Nigerians
Customs arrests six for smuggling adulterated diesel in polythene bags
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Friday paraded six suspects who smuggled 45,000 litres of adulterated diesel contained in 750 giant polythene bags, which were carefully concealed among sacks of sawdust to deceive security operatives. The seized product has an estimated value of N21,920 million. Also seized were 237 bags of 50kg foreign rice hidden in a petrol tanker. The Controller Enforcement at the Customs headquarters, Kayode Olusemire while parading the smugglers said that the Customs officers on patrol intercepted the smugglers in Suleja, who immediately declared that they were conveying sacks of sawdust from Port Harcourt to Kaduna State. “But the officers perceived unusual odour despite concealing it in sawdust, prompting them to dig further. “That was when they discovered dies...
Nigerian government urges increased awareness on violence against women, girls
The Federal Government on Thursday called for increased awareness on violence against women and girls aimed at ending the scourge. Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, Wife of the Vice President and founder, The Women’s Helping Hands Initiative, made the call at the launch of “Orange the World with Doctors,” in Abuja. Orange the World with Doctors is a plenary with medical practitioners initiated by UN Population Fund (UNFPA) aimed at ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) with doctors at the forefront. Osinbajo, who commended the UNFPA for the initiative, decried all forms of violence on women and girls, calling for stronger collaboration to end it. She reiterated the imperatives of strengthening Nigeria’s health system, noting that it key in fighting GBV. She said “I commend all who have joined hands in the...
Begging Nigerians Not To Renounce Their Citizenship Is A Sheer Waste Of Time
By Ladesope Ladelokun When former President Olusegun Obasanjo said in 2004 that any Nigerian that was not prepared to die for Nigeria did not deserve to be called a Nigerian citizen, he probably did not envisage that a time would come that the clamour for secession by frustrated Nigerians would reach a disturbing decibel. Only recently, the Owu chief hugged the headlines when he lamented that rather than flowing with milk and honey, Nigeria has become a land flowing with bitterness and sadness. “The task before us now is to think of what to contribute to make Nigeria what God created it to be, a land flowing with milk and honey. Right now, it is a land flowing with bitterness and sadness. That is not what God meant for this country”, he averred. It is no fairy tale that between 2004 and no...
President Buhari approves employment for families of slain NYSC members
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved automatic employment in the Federal Civil Service for one graduate from each of the immediate families of the 10 slain National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in 2011 in Bauchi State. Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Akin Dare, who disclosed this on Tuesday said the President also approved scholarships to the four children of Mr. Adowei Elliot, a Delta State indigene killed during the post-election violence. Dare announced these during the inauguration of the National Governing Board of the NYSC on Tuesday in Abuja. The 10 Corps members were killed in Bauchi State in some northern states following the 2011 election won by former President Goodluck Jonathan. In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Mi...
PANDEF: President Buhari lacks power to impose open grazing on states
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum has again warned the Federal Government and groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, against conduct and utterances capable of making the already bad security situation in Nigeria worse than it is. Elder statesman and leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, gave the warning at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday. He said President Muhammadu Buhari lacked the power to impose open grazing on state governments. He said the people of the Niger Delta have watched with restrained patience the reckless and irresponsible utterances of a group of jihadists who have over the years threatened other Nigerians over grazing routes and rights. Clark noted that the latest being the threat issued by a group of faceless anarchists who issued a warning to the Delt...
PANDEF: President Buhari lacks power to impose open grazing on states
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum has again warned the Federal Government and groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, against conduct and utterances capable of making the already bad security situation in Nigeria worse than it is. Elder statesman and leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, gave the warning at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday. He said President Muhammadu Buhari lacked the power to impose open grazing on state governments. He said the people of the Niger Delta have watched with restrained patience the reckless and irresponsible utterances of a group of jihadists who have over the years threatened other Nigerians over grazing routes and rights. Clark noted that the latest being the threat issued by a group of faceless anarchists who issued a warning to the Delt...
VP Osinbajo: How grassroots planning helped our social investment programmes
One factor responsible for the impactful implementation of the Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari administration over the years is the realization that you can’t reach Nigerians if you don’t have a plan for the grassroots, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. This realization then influenced the structure designed for the SIP and is largely responsible for the successes of the programme (which is now regarded as one of the biggest social welfare schemes in the continent). Prof. Osinbajo stated this Sunday in Lagos at the inauguration of the Dash Me Store, an outfit of the Dash Me Foundation founded by the immediate past Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun. The store is established to mobilize resources for onward distribution to vulnerable people in the society via grassr...
Governor Tambuwal: PDP determined to ‘rescue’ Nigeria
State governors under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have pledged to provide the needed platform for the party to return to power at the national level in 2023. The Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, made the pledge on Sunday at a state banquet, organised by the Akwa lbom State Government, ahead of the forum meeting in Uyo on Monday. Mr Tambuwal said the PDP governors would not disappoint Nigerians who are looking up to them to actualise their yearnings for the party to return to power in 2023. “These star-studded leaders of PDP governors in their respective states and political generals are determined by the grace of God through your prayers, support and cooperation, to rescue Nigeria. “It is a task that we must accomplish...
Mr. Macaroni: President Buhari’s supporters have lost their humanity
Nigerian Comedian, Debo Adebayo, better known as Mr. Macaroni, has stated that those supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had lost their humanity. Macaroni disclosed this on his social media page as he lamented the killings and oppression of Nigerians in the nation. The comedian stated that peaceful protest was a Fundamental Human Right and would not change because of “General Buhari’s tyranny.” His tweets read: “Peaceful protest is a Fundamental Human Right. That won’t change because of General Buhari’s tyranny. Anyone who supports this dictatorship has lost their humanity. “Nigerians are being killed, dehumanized and oppressed daily. This is not the Country we pray for!” The comedian tasked youths not to relent in asking for a better Nigeria and good governance. He adde...
Femi Falana charges Nigerian government to dialogue with agitators, secessionists
Nigeria’s foremost human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday challenged the federal government to dialogue with various groups agitating for secession from the federation. Falana justified this demand on the premise that it “is on the roundtable the grievances can be sorted out” in the interest of peace, security and development He made this at the 25th anti-corruption situation room, which the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) organised in Lagos yesterday. Speaking on the subject, “Assessing The Fight Against Corruption,” said it was the promise to fight corruption that made Nigerians vote for President Muhammadu Buhari. The human right lawyer said it was the corruption in the system that culminated in agitating for secession, noting that it “is better for the fe...
June 12: MKO Abiola represented hope, liberty – Gani Adams
File Photo Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Chief Gani Adams, has said that the late Chief MKO Abiola represented hope, liberty and freedom during his lifetime. Adams stated this at the commemoration of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election by Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) on Saturday in Lagos. According to him, Nigeria’s democracy is still not in tune with the ideals, which Abiola, winner of the election, lived and died for. He said that the democratic ideals of the late business mogul enabled him to win the presidential election, even in the North where his main opponent, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, came from. Adams, who decried what he called disunity, rivalry and senseless killings, said that these challenges had had adverse effect on the nation’s democracy. He said: “This present d...
Edo deputy governor: Godfatherism bane of Nigeria’s democracy
The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu, has blamed the advent of godfatherism in Nigeria’s politics as the bane of democracy in the country. This is even as he called for the removal of a bicameral legislature to reduce cost of running governance. Shaibu stated this on Saturday at the Government House in Benin, the state capital, while addressing hundreds of youths who were protesting alleged misrule in the country. The protesters under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, Students’ Unions and other concerned Nigerians, brandished placards of various inscriptions, as they joined others across the country to seek for good governance and sustainable democracy. The protest which commenced at 10 am, lasted for more than two hours and disrupted free flow of hu...
