TheNewsGuru

Tag: Northern Youths

  • Northern Youths give Tinubu pass mark, assure president of support

    Northern Youths give Tinubu pass mark, assure president of support

    Thousands of youths from the 19 Northern States have ranked President Bola Tinubu’s administration highly in economy, security and pro-citizen policies.

    The Progressive Northern Youth Forum (PNYF) made this known in its communique at the end of a two-day conference in Abuja on the state of the nation.

    Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, national president, Hon. Isah Usman Jabbi, said President Tinubu’s economic policies have fostered growth, job creation, and investment which resonates with the aspirations of the North.

    The communique added that the President has taken the necessary steps to address the issue of security across the region.

    “President Tinubu’s signing of the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Act, 2024 to enhance the implementation of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme by improving the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF),” it said.

    “This singular development will the youth of the 19 Northern States to bridge the education gap, allowing them to get the education that will translate into the economic empowerment that will help the region to beat poverty.

    “President Tinubu recognises the potential of our youth. His initiatives, such as vocational training programs, scholarships, and youth empowerment schemes, empower young Northerners to contribute meaningfully to society.

    “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has displayed purposeful leadership in the country’s governance with recognition of the strategic importance of northern Nigeria, hence the appointment of credible northerners in strategic leadership positions in the country.

    “The Federal Government’s appointments into positions have, therefore, been fair to the North, which has helped maintain the spirit of fairness that Nigerians expect from the leadership of their country.

    “Delegates also highlighted the passion with which President Bola Ahmed Tinunbu had interacted with key decision-makers in northern Nigeria on his administration’s policies and programmes and how the region’s development is central to delivering the Renewed Hope agenda in the country. “

    The youths, however, expressed concerns at some persons claiming to speak for the North, who have been castigating President Tinubu over phantom mistreatment of the North.

    “PNYF members reviewed the utterances of such leaders and concluded that at no time were they mandated to speak for the 19 Northern States, which makes their assertions null and void within the context of contemporary Nigeria,” it added.

    “The northern region will support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if he seeks reelection in 2027, and the north will vote massively for him. “

    The youths, therefore, vowed to mobilise other youths across the North to rally behind President Tinubu’s leadership to build a stronger, more prosperous Nigeria.

  • Kaduna youths flay Customs boss over employment opportunities

    Kaduna youths flay Customs boss over employment opportunities

    The Kaduna Youths Forum has criticised the Controller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, Rtd Colonel Hameed Ali, for failing to provide them with employment opportunities.

    A press statement signed by the Coordinator, Ismail Mustapha Soba, and made available to TheNewsGuru noted that job opportunities would have assisted in tackling the problem of insecurity that has plagued the state and the north in general.

    The group said there were high expectations from Ali who should have used his position to create job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths, noting that he had failed them.

    They therefore singled out Ali who they alleged has done nothing tangible to create job opportunities for them after working and supporting the All Progressives Congress to win the 2015 elections.

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    They recalled that they were mobilised to join the nationwide 2012 fuel subsidy protest in Kaduna that later led to the downfall of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.

    They noted further, “When we were invited for the protest alongside Late Former Governor of defunct Kaduna, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, former lawmaker, Senator Shehu and Col. Hameed Ali himself with several prominent Nigerians and we did so with hope that our unemployment problem and the disturbing security challenges facing the North would be history.”

    According to the group, since Ali was appointed the Comptroller General of Customs by the President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, he was yet to employ any known Kaduna youth.

    They therefore challenged Ali to make public the state-by-state employment records to prove them wrong.

    “We stand to be corrected, from our records and information gathered, he has never employed any serious person in Kaduna into customs, he just turned to Bauchi State.

    “He should know that part of the reasons Buhari appointed him as the Comptroller-General was to tackle chronic problems in service, including personnel shortage,” it added

    While stressing that personnel shortage would be solved with the recruitment of thousands of personnel for active duty, the group noted: “It was expected that he visits Kaduna regularly to feel the pulse of the ordinary citizens, as we speak, he has not found time to meet the youths that labour for Buhari’s election victory.

    “Even when a list of youths was compiled to assist them into Customs, he didn’t even the see the person, who went to submit it talkless of taking action.

    “If nothing is done to make amends, we would be left with no option to mobilise for his sack,” the group further threatened.

  • 2023: CSOs, northern youths back Anyim for President

    2023: CSOs, northern youths back Anyim for President

    No fewer than 30 youth groups and Civil Society Organisations in the Northern part of the country have likened the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, and Northern Elders Forum, NEF, to armies without combatants, ahead of the race to the Aso Rock Villa come 2023.

    The groups which met under the aegis of Arewa Concerned Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria, ACCSON, however declared support for the 2023 presidential ambition of former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim.

    They argued that only two regions out of the six geo political regions have not occupied either the President or Vice-President seat since 1999 till date, which was unfair and against democracy tenets.

    At a briefing in Kaduna yesterday, spokesperson of ACCSON Abdulsalam Kazeem, said Anyim, a symbol of national Unity has responded to their request to contest the 2023 presidency.

    “To set the record straight, on 23rd of March 2021, over 30 Civil Society Organizations of Northern Extraction met at Mallam Aminu Kano Center for Democratic Research Mambayya House Kano State on way forward and the Unity of our nation.

    “The Civil Society Organisations include: Arewa Youth Assembly for sustainable growth, Arewa Youth and Students Forum; Concerned Northern Forum;North East Peace Movement; Arewa Youth Council of Nigeria; Northern Youth Assembly for Tranquility; Northern Women Initiative Forum; North East Development Council; North Central Grassroots Foundation; Arewa Female Youth Ambassadors Peace Initiative; Initiative of Youth Advocate on Humanitarian Affairs;Arewa Youth Movement of Nigeria, Tiv Youth Initiative for Peace, Unity and Development, Middle Belt Vanguard; Northern Youth Network For Good Governance; etc.

    “We x-rayed the current happenings; which includes unity in diversity, rotational presidency, insecurity, youth unemployment and inclusiveness in governance, among others. The leadership of various organizations at that sitting supported a one Nigeria project. We realize that only two regions out of the six geo-political regions have not occupied either President or vice-President seat since 1999 till date, which is unfair and against any democratic standard.

    “For instance; between 1999 and 2007, it was South West and North East, and between 2007 to 2015 it was between North West, South South and North West while between 2015 till date it is between North West and South West! The South East for instance, are part and parcel of the Nigerian project from day one till date; and they should be treated fairly just like other zones of the country.”

    ”They too deserve to get what others have gotten, because they have paid their dues in terms of contributions and consolidation of Nigeria.”

    “The region is being captured in all other sectors of the Nigerian economy based on federal character from 1999 till date, but are denied either of the two positions mentioned earlier.”

     

  • Why northern youths are supporting me for 2023 presidency – Orji Kalu

    Why northern youths are supporting me for 2023 presidency – Orji Kalu

    The Chief Whip of the Senate. Sen. Orji Kalu, on Friday in Abuja, said that northern groups were drumming support for him to vie for president in 2023 because they found him worthy to deliver good governance to the nation.

    Kalu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that credibility, honesty and the capacity to deliver endeared him to many northerners.

    NAN recalls that recently a coalition of northern groups under the auspices of Arewa Youths drummed support for the chief whip of the senate to become the next president of the country.

    The coalition described him as a presidential material with experience in the private sector, executive and legislative arms of government.

    The Arewa youths also urged the ruling All Progressives Congress to commence a process of adopting him as the sole candidate of the party.

    They stressed that Kalu’s managerial skill, experience and national appeal put him in the best position to rule Nigeria in 2023.

    According to Kalu, the feelings that I am loved in the north is not by accident.

    “What is responsible for that, is that I have known most of the presidents from the north for a long time, and I have had deep relationships, and am not sure I have disappointed in any of these relations.

    “And I have also known many northerners, and I have had so many businesses with them, I had to do politics with them and in terms of business, I am not sure I have disappointed anybody in terms of buying and selling.

    “I have always been myself.

    “They find me worthy because they know whatever I say, I will do, and whatever I say I will not do, I will not do it.

    “The northerners find out that I am sincere to them, and they are sincere to me.

    “So, for people who gave me opportunity to be their brother at no cost when I was nothing, and when I am somebody, is it good to leave them? The answer is no.

    “ I cannot leave them because I started with them, and I think staying with them is better than abandoning them, when I feel I am better,’’ Kalu said.

  • JUST IN: Northern youths demand immediate sack of CCT chair over ‘Biafran Boys’ Comment

    JUST IN: Northern youths demand immediate sack of CCT chair over ‘Biafran Boys’ Comment

    Northern Youths Council of Nigeria, (NYCN), has called on the President Mohammadu Buhari to sack the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar over it termed “alleged abuse of power.”

    Few days ago, the CCT boss, Umar was caught on viral video assaulting and causing injury to a security man named Clement Sargwak, a 22-year-old at the popular Banex Plaza wuse 2, Abuja, who had told him to park his car appropriately.

    This caused a national outcry where many stakeholders called for the removal of Umar. But in a swift attempt to justify his action, the CCT spokesman, said the guard was rude and called those that resisted him “Biafra Boys”.

    President of the NYCN, Isah Abubakar made available to thenewsguru.ng frowned at the CCT Chairman usage of “Biafran Boys” to describe Nigerians who are going about their lawful businesses.

    “…it’s an attempt to stir division in the country so that he would escape public scrutiny and the consequences of his action….” Abubakar said

    He added that “…assuming without conceding that the guard actually threatened the CCT Chairman, he (Tribunal chairman) shouldn’t have taken the law into his hands, noting that the conduct of the Judicial Officer has succeeded in inspiring millions of Nigerians to start taking the laws into their hands anytime they feel slighted.

    The youths, therefore, called on Danladi Umar to resign from his position as the CCT Chairman, stressing, “We have every reason to believe that anybody from Eastern Nigeria that appears before CCT can’t get justice, following the “Biafran” mindset he holds against them.”

    The youths appealed to the Inspector General of Police to immediately arrest and prosecute him (Danladi Umar) for assaulting a law-abiding Nigerian on his duty post.

    They called on the presidency to as a matter of urgency replaced Danladi as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal if he fails to resign voluntarily.

    The youths also called on the National Assembly to stop appropriating money to the Tribunal if Umar fails to resign and the presidency decides to retain him.

    The statement expect Danladi Umar to apologise to South Easterners who believe in unity of Nigeria and are working hard to guarantee same.

    “The members of Northern Youths Council of Nigeria will prepare for grand protest if the above demands are not met,” the statement said.

  • Northern youths warn politicians behind senseless killings, sponsored protests

    Northern youths warn politicians behind senseless killings, sponsored protests

    The group made up of about 35 CSOs and groups across the north said the youths are getting impatient with induced insecurities and partisan protests by those responsible for the carnage in the land.

    Speaking at a press conference on Sunday afternoon in Abuja, President, Comrade Abu Mohammed said these partisan merchants of violence and killings are contracted to cause unrest, agonies and bloodshed in parts of the north.

    According to the group, their misioon is to claim power from the backdoor, as typified by their constant sermons for the sack of serving Service Chiefs.

    After several failed attempts, the Northern youths revealed that they now resorted into discrediting President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration; blur the successes of the Service Chiefs to find public justification to compel Mr. President to sack his hard working and dedicated security team.

    The group, however, warned these disgruntled politicians to quit their “devilish agenda”.

    While throwing its weight behind the president, CNGG added that it is very much satisfied with the Service Chiefs, as a unified front is required to surmount the various security challenges.

  • Covid-19: Osun raises alarm over influx of northern youths hidden in trailers into State

    Covid-19: Osun raises alarm over influx of northern youths hidden in trailers into State

    Osun State government on Wednesday night raised the alarm over the influx of Zamfara youths into the state.

    The Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, Prince Adeyanju Abdullah Binuyo, who disclosed this in an interview, said the government was aware of the influx but urged the residents not to panic as adequate security measures have been put in place to arrest the situation.

    Binuyo further disclosed that all northern youths who came into the state by hiding in trucks carrying essential goods had been tracked down by the government and will immediately be sent back to their home states.

    He explained that the government had mandated the Amotekun Corps to effectively man all the entry points and ensure that all trucks bringing essential goods into the state are properly checked and monitored till they offload their goods and immediately escorted out of the state.

    According to Binuyo, “Government is aware of a huge influx of non-Osun residents into the state, especially from Zamfara. They were coming majorly through the Ondo axis, accompanying trucks that are carrying food materials purportedly to be sold around the South-West generally.

    “The intelligence that we’ve gathered in the last few days is such that they usually have two or a maximum of three people attached to a truck to assist in discharging the goods. But now we have sometimes 10 of them hidden among the goods.

    “Sometimes the trucks would stop and drop some of them off along Ife express road where they are received by their fellow northerners already resident in the state.

    “The government has been receiving a lot of such reports most especially now that Amotekun has been properly set up. This portends a great danger especially at a time like this when Osun is doing everything to avoid community transmission of COVID-19. This is not the time to be reckless and allow safety or security breaches at our borders.

    “The newly inaugurated Amotekun with the support of the police and army have been mandated to identify and man all the entry points, carry out proper checks on the trucks coming in the name of carrying food or relief materials and make sure that anyone found hiding in these trucks are immediately returned to their states.”

    The deputy chief of staff maintained that all travel to and from the state remained banned while the land boundaries would “be on lockdown round the clock”, adding that only “food, medical, beverages, petroleum, agriculture and construction supply trucks are exempted but they cannot have more than three persons per truck.”

    He assured that adequate security machinery had been put in place to ensure that trucks coming in are offloaded under close watch and immediately escorted out of the state.

    Continuing, Binuyo hinted that any security officers found to compromise at any boundary would be made to face the full wrath of the law as a deterrent to others while vehicles caught in violation of the orders would “be forfeited to the state and the passengers prosecuted”.

    He said, “as for the officers who compromise the borders, the government and the commissioner of police have agreed that any officer found wanting in this regard will be punished and used as a scapegoat.

     

  • 2019: Northern youths visit Obasanjo, insist Atiku must drop Obi as running mate

    Some youths under the aegis of Northern Youths Leaders Forum (NYLF) on Tuesday visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Abeokuta residence.
    The youths however left a strong message that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar review the choice of Peter Obi as his running mate or lose their support.
    The group, which prides itself as the apex body of 46 youth organisations in the North, threatened to mobilise its over six million members against the PDP and its presidential candidate, if Atiku failed to take its advice.
     
    The national chairman of the group, Comrade Elliot Afiyo, who spoke on Tuesday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after a meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday night, claimed that the body had been instrumental to the electoral victories of successive presidents since 1999. It claimed to have played a major role in incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory and it also played a critical role in the reconciliation between Atiku and Obasanjo.
     
    According to Afiyo, the group had equally intimated the former President of their position on Atiku’s running mate.
     
    It was not immediately clear yesterday what Obasanjo, who has just ended a long feud with Atiku and endorsed him, told the youths.
     
    He said the Obi’s choice was causing friction in the Southeast, which is largely responsible for the impending defection of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremandu, from the PDP.
     
    He added that Obi is strongly viewed as anti-north and a major sponsor of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
     
    According to him, over 70 percent of Emirs and other traditional rulers in the North will not support Atiku’s choice of running mate and maintained that PDP will fail to produce the next president, if the party eventually flies the Atiku/Obi ticket.
     
    Afiyo advised PDP to pick Atiku’s running mate from Southsouth. He suggested that either Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike or his Bayelsa State counterpart, Seriake Dickson, should be considered.
     
    Afiyo said: “Atiku is an experienced politician, and he knows what happened and as a northern Nigerian, he cannot ignore that group. I have spoken to almost all the Southeast governors and they told me that they remained in PDP because of their governorship elections and after their governorship elections, they will vote somewhere, not PDP.
     
    “And for us to ignore the stakeholders, it is political suicidal, so we must agree with that fact. That was what we told Obasanjo yesterday, that as far as we want to Atiku to succeed, he has no alternative than to drop Peter Obi and with the contention between Peter Obi’s group and Ike Ekeremadu’s group, it is not political convenient again to pick a running mate from the Southeast.
     
    Because whichever group you pick from, the other group will work against them.
     
    “Then, in the North, we consider Peter Obi as anti-North. This is no sentiment. Apart from the way he treated the northeners when he was the governor of Anambra State, we consider him as a bonafide member and major sponsor of IPOB.
     
    “In fact, 70 percent of emirs, traditional rulers from the North will not support Peter Obi as the vice president.
     
    “We don’t work on sentiment. As I have told you before, our group staked our lives in 2015 for Buhari. Personally, I was placed under house arrest for two weeks throughout the extension of the presidential election in 2015. I was fighting with the hope that Buhari would change things but there is a cabal and Buhari is completely caged.
     
    “Also, mind you, Atiku is not a saint, anyone that becomes president, there must be a cabal, so we need a vice president that will tell the cabal ‘no’ and Peter Obi doesn’t have the courage and boldness to be the vice president to challenge the authorities. But if Atiku fails to heed our warning, then, APC will win. Buhari will win hands down because we cannot support a failure. We will work for APC.”
     
    However, in a swift response, Obi’s spokesman Valemtine Obienyen dismissed the claims by the group. He said Obi’s choice had been well received.
     
    He added: “Why protest in Ota? Who is behind the protest? What does the project intend to achieve? Is it true that the planning of the protest was revealed almost a week ago? Why is it that when you have failed to see any fault in Obi, you are bent on inventing one? These are necessary questions which any sincere inquirer will deem appropriate to start with.
     
    He said: “ We do not need such distraction now. What we need is joining of hands together as we collectively seek solutions to our problems.
     
    “All those that knew Obi very well for what he did in the past, both in his private business and governance of Anambra State and thereafter, wrote eulogies of him. Researchers went to work. After careful and painstaking analyses of his past, they submitted that he is humble, hardworking, knowledgeable about the economy, aware of the myriad of problems of the country, detribalised and a believe in the unity of the country .
     
    Since leaving office, Obi has been busy visiting schools all over the country, from Cross River to Sokoto. Obi has been busy diagnosing the problems of the country and offering solutions. Obi has been busy preaching the unity of the country and how good governance will solve the problems in Nigeria, caused by cumulative years of leadership failure that make the protest under review suspicious and, in fact, an attempt to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it.”
     
     

  • Biafra: Order arrest of Nnamdi Kanu now, Northern group tells Osinbajo

    Biafra: Order arrest of Nnamdi Kanu now, Northern group tells Osinbajo

    The Arewa Youth Assembly, AYA, a northern group, has called on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to order the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.

    The group said Kanu has been violating his bail conditions and this could affect the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com recalls that Justice Binta Nyako had given stringent conditions that the embattled leader must abide by before and after leaving the prison premises. She particularly barred him (Kanu) from granting interviews, and being in gatherings of more than 10 persons, when she granted the IPOB leader bail.

    In a statement signed on Friday by its speaker, Mohammed Salihu and clerk, Desmond Minakaro, the group gave Mr. Osinbajo 10 days to order the arrest of the IPOB leader.

    The group threatened to shut down federal government activities in the Federal Capital Territory if the acting president fails to meet its demands.

    “The leadership of Arewa Youth Assembly has observed with keen interest the high level of lawlessness in the country and the silence of government on issues that are capable of disintegrating the country.

    “The level of insecurity and youth agitations call for concern by all well-meaning Nigerians. These threats have turned our country into a place of uncertainty and now a laughing stock within the international communities. Nigerians now live in a state of fear and trauma,” the group noted.

    The group said the government’s silence on Kanu’s activities was no longer golden.

    “The most surprising and amazing of these is that the federal government is watching while Nnamdi Kanu is creating a state within a state, threatening to stop Anambra state gubernatorial election, holding rallies in South-South and South-East and using provocative and inciting words, granting interviews to the press, which pose a threat to national unity and security.” the statement added.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Kanu during a rally in Enugu on Monday said he cannot be re-arrested because he has not flouted the bail conditions guiding his release from prison.

    Kanu noted that if anyone was not respecting court pronouncements, it was President Muhammadu Buhari and the Director General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura.

     

  • We’ll resist plans by Yoruba leaders to make Osinbajo President – Northern groups

    We’ll resist plans by Yoruba leaders to make Osinbajo President – Northern groups

    A Coalition of Arewa Youths has alleged that some Yoruba leaders are plotting to make acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo President of the country in the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari who is currently receiving treatment at a London hospital.

    The group, however, insisted that the North will complete its eight years tenure and resist any attempt to abort it.

    The warning was contained in a statement signed by Muhammed Shehu and Tanko Abdullahi.

    The group further revealed in the statement that the North ‘compensated’ the Yorubas by conceding the presidency to them (the Yorubas) in 1999 because of Abiola’s mandate which was annulled by the then Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB).

    It says despite all these efforts and much more, the Yorubas are beginning to ‘join forces’ with the Igbos by discrediting the person of President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2019 polls.

    The statement reads, “We are very much aware that all the attacks against President Muhammadu Buhari were planted in the media by the Yoruba and spread by southerners generally just to discredit the north in order to pave way for their son, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to become president.

    “But their plans will fail Insha Allah.

    “We shall resist every of such plans and ensure by all means possible, that the North completes its eight-year tenure and possibly even continue after then, and that the federal structure of Nigeria as it currently is, is not tampered with by secession mongers and their collaborators.”

    Describing Yoruba’s as the “most ungrateful stock in Nigeria,” the group said, “Having given power to the Yoruba on a platter of gold in 1999 as a way of compensating them for the June 12 saga, it is quite worrisome and unfortunate that they have lived up to their legendary reputation of backstabbing and betrayal by supporting the divisive calls for restructuring or dismemberment of the nation against the will and desire of the north.

    “We gave the late Chief MKO Abiola the mandate in 1993 but shortly after that, as it is with the Yoruba as a culture, they immediately started circling around Abiola plotting on how to emasculate the north and strip us of every access we had to the politics and economy of this nation.

    “They had also raised a secret army of their elites to carry out these sinister plans against the north if Abiola eventually became president. It was this army that was unleashed on the nation in the guise of NADECO during the June 12 impasse.

    “May we remind the Yoruba that without the willingness and magnanimity of the north, there was no way Abiola could have purportedly won that election and that all the Yoruba have now as assets in the south-west, especially Lagos, were given to them by our leaders out of our own usual magnanimity.

    “However, time and time again, the Yoruba have always turned their back on us whenever their support is needed. They have chosen to pitch tent with the Igbo this time around just to spite us, but we shall not succumb to their antics.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that recently, some prominent Northern youth associations after a joint meeting tagged ‘Kaduna Declaration’ issued a serious threat to Igbos residing in the region to vacate on or before October 1(Nigeria’s Independence Day) 2017 or face physical attacks.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that one of the major conveners of the meeting, Yerima Shettima has however promised to turn himself in when declared wanted by the security agencies.