think it is in anybody’s interest. But you never can tell because Nigeria is a strange country. It is not obvious to me that somebody is doing this because of 2023.

     

    Going back, towards the buildup to the 2015 election, that was when we had Boko Haram taking over some local government areas in Northeast and the eventual kidnap of Chibok schoolgirls. The same thing seems to be repeating itself?

     

    I don’t see anyone benefitting from it except the bandits, kidnappers, herdsmen, etc. They are the ones gaining; nobody else gains. You can’t even say that the North gains or the South gains, no. The schoolgirls taken away were all Northern girls. And, they were taken away by Northern bandits. So there is no discrimination among some of the criminals and terrorists; they are just doing it against their own people, against anybody. The whole country has to be united against them. I still suggest that communities that are normally peaceful should be armed to discourage attacks by these terrorists.

     

    Talking about corruption in the country, we now have a new EFCC boss. What this means is that the former boss, Magu, was found wanting. What should be the position of the law on his case?

     

    We have not seen the report, so we can’t really conclude that he was found wanting. In this sort of situation, I would even want to hear what Magu and his lawyers have to say on the issue. From the distance that I followed the proceedings, those proceedings didn’t maintain fair hearing at all. It was one-sided prosecution. I’m sceptical of the fairness of the proceedings. If you have a tribunal of some sort, which has already regarded you as guilty before even trying you, it is not a good sign. That doesn’t give a very good indication of what the report will be. I need to see the report, read it, analyse it before I can come to a conclusion.

     

    Who is behind Magu’s travails because he was applauded as giving EFCC some biting teeth?

     

    He did very well. I’m not going to mention any individual. But what were Magu’s sins? I will say there are two: one, independent-mindedness, not wanting to be controlled or his discretion and authority taken over in the way he pursues war against corruption. Secondly, everybody has a candidate for that his position and they were just waiting for him to do four years before pushing their candidates forward. To that extent, there was general agreement among some powerful people that Magu should go because they have their candidates. That is the thing about Nigeria; it is a very strange country. You don’t have to be a bad a person; if you have been there for sometimes, there are people who are warming up to put somebody there, regardless of your excellence or non-excellence. Those are the two reasons – independent-mindedness and the fact that many powerful people had candidates for that position, not at all in the interest of the country.

     

    Many hold the view that Buhari is not performing because of alleged nepotism; appointing people from his area, not based on merit. Could it not be one of the reasons the polity is overheated?

     

    I don’t think that is the reason, unless you are saying that the people he appointed are incompetent. Then you have to be specific. I don’t buy that. I have heard people accusing him of nepotism. Frankly, I think there should be more diffusion in appointment in the security area; more people should come from other parts of the country. But, I don’t agree that it is the cause of our secuirty problems. It is like jumping from one logic to the other without proofs.

     

    What is your greatest fear for Nigeria?

     

    It is disintegration. We are in a situation in which we are warring among ourselves; in which different sides representing different ethnic groups, different religions are in a state of conflict or confrontation with each other. There is need for consensus. There is need to agree that this country should survive and there are certain basic minimum factors or considerations that must exist. One is safety. The constitution recognises that the government is obliged to provide the two main things that it is constituted for: secuirty and welfare. So, in that area, we are failing and we need to take urgent steps to address it. I was very happy when I read what the President said: that the kidnapping of those Zamfara schoolgirls would be the last. Which means, he has something up his sleeves; he has had enough. That is the way we should view all these violent attacks on innocent people and communities. We should make sure we take steps to ensure that nobody has the courage to say he wants to attack another person, community or rob another person or kidnap anybody.

     

    People are debating that for Nigeria to move forward, it has to restructure. But some argue that they were yet to be told what restructuring means and the way it is going to be done. Others believe that Nigeria has been restructured already, from three regions to four. And, from four regions to: 12 states, 19, 21, and, now, 36. What is your idea of restructuring?

     

    My understanding of restructuring is different from that. It is not how you are going to divide states or group states together. My understanding is granting the federating entities much more power and resources than they have now; much more independence than they have now. Yes, there was a time we were thinking of having a South-South states group together as one; Yoruba West as one and all that. That is, the six zones should become the basis of the new federalism. Those who have been carved out of those states could not agree because everybody was thinking that he was going to be a governor tomorrow. So instead of going into that, let’s just recognise what we have on ground today, transfer power to them from the federal. The federal is overloaded with power and resources. Let states keep what they generate and pay a tax to the centre rather than Federal Government taking over everything and then giving back to the state a little bit of what they have. We need a situation in which states can exercise power and increase the concurrent list, then reduce the exclusive list. The present exclusive list has about 68 items; it doesn’t make sense. In the First Republic, it had about 43 items. We should reduce it and give more power to the states to develop on their own. They don’t have to cry to Abuja every time; there should be no monthly meetings in which all the finance commissioners gather in Abuja to share money from the federal government. Let the states keep their resources and be the ones supporting the Federal Government. That is the way it used to be. That way, they will have enough power to develop, to compete and grow. They are not growing now. The only state that is growing, there may be more than one, is Lagos. It is the one that I can say really has the attributes of a state. It is because it has the capacity of organising its taxing system to make billions of naira. That is my idea of restructuring – transfer power, devolve power to the states; drastically reduce the power and the resources at the centre. Increase the power and resources at the states’ level, accordingly, so that they can survive independently of the centre and, rather be contributing to the centre. That way, Nigeria will develop fast.

     

    What President will like to watch and see part of his power yanked off or members of the National Assembly allow their power or influence to be whittled down?

     

    As part of this process, all the Assemblies – National Assembly, State Assemblies should be part-time; everybody should have something doing and, at intervals, they should gather to make laws maybe for one month and go back to their professions, works or business. That is what it was in the First Republic; everybody had a profession and that way you are not a drain on the purse of the nation. They would just get sitting allowances and go back.

     

    As for the question you raised, it depends. When you think of the country rather than yourself, then it works. What has this huge power at the centre gotten us? It has not gotten us anything other than controversy: people fighting each other for positions and when they get there, they accumulate for themselves and so on. There is no sense of nationalism; it is just producing people in leadership positions. People are not committed to the country; they just want to accumulate power and resources. Look at the security situation now. If each state has a police, it would not have been so bad. I understand that the forests of all these states in the West and East have been taken over completely. Those who own those forests don’t know what is inside, but the people who have invaded them know the forests more than they do. It is not acceptable. But if we had state police, that would have been ameliorated. I’m a strong supporter of increasing the power and the resources of the state at the expense of the Federal Government. We need a Federal Government with few items that cut across the  country so that it can concentrate and not get involved in everything.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsoline.com

  • Ethnicity and Religious Bias the major contributors of Insecurity in the Country, True or False?

    Ethnicity and religious biases have been blamed for the growing insecurity in the country.

    According to the Director General of National Assembly’s National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Suleiman, the distrust among the various ethnic and religious groups as well as refusal to have a common position on issues about security are affecting the country.

    Suleiman, who served as minister of National Planning during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, said a national conference on security was needed while calling for a complete overhaul of the security architecture of the country.

    The former DG, who spoke during a capacity building workshop for clerks and deputy clerks of security committees in the two chambers of the National Assembly, called for an end to ethnic profiling, insisting that no tribe, region or religion was insulated from the nationwide security challenges.

    He said it was important for the National Assembly, through the various committees on security to articulate policies of government that would serve as blueprint in tackling the challenges.

    “The security architecture itself is outdated and not fit-for-purpose. Whereas security challenges have evolved and become more sophisticated, the security infrastructure has not kept pace with these trends. This is despite substantial funding to the sector and efforts by the Federal Government to improve the performance and effectiveness sector.

    “A study in 2020 also showed significant overlaps in the mandates of the various security agencies which can, sometimes, lead to confusion, inefficiency and occasionally outright conflict. These further undermine the capacity of security agencies to respond effectively and decisively.

    “These and other issues have been at the centre of our engagement with security-based committees in the House of Representatives in 2020. Through frank and honest interaction with legislators and representatives of security and other executive agencies, we reached a consensus that reform of the security sector in Nigeria is long overdue.

    “Security sector reform must account for the overall security context and address the fundamentals as well as the specifics. Effective management, transparency and accountability of the security sector is just as necessary as with any other part of the public sector.

    “Some of the areas of reform identified so far include review of legislations to reduce ambiguity and establish clear procedures and guidelines for collaboration and coordination in managing public safety and public order, internal security, terrorism and terrorism financing, protection of national infrastructure, customs and excise, immigration and financial crimes.

    “Other areas of reform do not necessarily require legislative action and include the promotion of ‘informal’ collaborative structures and mechanisms between security agencies, strengthening the capacity of the National Assembly and its Committees to effectively conduct oversight of security budgets and activities and improving transparency and accountability through greater citizen participation and engagement with  CSOs.”

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • Sunday Igboho claims he can tackle boko haram without Government support

     

     

    Popular Yoruba rights activist Chief Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho has declared he has what it takes to fight against Boko Haram without the government’s support.

     

    Igboho made this declaration in a video interview released in 2020.

     

    He said: “That which I will use in the fight against Boko Haram, I have it already.”

     

    The video resurfaced after the former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, called on the Federal Government to invite Igboho to help drive Boko Haram terrorists out of the Sambisa forest.

     

    Following the recent activities of Igboho, which he said were to rid the South-West region of killer herdsmen, Sani argued Igboho could help end terrorism in the country, particularly in the North-East, if given a chance.

     

    He said the activist should be invited to help flush out Boko Haram sect from the dreaded Sambisa forest in Borno State.

     

    Igboho has been in the news since he flushed out herdsmen in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State, blaming them for the cases of killing and kidnapping in the area.

     

    He also visited Ogun State recently, saying he was in a community there “to help drive out killer herdsmen”.

     

    Taking to his Twitter handle, Sani said: “Invite Sunday to help drive away BH (Boko Haram) from Sambisa.”

     

    The vast Sambisa forest is considered as one of the places the jihadist Boko Haram group uses as its base and keeps hostages.

     

    In the 2020 interview, Igboho was quoted as saying that the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, cannot be effective with government control over the outfit.

     

    He said: “These herders we are fighting against, they are not after money, they only get orders from their leaders. Yoruba freedom fighters should not be kept under Governors, these governors will turn the fight against insecurity to business.

     

    “Oyo State governor is of the Peoples Democratic Party, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, and Lagos state governors are all of the All Progressives Congress and you want our own PDP governor here to support them, how will there be unity?

     

    “And all the powers in this country belong to someone who is a Hausa-Fulani man. They established Amotekun and put it under a governor, the same governor that will request money from the federal authority.

     

    “Yoruba youths only if we can be willing to fight. I am not asking for anything from anybody, what I will use in the fight against Boko Haram, I have it.

     

    “I don’t need it from a governor because a governor will try to make money from it. He will claim he has spent a certain amount on Amotekun and makes a profit from it. This will not result in something good.

     

    “When they wanted to start Oodua Peoples Congress, was it under any governor? Why is Amotekun meant to fight insecurity in the South-West, under the police?

     

    “That’s rubbish; these people are not ready to fight for the Yorubas, they are simply looking for what to take from who.”

     

    Igboho also said a time would come when people would rise to defend their lands.

     

    He however added that people would definitely lose their lives in the fight while some would remain alive to enjoy the dividends.

     

     

    He said: “A time will come we will all defend our boundaries. All these governors are betrayers, all they are after is how to make a profit and leave money for their kids.

     

    “There’s no way people will not die when we want to attain freedom. No one can rise and say he wants to fight the government, we should unite. It doesn’t make sense that as freedom fighters, we stay under the government and earn a salary.

     

    “When they started security outfits in the North, did they stay under any governor? Is Boko Haram under any government? These governors are looking for what to eat, they are thieves. They have sold out.”

     

     

     

    Source: www.thenationonlineng.net

  • Makinde gives measures on how to handle insecurity

     

    Seyi Makinde

     

    Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has rolled out measures to tackle insecurity in seven towns of Ibarapa following the crisis between local farmers and Fulani herdsmen.

    The governor, on Sunday, met with selected stakeholders, local government chairpersons and political office holders from Ibarapa zone, where he declared the problems of the people are his problems.

    The destruction of farmlands by cattle, kidnapping for ransom, rape, armed robbery as well as killings by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen had culminated in a seven-day quit notice issued by a Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, to the herdsmen to leave Ibarapa land.

    On the expiration of the ultimatum last week, it is alleged that youths of Ibarapa forcefully evicted the Sarkin Fulani of Igangan and Oyo State, Abdulkadir Saliu, who had since relocated his family to Ilorin in Kwara State.

    The governor, yesterday, announced his administration’s plans to set up peace and security committees at local government levels as well as the commencement of identity management programme, towards strengthening the security architecture of the state.

    Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, in a statement, yesterday, quoted Makinde as saying: “The take-home from the interaction for me is that it is a collective problem and I can see the commitment from everybody to find a solution to this. And, at least, I am quite glad that some of the initiatives that the government is trying to put in place to stem insecurity are coming to fruition.

    “We will ensure our identity management programme takes off as quickly as possible. We will also ensure the setting up of peace and security committee that is all-encompassing in the councils.

    “The 200 Amotekun corps have been deployed. They are here and we are also supporting them with logistics by bringing four additional operational vehicles for them.”

    The governor also urged political office holders to always call government’s attention to happenings within their localities, saying he decided to sleep over in Ibarapa to feel the pulse of the  people.

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • INSECURITY: Buhari appoints new service chiefs to oversee security in the country

     

     

    The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing new service chiefs to oversee the security of the country.

     

    The chairman of the organisation in Anambra, Mr Vincent Ezekwueme, gave the commendation in Enugu.

    Ezekwueme noted that the appointments of new service chiefs were overdue but they were “a step in the right direction.

    “It is also in tandem with aspirations of Nigerians.

    “I commend President Buhari for listening to the cries and demand for appointment of new service chiefs.

     

    “There is no doubt that the new service chiefs would inject new ideals, energy, zeal and patriotism to improve security architecture of the country’’.

     

    The CLO boss called on the new service chiefs to device strategic plan to tame and decimate the activities of Boko Haram, kidnappers and insurgents.

     

    “Doing this will definitely restore absolute peace and tranquillity in the country,” he observed.

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the appointments of Maj-Gen Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff, Maj-Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral AZ Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff and AVM IO Amao,  Chief of Air Staff.

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • Armed Forces Day: PDP and APC butt heads over the issue of insecurity in Nigeria

    The All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party on Friday clashed over the worsening insecurity in Nigeria.

    This was as the nation marked the 2021 edition of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

    While the APC urged Nigerians to avoid playing politics with the issue of security, the PDP advised the APC to end propaganda and secure Nigerians lives.

    The APC made its appeal to Nigerians in a statement titled, “#AFRD2021: APC Hails Military Successes, Remembers Fallen Heroes,” signed by the National Secretary of the party, Senator Akpanudoedehe.

    The statement commended officers and men of the military for laying down their lives in the defence of Nigeria’s territorial integrity.

    The statement read in part, “We congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari on many visible and verifiable achievements of the military in the ongoing fight against insurgency and violent crimes in Nigeria as contained in the compendium: “Security Checklist: As Nigeria marks Armed Forces Remembrance Day’’, released to the public on Thursday.

     

    “From the country’s 30-month civil war which ended on January 15, 1970 to the fight against terrorism, banditry and other emerging violent crimes, many servicemen have paid the supreme price for our safety, peace and unity.

    “We pray for the protection of the living and remember the departed heroes and their families left behind.

    “From international peace keeping missions to addressing security incidents within the country and overall discharge of its constitutional responsibilities, the military has undoubtedly made the country proud.

     

    “Several innovations and inventions by the Armed Forces have resulted in the production of military hardware, infrastructural development, restructuring and reorganisation of its operations.

    The party credited the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), for investing in military hardware, intelligence and tactical training for servicemen.

    Akpanudoedehe also said, “We must collectively shun the practice of politicising issues of security and the efforts of our security services particularly the Armed Forces to keep the country safe. We should rather support their efforts to further degrade the capacity of terrorists and other criminal elements.

     

    “We invite all Nigerians to rededicate themselves to the patriotic call contained in our national anthem which reads in part: “The labours of our heroes past, shall never be in vain”.

     

    In response, the PDP which also paid glowing tributes to Nigeria’s fallen heroes said Nigerians deserve better than what the Buhari regime was currently listing as achievements in the area of security.

     

    The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan told Saturday PUNCH, “Our gallant military men and women deserve all the accolades today and always for the sacrifices they made in the past and they are making today under very difficult conditions, they deserve better.”

    Ologbondiyan further said, “How does President Buhari want an unmerited pass mark knowing that under his watch, bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and vandals, who have been pushed to the fringes before he took over in 2015, have now resurged, taking communities hostage, raping our women, beheading our compatriots and foisting a reign of terror to the extent that our nation ranked as the third country with the highest level of terrorism in 2019, after Iran and Afghanistan?”

    Meanwhile, the doves, otherwise known as white pigeons, released by Buhari at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day ceremony, refused to fly despite multiple attempts by the President thereby sparking a debate on social media on Friday.

     

    The President had opened the bird cage at the National Arcade, picked up one of the doves and thrown it into the air but the bird landed atop the cage and refused to fly.

     

    Buhari, who was eager to let the white pigeons fly, opened the roof of the cage in a bid to send them all out but the birds remained adamant and decided to sit on top of the cage’s roof.

    The President, who appeared tired of trying, soon left the birds and returned to his seat. Moments after the President had left, however, some of the birds flew.

    The ritual of releasing doves is to commemorate the life of a departed loved one and is common at significant events like funerals or memorials. It also signifies peace.

     

    A former Presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Adamu Garba, said the birds should be eaten if they cannot do what they were trained to do.

    Social media personality, Morris Monye,said the Department of State Services would have arrested the pigeons for embarrassing the President if they could.

    A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, who is a known critique of the President, also tweeted, “Hmmm. Even the pigeons in Nigeria.”

    Governors pledge better welfare for soldiers, families

    State governors have reiterated their commitment to the welfare of soldiers in recognition of their selfless sacrifices to the country.

    The governors paid glowing tributes to the military personnel at the Nigerian Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration on Friday.

    Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who performed the wreath laying ceremony, at the Remembrance Arcade, Tafawa Balewa Square, commended officers in the military, Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Legion for their efforts in protecting the country against external aggression and keeping the peace internally.

    “I want to congratulate and commend all of our officers in the military and also the Nigerian Police, but, more especially, men of the (Nigerian) Legion and everybody that has participated in this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance (Day) ceremony, the parade, men on guard and everything,” Sanwo-Olu said in a statement titled, Armed Forces Remembrance Day: Sanwo-Olu commends nation’s security officers,’ and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Gboyega Akosile.

    In Kwara State, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, called on Nigerians to continue to offer support to pray for the fallen heroes and support their families.

    “As you know, the government is battling with the resources on all fronts. Like the President said, he would continue to meet the demands of men of service,” he said in Ilorin, the state capital.

    Similarly, his Ondo State counterpart, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, called on the military to collaborate with the South-West Security Network, also known as Amotekun, in tackling insecurity in the state.

    Akeredolu said, “We will continue to give loans without collaterals through the Ondo State micro credit agencies for the widows left behind and other qualified dependants of our fallen heroes who are into small, micro businesses to start up or boost their businesses.”

    Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state urged Nigerian to set aside their differences and form a united nation.

    Speaking at a ceremony held at Heroes Square, Owerri, Uzodinma, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachuku, said the country had the capacity to be great.

    On his part, the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, said his administration had rehabilitated a total of 168 blocks of flats for military officers living at Ibagwa barracks in the Abak Local Government Area of the state.

    Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia advised Nigerians to show greater commitments towards the task of building a greater and better society.

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Sir Ude OKo Chukwu, at the ceremony in Umuahia, promised to continue to support the military and other security agencies in the state.

    Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, commended the fallen heroes for laying their lives for the nation and praised serving military personnel for risking their lives to keep the country safe.

    Similarly, the Katsina State Government paid tribute to the Nigerian military for its efforts in safeguarding the state.

    In Cross River State, Governor Ben Ayade acknowledged the sacrifices of ex-service men whom he

    His Bayelsa State counterpart, Douye Diri, also lauded departed soldiers for their selfless service to the nation.

    But the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, urged Nigerians to be united and pray for peace and always live in peace with one another, irr espective of religion and political differences, for the overall development of the country.

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Insecurity and Food inflation in Nigeria, Finding solutions to poor management

    Insecurity and Food inflation in Nigeria, Finding solutions to poor management

    THE coronavirus pandemic has contributed a lot to the current food inflation ravaging Nigerian families. Coming in February/March, the beginning of the planting season, and forcing a prolonged national lockdown, it prevented many of our farmers from sowing their seeds.

     

    Food inflation, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, rose from 16.66 per cent to 17.38 per cent in September this year and getting worse as the year draws to a close.

     

    General inflation in the economy stands at 14.33 per cent. The prices of staple food items such as yam, garri, pepper, onions, rice, tomatoes and others have gone sky high at a time when the incomes of average families have dwindled or run out altogether due to layoffs and pay cuts.

     

    It promises to be a very bleak Yuletide festive period.

     

    The situation we face could have been much more manageable if the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had made good its campaign promise of solving our security problem which is part of the regime’s three-point agenda: economy, security and anti-corruption.

     

    Indeed, the security situation has worsened under the watch of this regime due mainly to poor management and the kid gloves with which it has treated aspects of our insecurity.

     

    Though the Federal Government often beat its chest that it has dislodged Boko Haram jihadists from their captured territories, the terrorists have multiplied beyond Boko Haram, with the Islamic State in West Africa Province, ISWAP, now equally formidable.

     

    The foreign bandits that some evil politicians had brought to fight their turf wars have now turned their guns on residents of states in the North West and North Central, particularly Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna Niger and parts of Kogi.

     

    Also, armed Fulani militias from all parts of Africa masquerading as herdsmen have flooded the forests and farmlands of states in the Middle Belt and South, killing and kidnapping for ransom, robbing, destroying farmlands with their cattle and forcibly settling on people’s lands.

    Curiously, the herdsmen militias are the only terrorist groups that government has refused to tag the terrorists that they are. It has also refrained from deploying the army to flush them out of our bushes.

    All these agents of insecurity marauding all over Nigeria have succeeded in displacing farming communities and making farming unsafe.

    Farmers are afraid to engage in their legitimate occupation. With the closure of the borders and restrictions on food importation, it is not surprising that Nigeria is on the verge of famine.

    If the Federal Government is unwilling to get rid of the armed herdsmen, then it should allow each community to deal with them and allow farmers back to work. Without solving our insecurity problems there are simply no ot her ways out of this problem.

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com

  • Insecurity: CONES warns Buhari that refusal to tackle insecurity will cost Apc the 2023 elections

    Conference of Nigerian Elders (CONES) has warned that the insecurity situation in the country would cost President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) the 2023 elections.

     

    The group, in a statement, yesterday, by its representatives, Tunde Banjo,  Achike Nwachukwu and four others, said security of lives and property was deteriorating daily and expressed shock over Buhari’s refusal to relieve the service chiefs of their appointments and rejig the security apparatchik.

     

    The group said the security heads were not indispensable, regretting that their inability to contain insecurity since their appointments had portrayed the Federal Government in bad light.

     

    “We wish to say it is not normal for a whole country to be speaking with one voice that the service chiefs should not only be sacked, but also that the entire security architecture be rejigged, and Mr. President would remain adamant and less concerned.

     

    “Nigerians are tired of the alarming insecurity in the country and the seeming inaction of Mr. President in addressing the situation.

     

    “Those responsible for action or inaction which has heightened the insecurity must go and new and effective hands injected into the system.

     

    “CONES wishes to appeal to President Buhari to, to as a matter of urgency, sack the current service chiefs without further delay.

     

    “Our position is because we have seen that the president may lose the support of Nigerians over the embarrassing security situation we are facing if he doesn’t act fast enough. No part of Nigeria is safe today,” he said.

     

    While acknowledging that President Buhari gets daily briefings on the security situation in the country by the security heads, the elders claimed that “most of those reports are not true reflections of the situation on ground. Already, there is low morale in the military over the continued stay of the service chiefs whose tenures in their various offices have since lapsed.

     

    “Who knows if there are invisible hands out there in the service frustrating the fight against insurgency and insecurity in the country deliberately due to the continued stay of the service chiefs?

     

    “We appeal to the president to hearken to the call by majority of Nigerians as reflected in the country’s parliament recently that it is time for him to do the needful.

     

    “We are in a democracy where any decision of government or leaders is taken from the popular view. Majority of Nigerians have since spoken in this regard and as a democrat, our president should listen,” he said.

     

    However, the Defence headquarters (DHQ), yesterday, said the armed forces have checkmated Boko Haram and their operations in the North East.

     

    Despite claims that the insurgents have been decimated, some parts of the North East still come under attack.

     

    One of the most recent violent attacks by Boko Haram was at Zabarmari in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State where more than 40 farmers were killed.

     

    In an interview with newsmen, Coordinator of Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, said the Federal Government and the military since 2015 had checked the intensity of terrorist activities across the country, particularly in the North East.

     

    He said the initial delay in tackling the menace made it gain momentum — Boko Haram taking over territories and setting up administrative structures — before they were knocked off in 2016.

     

    Enenche said the open display of power and authority by Boko Haram no longer happens in the North East, and that no single district or community could be said to be under the control of the insurgents.

     

    “The issue of bombings that spread to other places like Abuja, Kano, Niger and Kogi states, including their slipper cells, no longer exist.

     

    “What about suicide bombing, which is one of the signs of terrorism? It was rife and even at our checkpoints, they come and detonate bombs as well as public gatherings; all these have been nipped properly.

     

    “If you put all these together, I can tell you terrorism has been checkmated. However, the signs are still there with isolated actions here and there; common with terrorism,” he said.

     

    Enenche said history has shown that terrorism “is a very resilient type of enemy activity,” adding that the type of terrorism in Nigeria is not “a smart one,” but rooted  in the state of mind of a group of people.

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • Insecurity : “The Nigerian government has failed on security” – Falana

    Lagos lawyer Femi Falana’s wife, Mrs Funmi Falana, on Sunday said the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the 36 state governors should resign from office if they were helpless on the insecurity in the country.

    Falana, who is also a human rights activists, said governments had failed on security and something needed to be done, lamenting that “Nigerians are afraid to go out, Nigerians fear for their lives, they are afraid for their security. It is very sad. Nobody ever envisaged that Nigeria will get to a situation like this.”

    The human rights lawyer, who spoke in Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State, during her yearly New Year celebration with motherless children, called on states yet to domesticate the Child’s Right Law to do so.

    She said, “There is the need to do something about the security of the citizens. A government that is unable to guarantee the security of the citizens is a failed government, so if they cannot protect the Nigerian people, the governments have failed.

    “We are using this opportunity to remind them that it is the constitutional responsibility of the government under Chapter Two of the constitution to provide security for the people. It is as if they are helpless, if they are helpless, let them resign and let us know that we don’t have government,” Falana said.

    Falana said that her yearly celebration with the children “is our way of giving back to the needy in the society because these people really need the expression of our love and also to let them know that they are important in t he society.”

    The matron of the children’s home, Mrs Olayinka Ajayi, said Falana’s contributions in the last few years had made significant impact in the lives of the children.

     

    Source : www.punchng.com