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  • Presidential poll: APC files ‘evidence’ to prove Atiku Abubakar is not Nigerian

    Presidential poll: APC files ‘evidence’ to prove Atiku Abubakar is not Nigerian

    The controversy on the ‘nationality’ of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and standard-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23 presidential is still raging.

    A man, who claims to be a close friend of Garba Abubakar, Atiku’s late father, alleged that neither of his parents was a Nigerian.

    The unnamed family friend, in fresh documents filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, also gave details of Atiku’s early years and how his father died.

    But, Atiku declined to comment last night, saying he had earlier responded to the issue.

    The deponent’s claim varies from that of Atiku, who insists that his parents were Nigerians.

    It all started when the APC, in its response to Atiku’s petition at the tribunal, argued that he was not a Nigerian by birth.

    Claiming that it possessed evidence to support its claim, the party alleged that because Atiku is not a Nigerian by birth, he was not qualified, under Section 131(a) of the Constitution to contest for the office of President.

    Responding, Atiku said he was a Nigerian by birth because his parents were Nigerians.

    “The parents of the 1st petitioner (Atiku) are both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria.

    “The 1st petitioner was born on 25th November, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian parents and he is therefore a citizen of Nigeria by birth.

    “The 1st petitioner’s mother, Aisha Kande was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.

    “The 1st petitioner’s father, Garba Atiku Abubakar was a Nigerian by birth who hailed from Wumo in present day Sokoto State while the mother, Aisha Kande was also a Nigerian who hailed from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.

    But, in a statement filed by an APC witness, simply identified with the initials – ADM – the party repudiate Atiku’s claim.

    The witness said: “l, ADM, adult, Nigerian citizen of Adamawa State do hereby make oath and say as follows:

    “That I was a close family friend to the 1st petitioner’s late father. I know the family and I am familiar with the 1st petitioner’s background: who was born on the 25th day of November, 1946 to a Fulani trader and farmer by name Garba Abubakar, from his second wife, Aisha Kande, in Jada village of Northern Cameroon.

    “I know the 1st petitioner was named after his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdulkadir and became the only child of his parents after his only sister died at infancy.

    “I also know about the unfortunate incidence of the death of the 1st petitioner’s father in 1957, who drowned while crossing a river to Toungo. a neighbouring village to Jada in Northern Cameroon.

    “I do know that the 1st petitioner has, in all his documentations that are made public in national dailies or official gazettes, stated that he hails from Jada town in Adamawa State, from Ganye Local Government Area, regarded as the mother of the whole Chamba ethnic group (Chamba tribe).

    “I know as a fact that, as at the time the 1st petitioner was born on the 25th day of November, 1946 to a FulanI trader and farmer, Garba Abubakar, Jada village and other parts of Chamba land in the then Northern Cameroon, were still part of the British Cameroons and not Nigeria.

    “None of the 1st petitioner’s parents or grandparents was born in Nigeria.

    “The 1st petitioner‘s father died as a citizen of Northern Cameroon in 1957 prior to the referendum of 1st June, 1961 which made Northern Cameroon to become part of Nigeria.

    “The 1st petitioner’s ancestral origin is deeply rooted in the then Northern Cameroon, not Nigeria and I know as a fact that the 1st petitioner is not a Nigerian citizen by birth

    “I know that Ganye which incorporates the 1st petitioner’s birth place of Jada, was the headquarters of British Cameroons, but it joined Nigeria after the plebiscite.

    “I know that Ganye was not part of Nigeria as at the time of the birth of the 1st petitioner; on 25th November 1946.

    “I am familiar with the historical antecedents of the birth place of the 1st petitioner.

    “Ganye area had been entrusted to Britain by a League of Nations Mandate in 1919 and later as Trust Territory by the United Nations in 1946.

    “With the defeat of Germany in World War I. Kamerun (as it was known at the time) became a League of Nations Mandate Territory and was split into French Cameroons and British Cameroons in 1919

    “While France integrated the economy of its part of the Cameroons with that of the mother colonial France, the British on the other hand, administered its part (British Cameroons) from neighbouring Nigeria, making Jada, the 1st petitioner’s place of birth, a British franchise.

    “I know that a plebiscite was held in British Cameroons to determine whether the people in that territory preferred to stay in Cameroon or unite with Nigeria.

    “While Northern Cameroon preferred a union with Nigeria, the Southern Cameroon chose to align with the mother country.

    “I know that on the 1st of June 1961, Northern Cameroon became a part of Nigeria and on the 1st of October 1961 the Southern Cameroonian territory dissolved and merged into the Republic of Cameroon.”

    An aide to Atiku told The Nation last night that his principal would not respond to the issue.

    According to the aide, the PDP president candidate had responded to the controversies stirred by the APC on his nationality.

    Faulting the APC claim that he is not a Nigerian by birth and, therefore, not fit to be President, the former vice president, said he is a Nigerian by birth and was born on November 25, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian parents.

    He made the assertion in a joint reply he filed with his party to the APC’s response against their petition before the tribunal.

    Atiku, who gave details of his early life, also spoke about his working life and political career to support his claim that he is a Nigerian by birth.

    Atiku and the PDP argued that it was late in the day for the APC to query his qualification for the election, having not done so at the pre-election stage.

  • Presidential poll: I’m a full blooded Nigerian; fit to be president, Atiku replies Buhari, APC

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the claim by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he is not a Nigerian by birth and, therefore, not fit to be President.

    Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 23 presidential election, said he is a Nigerian by birth and was born on November 25, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian parents and he is, therefore, a citizen of Nigeria by birth.

    He said this in a joint reply he filed with his party to the response filed by the APC against their petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

    Atiku, who gave details of his early life, also spoke about his working life and political career in Nigeria to support his claim that he is and has always been a Nigerian by birth.

    Atiku and the PDP argued that it was late in the day for the APC to query his qualification for the election, having not done so at the pre-election stage.

    They said: “Contrary to the allegations contained in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the 3rd respondent’s (APC’s) reply, the petitioners state that the 1st petitioner (Atiku) is a citizen of Nigeria by birth and thus qualified to vote and be voted for and returned in the election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, held on Saturday 23rd February, 2019, going by the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    “The 1st petitioner was born on 25th November, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian parents and he is therefore a citizen of Nigeria by birth.

    “The 1st petitioner’s father, Garba Atiku Abdulkadir, was a Nigerian by birth who hailed from Wumo in present day Sokoto State while the mother, Aisha Kande was also a Nigerian who hailed from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.

    “The parents of the 1st Petitioner are both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria.

    “The birth of the 1st petitioner in Jada, in present day Adamawa State of Nigeria was occasioned by the movement of his paternal grandfather called Atiku who was an itinerant trader, from Wumo in present day Sokoto State to Jada in the company of his friend, Ardo Usman.

    “That in Jada, Atiku, the grandfather of the 1st petitioner, gave birth to Garba who in tum gave birth to the 1st Petitioner and named him after his own father Atiku.

    “The 1st petitioner’s mother, Aisha Kande, was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.

    “All averments concerning Germany, British Cameroons, League of Nations and Plebiscite are false and misleading in relation to the 1st Petitioner and therefore completely irrelevant, more so that the 1st Petitioner is a Nigerian by birth within the contemplation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic ofNigeria, 1999 (as amended).

    “The averments in the aforesaid paragraphs are indeed fabricated, contrived, made in bad faith and designed to embarrass the 1st petitioner.”

    The APC had, in its response to the petition by Atiku and the PDP, argued that, by virtue of his not being a Nigerian by birth, Atiku was not qualified to have contested the last presidential election.

    It contended that by Section 131(a) of the Constitution, a person must be a citizen of Nigeria by birth to be qualified to contest for the office of the President of the country. It noted that Atiku was born on November 25, 1946 in Jada, now Adamawa State, then in Northern Cameroon, “and is therefore a citizen of Cameroon.”

    The APC said: ”Atiku had no right to be voted for and returned in the election to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria held on Saturday 23th February, 2019 having regard to the clear provision of Section 131(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) 1999 as amended, which unequivocally stipulates inter alia, that for a person to be qualified for election to the office of President, he must be a citizen of Nigeria by birth.”

    Atiku and the PDP, in their reply, also faulted the APC’s claim that the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) did not transmit the results of the election by electronic means, by using a server.

    They said: “In reaction to paragraph 29 of the 3rd respondent’s reply, the Petitioners aver that the data and scores in the 1st Respondent’s Server were as transmitted by the 1st Respondent’s officials and those scores are valid, and legitimate.

    “The conduct of elections and declaration of results by the 1st respondent is the subject of the present petition.

    “Contrary to paragraphs 31 and 34 of the 3rd respondent’s reply, the petitioners contend that the figures and scores in paragraph 22 of the petition are neither false nor contrived or concocted by the petitioners.

    “Indeed, the ad-hoc staff and officials of the 1st respondent in obedience to the training/instruction by the 1st respondent (INEC) transmitted the scores they got from the polling units to the 1st respondent’s server.

    Atiku and the PDP, in their reply further argued that contrary to contention by the APC, the election tribunal has the jurisdiction to entertain the issues they raised about President Muhammadu Buhari’s educational qualification.

    They said: “The issue of the qualification of the 2nd respondent (Buhari) to contest the presidential election under scrutiny, which is at the epicentre of the Petitioners’ grounds (d) and (e) of paragraph 15 of the Petition, is not only a pre-election matter but also a post-election matter within the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) as well as the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and therefore competent and not statute-barred.

    “The issue of non-qualification of the 2nd respondent is fundamental and can therefore not be waived as erroneously alleged by the 3rd respondent.”

    They added that their petition is competent and meritorious and the return of the 2nd respondent (Buhari) by the 1st respondent (INEC), “is undue and wrongful.”

    The petitioners argued that “the 3rd respondent’s reply does not answer the points of substance in the petition but same is full of extraneous facts, contradictory, diversionary, evasive, speculative and vague assertions.”

  • Ghanaian court sentences Nigerian to seven years imprisonment for defiling minor

    Ghanaian court sentences Nigerian to seven years imprisonment for defiling minor

    A Circuit Court in Ghana has jailed a Nigerian immigrant, 33-year-old Obinna Mba, for defiling a 12-year-old girl in Nungua, a town in the Municipal District in Accra, the country’s state capital, the Ghanaian state-owned Graphic Online reports

    According to the newspaper on Saturday, a judge, Rita Doko, sentenced Mr Mba to seven years imprisonment after he was found guilty on the charge of defilement.

    The court also ordered the convict’s deportation back to his home country after serving his sentence.

    The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Agnes Boafo, narrated how Mr Mba lured the minor to his shop and had sexual intercourse with her.

    He also said the victim kept the ordeal to herself because the convict had threatened her to keep mum or she loses her life.

    The police boss further said it was the victim’s mother that made the complaints after she discovered what had happened.

    ”The victim, mother, and Mba reside in the same vicinity at Nungua in Accra.

    ”In August, last year, Mba’s sister sent the victim to collect some sacks at her shop so she could pack some plantain leaves into them.

    ”On reaching the shop, she met Mba, who lured her into the shop and had sex with her. After the act, Mba warned the victim not to disclose the act to anyone else she would die,” Mr Boafo explained.

    ”Mba became so close to the victim afterward and her mother became suspicious of their relationship.

    ”When the victim’s mother questioned her over the said relationship, the victim let the cat out of the bag and a report was made to the Domestic Violence and Victim’s Support Unit, Nungua.

    The prosecution officer explained that the convict was arrested based on report gotten from medical laboratory tests.

    ”The mother was issued with a medical form to seek medical attention for the victim and based on the report, the police arrested Mba.”

  • Atiku, the Nigerian of our dreams, By Louis Okoroma

    Atiku, the Nigerian of our dreams, By Louis Okoroma

    By Louis Okoroma

     

    Once again, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its lackluster government has shown that they are too bereft of knowledge of even the history of the country, Nigeria whose government it controls in the type of information it dishes out to the public.

     

    When the news went round that the APC while presenting its argument at the Presidential Election Tribunal sitting over the election case brought against it by the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said that Atiku Abubakar is not a Nigerian citizen but a Cameroonian, because he was not born in Nigeria, I was taken aback. The thought that came to my mind was that has the ruling party become a children’s party to give such information to a tribunal whose work is of a public nature, perhaps thinking that the information would be treated confidentially, and not shared with the public.

     

    It seems that common sense of the APC delegation or defence team at the tribunal failed them abysmally when they uttered that travesty. Atiku Abubakar comes from Adamawa State where he has been Governor-elect before being elevated to the distinguished position of a Vice President of Nigeria, and a holder of the country’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).

     

    Adamawa State is the second of the 36 States listed in the First Schedule, section 3 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as constituting the component parts of the Federation of Nigeria. Let’s assume that the top echelon of the party and even the Presidency were busy thinking of how to inflict more hardship on ordinary Nigerians by increasing the pump price of fuel, what of the young Turks of the party and the government who are always on the internet abusing Atiku. It seems that the internet warriors of the party and government because of the problem of falling education standard and rabid dislike of Atiku Abubakar whose noble ways contradict the crude manners for which the APC is known, there were no people in the party and government sober and educated enough to call the rest to order. Now, this nonsense about a former Vice President of Nigeria being a Cameroonian has gone out to the World thereby exposing the deep ignorance and poor education that characterize the APC people and their government for which Nigerians are afraid of their remaining in power.

     

    If Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria is not a Nigerian citizen as the APC would want us believe, it means the party has served notice to many leading Nigerians from Adamawa, Taraba and Borno States, who were not born in Nigeria before independence to start thinking of where they come from! Among these people are many members of the APC party like Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to Federal Government and the Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai and others too numerous to list.

     

    The most laughable aspect of the presentation of the Area Boys’ Party, the APC at the Presidential Election Tribunal is that apparently, all the party chiefs, their high officials in the government and their internet warriors do not know that it is not only by birth in a country that somebody becomes a citizen of a country. Among the diverse ways to become a citizen of a country include; naturalization, registration, presidential decree or grant or when a country acquires territory in which case, millions of people at once become citizens of another country recognised under both municipal and international law.

     

    Atiku Abubakar and his generation including their parents became Nigerian citizens through the last method when millions of people in the then Northern Camerouns became Nigerian citizens after a special vote for that purpose, supervised by the defunct United Nations Trusteeship Council, not INEC, in 1961. Originally a German colony, the British and French invaded the colony of Cameroun at the outbreak of World War One and quickly subdued it. They agreed to divide the territory between them. This division was confirmed by a League of Nations Mandate after the war. They were referred to as the Northern and Southern Camerouns. Both of them were administered from the neighbouring colony of Nigeria. In 1954 both parts were joined to the Nigeria colony. However at independence only the Northern part remained with Nigeria, the Southern part joined the Republic of Cameroon, following the same plebiscite of 1961.

     

    It should be noted that the Northern Cameroons, was neither a colony nor protectorate of Northern Nigeria, but a mandate of the League of Nations (1922 to 1945) and later, a trusteeship territory of the United Nations (1945-1961) handed to Britain to administer after Germany was defeated by the allied forces in the First and the Second World Wars. At the close of colonisation and the independence of most African countries, particularly the British colony, Nigeria and the French colony, Cameroon in 1960, the political future of the Northern Cameroons as an integral part of Nigeria was actualized by the plebiscite of 1961.

     

    The question now arises as to why did the APC, the Presidency and their handlers commit this tragic error? Could it be that they thought that the UN plebiscite is like the elections which they organize under INEC which are usually inconclusive and hence can be nullified in a competent Court or they do not know their own country’s history? If it is the latter, then it is tragic indeed!

     

    Atiku Abubakar, a Man of God by his many good deeds, was born on November 25, 1945 in Jada local government of Adamawa State. Atiku Abubakar’s father was from Sokoto state and later travelled to Borno for farming and trading activities as is the practice among the Fulani people. Later, his family settled in Jada which is now Jada local Government of Adamawa State.

     

    After his education, he joined the Nigeria Customs and worked for 20 years, rising to the position of a Deputy Director and second-in-command of the para-military outfit. On April 30, 1989, the law abiding Atiku paid the mandatory three months’ salary and left the Customs.

     

    Atiku’s political odyssey, triumphs and failures are entertaining and puts the toga of troublemaker on any person or group that questions his citizenship. Such nonsense has been done in the past by mercenary politicians in the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the second republic, who have resurrected in the APC, when then President, the late Shehu Shagari was misled by his party hawks to deport to neighbouring Chad, the then Majority Leader of the Borno State House of Assembly, Alhaji Shugaba Abdurrahman Darma. The NPN people lied to themselves that Shugaba, a hard fighting politician and member of the defunct Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP), was not a Nigerian citizen. The Supreme Court eventually quashed the ill-fated case, following the footsteps of the Maiduguri High Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, Kaduna.

     

    Atiku’s politics is so profound and far-reaching that many Nigerians would attest to his willingness to assist both individuals and political parties in the hours of their need. He has also fought many political and legal battles to deepen democracy, human rights and the rule of law as well as engaged in good causes that has improved the lives of the downtrodden and oppressed peasants in Northern Nigeria.

     

    The ruling APC and President Muhammadu Buhari have at different times and circumstances benefitted from and eulogized Atiku. In 2014, the man whom they say is a Camerounian took part and came third position due to underhand dealings at the presidential convention of the then fledging All Progressives Congress in Lagos, after APC leaders begged him to join the newly-formed party.

    In fact, for the dangerous falsehood they unleashed at the Presidential Election Tribunal, and for seeking to deceive and mislead our people and distort the country’s history thereby laying foundation for division and civil strife, the APC deserves to be proscribed while its leaders and its accomplices in the Presidency are deported to Cape Verde, the adopted home of their National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole!

     

    Louis Okoroma is a Public Affairs Analyst based in Abuja.

  • Why we couldn’t stop execution of Nigerian in Saudi Arabia – Presidency

    The Federal Government on Friday said that drugs was hidden in the body of Kudirat Afolabi, who was executed in Saudi Arabia on April 1.

    It said Afolabi was among the 20 persons arrested with drugs hidden in their body parts.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Relations and the Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this on Friday to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    She said the clarification became necessary in a bid to clear the air regarding the circumstances leading to the execution of the Nigerian.

    Afolabi was executed alongside two Pakistani men and one Yemeni man, bringing the total number of people killed by Saudi Arabia this year to 53.

    There had been attempts, especially in the social media, to link Afolabi’s fate with the activities of alleged syndicates operating at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

    The syndicate allegedly specialises in planting drugs in the baggage of unsuspecting travelers.

    Abike-Dabiri, however, said Afolabi did not belong to the list of seven who are suspected to have fallen victim of the four-man gang hard drugs planting syndicate.

    “There are some people caught in Kano, but those they allegedly gave the drugs to are yet to face trials in Saudi.

    “What we can now do is to prevail on the Saudi authority that those people awaiting trials in their country are among the victims of the Kano syndicate.

    “If Nigeria can do this, through National Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian mission in Saudi Arabia, they might not even be charged to court.

    “Ms Afolabi was one of those drugs were found in their bodies. They were 20 in number. They are the ones on the death roll, as drugs were found in their bodies, including their private parts.

    “In their case, the Saudis do not appear to waste so much time on them. What is on social media that the lady could have been saved was incorrect.

    “There was no way we could have done that. She was found with drugs in her body; just like the other 20,” the presidential aide said.

    She, however, pointed out that in the case of those awaiting trials, the NDLEA can work with the Nigerian mission in Saudi to save them.

    “Who knows, maybe if the NDLEA forward their information to the Saudis that some of these people might be innocent of the crime, they might not even go on trial.

    “But we must continue to move fast and in harmony, so that we ensure the innocents are not unjustly punished,” she said.

  • The state of being a Nigerian, By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa.

    Nigeria is blessed with very intelligent and even religious people. Thus, in our National Anthem, we pray God to help us build a nation where peace and justice shall reign. But at critical times, such as the 2019 elections, many abandoned their intelligence and switched to the mode of the stupid; peeled off the clothes of the informed and donned the toga of the ill-informed.

    Some Pan-Africanists I know, became ethnic jingoists and experts in ethnic profiling. That was when they wanted to make uninformed arguments on who owns what portion of the country, or made outrageous claims that were not backed by any shred of evidence or historical fact. They distort history and claim that a racist like Lord Lugard who left Nigeria in 1919 and died in 1945, is their witness.

    Yet this set of Nigerians who pollute the country with their false claims, would go to church claiming to be Christ-like, lay claims to being their brother’s keeper and loving their neigbour as themselves. Who told them the brother praying beside them in church who happens to come from a different part of the country is not their brother or neigbour? Some of them will go to the Mosque claiming to be Muslims, yet will not abide by the saying that to be a Muslim, you must treat other people, the way you would love to be treated. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said in the hadith: “None of you (truly) believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself”

    Our traditional religions says, first cut yourself the same measure you want to inflict on another person to know how it feels.

    I know there are those who will attack me that I am preaching morals when the issue is politics. True, but what is a human being without morals? How can we be humans if we do not have values and ethics that can differentiate us from animals?

    The philosophy of ‘Every man for himself, God for us all’ is a bankrupt one. It is a dog-eat-dog philosophy which as human beings, we should have out grown.

    All Nigerians I know, endorse Martin Luther King, Jr’s words: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” But if I paraphrase and say: “I have a dream that Nigerian children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their ethnic origins, but by the content of their character” there will be sharp disagreements.

    Yet the reality is that no Nigerian choose his ethnic origin himself; he was simply born into it. So how do you seek to punish a human being for what he had no hand in deciding? Why should a person be guilty of his ethnic origin? I argued somewhere else, that while a Nigerian can change his name, religion, trade, profession, abode, friends or political party, he cannot change his origins. While he can even change his nationality or claim to originate from Israel, Atlantis or Mars, that would not change his ethnic origins.

    Hunger and an uncertain future is why many involve themselves in such demeaning campaigns. Tragically for us, those who sit at the table feeding fat on our common resources promise the hate campaigners, some crumbs, and feed them fears of a bleak future.

    Parochial or selfish interest is why amongst a large section our leadership, the concept of what is right or wrong depends on who is involved or who benefits. Many, our men of truth yesterday, are today’s liars. A man yesterday makes a forceful, brilliant and intelligent argument, and today completely contradicts his argument, and you point out the contradiction, and he says ‘You don’t understand’ Of course I don’t, how do I understand a human being that abandons all principles?

    There is enough for the needs of all Nigerians, but not the greed of all. The rich cannot continue to get richer at the country’s expense while the poor get poorer. Yet, as Nigerians, we can collectively ensure that: “the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group” Nigerians can guarantee a country where: ”the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose and responsibility of government.” This will be in contrast to the abandonment of the people, and the wholesale slaughter we witness across the country.

    Collectively, we can ensure that: “discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association” are things of the past.

    We can collectively build a new nation where there will be no right to hunger, where everybody will have a right to shelter, work and healthcare, and the children, a right to education.

    As I indicated by using quotes, these are not my original quotes or ideas, these are contained in our constitution . So all we need do, is push a different narrative and agenda, not those of elites whose interest is to keep Nigerians divided so they can monopolize our collective wealth.

    When Nigeria hosted the Second Black and Arts Festival (FESTAC) in 1977, we adopted the 1937 poem “For My People” by the African-American, Margaret Walker as the festival theme song. It runs: “Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a bloody peace be written in the sky…Let the martial songs be written, let the dirges disappear. Let a race of men now rise and take control” It is time to actualize this song. The Nigerian people need to rise and take control in line with our constitution which states that: “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority”

    Yes, we can call those professional politicians who exploit us and mortgage our collective future and that of our children, to order. We can change our narrative from one in which the voters queue, the thugs stuff the ballot box and our professors, announce the results, to one in which the will of the people shall prevail.

    We do not need to be entrapped in the old, dilapidated structures where people deceive people and all promises, cancelled. This is the time for us all to begin building a new movement with a new song for a New Nigeria.

  • Nigeria to access $100m Indian loan to develop nationwide broadband connectivity

    Nigeria to access $100m Indian loan to develop nationwide broadband connectivity

    The Federal Government says it is working with the Indian Government to access 100 million dollars concessional loan to develop the country’s rural broadband connectivity.

    The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu said this in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day held in Abuja on Thursday night.

    Shittu said that the loan to be accessed would be part of India’s 10 billion-dollar concessional loans to African countries for the implementation of projects of their national priority.

    The minister said that the rural broadband connectivity in India “inspired” his application for the 100 million dollar-loan for the project.

    “Nigeria must be prepared to take advantage of the available opportunities, one of which is in securing of credit line for the development of rural backbone infrastructure.

    “In India, as expansive as the country is, every area has sufficient broadband connectivity; everybody has access to online connectivity.

    “This is the opposite in Nigeria. We have barely exceeded the 30 per cent connectivity rate.

    “However, with this initiative, I believe within the next two months, we will have the opportunity of getting a credit line of 100 million dollars from India to develop rural infrastructure.

    “Such that without electricity, telecoms masts can function, as masts to be constructed via the credit line funding will be renewable based – that is solar-based.’’

    He explained that Indian companies would be the installers of the equipment “because it is their technology that we will use the credit line to acquire”.

    Shittu, however, said the timeline for the implementation of the project was yet to be determined.

    He added that repayment of the loan would be “ironed out” by the Ministries of Finance and Budget and National Planning.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 100 million dollars was made available to Nigeria in 2017 execute projects in the power sector including solar energy and rural electrification in three states: Kaduna, Cross River and Enugu.

    In his response, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Abhay Thakur told newsmen that the high commission had received a written project report from Nigeria and would examine it.

    “We (Nigeria and India) are working very closely on the rural broadband network project.

    “India is deeply interested because we genuinely have a lot of expertise in the area of broadband network building and reach to the Indian masses.

    “We will examine the written report, and I am sure very soon, we will be in a position to tender out the project under the India Development Assistance, which is a very attractive soft loan funding for Nigeria.”

    Thakur also said the pilot phase of the project if considered, would start in Oyo and would be replicated in the other 36 states.

    He expressed optimism that the project would lead to other spin-off projects in the areas of IT trainings and e-governance to rural populations.

    “This is something India has achieved, and hopes to cooperate on with Nigeria with the support of the Nigerian government.”

    Speaking on the ITEC Day, the high commissioner said that 315 training slots in the ITEC short-term programme had been made available for Nigeria in 2019.

    He explained that this included 100 training slots under the India Africa Forum Summit and 20 scholarships for undergraduate, post-graduate and higher courses.

    He said the high commission also covered Benin, Cameroon and Chad in addition to Nigeria.

    “This year, we are offering 50 ITEC slots and five degree scholarships to Benin, 63 ITEC slots and eight degree scholarships to Cameroon, 20 ITEC slots and eight degree scholarships to Chad, and five ITEC slots to ECOWAS.

    “We give full details of these slots because we want every opportunity to be utilised, we will like to see 100 per cent utilisation, so we can increase the slots in the next year.

    “We are open to nominations from all Nigerian organisations.”

    NAN recalls that during the third Africa-Indian Forum in 2015, the Indian Government announced 50,000 scholarships for African students in India.

    Since the second forum in 2011, more than 24,000 scholarships across 300 training courses conducted at 60 training institutions in India were utilised by African nationals in diverse areas.

    The ITEC programme instituted in September 1964 is a flagship programme of the Indian government’s capacity building efforts.

    ITEC Day has also been observed every year on Sept. 15 or during the course of the year.

  • Nigeria’s tourism sector not sellable for now, lacks infrastructure –expert

    Bassey Umo, an executive with World and Travel Land (WONTRA), says that Nigeria’s tourism sector is not sellable for now due to lack of essential infrastructure.

    Umo, and other Travel and Tourism experts, on a familiarisation tour to Morocco to experience the country’s rich tourism and hospitality opportunities, said this on Friday in Casablanca.

    “Even if you want to take them to Olumo Rock or other such heritage sites, are there good roads to get there and hotels to stay.’’

    According to the expert, tourism is a veritable tool for national economic growth and positive image building for nations, but lamented that it is yet to be adequately harnessed in Nigeria.

    She stressed the need for government to do more in order to attract investors to the industry.

    Other experts, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), also urged Nigerian Government at all levels to create enabling environment to attract investors and tourists to explore the nation’s rich tourism potential for economic growth.

    The experts, who visited acclaimed tourism cities of Casablanca, Marrakech and El-Jadidah, also met with their Moroccan counterparts to share experience and find areas of possible collaboration.

    They said having experienced the dynamic tourism sector of Morocco which attracts investors and tourists from Europe and other parts of the world, there was the need to urge other African countries develop the sector.

    Mr Taiwo Oladele, the General Manager of Dees Travels and Tours Ltd, said that as the Nigerian government was working toward economic diversification, the nation’s rich tourism potential should be harnessed.

    He noted that although private investors were supposed to come into the sector for it to strive, it was the responsibility of government to provide enabling environment, especially basic infrastructure and security.

    “The sector needs local and even foreign investors for it to grow and contribute meaningfully to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the government should provide necessary amenities such as stable power supply.

    “We visited a lot of hotels here, and found out that power was constant, even in the remote areas, without hearing the sound of a power generating set.

    “No economy can grow without adequate security, as tourists visiting a destination want to be sure that their lives would be safe before coming,’’ he said.

    According to Oladele, if the nation’s tourism sector is fixed and working, it will have positive spiral effects on other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, transport, and job opportunities.

    He, however, advised that government and local investors should be patient to realise the long-term returns of investing in tourism.

    “They should avoid the-reap it now and get rich quick syndrome, because tourism does not produce results over night, it takes time to bring returns.” he said.

    However, Mr Claud Batohi, the Director AMEX GBT Nigeria, noted that Nigeria had cultural and historical heritages peculiar to its different group of people, which needed to be well packaged and made presentable to tourists.

    “Nigeria has culture and history that people all over the world want to identify with, and that is why it should be made attractive to tourists.

    “Recently, the French President came to Alausa in Lagos State to identify with the people’s culture, so if the president could do that, then other people should be willing to come experience Nigeria’s culture,” he noted.

    He, therefore, called for collective efforts between investors and government at all levels to focus on developing tourism in the country.

    NAN reports that the familiarisation tour was organised by the Moroccan National Tourism Office in collaboration with the Royal Air Maroc, for industry players of both countries to share experience and build areas of collaboration.

  • JUST IN: NSE suspends trading in shares of six listed Nigerian companies

    JUST IN: NSE suspends trading in shares of six listed Nigerian companies

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday suspended trading in the shares of six listed companies.
    The companies were suspended after they failed to file details of their accounts to the Exchange as stipulated by market regulations.
    The six companies are DN Tyre & Rubber Plc, FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, International Energy Insurance Plc, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc, Union Dicon Salt Plc and Unic Diversified Holdings Plc.
    In a notice signed by Godstime Iwenekhai, head of Listings Regulation Department, the NSE said the decision was pursuant to Rule 3.1, Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of The Exchange (Issuers’ Rules) (“Default Filing Rules”).
    The rule provides that if an issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the current period, the Exchange will send to the issuer a “Second Filing Deficiency Notification” within two business days after the end of the Cure Period; suspend trading in the Issuer’s securities; and notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Market within twenty- four (24) hours of the suspension.”
    The NSE, therefore, said effective Monday, trading in the shares of the six companies remains suspended.
    “In accordance with the rules set forth above, the suspension of the above listed companies will only be lifted upon the submission of the relevant accounts and provided The Exchange is satisfied that the accounts comply with all applicable rules of The Exchange,” the notice said.

  • CNN uncovers Paris park where Nigerian women forcefully engage in prostitution (Video)

    CNN uncovers Paris park where Nigerian women forcefully engage in prostitution (Video)

    The Bois de Vincennes, a sprawling park on the outskirts of eastern Paris, is home to horse riding schools and a zoo which has also been part-commandeered by human traffickers and sex slaves.
    The sex slaves are brought from various African countries, but 80 percent of whom are Nigerian women who are made to stand by the park, waiting for customers.
    The women who have no identity and means of escaping their predicament for several reasons, return the money they made to their traffickers at the end of the day.
    9 out of 10 women in the park are not free women, belonging to a network of human traffickers.
    It was gathered that selling sex is reportedly not a crime in Paris but buying is. Hence, these women freely line the streets in very revealing outfits, waiting for men who need their services.
    When prison police were asked how this could be allowed to continue, they told CNN there simply isn’t very much they can do, adding that the women are afraid to talk to them because of the networks and they say they’re moved around Europe very often.