Engage constructive, not childish criticism, Delta PDP rebukes APC

Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, Delta PDP Publicity Scribe.

The Delta State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP has frowned at the latest press statement issued by Mr. Sylvester Imonina, Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the State, titled: 'Operation Delta Hawk: Another Political Showmanship.- Delta APC', issued on 27th May 2020, describing the statement as childish and misplaced, especially at this time when Delta State is battling the deadly scourge of Coronavirus ravaging the entire world with fatal consequences.

Delta PDP Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, in a response entitled “Let your criticism be constructive, not childish, Delta PDP chides APC,” to the APC statement, it rebuked the opposition party in the State for its penchant to constantly invoke diversionary, anti-human criticism at critical times and for displaying crass ignorance about the workings of governance, even as he pointed out that Governor Okowa is not a leader given to showmanship and while the Delta Governor is seriously engaged in efforts to curtail the spread of Covid-19 in the State, all other matters of governance, including the security situation, are being handled with the usual strategic, methodical acumen and meticulous articulation which have defined the Governor's impressive and widely acclaimed successes over the years.

Dr. Osuoza said: "Once more, we are compelled to respond to a Press Statement by the opposition APC in the State, which is not only childish and diversionary but sadly reflects again, the ignorance of the party's handlers in the workings of government.

"Let us inform the APC for the umpteenth time, that President Muhammadu Buhari has deliberately refused to sign the bill on the establishment of Vigilantes Group of Nigeria, already passed by the National Assembly, into law. Constitutionally, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria has been put under the supervision of the Nigerian police, so all dealings with the group must be through the Police Command. 

"It is on record that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has constantly emphasised the administration's support and accommodation of Vigilantes through the appropriate channels, on numerous occasions, in recognition of the constitutional provisions regulating their operations and this is a simple matter the APC as an opposition party should be aware of, instead of spewing pathetic tales about the situation of Vigilante groups in the State.

"Again, we are also deeply disappointed to note that the APC, from its press statement, is obviously out of tandem with the time and reality of events at this time. Perhaps it is the effect of the coronavirus lockdowns that has disoriented and dislocated the APC publicists, but it is worth reminding them that the Delta State Government announced the setting up of 'Operation Delta Hawk on May 19th, 2020 and 'not about two weeks ago' dating from their May 27th Press statement.

'By way of information too, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, just a few days after announcing the plans for 'Operation Delta Hawk' inaugurated two committees on community policing in the State viz;  the State Community Policing Advisory Committee (SCPAC) and State Community Policing Committee (SCPC), with the clear mandate to deepen the security architecture in the State so that insecurity issues can be nipped in the bud and also to support in bolstering community policing to check criminal activities and assist the Police and other security agencies to provide and ensure the sustainability of a crime-free society.

And to set the records straight and debunk any insinuations of not reaching out to committee members, here is the comprehensive list of the composition of both security committees: 

Members of SCPAC are the Chairman of Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers, Obi Emmanuel Efeizomor II (co-Chairman); Commissioner of Police, Hafiz Inuwa (co-Chairman); Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Jallo (Nigerian Army), Mr. Ademola Adebiyi (DSS), Cmdt Chike Ikpeamaonwu (NSCDC), Ocheja Ameh (FRSC) and Comptroller Ibrahim Liman (Immigration).

Others are Mr. Friday Ovie (Nigeria Correctional Service), Prof. Epiphany Azinge (Rep. Delta North),

AIG Felix Ogbudu (retd) (Rep Delta South), Chief James Omeru (Rep. Delta Central), Alhaji Biliamin Emiko (NSCIA), Rev. Ejiniewe Joseph (CAN), and Amb. Prosper Ojoh (PCRC).

The SCPC has The Asagba of Asaba, Obi (Prof.) Chike Edozien as Co-Chairman, Mr. Mamman Rijau, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Department of Operations (Co-Chairman); Alhaji Billamin Emiko (NSCIA), Rev. Ejiniewe Joseph (CAN), Marshall Prosper Ojoh (PCRC), Dr. Kehinde Taiga (Civil Society Organisation), Comrade Goodluck Oforbruku (Labour Unions), Mrs. Agatha Ajede (NCWS), Comrade Kelly Umukoro (NYCN), Barr. Fred Erulu-Ede (NBA), and Comrade Michael Ikeogwu (NUJ)

From the above, therefore, one wonders where and how the APC came to the conclusion that Governor Okowa's robust efforts at battling the insecurity situation are 'showmanship'. Indeed Governor Okowa himself has made it clear that despite the steady progress made by his administration in partnership with relevant security agencies to ensure the peace and safety of individuals, communities and public property in the State, there is a compelling need to continually deepen and expand our security architecture in such a manner that they are able to preempt and arrest any untoward development.

Finally, on this issue of "Operation Delta Hawk'" we will refer the APC to the Press Briefing by the Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Chiedu Ebie, in which he comprehensively outlined the structure, composition, and mandate of the new security outfit, as well as the comprehensive interviews granted to a national Newspaper. The Press conference was widely reported in both the mainstream and online media and the interview is already being serialised in parts in the Newspaper. The APC Publicists would do well to live up to their responsibility by actually reading the entire reports detailing the decision to set up a security outfit, instead of just the headlines.

There's no doubt that the last three months or thereabouts have been very tasking and challenging, not just with the life and death scourge posed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, but also of emerging security risks confronting the Country as a whole and especially the Southern States, with the escalating fatal attacks of suspected herdsmen on residents of our communities and the disturbing influx of able-bodied youths and 'almajirai' into its territories. 

The Delta State government has responded swiftly and robustly to the twin occurrences with mandated comprehensive public health and personal hygiene guidelines and advisories endorsed by the medical authorities, operational directives for all sectors to curtail community spread of the pandemic and the strict enforcement and monitoring of border closures of all entry points into the State. In the fullness of time therefore, the form, structure, and operations of "Operation Delta Hawk', will manifest for the APC doubting Thomases to behold and applaud. 

For the avoidance of doubt, it is important to inform the APC that the setting up of a Security outfit like "Operation Delta Hawk'" cannot be compared to the convening of their numerous failed reconciliation meetings, where they rush headlong into calling people together for a meeting, without having a clear cut direction of where they are heading or how to achieve their aim. It is little wonder therefore that all their reconciliation jamborees, after much press hype, have collapsed like a house built on a sandy foundation and they want Governor Okowa and the PDP to behave like them? Never!

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa (Ekwueme) and the PDP are more articulate, intelligent, and focused to rush into serious policy decisions that involve the protection of the lives and properties of Deltans. The Okowa administration is not only a responsive government that has continued to address emerging and emergency situations, by taking concrete steps in protecting the lives and properties of Deltans, but it is also a proactive, pragmatic and focused government that is fully committed to building a stronger Delta for all Deltans. 

We urge Deltans to continue to obey all the safety directives to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the State; Wash their hands constantly, with soap and running water, maintain social distancing and make the wearing of face mask compulsory now that the lockdown has been relaxed, as well as obey other directives and advisories. Covid-19 is real, but together we can defeat the pandemic by the Grace of God. Amen.

God Bless Delta State.

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza

State Publicity Secretary

PDP, Delta State.

Insecurity: Delta North monarchs summon elected subjects to a meeting

HRM Obi (Dr.) Emmanuel Efeizomor II, Obi of Owa Kingdom.

Traditional rulers in Delta North today, Friday May 29, 2020 summoned its elected sons and daughters at the National Assembly and the House of Assembly to a meeting with them to tell them what, as elected legislators, they are doing to bring an end to the challenge of insecurity that is plaguing communities of the Senatorial District.

The traditional rulers who met at the palace of the Obi of Owa, Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor 11, Obi of Owa, who is also the Chairman, Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers stated that the summon to their elected subjects in the National Assembly and the state House of Assembly became necessary because they want to know the things these representatives of the people are doing to help ease the insecurity situation that has become daunting in the Delta North communities.

Obi Efeizomor who spoke at the end of the monarch’s closed door meeting told the audience that included journalists and vigilante men involved in community policing, thanked the vigilante men for the enormous work they are doing, and commended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa also for his efforts at containing the spate of insecurity being experienced by the people.

The monarch said: “Delta State is a peace loving state and we are not going to war with anybody.

“Those who have put up camps in our bushes are doing so against our wishes. And we are calling on such people to come out from the bush and come and live in the community where the people live.

“Those who love Delta State, those who want the people of Delta state to live in peace, this is the time for them to come out and show them their support.”

In attendance at the meeting of the traditional rulers were: HRM Obi Emmanuel Efeizomor II, obi of Owa Kingdom; HRM Obi Kikachukwu of Ubulu-Unor;HRM Barrister Jonathan Kenegide, the Ogene of Ibedeni; HRM Obi Osadume II, Obi of Igbodo Kingdom; HRM Obi Charles Anyasi II, the Obi of Idumuje-Unor; HRM Obi David Ogbudu, the Obi of Atuma; HRM Obi Chukwumalieze, Obi of Onicha-Ugbo; HRM Obi Henry Jegbefume, the Obi of Akumazi; HRM Obi Louis Nwaoboshi, the Obi of Ibusa; HRM Dein Benjamin Keagborekuzi, the Dein of Agbor Kingdom; HRM Obi Ijeh Jideuwa, Obi of Issele-Azagba; HRM Obi Nduka Ezeagwuna, the Obi of Isele-Uku Kingdom and HRM Michael Mbanefo Ogbolu, the Ugoani of Okpanam.

The summon to the elected legislators by the monarchs is coming at a time observers have written off the legislators for what is perceived as their lukewarm and seeming nonchalance to the plight of the people that elected them into their positions as legislators in the wake of the suffocating challenge of insecurity, kidnappings and other crimes that the people of the communities they represent are passing through.

The electorates are displeased with the legislators who neither bring motions on insecurity for debate on the floors of their chambers, neither have they even supported calls by the governor for the intervention of the presidency in the matter.

To observers, the legislators only concern themselves with pursuing personal interests while those by whose grace they are in their legislative chambers live in agony of insecurity.

5th anniversary: Reps Minority Leader applauds Okowa for demonstrating exceptional leadership

Governor Okowa of Delta State.

The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu has eulogized the Governor of Delta State, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, saying that he has demonstrated sensitivity and proactive leadership in the administration of the state.

In his message of congratulations to the state Governor on the fifth anniversary of his administration in Delta State, Hon. Elumelu noted that Senator Okowa has added great value to the general development and outlook of the entire state, to the admiration and endorsement of the people of the state.

He said that in Governor Okowa's five years on the saddle; he has prudently used the resources available to his administration for the massive transformation of every nook and cranny of the State, adding that his maturity in leadership is uncommon.

"I must commend his Excellency the Governor for his sincerity and for being proactive in the administration of our dear state for the past five years. Our people across the three senatorial districts are happy.

“In your first tenure, the sincerity in the implementation of your SMART Agenda was unprecedented and now in your second tenure, you are sensitively meticulous on all fronts in making the State Strong with your “Stronger Delta” mantra,” the Minority Leader stated.

While commending the people of the state for their support and cooperation with the Okowa administration in the past five years, Hon. Elumelu said that the excellent performance of the Governor has made Delta State proud amongst comity of States in Nigeria.

"On behalf of the entire people of our dear state, I heartily congratulate His Excellency, Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa and members of the State administration on this auspicious occasion. My prayer is that God will lead you to finish strong," the Minority Leader concluded.

Interstate travel ban: Reps frown at violation as Elumelu, others condemn security agencies' complicity in a motion

Hon. Ndudi Elumelu in the Green Chambers.

  

The House of Representatives has expressed concern over violation of the Presidential order banning interstate travels and the nationwide lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing security agencies of complicity in the violation of the Presidential directive.

The House has therefore directed its relevant committees to investigate the complicity of the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the violation and come up with better ways of curbing identified lapses.

Adopting a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Ndudi Elumelu and nine others, the House called on the government to establish a special task force to implement the interstate lockdown.

Leading the debate on the motion, Elumelu recalled that the Federal Government imposed the nationwide lockdown after due consultations with state governors who agreed on the need to ban non-essential interstate passenger travels until further notice, as well as the need for an overnight curfew, excepting movement for essential services and controlled interstate movement of goods and services from producers to customers.

Part of the regulations, he said, also included the mandatory use of face mask in public places as well as maintaining physical distancing and personal hygiene and restrictions on social and religious gatherings.

He lamented that while the restrictions on interstate is supposedly on-going, Nigerians are assailed daily with troubling images and videos of people traveling across the length and breadth of different states of the country, which is a clear violation on the presidential order on travel bans.

According to him, it is now common knowledge that on several occasions, state governments have intercepted trailer loads of people moving in the middle of night and sneaking into other states in this lockdown period, whereas there are supposed to be security agents at states borders implementing the presidential lockdown orders

Elumelu also expressed concern that at a time like this when movement is being restricted worldwide there are videos of massive movements of travelers mostly smuggled in trucks carrying food items or livestock from one part of the country to another, this a complete drawback to the COVID-19 containment effort.

He drew the attention of his colleagues to reports of complicity of security agents who are supposed to be enforcers to the compliance of the orders of Mr. President on the interstate lockdown.

He stressed that the presidential task force on COVID-19 has raised an alarm over what it described as increased level of interstate movement, worsened by the dubious concealment of people in food carrying vehicles, adding that if not immediately curtailed, such habit will further increase the number of COVID-19 cases to an alarming high, that can put the country in a precarious state.

PDP expresses worry over Buhari loans

President Buhari.

The Peoples democratic party (PDP) has again criticised the penchant of President Muhammadu Buhari’ administration to resort to borrowing, even as it expressed worry that the attitude has put Nigeria on the auction market.

The party made the criticism in a statement in Abuja, signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.

Full text of the statement reads:

May 28, 2020

Press Statement

Buhari Loans: Nigeria Is Now On the Auction Market – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alarms that with the volume of foreign loans being accumulated by President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC), our nation and her people have been placed on the international auction market.

The party said President Buhari’s moves to take a fresh $5.513 billion (N2.1 trillion) loan in addition to an earlier $22.79 billion (N8.5trillion), the size of 2020 budget, without operable repayment plans, will totally compromise the fiscal integrity of our nation and open her up for economic annexation by foreign creditors. This is in addition to N850 billion from the capital market.

It is more alarming that the Buhari government, in this fiscal year, cannot muster the capacity to harness the huge resources available in our country to generate even half of the sum of its own budget, but has been going cap in hands to shop for foreign loans.

The PDP expressed fears that with this situation, the APC administration is practically driving our nation to the brinks while exposing Nigerians to the risk of modern day slavery by mortgaging our future to economic appropriation by foreign interests.

Already the situation has created apprehensions, anxiety and trepidation among the citizens, particularly the youths, who are now scared about their future and the survival of our nation under the APC.

It is even more distressing that this administration cannot account for the loans it has taken so far. In spite of the deluge of loans, the lives of the ordinary Nigerians, on whose behalf they claim to be amassing these debts, have become worse than the APC and Buhari met them in 2015.

Painfully, even the savings made by previous administrations have been opened up for pillaging by APC leaders and the cabal in the Buhari Presidency

The PDP calls on Nigerians to look beyond our primordial differences and unite in speaking against this accumulation of debts. It is no longer about political party affiliations, creed, ethnicity, class or age. We all must unite in one voice to save our nation from an imminent collapse.

Our party holds that rather than mortgaging our nation to foreign interests, President Buhari should immediately cut the size of his government, slash its over bloated budget, clip its luxuries, curb unbridled corruption in his administration and make haste to recover the N14 trillion that was stolen by APC leaders under his watch.

If the N14 trillion stashed away by APC leaders and the cabal is recovered, our nation will not be in need of these humongous foreign loans.

The PDP also urges the National Assembly to stand on the side of the people and save the nation by immediately using its legislative instrument to check this unbridled appetite for foreign loans.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary

OPINION - Scrapping of ex- Governors’ pension: The Hubris of Governor Uzodinma’s new populism

 

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imos State.

By Jonathan Agu

I am not a regular commentator on happenings in Imo State. I stopped commenting on the affairs of the state more than a decade ago, after witnessing the pillorying of a government that should have taken the state to greater and enviable heights. But recent events have compelled me to pay attention to the brewing danger in the state. It is a pity how a once vibrant and promising state has been turned to a banana republic, and, as usual, Imo political elite maintain unedifying silence. Leaders in Imo State have the penchant and reputation to be unnecessarily silent in the midst of serious challenges, but when things turn sour, they will start pointing fingers. That is not what Igbo people are known for. The Igbo man is known for his courage and outspokenness against blatant evil.

On Friday, May 21, the media space got busy with the news that Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State had assented to the bill abolishing the pensions for former governors, deputy governors, speakers and deputy speakers in the state. As usual and out of ignorance, some citizens joined the bandwagon of condemning the pensions for this category of public office holders in the state. The law that provided pensions for former governors in the state was enacted during the tenure of Chief Achike Udenwa. I used to run a business along Okigwe Road at the time. I was conversant with what was happening in the state. Two decades after the law came into being, Governor Uzodimma has abolished it on excuses that are totally bizarre. It appears that Governor Uzodimma knew about the sensitivity of what he was doing and what he wants to achieve. That was why he scurried for justification for his new gambit, deliberately designed to shore up his fast dwindling image.

Governor Uzodimma claimed he abolished the payment of pensions to former governors on two major grounds. The first was his claim that the law providing for pensions for the category of former office holders listed above is fraudulent, unconstitutional and unacceptable to him. The second ground was his baseless assumption on how long the former public office holders could live – as if he wished them death – and the baseless fear that the state might have about 20 former governors and others in that category to pay pensions to. “At the age our Governors and Speakers are leaving office, it will not be out of place to assume that many of them will be alive and kicking in the next 15 years or more. This will mean that, by then, the state will have more than 20 governors and Speakers qualified for Pensions and Privileges”, said the Governor.

Contrary to the Governor’s assertion, the law that provided pensions for former governors and their deputies in the state was not a jamboree. Sitting governors do a lot in rendering service to their people. They do what no one else could do. For example, most people do not know that a death sentence passed on a criminal must have the imprimatur of the governor of the state before it could be executed. The reason why many criminals who have got death sentence from the courts across the country are still in jail is because their governors shy away from appending their signatures on the court verdict for years. They fidget at the thought that someday they would leave office and become defenseless like the ordinary person. Then the criminals might regroup and come for their heads. On the other hand, Nigerians have this erroneous views about their governors. Most Nigerians believe that a former governor must have stolen so much money to keep him in comfort, all his lifetime. This view leaves these former public office holders open to attack by criminals. Even while out of office, former governors continue to render services to their states, oftentimes on pro bono. The pensions for former governors, therefore, makes provision for their security, driver, gardener, steward and for medicals. If adequate provision is not made for their lives after service to their state, these former governors might be killed or die of one medical condition or the other.

By the way, how much is the pension of a former governor in Imo State? How many former governors receive pensions in Imo State? How much does their pension amount to in a year? Have the former governors been paid their pensions in the last 9 years? Answers to these questions will help Imo people to know whether the claim of N1.3BN for the pensions of the former governors is true or a blatant lie. I don’t really think that Governor Uzodimma believes that the pensions for the former governors amounted to N1.3BN annually. This figure is outrageous and exists in the imagination of the person who conjured it up. From the copy of the law before me now on this matter, a former governor in Imo State received N600,000 as pension  while his deputy got N300,000. A former governor in Imo State takes home N7.2M annually and that takes care of his security and personal aides. Even if four former governors were drawing pensions, in ten years it would amount N288M, not N1.3BN as is being bandied by the Uzodinma regime.. The claim that the former governors received N1.3BN pension is, in my view, a classical example of giving a dog a bad name, in order to hang it, and setting his predecessors up for public lynching, harm  and opprobrium. This is nothing but destructive politics, designed to achieve meaningless populism. Since 2011, how many former governor in Imo State have been paid their pensions ? At the moment there  are only two former governors in the state that qualify for pension: Chief Achike Udenwa and Dr. Ikedi Ohakim. Former governor Okorocha has not been captured yet because he is a serving Senator. The immediate past governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, is also not in the loop yet for reason of his ouster from office. So what are we talking about?

Imo State pays far less in pensions to former governors than my state, Abia. It also pays far less than Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra states. Yet, these states have not abolished the payment of pensions for their former governors. What motivated Governor Uzodimma to rush to append his signature on a bill that callously dumped pensions for former governors in his state? What was the motivation for sending an executive bill to the State Assembly which received both first and second readings same day without the opportunity of lawmakers studying the implications of the bill? Reports show that the bill was passed by the House the second day, and was rapidly signed only few hours after. No consultations and no public hearing were conducted or allowed. No law in the history of democracy had travelled this fast, as fast as this one. The rush with which the pensions for former governors was abrogated in Imo State raises serious doubt about the real intentions of the governor and the lawmakers. With the kind of stories emerging in the media about the Imo State House of Assembly for years now, it will not be shocking to hear that just six persons passed the bill into law. The state is notorious for such rascality. With the Speaker, Chiji Collins, battles to save his name and office following his alleged certificate forgery scandal, he could do anything to remain relevant.

If the motivation for the abrogation of pensions for former governors in the state was to gain popularity, why did the governor not rather do what Governor Ben Ayade did recently by excluding the ordinary from taxation. If the motivation was to save costs, why not do what Governor el-Rufai did in Kaduna State by reducing the number of state ministries and commissioners and other appointees. Kaduna State used to have 18 ministries, but they have been reduced to 8. In Governor Uzodimma’s Imo State, the number of ministries have rather skyrocketed to 24. And there are over 100 special advisers and senior special advisers. The cumulative cost of one commissioner in Imo State in a month, for example can write off the annual pensions of the former governors. It seems to me, therefore, that political warfare, rather than cutting costs, was the primary reason for the abrogation of pensions for former governors. Governor Uzodimma is somewhat obsessed with pursuing a political vendetta against his predecessor, and in doing this he seems not to weigh his actions. By abrogating pensions for former governor in the state, he has declared war against those who contributed to making him governor: the Buharis, Tinubus, Oshiomholes, etc. He has also, perhaps inadvertently, declared war against his colleagues at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and the Southeast Governors’ Forum (SGF).

If Governor Uzodimma wants to impress Imo people, he has more serious things to do and give more attention to. Thinking big and planning big are better than playing to the gallery. Adapalm Palm Nigeria Ltd, for example, is one area that needs urgent attention. I am not persuaded by the shenanigan going on in that palm industry. Planted in 1974, Adapalm is still a 4,000 hectare investment with no meaningful production and no noticeable transformation. Efforts to revamp that industry in 2010 was opposed by the political class who like to play to the gallery, as well. While Imo state still wallows in confusion of what to do, Cross River State has overtaken it with 75,000 hectares of palm plantation. Rivers State which used to have about 2,000 hectares of palm in 2011 now has 35,000 hectares of palm plantation. As I write this, Cross River State has become famous for its deep-sea port investment, a similar project that was destroyed in Imo. The garment factory in Cross River State is also an exemplary project. The list goes on. In the next 2 years, these  states may no longer depend on federal allocations to improve their the quality of life of their people. Where does Imo State stand in all this?

It is worrisome that while some governors are taking proactive steps to position their states, Imo State is still playing their usual morbid politics and blame game. By this insensitive abrogation of pension for former governors, Uzodimma is destroying democracy in the country. I am not a lawyer but i am certain that the court would easily throw away this obnoxious, vindictive and not well thought-out action. The political elite in the state should, therefore, not stand akimbo, folding their hands and watch the daylight rape of their state by policies that cannot stand the test of time. They should not repeat the mistakes they made during the Okorocha administration which absolutely made Imo state a huge joke and a laughing stock. This is really how tyrants are made.

·        Engr. Agu is an Entrepreneur based in Owerri.

Jihad, imminent in Southern Nigeria, Gen. Ikponmwen alerts

Brig. Gen. Idada Ikponmwen (rtd).

•Wants govs, traditional rulers to wake up

•Says mass migration of Fulani youths, ominous

A former Provost Marshall of the Nigeria Army, Brig. Gen. Idada Ikponmwen (rtd), has warned governors of the 17 states in Southern Nigeria of an imminent invasion and overrun of their states by Fulani jihadists, if they failed to secure their states.

Ikponmwen, a lawyer and security strategist, said the on-going mass movement of able bodied youths from the far North to the South was an ominous sign that something sinister might be in the offing.

In an exclusive chat with Sunday Telegraph, he said that the influx of these people especially in recent weeks of the lockdown, night curfew and nationwide ban on interstate travels, had become worrisome and should not be treated with levity.

Ikponmwen observed that over the years, people from the Northern part of Nigeria had had free access to the Southern part of the country without anyone raising eyebrows but said that things have changed with the sustained terrorism and banditry going on the North and the recent threat by the Boko Haram to launch attacks in Southern Nigeria.

According to him, before now, Fulani herdsmen and Hausa traders have been part and parcel of many states in the South as they conducted their trade in cattle and agricultural produces. He, however, said that the current mass migration was different because it involved mostly young men who have no identifiable businesses to transact or wares to sell but were moving down to the South in a suspicious manner.

“These mass movements cannot be for nothing. It must be preparatory to another jihad. In the first one (jihad) by Usman Dan Fodio in 1804, they didn’t even prepare for it as much as this. This one, they have been preparing for it.  I think that they are ready and that is why they have been bringing their men down to the Southern region. Before you know it, a Sarkin Hausawa or Sarkin Muslimi will take over your place. That is their plan. Nobody needs to tell you that any more. It is the truth.

“They want to make Nigeria the home of all Fulani’s from everywhere in Africa. It’s so evident that that is what they want to do. It’s very unfortunate that our people are still sleeping while this army of occupation has surrounded us wanting to take over our homeland,” he said.

Ikponmwen acknowledged that under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, every citizen has right to live and do business in any part of Nigeria, but said that such a constitutional provision must not be upheld to a ridiculous level where a group of citizens could claim right to move into any part of Nigeria for ulterior motives. He said the right to free movement and liberty to settle in any part of Nigeria must be predicated on good conscience and desire to engage in legitimate business.

“It is a very worrisome issue, but when you begin to talk about it some people will start telling you it is one Nigeria, there is freedom of movement and you can reside anywhere. All that is b…t because even my own grandfather lived and worked in the North but he didn’t go there with the intent to seize the land of his hosts.

“He worked with the Colonial Administration as a Chief Clerk and he and his colleagues were invited because their services were needed in the region in those days. He worked in Yola, Zaria, Maiduguri and so many other places in the Northern region.

“In the current movement of these Fulani people down to the South, it is not on the invitation of  anybody, there are no new factories opening anywhere in the South where they are going to be employed and they are just forcing it down the throat of the people.

“They are shipping them down in trailers and we are made to understand many of them are trained fighters. There are also reports of arms and ammunitions being smuggled into the region. So it is not a question of you can live anywhere you want and you then force yourself on other people,” he said.

Ikponmwen urged political leaders and traditional rulers of  Southern extraction to shun political and ethnic differences among them in order to work together to secure their people and their land from all forms of aggression.  He said that individual interests have created  an atmosphere of silence and inaction among leaders in the South on many issues threatening the existence of the country.

“Some of the governors were aided into power by some Northerners, precisely Hausa/Fulani Muslims from that part of the country. So how would you now expect such governors to talk about resisting the invasion of the South by the youths from the North? Some of our governors cannot even talk about stopping open grazing because if they do, it will touch on the interests of their sponsors.

“For so many years, our people have been complaining about the menace of the herdsmen and what they’ve done to our farms and the livelihood of our communities. But you discover that some of our political leaders cannot openly condemn it even when we all know that  many lives have been lost to the farmers/herders clashes in nearly every state,” he said.

Ikponmwen said that many people living in Southern Nigeria want the country to stand as one, united entity but it must be  a Nigeria  that  will serve the interest of everybody and not an entity where some groups appropriate it as their personal estate and treat others as slaves of a conquered territory.

He reiterated the demand by the political elite in the South for the restructuring, reordering and repositioning of Nigeria to make provision for a decentralised policing system that would tackle security threats promptly and more effectively.

Source: https://www.newtelegraphng.com/jihad-imminent-in-southern-nigeria-gen-ikponmwen/

PRESS RELEASE - May 29: Avoid false performance claims, apologise for failure, PDP tells Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari.

May 27, 2020

Press Statement

May 29: Avoid False Performance Claims, Apologise for Failure, PDP Tells Buhari

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counsels President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid false performance claims and empty promises on the celebration of May 29 Inauguration Day.

The party says President Buhari should rather apologize for the tragic failures of his administration for wrecking our once robust and cohesive nation, imposing hardship and creating acute despondency across the country in the last five years.

The PDP stresses that President Buhari should also address the manifest manipulations, bloodletting, intimidation, coercions, abuse of power and human right violations that characterized the 2019 Presidential elections as such is the only way to achieve a healing in our national polity.

Our party further advises President Buhari against living in denial of the ugly fact that his administration and his dysfunctional All Progressives Congress (APC) had deserted, betrayed and abandoned underprivileged Nigerians, particularly our youth, after the APC deceived them with false promises to grab power in 2015.

The PDP further urges Mr. President not to allow his handlers to push him into sugarcoating the colossal failures of the last one year, which had been characterized by humongous corruption, worsened insecurity and economic hardship, while the President, who had promised to lead from the front, recedes deeper into the luxury and safety of Aso Presidential villa

Our party calls on President Buhari not to give room for presidential advisers to further ridicule his office by making him read another windy speech that would be laced with vacuous promises, doctored performance claims and myriads of incorrect and unsupported statistics that would end up being at total variance with the harsh realities on ground.

Mr. President should know that he cannot use the COVID-19 pandemic as excuse for failure as his administration had since lost grip of the security and economic situation in our country even before the outbreak of the scourge.

Nigerians hope that President Buhari would always recall that the PDP handed over a robust economy which was rated as one of the fastest growing in the world, only for him to bring our nation to its knees as the world’s poverty capital and a debtor country within a space of five years.

President Buhari should use the occasion to reflect that his administration had ruined our productive sector with harsh policies leading to closure of businesses, dearth in foreign and domestic investments and acute unemployment, with over 40 million job losses.

Mr. President should contemplate on the alarm raised by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, that unemployment rate under this administration will hit a devastating 33.5 percent this year.

Mr. President should also reflect that under his watch, our naira which was valued at N160 to a dollar under the PDP, fell to N500 and then to the current N390; that his administration increased the price of fuel from where the PDP left it at N87 per liter to N145 and only reduced it to N125 after much pressure from our party; that his government increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5% to 7.5%, despite the attendant spike in costs of food and essential services.

We urge Mr. President to pause and ponder over the fact that whereas the PDP administration paid off foreign debts and grew our economy; his administration has continued to accumulate debts and depleting our foreign financial instruments with reckless abandon.

It is appalling that in the last five years, the Buhari Presidency cannot point to any landmark development project it initiated and completed in any part of the country.

Instead, what we get is a chaotic federal executive that resorts to recycling of imaginary achievements and attempting to appropriate PDP’s projects in critical sectors of our economy.

The PDP therefore urges President Buhari to align with the expectations of Nigerians by apologizing for his failures and getting more competent hands to manage the affairs of our nation in the remaining three years of his administration.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary

Burnt Ogbeogonogo Market: Reps Minority Leader commiserates with victims

Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, Minority Leader, House of Representatives.

The Minority Leader of the House of Representative, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu has expressed shock over the burnt section of the Ogbeogonogo Market in Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday.

In a statement on Wednesday, 27th May, Hon. Elumelu described the incident as unfortunate, noting that the market reputed to be the biggest in Delta North, has remained a symbol of the tradition, culture and economic wellbeing of the people of Oshimili South and Delta State in general.

Hon. Elumelu commiserated with the victims of the fire outbreak and said the incident came at a time when the people are battling with the ugly effect of covid-19, even as he commended the Governor of the State, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa for his quick show of concern and response   

The Minority Leader who represents Aniocha/Oshimili federal constituency in the House of Representatives also said that he appreciated God for the fact that no life was lost in the inferno, saying that once there is hope, there will always be a way out of every circumstance.

"There is no doubt that you have lost goods and properties worth millions of naira, I sincerely thank God that no life was lost. It is an unfortunate occurrence and I deeply sympathize with each and every one of you.

"Let me also thank our dear Governor, His Excellency, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for commiserating with the victims as well as his promise to assist them to get going," the Minority Leader stated.

He however promised to liaise with the relevant authority in the state with a view to helping in cushioning the effect of the fire incident on the victims.