TheNewsGuru

Tag: Leaders

  • Buhari to corrupt leaders: You will not escape jail eventually

    Buhari to corrupt leaders: You will not escape jail eventually

    President Muhammadu Buhari, says leaders who undermine the economy by denying workers their benefits, while stuffing personal accounts with public funds will not escape the current anti-corruption dragnet.

    The president stated this when he received All Progressives Congress (APC) delegation from Benue State, led by Sen. George Akume, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Buhari said the Federal Government’s bailout to states and Paris Club funds were basically to alleviate the sufferings of the people, describing misappropriation as unjust and unfair to workers.

    He said: “I honestly don’t know how people sleep when workers have not been paid. The workers have to pay rent, buy food, send their children to school and they have health care to take care of.

    “I assure you that my main interest is all Nigerians in all parts of the country.

    “Therefore, if anybody who tries to create any impression that I prefer any group across ethnicity or religion let him dare me by being caught red handed stealing public funds. I will deal with him.’’

    The President told the APC delegation that the Federal Executive Council had been monitoring the plight of workers across the country and utilisation of the bailout and Paris Club funds by some states.

    “I thank you for your courage to come and see me. This visit has resuscitated our morale,’’ he said.

    President Buhari said the Federal Government had made significant progress in diversifying the economy, by investing in agriculture and encouraging more individuals and entrepreneurs to go into farming. He expressed optimism that Nigeria would soon become self-sufficient in feeding its citizenry.

    “We are proud of what we have achieved with resources at our disposal,’’ he added. The president listed ongoing road, rail, sea port, airport and power projects as hallmarks of his administration’s commitment to improving lives.

    According to him, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Nigeria will be further motivated to work together and support all interested Nigerians to take up farming on commercial scale.

    He noted that the killings across the country, including in Benue, Zamfara and Taraba, were carried out by “ungodly’’ people who had no religious or ethnic inclination. “We know about herders. The ones we knew carried sticks, and sometimes cutlasses to cut foliage for their cattle.

  • South East leaders endorse Atiku/Obi ticket

    Igbo leaders from the five South East states, under the auspices of Mkpoko Igbo, have endorsed the joint presidential ticket of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi for 2019 general elections.

    They lamented the precarious situation the Igbo have found themselves in the country, in the face of their obvious exclusion from the centre in recent years, and, therefore, said the survival of Ndigbo in Nigeria depends on the actualisation of the Atiku/Obi presidency.

    The summit, which held yesterday, at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, with the theme: “Ndigbo 2019 and beyond,” and chaired by elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, was attended by the cream of Igbo society, led by President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo.

    Other prominent participants were the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Senator Ben Obi, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Chief Achike Udenwa, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Prof. Anya O. Anya, Chief Emeka Ugwu-Oji, Amb. Frank Ogbuewu, Amb. Lawrence Nwuruku, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Prof. A.B.C. Nwosu, Prof. Uche Azikwe, Amb. George Obiozor and former Ohanaeze president general, Chief Gary Igariwey.

    A communiqué read by Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, stated that their vote for Atiku/Obi presidency was based on the restructuring agenda the duo have put on the table, which the four geopolitical zones of the country has already agreed on.

    “The summit deliberated on the state of Ndigbo in Nigeria, today, espec ially after years of exclusion from the centre. This country has never been so divided, as it is today. We Igbo have always yearned for a level-playing field with justice, equity and fairness.

    “It was acknowledged that this nomination puts Ndigbo back in the centre of governance. It is, therefore, important that Ndigbo should rally behind the Atiku/Obi ticket.”

    In his address at the meeting, Prof Ben Nwabueze begged Ndigbo to ensure the victory of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in next year’s presidential election.

    He said: “This is my last wish before I join my ancestors.

    “We want Nigeria to be united, but we have to survive first. Our campaigns and agitations are for our survival. The Atiku/Obi ticket is for the survival of Ndigbo. It is our determination to ensure its success by mobilising the entire Igbo to vote for them; and with their success, you would have done me the greatest honour.

    “At my age, there is nothing any longer that I should pursue except the good of my people in Nigeria, and this is the path to it. Please do me the honour of that ticket before I answer my final call, and I will be happy. When you leave here, go back to your villages and communities and say to them that Ndigbo must survive in Nigeria, and the only way to ensure their survival is to deliver the Atiku/Obi ticket in 2019. I assure you I will rest in peace in my grave when this is done because it would have liberated Ndigbo.”

    Nwabueze, however, noted that he would not rest until a sense of belonging was achieved for Ndigbo and prayed the leaders to continue to work in unity.

  • 2019: Sanusi spits fire, says 'Nigerians must stop electing leaders with no basic education'

    2019: Sanusi spits fire, says 'Nigerians must stop electing leaders with no basic education'

    The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, on Saturday advised Nigerians to stop electing leaders without education into public offices.
     
    He said Nigerians in the past had elected or chosen to elect leaders who had no education and thus could not give an education when they were elected.
     
    The former Central Bank of Nigeria governor spoke at the 6th convocation ceremony of Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, where he was conferred an Honorary Degree of Science along side the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III.
     
    He said: “We have to take an interest in the quality of our leaders and representatives in the level of education. If you look around this country at many levels of leadership, we have elected and we have chosen to elect people who do not have an education. And because they are not educated, they cannot give an education.
     
    “We need to lay more emphasis on the quality of people we elect to executive and legislative offices and we need to make sure that those to whom we entrust policy are themselves educated and know the value of education.”
     
    The Emir also advised the Federal Government to invest the trillions of naira it was spending on subsidising petroleum products on educating the young ones in the country.
     
    According to him, the money spent on building roads, bridges and trains should first be used to educating the young ones, noting that development was first and foremost about people.
     
    Sanusi said: “Let us invest more in education and let us give up some of the privileges that we have such as the trillions we are spending subsiding petroleum products. That money should go into educating our young people.
     
    “We are spending too much monies on roads and bridges and trains and too little money educating our children. Let us educate these young people and they will build the roads, train and bridges. We do not need to invite the Chinese to do that for us. And until the leadership at all levels in this country and the followership understand that this is what is most important, because I do understand sometimes that if a governor does not build roads or bridges, he is seen as not have been performed by the people.
     
    Read Also: Sultan, Sanusi, Ooni, others: embrace peace
    “We build all these highways and there are more pedestrians on the highways than cars and those pedestrians are most often people without education and help. Development is first and foremost about people.”
     
    He also blamed northern leaders for failing to provide the enabling environment for children in north to attend schools.
     
    Earlier in his remarks, Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Huseyin Sert, said 21 students were awarded First Class degree out of the 365 graduands.
     
    He said: “In this 2017/2018 session, we are glad to celebrate our 6th convocation ceremony with a total number of 365 graduands made up of 21 first class honours, 67 Second Class Upper, 96 Second Class Lower and two Third Class.
     
    “Indeed, the turnover of graduands from the university has justified our vision and mission statement of producing quality graduates who shall be full of knowledge, skills and experience to contribute to technological and economic development nationally and internationally.
     
    “The university expresses its gratitude to all those that contributed to the success of this occasion which enabled us to actualise our dream of being one of the best tertiary institutions in the world. We particularly felicitate with both graduating students and their parents for their high sense of duty and commitment in making their stay in the university a fruitful one.”
     
    Also, the Alaafin of Oyo commended the institution for the award, saying that it will spur him to do more for society.

  • Ekiti salary crisis: NLC, TUC impose 10-year ban on two Labour leaders

    …Unions remain dissolved,’ says banned officials

    Crisis rocking the Labour movement in Ekiti State deepened on Monday as the state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress (TUC) imposed a ten-year ban on immediate past chairmen, Mr. Ayodeji Aluko and Mr. Kolawole Olaiya, from trade unionism.

    The ten-year ban was imposed on the duo for leading a protest and shutdown of the State Secretariat last Thursday in protest against the arrears of salaries owed workers by the state government.

    Acting on the auspices of Ekiti Workers Rescue Team, Aluko, Olaiya and other labour leaders declared an indefinite strike and passed a resolution dissolving NLC and TUC executives led by Mr. Ade Adesanmi and Mr. Odunayo Adesoye respectively.

    Rising from an emergency congress held at Labour House, Ado-Ekiti on Monday and attended by affiliate unions, the union leaders insisted that Aluko and Olaiya lacked powers to declare strike and dissolve excos of the unions having finished their terms.

    Addressing reporters at the end of the congress, NLC Chairman, Adesanmi, urged security agencies to call Aluko and Olaiya to order accusing the duo of working as agents of destabilization.

    Adesanmi said: “The illegal activities of the aforementioned ex-labour leaders acting under the guise of Ekiti Workers Rescue Team came to a climax on Thursday, August 23 when they gathered thugs and molested workers who were carrying out their legitimate and lawful duties.

    “There is need to ask them whose interest were they protecting, because they didn’t act when workers were owed over eight month salaries. They have never engaged the government to pay pensioners but they only woke up after the July 14 governorship election.

    “Sometimes ago, an administrative panel was set up by the outgoing government of Governor Ayodele Fayose against Comrade Aluko and found him guilty of participating in electioneering in 2015, which was against public service rule. It was the same unions that intervened and ensured that he was pardoned.

    “It is no more news that Comrade Aluko was promoted to the position of Director of Administration at the local government ahead of his seniors and the government looked at this and reverted him to the rightful position. It was clear that this ex-labour leader is aggrieved. But must he hide under non-payment of salary to get at the government?

    “How could labour leaders gathered thugs and pronounced the entire labour structure dissolved. Were they State Executive Council of the labour unions? The two of them are not members of SEC, where now did they derive such powers.

    “With their actions of recent, it is clear that they were only clearing coast for political appointments from the incoming government and not fighting the interest of workers.

    “Following these, they are declared persona non grata in labour circle and they are banned from labour activities for a period of ten years”, he said.

    Reacting to the ban, Aluko maintained that Adesanmi and Adesoye have been proscribed from acting in their positions by workers, having failed to fight for the rights of those that voted them into their respective offices.

    Aluko said Adesoye’s tenure as TUC chairman had lapsed in July, saying he lacked the locus standi to preside over a meeting where any member will be suspended or barred.

    He said: “Can any labour leaders who has been described a persona non grata by the entire workforce preside over a meeting and suspend any member?

    “Two, is the fact that the two labour leaders (Adesanmi and Adesoye) have lost their values. They are enjoying the support of the government, so they can decide to take illegal actions pending the time another government will ascend the throne.

    “But let me say this, workers will send them out of the secretariats by the time this government leaves. TUC Chairman had served out his term, while that of NLC will end in February.

    “I want to assure Adesanmi that he will be the first NLC chairman that won’t complete his term in Ekiti. What he is doing is anti-labour and he shall pay dearly for it.”

  • Stop blaming leaders for our collective challenges – Buhari tells Nigerians

    Stop blaming leaders for our collective challenges – Buhari tells Nigerians

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged Nigerians to resist the tendency of blaming leaders only for the country’s state of affairs.

    The Nigerian leader, who has lately been criticised for his alleged shoddy handling of the nation’s affairs, said the change that was desired in the country “starts with individuals.”

    Buhari said this in an address he delivered at the graduation of Senior Course 40 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State.

    A copy of the speech was made available to journalists in Abuja by the Presidency.

    Buhari said, “The change we desire in Nigeria actually starts with us as individuals. In Nigeria, there is the tendency to lay the blame for the state of affairs in the country on the doorsteps of the leaders alone.

    “Yes, leaders have a major role to play in providing direction and the enabling environment. However, the citizens’ role also is vital in attaining meaningful transformation of any society.”

    The President assured Nigerians of his administration’s effort to return the country to the path of peace and prosperity.

    He recalled that at the inception of his administration, he made three key promises to Nigerians -to address the various security challenges facing the country, reposition the economy and fight corruption.

    On security challenges which he said abounded in all countries of the world, Buhari said he was certain that with the consistent efforts of security agencies, the challenges would be considerably minimised.

    He told the graduating officers to realise that the nation had invested a lot in their training, hence the country expected the best from them in terms of commitment to their duties and fatherland.

    “The highest standard of competence and professionalism is expected of you considering the level of training you have received through this course.

    “Go out there and make your honest contributions to the discharge of the constitutional responsibilities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and be good ambassadors of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College,” the President said.

    Buhari noted that the numerous security challenges facing the world today were trans-border in nature, involving actors in different sub-regions and regions.

    The West African sub-region and indeed the African continent, he said, were not immune to the negative impacts of globalisation.

    Buhari said to effectively combat the prevalent security threats, there was the need for African countries to continue to work together at all levels including operational and tactical levels.

    He recalled that the armed forces of Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger Republic and Chad are in a multinational operation to combat Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin region.

     

  • Gambari calls for an end to “the audacity of hypocrisy” of Nigerian leaders to tackle conflicts

    Ibrahim Gambari, former Minister for External Affairs and erstwhile United Nations Under-Secretary-General, has called for an end to what he calls, “the audacity of hypocrisy” of the Nigerian ruling class.

    The Nigerian scholar and diplomat, made this call at the tenth anniversary of the Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series held in Lagos on Friday 13 July, in commemoration of the 84th birthday of Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature.

    According to Ibrahim Gambari, the country’s leaders are audacious hypocrites because they talk about the importance of the values of truth, accountability, transparency, anti-corruption and the like but refuse to show respect for such ethos in their actions. He emphasised that to tackle conflicts, the attributes of good governance, which are inclusivity and participatory governance, supremacy of rule of law, transparency and accountability, responsive government, strong institutions and leaders, freedom of faith, consensus, discipline, and unity in diversity, must be present.

    Speaking on the theme, “Sheathing the drawn daggers: Conversations on investigative reporting and accountability in times of conflict”, other speakers including, Joe Abah, Nigeria Country Director, DAI Global; Eugenia Abu, former Executive Director of Programmes, Nigeria Television Authority (NTA); Umaru Pate, Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano; and Mnguember Sylvester, Professor of Literature and Gender Studies, University of Abuja, were also on hand to contribute to the lecture.

    On her part, Mnguember Sylvester, the author of “Long Shadows”, a book on the Tiv uprising of the 1960s, said the media fails to capture the reality of the herdsmen-farmer crisis in Benue and mostly reports the conflict ignorantly. She, therefore, urged the media to investigate and come out with objective details that can inform solution rather than publish false reports.

    Umaru Pate, while contributing to the discussion, explained that the collapse of the Local Government system, coupled with poor media coverage of hinterlands, unemployment and poverty must be handled decisively to address the conflicts that plague the country. The Professor of Media and Society, further called on the government to reactivate the national radio broadcast, which once covered the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

    Ace broadcaster, Eugenia Abu, in her remark, decried the situation where publishers splash controversial headlines driven by commercial interest without caring if the country burns afterwards. While asking for more responsible coverage of conflict issues, she pointed to the fact that many media organisations choreograph rather than balance the news.“People are looking for headlines and it doesn’t matter whether Nigeria burns”, she said. Eugenia Abu advised the media to improve its knowledge of conflict issues in order to better play its critical role of demanding accountability and engendering peace.

    Lending his voice to the discussion, Joe Abah, the former Director of the Bureau for Public Reforms, highlighted the correlation between conflict and grievance. He urged the government to step in and deal with issues of perceived injustice, adding that investigative reporting is a conflict resolution mechanism.

    In his opening remark, Ropo Sekoni, the Board Chair of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), organisers of the programme, mentioned that the lecture was timely given that the nation is faced with unprecedented number of conflicts at this time of its history.

    Motunrayo Alaka, the organisation’s Coordinator, chronicled the nexus between the trends of themes covered at the nine previous editions of the lecture, happenings in the country and the state of the media. According to her, the issues discussed in time past remain with the country till date. She challenged the media to rise up to its agenda-setting capabilities rather than allow politicians to continue to decide what becomes news.

    A critical part of the event was lending a voice to condemning the continuous detention of Jones Abiri, the Publisher of Source Magazine, a weekly publication based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, who was arrested by men of the Department of State Services (DSS) on July 21, 2016 and have since been held in detention without trial. Lanre Arogundade, Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), representing the Coalition of Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom, called on the government to comply with the law regarding illegal detention.

    The lecture, which was moderated by Juliet ‘Kego Ume-Onyido, Co-Founder of Whole WoMan Network, was attended by journalists, policy makers, representatives of pressure groups and non-governmental organisations, members of the diplomatic corps, students, lawyers and other members of the public.

     

     

  • Organise yourselves, fix your problems! Macron blasts African leaders

    Organise yourselves, fix your problems! Macron blasts African leaders

    French President, Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday, at a press conference after his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, challenged African leaders to study their continent’s problems and fix it once and for all rather than depending on foreign nations to do it for them.

    He noted specifically that France would not be the one to completely fix African problems.

    He said, “I think the main plan is an African plan and France is not the one to solve or fix African situations.

    “So, what we want to do is that we will intervene and make our presence in Africa and Sahel to fight against terrorism especially in Mali and in the region.

    “We will stay as long as it is requested by our friends, especially Mali. We discussed yesterday (Monday) about this issue.

    “But what is important to me is how the different African governments organise themselves to fight against terrorism and get rid of these people and especially Jihadism. That’s why I do promote the G5/Sahel Initiatives and I think as far as we are organised, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon is very important.”

    Macron said it was important for countries to increase the pressure against Jihadists.

    “We can fix the situation in the coming month and obviously France will remain present in Mali for as long as they want it.

    “But when I look at the past months, we have increased our resource and delivered concrete results in the north and west Mali with positive outcomes,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Buhari and Macron witnessed the signing of a letter of intent for the financing of the urban mobility improvement programme initiated by the Lagos State Government.

    The signing took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja during a bilateral meeting between the two leaders.

    The letter of intent of the equivalent of $200m is related to a potential loan by the French Development Agency to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    It was signed by the AFD’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Remy Rioux, and the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.

    The project seeks to develop eight priority bus corridors connected to the mass transit network (urban train and high-level service bus with a total length of 41 kilometres).

    It will also create two multimodal interchange hubs and functional integration of four public transport modes- urban train, high-level bus service, water transport lines and bus lines, planning and management capabilities of the transportation system.

    The project which follows the successful urban development of the second Lagos BRT project, already funded by AFD, is aimed at contributing to Lagos sustainable urban development through the deployment of a public transport network combining quality service, efficiency, accessibility, reliability, safety, reduction of polluting emissions and socio-economic and financial sustainability.

    It also aimed at giving 1,500,000 inhabitants access to quality transportation

    The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a credit of facility agreement of $75m in order to improve water supply in Kano city.

    This concessional loan was awarded by AFD to the Federal Government to allow Kano State to develop an effective and sustainable water supply service.

    The project mainly comprises the rehabilitation and densification of the network, rehabilitation of the main water production facilities and supporting consumer awareness campaign.

    Macron also justified his decision to visit the Afrika Shrine in Lagos during his visit to Nigeria.

    “First, because I wanted to find a good occasion to come back there. I know the place and I have some memories, I have to confess at a time that there was no President around; I hope I will not spoil the party.

    “I think that is such an iconic place for a lot of African people and African culture. And I think very often when you speak of the African culture in Europe, those who succeed in Europe and in France, which is different most of the times, are not dramatically very famous in Nigeria or in Africa.”

    “There is a bias because you know people are absolutely not the same. I mean Fela, Femi, Seun Kuti are obviously very famous in France and Europe, I mean they are big successes but the Shrine is a cultural hub, an iconic hub and is very important for me first on a personal level, and that is why I want to say with a lot of humility that I recognise the importance of this place; I recognise the place of culture in this current environment,” he said.

    Buhari said the issues of security and economic integration came up during his discussion with Macron.

    He thanked the French President for his commitment and understanding as it concerns Nigeria and the region.

    He said it was a good idea that Macron would be visiting the Africa Shrine in Lagos.

     

  • 2019: Leaders that can’t offer good governance should get out – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said that leaders that can’t offer good leadership at all levels should leave the stage for those who can.

    Obasanjo spoke at the 22nd Convocation Lecture of the Lagos State University (LASU).

    The lecture was entitled: “Role of Tertiary Education in Promoting Social Cohesion and Peace: Opportunities and Challenges for Nigeria’’.

    The lecture was delivered by Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission.

    Obasanjo was the Chairman of the occasion.

    According to the former president, leaders must provide good leadership, good governance, understand development and maintain values to move the country forward.

    “If you, as a leader, cannot give good leadership, good governance, understand what development is, and maintain values within our culture, then you must get out.

    “If you are in any leadership position, you must also observe three G’s: meaning you must give and get others to give; if you cannot do either of the two, you must get out of the system,” he said.

    Obasanjo said that higher education in Nigeria should have social, economic and political purposes, besides education.

    He identified higher education as panacea for social coalition and peace.

    The former president said that disparity was not a way to manage diversity, adding that mismanagement was a problem for diversity

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Obasanjo’s comment at lecture might not be unconnected to the recent troll between him (Obasanjo) and President Muhammadu Buhari who tipped on Tuesday that he (Buhari) might likely probe the former president over the $16 power project.

    Obasanjo has however responded that he was ready to submit himself for probe.

    In his remarks, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, said that universities should provide solutions to societal problems.

    Ambode was represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh.

    Ambode said that no price was too much for anyone to pay for peace and national development.

    “Put general interest above personal interest and work on your individual mindset, as any individual, who is not at peace with himself cannot maintain peace in the society,” he said.

    In his lecture, Rasheed said it was time for tertiary education institutions in Nigeria to make direct contributions to the nation’s economic and technological development.

    He said that technologies driving the country’s economy must come out from the institutions.

    “Why should Nigeria continue to spend huge sums in foreign exchange to build roads, for example? Why can’t our tertiary institutions develop the capacity to build our roads?

    “Why should our tertiary institutions continue to spend money on electricity bills rather than build their own dams to cater for their need?

    “Why must government continue to pay foreign companies to tackle gully erosion rather than our tertiary institutions addressing the issue,” he asked.

    According to him, until we interweave our tertiary institutions and our economic activities and produce the necessary spinoffs, we are likely to continue with the unrealistic economic development modules.

  • 2019: Obasanjo holds secret talks with Afenifere leaders in Akure [Photos]

    As the 2019 election year approaches, former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday visited leaders of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, at the residence of the leader of the group, Pa Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, Ondo State.

    The meeting, which lasted for almost 30 minutes, had the former President calling for the cooperation of the group to save Nigeria from collapsing.

    Speaking during the visit, Obasanjo commended the Afenifere for being at the forefront of fighting for the interest of the Yoruba nation while he was working towards the interest of the country as a whole, noting that the two parties were working towards the same goals of fostering unity among the people of the country but on a different pedestal.

    The former President recalled how he had visited the leadership of the group some 20 years ago, seeking the group’s support for his election but said he was rejected by the group.

    He said, “I remember visiting Pa Abraham Adesanya thrice in Lagos before the 1999 election and I was asked to join Afenifere and Alliance for Democracy then, but I told them that AD was a cul-de-sac.

    “Pa Abraham told me that if I joined, things would change; but I refused to join them. I went back the second time, but they refused to work for my emergence.

    “I went there again the third time, but Afenifere maintained their stand. They refused to vote for me; but I secured my votes outside Yorubaland, though they supported me in 2003 for my re-election.

    “Our priority is now one. If we do not join hands to repair this country now, it will collapse and this could be disastrous.”

    The Afenifere leader, Pa Fasoranti, while responding, said the visit of the former President was historic and first in about 20 years, adding that the Yoruba group was in support of the ex-President’s moves to achieve peaceful and virile Nigeria.

    He commended Obasanjo for his struggle to make Nigeria a better place, assuring him of the support of Afenifere to join hands with him in the struggle

    Fasoranti said, “We want to encourage you in your struggle to make Nigeria the best. You are fearless and that is one of the traits of a good leader

    “We have been watching you; and your dreams of a better Nigeria shall be realised.

    “Nigerians are at a crossroads; we are tired of the killings, kidnapping going on across the country and the President is mute about it.

    “We are in full support of all the letters written by Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari on the state of the nation. We are dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the country. The country is not being run properly.

    “Nothing is being done properly in this country presently. Look at the killings in the North. The President is very silent about it.

    “We are all Nigerians. If he can keep silence about the killing of his people, that is bad enough.”

    The Afenifere leader declared that the group was in total support of the coalition of political parties to forge alliance against President Muhammadu Buhari in the next general election.

    “It will be the joy of everybody to present a formidable team to confront the evil government that is there now,” Fasoranti stated.

  • Leaders approve Prince Charles to succeed Queen as head of Commonwealth

    Leaders on Friday approved Prince Charles as the successor to Queen Elizabeth as head of the Commonwealth at a meeting of the group’s heads of government in Windsor, Sky News reported citing unnamed sources.

    There had been calls for the role to be rotated around the 53 member-states, most of which are former British territories, but in recent days the queen, the British government and other leaders have backed Charles to take on the role.

    The summit which was originally to be hosted by Vanuatu at the end of 2017 was moved to the UK as Vanuatu was no longer able to host the event due to the damage done by Cyclone Pam to the island nation’s infrastructure.

    The meeting was postponed to the spring of 2018 due to other international commitments.

    The position of Commonwealth Chair-in-Office, held by the government leader of the CHOGM host country, will be transferred at the summit from the Prime Minister of Malta to the Prime Minister of the UK who will hold the post until the 26th CHOGM expected in 2020.

    The theme of the summit is “Towards a Common Future”.

    The British hosts have set out four main goals for the summit.

    These are prosperity: boosting intra-Commonwealth trade and investment security: increasing cooperation across security challenges including global terrorism, organised crime and cyber attacks fairness: promoting democracy.

    Others are fundamental freedoms and good governance across the Commonwealth sustainability: building the resilience of small and vulnerable states to deal with the effects of climate change and other global crises

    Under consideration will be a Commonwealth Blue Charter on ocean governance, a Commonwealth connectivity agenda for trade and investment, a declaration on cybercrime, and revised Commonwealth guidelines on election observation in member countries.[

    This will be the first CHOGM held following the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European Union, a decision which has resulted in calls for Britain to strengthen its economic ties with and play a greater role in the Commonwealth.

    The Commonwealth currently is responsible for one-tenth of British trade compare to the EU with which the UK currently conducts half of its trade.

    Intra-Commonwealth trade, overall, is expected to increase by at least 17 per cent around 700 billion dollars by 2020.

    The summit, however, ends on Friday (today).