Warri, Uvwie, environs drainage: Contractors get one week order to make impact

Comrade O. Macaulay,Director General of the of Warri/Uvwie and Environs
Special Area Development Agency (WUEDA)

Delta State Government has charged contractors handling the phases one and two of the master drainage project that cut across Warri, Uvwie and environs to show more commitment to achieving the set target.

Specifically, the contracting firms – Levant and CCECC, have been enjoined to hasten up their activities taking advantage of the dry season that is just ending.

The Director General of the of Warri/Uvwie and Environs Special Area Development Agency (WUEDA), Comrade. Ovuozourie Macaulay gave the charge while inspecting the various sites handled by the contractors.

He cautioned that if the advantage of the delay in the rains was not taken to its maximum benefits, it would be difficult to make much impact by May, June and July when the rain starts pouring without ceasing.

"This month of March and April is what you have left to work effectively, as it will be difficult to work well in May. So utilize the period you are now to work in order to achieve maximum result before the rains which is already threatening to set in," he stated.

Macaulay who is a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) urged the contractors to ensure that "the integrity of the job is protected; I don't want half hazard job."

He stressed that the water hyacinth weeds, plastic bottles and various dirt flooding the canals must be removed, so that it would be obvious that work has been done.

In particular, he expressed displeasure at the inability of CCECC to commence work and gave one week to make appreciable impact on site.

Also, the WUEDA DG urged the communities to take responsibility for the dumping of refuse on the various canals that were being opened up asking them to rise up to the challenge and ensure that negative habits are checked.

He disclosed that henceforth he will not sit in his office waiting for site engineers report, rather he will be coming out to see the level of work done, adding that the inspection of the sites has revealed much.  

Speaking on behalf of Ajamimogha Okere Community, Mr. Barry O. Woods said that the community is set to give the contractors the conducive environment for them to do their job.

The Superintendent Manager, Levant Construction, Mr. William Taylor said that they are in preparation stage, clearing up the canal to ease the drainage, adding that the observations made so far by the DG will be addressed accordingly, and affirmed that they have good cooperation from the community.

In his response, the project Manager, CCECC Nig Ltd, Mr. Zhao Shaochao which is yet to mobilize to site, assured the DG that they will mobilize to site within the week.

The various sites visited by the DG on inspection are Ajamimogha bridge, Esisi bridge, Okere bridge and Ogboru bridge. 

Thereafter Levant Construction yard and that of CCECC was also visited by the DG.

House of Reps: Elumelu seeks establishment of Federal University of technology in Asaba; bill passes 2nd reading, referred to committee

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

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, passed to second reading a Bill seeking for the establishment of a Federal University of Technology in Asaba, Delta State.

It is sponsored by the Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, is to provide quality technical education amongst others, for teeming youths of the region and Nigeria in general.

It is titled ” A bill for an Act to Provide for Establishment of Federal University of Technology, Asaba, Delta State, for the Promotion and Development of Technical Education in Nigeria and to make Comprehensive Provisions for its Due Management and Administration; and for Other Related Matters”.

Hon. Ndudi Elumelu moved for the second reading of the Bill and was seconded by Rep. Kingsley Chinda at the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

Leading the debate Elumelu stated that the Bill, which has 29 clauses and divided into five parts seeks to establish the Federal University of Technology Asaba, Delta State, which will be charged with the responsibility to implement training for the development of technologist in the country, measure, evaluate students and make comprehensive provisions for its management and administration among others.

According to him, the desire for the university is to provide more opportunities and create a level playing field for all Nigerians seeking to gain technical education in the region which is not only the bedrock of development but also in line with the recommendations of the United Nations Educational Scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO), which says that a minimum of 26 percent of a country’s annual budget and six percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should be invested in funding education.

Justifying the establishment of the University, Hon. Elumelu who represents Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State in the House of Representatives, said that “Asaba in Delta state is one of the few state capitals without a federal university despite its advancement, population and strategic location," adding that the need to address the technologically disadvantaged situation in the area has also necessitated the desire to propose the institution.

Elumelu, who described the bill as a straight forward legislation, urged members to support the establishment of the institution in Asaba, as the site of the College of Education (Technical) being proposed for its location already “has facilities that can meet the standard of a University, hence the need for the upgrade”.

He listed the facilities to include, School of Vocational Studies, Standard and Well Equipped Functional Library, Administrative blocks, Staff quarters, Lecture Theatres, Shuttle buses, Multipurpose hall, Health centre, Technical works building and Playing grounds amongst others and appealed for overwhelming support from members to vote the bill for second  reading. 

Members unanimously voted in favour of the Bill which was passed for second reading and subsequently referred to the House Committee on Tertiary Education for further legislative action.

Ndigbo are not cowards: Ohanaeze writes IGP, deplores brazen lawlessness of AK-47 wielding Fulani boys, police incapacity to act

Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo has expressed disgust and shock at the helplessness of security agencies to arrest Ak-47 bearing Fulani boys, who openly slung the rifles on their shoulders and openly rode through the streets in Anambra state.

President General of the socio-political group, Chief John Nnia Nwodo who made the revelation in an Open Letter to The Inspector General of Police entitled: “The Road to Anarchy,” in which he also condemned the brazen, uncouth and irresponsible utterance of Fulani leaders who “told the stakeholders to do their worst and walked out on them, saying that their boys must always bear arms to protect themselves against religious, ethnic or tribal attacks from any quarters, and there is nothing anybody can do.”

President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo.

Asking whether bearing of unlicensed firearms  (especially sophisticated ones like Ak-47) no longer illegal and therefore punishable in breach in the laws of this country, Chief Nwodo said: “Does the impetuous action and utterance of the Fulani leaders not a clear and definite invitation to anarchy?  If everybody in this country, irrespective of tribe, carries such firearms to protect himself, will the security agencies be able to contain the mayhem that will ensue?”

He continued: “The action of the police in Anambra State is, to say the least, despicable and a tacit invitation to anarchy. Except a coward, nobody will ever run away from his fatherland and leave it for another to occupy. Ndigbo are not cowards.

“The behaviour of the police probably explains why it is only police commissioners from a particular part of the country that are posted to Igbo land. This also tends to lay credence to the fears being harboured by our people that even the military laying siege on Igbo land are here to protect the interest of an ethnic group. Not only have Ndigbo been marginalised in this country, they are even being pushed to the brink. It is always said that no country survives a second civil war.”

Full text of Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s Open Letter to the IGP reads:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE

Sir,

THE ROAD TO ANARCHY

It is with a heart full of trepidation and responsibility that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide brings to your notice a potentially explosive situation in Anambra State of Nigeria.

The people of Umuawulu Community in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State saw four Fulani boys with six Ak-47 rifles slung on their shoulders and riding two motor cycles and trailed them to Isiagu Community also in Awka South LGA where they reside. When the news of the brazen wielding of firearms spread across the council area, as law-abiding citizens, the stakeholders there convened a crucial meeting with the police and Fulani leaders in the State and raised the matter for deliberation.

The stakeholders told the Fulani leaders in the presence of men of the State Investigation and Intelligence Bureau, SIIB, Awka that they were alarmed and surprised that their boys were flagrantly displaying arms in the public, unmindful of the legal implications of unlawful possession of firearms. The stakeholders expressed disappointment that security agencies did not make any attempt to arrest the offending Fulani boys, adding that if it were Igbo boys they would have been arrested, tortured and charged to court.

But rather than explain what led to the carrying of arms by the boys, or even apologise on behalf of the boys, the Fulani leaders told the stakeholders to do their worst and walked out on them, saying that their boys must always bear arms to protect themselves against religious, ethnic or tribal attacks from any quarters, and there is nothing anybody can do. This, in the presence of law enforcement agents and nothing was actually done to arrest either the Fulani boys or their leaders for overtly declaring war on the people of Anambra State.

The Inspector General of Police sir, Ohanaeze Ndigbo is alarmed by this wanton act because of the danger it portends. This raises the following questions :

1. Is the bearing of unlicensed firearms  (especially sophisticated ones like Ak-47) no longer illegal and therefore punishable in breach in the laws of this country?

2. Do we now have different laws for different ethnic groups in Nigeria? If it were to be members of IPOB or any other group other than Fulani that bear such illegal arms what fate would befall them ?

3. Does the impetuous action and utterance of the Fulani leaders not a clear and definite invitation to anarchy?  If everybody in this country, irrespective of tribe, carries such firearms to protect himself, will the security agencies be able to contain the mayhem that will ensue?

4. Can the IGP imagine what fate that would have befallen any Igbo leaders in any part of the North who dare challenge their hosts and the police with such impunity and callousness?

Mr Inspector General of Police sir,  Ohanaeze Ndigbo believes that there is enough tension in the country already to allow room for more. But, it is only a tree that they tell it will be cut down and it remains motionless waiting for the axe. The principle of self defense is even enshrined in the statutes of the country.  Peaceful coexistence is a prerequisite for development.

The police is by  statute empowered, equipped and expected to make peace between two warring factions and not to take sides or protect one group.

The action of the police in Anambra State is, to say the least, despicable and a tacit invitation to anarchy. Except a coward, nobody will ever run away from his fatherland and leave it for another to occupy. Ndigbo are not cowards.

The behaviour of the police probably explains why it is only police commisioners from a particular part of the country that are posted to Igbo land. This also tends to lay credence to the fears being harboured by our people that even the military laying siege on Igbo land are here to protect the interest of an ethnic group. Not only have Ndigbo been marginalised in this country, they are even being pushed to the brink. It is always said that no country survives a second civil war.

Like I always say, Ndigbo are ever capable of defending themselves. They will not fold their arms and allow gun-totting marauding Fulani herdsmen to continue harassing, raping, maiming and killing them in their own homes. We are law-abiding, hospitable and always ready to coexist with others as friends and brothers but not as foes and at a supreme price.

Enough is enough.

Chief John Nnia Nwodo

President General

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide

Asia Bibi says imprisonment was a 'trial sent by God,' refused to renounce her faith

Asia Bibi and French Journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet.

By Samuel Smith, CP Reporter

During a trip to France to promote her new book, Christian mother Asia Bibi opened up about how prayer and Scripture sustained her throughout a decade of imprisonment over allegations that she insulted Islam and its prophet.

Bibi, whose real name is Aasiya Noreen, spoke with several news outlets last week and shed more light on what was going through her mind and dreams as she endured what she called a “trial sent by God.”

“When a human being is tested, the desire to succeed, to overcome the trial, is extremely strong,” Bibi was translated as saying during an interview with the Catholic news website Aleteia. “I knew that prayer would help me in this sense and many signs encouraged me to pray.”

The farmworker from Sheikhupura was accused of blasphemy by Muslim laborers in 2009 and imprisoned. She maintained her innocence but was eventually convicted.  Since blasphemy is a crime that is punishable by death or life imprisonment in Pakistan, Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging in 2010.

Bibi, who has five children, explained that one night in prison she had a dream about a priest who made her recite verses from the Bible. 

“When I opened my eyes, I remember being amazed that I no longer saw him,” Bibi said through a translator. “I thought that maybe God was sending me a sign that I should try to learn those verses which would help sustain me. So that’s what I did. I read the Gospels very regularly.”

Bibi told Aleteia that the phrase “The Lord is your refuge” kept coming back to her.

“Over and over again, it was the first psalm I came across,” Bibi explained. 

She didn’t specify which psalm she was referencing. However, Psalm 46 states: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Additionally, Psalm 91 reads: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Bibi explained that she always believed that one day she would be released no matter how hard imprisonment was for her.

“I cried so much,” Bibi recalled. “I kept crying for a week. I kept thinking, ‘what is happening to me?’” 

Bibi shared that her children’s future was “very badly affected” by her imprisonment because they could no longer go to school. At the time of her imprisonment, two of her children were in the early stages of education. 

But for Bibi and her family, God eventually delivered her freedom.

After much international pressure, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acquitted her in October 2018 and she finally fled to Canada with her husband and two daughters in May 2019.

“It was so strange after I met my husband and kids after so long. I couldn’t understand my emotions,” she told the BBC. “When I hugged my children, I cried. I kept thinking about their childhood. I can’t forget their childhood. When the past comes to mind, I can see my little daughters crying. That bit of past I haven’t been able to forget.” 

The family arrived in Canada last May. Bibi and her family were given a one-year stay in the North American country. The family has since lived in an apartment in an undisclosed location.

Bibi met with French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday. Bibi told reporters that Macron invited her to live in France. However, Bibi still needs time to decide on whether she will apply for asylum in the European country. 

"I have received the invitation from the president and the French Republic, and I'm honored," Bibi said.

Bibi’s new memoir Enfin libre! (Finally Free) was co-written by French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet, who was among the first to advocate for Bibi’s release. In the book, Bibi recounts the abuse and torment she suffered at the hands of guards. 

Bibi told the BBC that she was told by guards during her imprisonment that she could be released if she renounced her faith in Christ.

“But I said, ‘No, I will live my sentence, with my faith,’” Bibi was quoted as saying. 

Bibi called on the Pakistani government to reform the country’s blasphemy laws and carry out proper investigations when accusations are made.

“Innocents shouldn’t be punished for no reason,” Bibi said. “People in prisons who are innocent should be freed.”

Pakistan ranks as the fifth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2020 World Watch List. Pakistan is also labeled by the U.S. State Department as a “country of particular concern” over issues of religious freedom. 

While Bibi has been freed from prison, there are dozens of other citizens of Pakistan imprisoned on blasphemy charges. According to Pakistani human rights activist Shaan Taseer, there are as many as 200 people imprisoned for blasphemy in Pakistan with over 40 on death row. 

In her interview with Aleteia, Bibi called for the Pakistani government to release Christian woman Shagufta Kausar. Kausar, along with her husband, was accused of sending blasphemous text messages even though neither of them can write. The couple was sentenced to death in 2014. 

“She has my full support, and if my story and testimony can help her, I would be very happy,” Bibi said. “But I know they’re in good hands: Saif-ul-Malook, the same lawyer who helped me, is defending them. Beyond Shagufta, all those who are still in detention today need to be helped.”

“I’d like the world to unite behind this cause to obtain their release, whether they belong to minorities or to the majority,” Bibi continued. “All must be heard! That’s my fight today. I believe that the anti-blasphemy law must be reformed. That’s what I wish to dedicate my life to from now on.”

Source: https://www.christianpost.com/news/asia-bibi-says-imprisonment-was-a-trial-sent-by-god-but-refused-to-renounce-her-faith.html

PRESS RELEASE – Delta PDP accuses APC of guile, evading truth

Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza, PDP Publicity Secretary, Delta State.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Delta State has responded to an APC Press Statement as follows:

PRESS RELEASE

03rd March, 2020

INSECURITY: APC’s POLITICS OF GUILE AND EVADING TRUTH
The Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has described the latest Press Statement issued by the opposition All Progressives Congress in the State, titled: “STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH THE LIVES OF DELTANS; APC, DELTA STATE TELLS GOV. OKOWA” and signed by Barr. Ogheneluemu Sylvester Imonina, Publicity Secretary, Delta APC, as another poor attempt, which has once again exposed their naivety and ignorance in the processes of governance.

Delta State PDP Publicity Secretary Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza, who responded to the Press statement, noted that the APC led Federal government had already failed Nigerians woefully in fulfilling Section 14 (2) of the Nigerian Constitution referenced in the statement, adding that the other internal security issues also raised by the APC publicist had been successfully addressed through the very robust peace building and proactive conflict resolution agenda of the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration.

Dr. Osuoza said: “Every Nigerian, including those in the APC, know that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari at the centre has completely failed Nigerians in the delivery of Article 14 (2)(b), which the APC statement referred to and which provides specifically that: ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’.

“To dwell on this monumental failure by the APC-led Federal Government will, however, be a wasted effort since it’s so glaring for all to see, but we are greatly alarmed and disturbed by the fact that the APC statement described the murderous and destructive herdsmen as “Cattle rearers”.

“Instead of calling a spade by its proper name, the APC is trying to be politically correct in the face of an obvious war which has been brought to our doorsteps in Delta, by these obvious domestic terrorists. That the APC, in full knowledge of the atrocities currently being carried out against our unsuspecting brothers, sisters, across Delta State, by the rampaging band of AK47 wielding, ubiquitous and land grabbing herdsmen who have taken over bushes, killing, maiming, raping, and destroying peoples farmlands, will issue a statement describing them innocuously as ‘cattle rearers’ is both shocking and disappointing.

“Must we even sacrifice our sovereignty as a free, proud and independent people on the altar of political propaganda? This is the shame and defeat that the APC statement has clearly brought upon us, by addressing the dangerous herdsmen as mere “cattle rearers’.

“As for the spurious allegation that the State Government has abandoned its constitutional and legal responsibility and resorted to blame game, we wish to state categorically that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has even transcended boldly beyond the expected brinkmanship of constitutional diplomacy to bravely and courageously call out President Muhammadu Buhari to speak up and give clear directives to security agencies in the dealing with the herdsmen menace across the Country and especially in some parts of Ughelli North Local Government Area in Delta State.

“Indeed Governor Okowa’s challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari as Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria to make a strong statement on the issues of insecurity, and in particular the atrocities currently being carried out by the rampaging, arms-wielding suspected Fulani herdsmen was not only sounded stridently after the latest spate of gory and brazen fatalities in several communities in Ughelli North LGA but most recently right in the presence of the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Buratai, during the Commissioning of the 63 Brigade Nigeria Army Headquarters Complex in Asaba.

“We, therefore, wish to state here for the avoidance of doubt that our position, as a responsible political party, which also reflects the mindset of our Governor, is that the unwarranted attacks by suspected herdsmen across Delta State communities, which has resulted in reported killings, maimings, the infliction of severe injuries to many others, as well as abductions and other atrocities and destruction of property including farms, perpetrated over time across the State by these suspected herdsmen, are wicked and mindless.

“Unlike the APC, which would rather engage in the politics of deception, sycophancy, and subservience, the Delta State PDP proudly applauds our leader and Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for the courage he has exhibited to properly situate the problem that the globally recognized terrorist gang of herdsmen have become in Nigeria and while we note that our people have been very receptive to herdsmen and other visitors, we want to join our traditional rulers, led by His Royal Majesty, Emmanuel Efeizomor II, the Obi of Owa Kingdom and Chairman of the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers to reiterate that our hospitality and welcoming disposition should not be taken as an act of cowardice and as we continue to encourage peaceful and harmonious relations between Deltans and their visitors, we will not as a ruling party continue to watch outsiders attack and kill our people any longer.

“On the issue of vigilantes raised by the Delta APC and the recourse to Section 11 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, two appropriate answers will suffice. First, the Vigilantes constitutionally operate under the strict supervision of the Nigerian police and it may also interest the APC to note that a bill seeking to establish the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) as an independent body operating with full constitutional authority is currently lying on the table of President Muhammadu Buhari awaiting his assent or veto.

“Be that as it may, however, the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration has ensured that Vigilante groups in the State have regularly been recognized and accommodated within the legally prescribed frameworks stipulated by the Constitution. Instances of this commitment have been widely reported in the media so no need to belabour the point.

“It is also worth reminding the APC that during the last Security Summit for the South-South States of Nigeria convened by the Inspector General of Police last year, in Asaba, far-reaching decisions were taken, including the endorsement of the operations of vigilante groups to work in conjunction with the police in beefing up security in the localities of South-South.

“Secondly, the APC Publicist, still clutching to his interpretation of Section 11 (2) declared that in most States of the Federation, we have in existence, vigilante groups, backed by laws of those States. And then he went on to state that in Delta State, we have Vigilante Group of Nigeria. While in Lagos State, we have the Neighborhood Watch, Amotekun in some Western States, and other security groups in Northern Nigeria.

“Perhaps the APC is not aware that some of these groups were set up by military decree and only gazetted in subsequent years, some others emerged out of a doctrine of necessity given the internecine nature of the insurgency that confronted them, while others, even with the fanfare and razzmatazz that have heralded their formation, are still facing public hearings and issues of constitutional legitimacy amidst all the bluff, huff and puff.

“What can be deduced easily from APC’s misguided reference to section 11(2), is that the State House of Assembly should make laws to set up its own State police, but let’s ask the APC, does the Constitution give any State the power to set up its own State police or arms-bearing security outfit capable of confronting the dangerous herdsmen? The answer is a resounding NO.

“The APC needs to be reminded that several options including State policing and community policing are still robustly being debated and it is on record that Governor Okowa and the core Southern Governors have favoured community policing in recognition of the ethno-homogenic peculiarities that define the individual communities comprising the Southern and Eastern States. Suffice it to note therefore that the mindset of the APC to regard the issue of security as akin to setting up voluntary organizations like the Boys Scout or WAI Brigade is rather pedestrian and has been overtaken by the seriousness of events.

“On some of what the APC described as ‘issues begging for answers’, the Delta State PDP state as follows:

1. The State government has a Security committee in place with which it is handling communal crisis, (whether kingship tussle, “deve” or otherwise) whenever and wherever it rears its head. The committee is already at work and has brought all existing situations under control. Indeed with the courageous bravery of the Deputy Governor, His Excellency Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro, the cerebral yet genteel articulation of the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Peter Mrakpor and the charming and charismatic personality of Chief Emmanuel Amgbaduba, the Commissioner for Oil and Gas, amongst others, the peace building and conflict resolution agenda, efforts, and interventions of the Governor Okowa administration has achieved tremendous successes in the last five years.

2. On monies appropriated as security votes monthly, the APC should try to put an end to mischief; or is the opposition party pretending not to know that Delta is one of the safest and most peaceful States in the country? Tremendous synergy and harmony exists amongst the security agencies in the State, commendable peaceful coexistence reigns across majority of the rural communities and great calm without the hitherto youth restiveness in the creeks and riverine communities abound, which has not only ensured increased oil revenues to the Federal Government but also encouraged growing investment and partnerships from foreign investors willing to come to Delta State to do good, legitimate business.

“In retrospect, it seems now that the appropriate authority to accuse of “inefficiency and lackluster performance in solving insecurity situations” in the country is the APC-led Federal Government of President Buhari. The opposition party should not feign ignorance that a preponderance of accusations of inefficiency, corruption and inept performance trailing the herdsmen’s induced insecurity, weigh heavily against Mr. President.

“We, therefore, urge Deltans to continue to ignore the antics of APC and urge the party to desist from the politics of guile and evading the truth. The administration of His Excellency, Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State (Ekwueme of the Universe) and Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, cannot be held responsible for what everyone acknowledges as the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government in handling the deliberately surreptitious and deadly encroachment of herdsmen that has ravaged and devastated Southern communities, like an epidemic, under his watch.

“The fact that the Federal Government has maintained a tacit and complicit silence in giving clear directions to security agencies to deal decisively with these ‘untouchables’ in the face of overwhelming cries by Nigerians against the evil activities of terrorist herdsmen and instead continues to churn out condolence messages to the growing number of bereaved families across the country, is very disturbing.

Our advice to APC: Try and remove the massive log of corruption in your eyes first and leave Governor Ifeanyi Okowa alone. You have failed Nigerians completely.

PDP! Power to the People!

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza,
State Publicity Secretary,
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Delta State.

4 ways Christians can make sense of coronavirus in a fallen world

Getty images.

By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor

Theologian John Piper has offered Christians four ways they can biblically understand the coronavirus, which has infected about 87,000 so far and killed more than 3,000 people.

The family of viruses known as coronaviruses infects mostly bats, pigs and small mammals, but they mutate easily and can jump from animals to humans, and from one human to another, as The Wall Street Journal explained recently, adding that the mortality rate has ranged between 2 percent and about 3.4 percent as of now.

More than 50 countries have reported cases of coronavirus and the World Health Organization has upgraded the global risk of the outbreak to “very high.” Amid the outbreak, Piper said in his “Ask Pastor John” podcast that the coronavirus, which originated in China last year, is not stronger than Jesus.

“Jesus has all knowledge and all authority over the natural and supernatural forces of this world. He knows exactly where the virus started, and where it’s going next. He has complete power to restrain it or not,” he said.

He shared four biblical realities that could be used as building blocks in developing an understanding and making sense of it.

1. Sin subjected the world to futility

Quoting Romans 8:20–23, Piper pointed out that when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, “God ordained that the created order, including our physical bodies, as persons created in His image, would experience corruption and futility, and that all living things would die.”

However, Christians, who trust Christ, do not experience this corruption as condemnation, as their “pain for us is purifying, not punitive.”

“We die of disease like all men, not necessarily because of any particular sin … We die of disease like all people because of the fall,” he explained.

2. Sometimes sickness is God’s mercy

Some Christians can die of illnesses “so that we may not be condemned along with the world,” Piper said.

The pastor said his view is based on 1 Corinthians 11:29–32, which deals with misusing the Lord’s Supper. “But the principle is broader,” he underlined.

“The Lord Jesus takes the life of His loved ones through weakness and illness — the very same words, by the way, used to describe the weaknesses and illnesses that Jesus heals in His earthly life (Matthew 4:23; 8:17; 14:14) — and brings them to Heaven. He brings them to Heaven because of the trajectory of their sin that he was cutting off and saving them from — not to punish them, but to save them,” he explained.

3. Sickness could come as judgment

“God sometimes uses disease to bring particular judgments upon those who reject him and give themselves over to sin,” Piper said.

Referring to Acts 12, the pastor cited the example of King Herod who exalted himself in being called a god. “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”

He said God can and does use illnesses to bring judgment sometimes upon those who reject Him and His way.

4. God’s thunderclap

Quoting Luke 13:1–5, Piper said all natural disasters are a “thunderclap of divine mercy in the midst of judgment, calling all people everywhere to repent and realign their lives, by grace, with the infinite worth of the glory of God.”

He concluded that “that’s the message of Jesus to the world at this moment in history, under the coronavirus — a message to every single human being, … saying, “Repent.”

·        https://www.christianpost.com/news/4-ways-christians-can-make-sense-of-coronavirus-in-a-fallen-world.html

OPINION - Okowa: A voice in the wilderness

The chief promoter of tyranny in any society is the conspiracy of silence among good men. Evil thrives when men of goodwill and virtue conspire to stand and stare rather than rebuke the merchants of evil. Today in Nigeria, there is looming largeness of criminal herdsmen. They abound everywhere. And men of high office have gone silent in mortifying acquiescence, save for Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, a medical doctor and governor of Delta State and a few others.

Governor Okowa, left, with Big. Gen. Jallo and CP Inuwa at the presentation
of 35 vans to security agencies by the governor at Government House, Asaba.

Okowa and these few men represent a tiny voice in the wilderness. One of such voices is Professor Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State. Unlike Okowa, Zulum’s voice was raised against the garrison of Boko Haram insurgents and concomitant extortion of the Boko Haram victims by security agents deployed to Borno State to fight the insurgents.

Last week in Asaba, Okowa raised his voice against the evil activities of criminal herders. Okowa is not your archetypal loquacious politician. He’s urbane, frugal with words and very articulate in thought. He’s not given to verbal flippancy or bombast. He’s immune to bandwagon syndrome. He would rather walk alone than move with the boisterous tide of vain men. Detailed. Calculative. Thorough. Those are attributes that define the governor of Delta State. Men of such pristine virtue do not whine. They are not given to mumbled grumble. They speak straight. They rebuke the waves of criminality in measured and firm tones. Okowa did just that when he challenged the federal government to make a definitive and categorical pronouncement on the terrifying insecurity being perpetrated by a category of herdsmen.

He tagged this variant of herdsmen criminals: “Anybody who carries arms in the name of herdsmen is a criminal, as they are not licensed to carry arms.”

In the past, herdsmen were never known to be dangerous vectors of death and pain. They were harmless men bearing sticks and gourds (for water). They were friendly men, welcomed in different communities by equally friendly natives. These days, however, there is a different variant of herdsmen. They bear arms, not sticks. They shoot, maim and kill. They are belligerent, unfriendly and stone-cold mean. It is this kind that has taken over hinterlands in Delta State. They have infiltrated communities, from the creeks to the upland. And they kill with heartless vigour. They plunder farmlands with their cattle and gun down the slightest resistance from the farm owner.

They have become feudal lords in other people’s land. When they are not plundering people’s farmlands, they are kidnapping for cash. And they have made huge hauls in Delta, stealing and extorting from the natives at gunpoint. These are not the herders of yore. These are neo-criminals, cold-blooded killers garbed in the toga of herdsmen. These are the ones that got Okowa and indeed all well-meaning Deltans and Nigerians worrying. And Okowa is not keeping quiet. No leader worthy of his badge should keep mum in the face of such hell-brewed danger.

While presenting 35 new Hilux vans to security agencies in the state, a concerned Okowa was categorical in calling out the federal government. He wants President Muhammadu Buhari’s central government which controls the nation’s security to give a policy direction on the growing and disturbing insecurity. He wants the central government to speak out on the insecurity to douse tension in the land.

“As it concerns herdsmen menace, the Federal Government need to do a lot. We need strong statements on what should be done for the security agencies to better do their work. If you are going into any particular place, it is only fair that you don’t walk into a community and seize the place. That is not right and for anybody who carries arms in the name of a herdsman, it is obviously wrong. They are not licensed to carry arms, not to talk about AK-47 assault rifles and anyone seen carrying arms is a criminal.

“Beyond those that carry arms, you don’t walk into a farm and begin to graze on the farmland; that is not the way it should be. So, there are a whole lot of issues and we need strong voice from the federal authorities, which will assist security agencies to tackle security challenges in the country.”

These are not the words of a happy man. They are the words of a concerned father, an empathetic leader. Okowa’s Delta, like most states, has fallen victim of the hostile hostage of killer-herders. From his own Senatorial district of Delta North through Delta Central to the fringes of Delta South, the armed herders have demonstrated a devious orgy for violence, for human blood. They have killed many including monarchs, abducted clerics, demanded and received ransoms, pillaged farms with primitive impunity and desecrated ancestral landmarks.

Strangely, the governors of the South-south, save Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, have carried on as if all is well. All is not well. The blood of my Obi, Obi of Ubulu-Uku, Edward Akaeze Ofulue 11, is till crying for vengeance. He was abducted and brutally murdered in January 2016. Such savagery and sacrilege. So is the blood of Chief Chikwe Ojinji, an Ubulu-Uku elder murdered in his farm by criminal herders. The list is long. Somebody must speak out. To keep quiet is not only cowardly, it’s unpatriotic. In moments like this, it’s unpatriotic to stay silent. The most responsible and patriotic act is to speak truth to power.

Okowa has chosen to tread the path of valour, the path of patriotism. He has raised his voice in the wilderness of fear, in the swampy creeks of the Niger Delta, in the violated farmlands of the uplands. Other governors should join to amplify this voice. Democracy guarantees liberty and rights. But such rights and liberties should be exercised within the limits of the rule of law, fairness, equity and justice. The herdsman wherever he’s from is not and cannot be an enemy of the people for as long as he operates within the confines of the law. But such herder instantly becomes an enemy when he comes with arms and deadly weapons. He becomes an abhorrent criminal. It’s this type that Okowa is saying “away with him.” It’s this type that he wants the federal government to come hard on. President Buhari as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces should rally his troop to rout these killer herders out of the country.

A criminal band of killer herders has encircled the South-south. These are not the herdsmen we used to know. Those were friendly. They were welcomed with open arms into communities, offered local food. They carefully avoided our farms but herded their cattle to graze along the roads or in open fields in a manner that hurt no one. We never suffered loss. They bore no gun or any dangerous weapon. They were in us and we were with them. But things have changed. The modern herdsman is a merchant of death, a vector of pain and a vendor of evil. It’s this murderous variant that Okowa wants the federal government to tame. He has empowered security agencies in his state but he cannot give them orders. Let the Commander-in chief arise and do his job. That’s Okowa’s message.

·        Source: https://www.sunnewsonline.com/okowa-a-voice-in-the-wilderness/