The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • My re-appointment call to greater service -SGF

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has said his reappointment is a call for greater service, which he is not taking lightly.

    “I’m overwhelmed by the level of confidence reposed in me by the President and the entire nation to handle the affairs of state from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” the SGF said in an interaction with newsmen on Sunday at the Yola International Airport, Jimeta.

    The SGF, who was returning to Abuja after a weekend visit to Adamawa State, said he found his reappointment to be both thrilling and challenging.

    “In the last couple of days, I have been weighed down by the enormity​ of the responsibility of my office and the trust placed on me,” he said.

    Read Also: Breaking: Buhari re-appoints Boss Mustapha, Abba Kyari as SGF, COS

    He added that he feels he must take his responsibilities seriously because the destinies of the people of Nigeria hang in the balance, subjected to his actions or inactions.

    “Generally, I am thrilled , I am excited because of the responsibilities, but I am also conscious of the fact that this is a trust and I must not take it lightly,” he said.

    He added that he felt the need to please God and to justify the trust of man by doing his work diligently, saying, “I must do everything to honour God and to justify the trust in me by Mr President.”

    He urged Nigerians to believe in the promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, asserting that the promise is significant and the president is committed to it.

    “Talking about taking 100 million people out of poverty in the next 10 years is the boldest statement that has ever been made, considering the situation in which we are, and the presisent has already set the agenda going,” he said.

  • AFCON 2019: Egypt sack coach, FA president quits

    Egyptian coach Javier Aguirre, has become the first casualty of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

    He was sacked just hours after the hosts were bundled out of the tournament by South Africa in the round of 16 on Saturday in Cairo.

    Hosts Egypt lost 0-1 after an 85th minute goal from Thembinkosi Lorch.

    It was for Egypt a lacklustre display in which their talisman Mohamed Salah looked out of sorts and they produced few goalscoring chances.

    Egypt Football Association president Hany Abo Rida announced the firing of the Mexican coach.

    Abo Rida also announced his own resignation, less than three hours after the game as a stunned host nation digested the defeat.

    He also called on his board members to step down, calling his resignation a “moral obligation, although the football association had given the national team full material and moral support”.

    Read Also: UPDATED: AFCON 2019: South Africa sends Egypt packing

    Aguirre had told reporters after Saturday’s defeat that he took sole responsibility but was proud of all of his players.

    “The game was open and saw many chances. The only difference was that South Africa managed to score,” he said.

    Aguirre, 60, departs after less than a year in the job but not before setting a unique record by coaching at four different continental championships.

    He won the CONCACAF Gold Cup with his native Mexico in 2009.

    Aguirre took them to the final of the Copa America and was in charge of Japan four years ago when they went out in the Asian Cup quarter-finals.

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • Okotie-Eboh’s death a national loss—Omo-Agege

    Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has described the death of the pioneer Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Delta State, Chief Adolor Okotie-Eboh, as a huge loss not just to the state but the entire country.
    Omo-Agege, while recalling the effective role played by the scion of the great Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh family of Warri Kingdom, said that he has lost a bosom friend, an elder brother and an influential political adviser.
    Okotie-Eboh died on Saturday.

    Read Also: Tinubu, Omo-Agege, Kalu condole with NGE, Kano govt over Tudunwada’s death

    A statement personally signed by Omo-Agege in Abuja on Sunday described Okotie-Eboh as a “principled political and business leader with an inspiring sociable personality which endeared him to many Nigerians across all walks of life.’
    “It took his bold, extraordinary leadership skills to transform the APC to a viable opposition from its now defunct main legacy party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where he was also then the Delta State Chairman and worked with my humble self as the party’s Delta State Governorship candidate,” Omo-Agege explained.
    He said though it would be difficult to come to terms with the reality of Chief Okotie-Eboh’s exit, it was his prayer that the Almighty God would  comfort and strengthen the entire Okotie-Eboh family at this moment.
    ‘Chief Okotie-Eboh was a profoundly good leader and we pray that his wonderful soul finds rest in Jesus name”, he stated.

  • NAF jets destroy more terrorists structures in Borno

    The Nigerian Air Force says they have destroyed more terrorists’ structures and killed some Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters at Bakassi on the fringes of Lake Chad in Borno.

    Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the operation was conducted on Saturday.

    He said that the operation was carried out by Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE.

    The spokesman said the attack was executed as a follow-up to air raids conducted at the same location on June 28, after intelligence reports indicated the ISWAP elements had relocated surviving fighters and logistics supplies to another part of the settlement.

    Read Also: NAF neutralises insurgents at Tumbun Hamma in Borno

    Daramola said the ATF therefore dispatched two Alpha Jets to attack the location with accurate hits on the identified structures which were seen engulfed in flames.

    He added that several terrorists were also neutralised as a result of the strike.

    The spokesman said the NAF operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain the effort to completely degrade the terrorists in the Northeast.

    (NAN)

  • About 10m Almajiris are beggars, not religious scholars – Gov Sule

    Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has declared about 10m children operating the Almajiri system in the north are simply beggars, spending more time on the streets rather than learning the Quran.

    He appealed to parents in the north who give birth to children without means of taking care of them, thereby subjecting them to begging in the name of Almajiri Islamic religious education to desist or face sanctions.

    He said the Almajiri system of education is completely misunderstood, just like the Ruga project which came with good potentials was misunderstood by Nigerians and the government had to back out.

    According to him: “Government must establish that it is a crime to abuse a child, it is a crime to bring children to this world and send them to Almajiri system where you cannot take care of them.

    “It is a crime to send children on the street begging. That is what we are trying to do, parents must take responsibility.

    Read Also: Nasarawa Gov, Sule appoints personal aides

    ‘’You can’t bring children to this world and dump them somewhere and expect somebody else to take care of them, so parents must not shy away from responsibility.”

    He explained in Nasarawa state where Almajiri system has become a menace and security threat, his government is approaching insecurity in three different ways which include providing jobs through agriculture, vocational and technical skills as well as ensuring that parents who send their children to Almajiri school are able to take care of such children and a bill to that effect will soon be in place.

    He vowed that Nasarawa under his leadership will make sure that begging on the street is a crime, adding that the rights of children must be protected.

    The governor said that begging is not part of the concept of Almajiri system of Islamic education and shifted the blame on parents who give birth to children and dump them into the streets for begging.

  • Court strikes out case against Ondo senator, INEC over rerun

    A Federal High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State Capital has dismissed the application filed by candidate of Action Alliance (AA), Mr. Olatunji Felder, seeking to nullify the victory of Senator Nicholas Tofowomo, representing Ondo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly.

    The court also awarded the sum of N200, 000 cost against Felder.

    Felder, from Oke-Igbo the same Local government with Tofowomo under Ileoluji/Okeigbo Local Government of Ondo State, took the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court over the conduct of supplementary election of March 9, 2019 by the commission.

    He alleged that INEC did not officially inform him by issuing 14- day notice before proceeding with the conduct of the supplementary election where he came distant third following the conduct of the election held in 56 polling units of Ondo South senatorial district.

    Read Also: Court to INEC: issue Uwajumogu certificate of return

    On February 23, Tofowomo polled 79,036 to defeat his closest rival Senator Yele Omogunwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, who scored 51,993 with vote margins of 27,036 and Felder of the AA coming behind Omogunwa.

    But the poll was declared inconclusive because the victory margin was less than the total votes cancelled in 56 polling units of four councils estimated at 28,300 votes which necessitated the supplementary election conducted by INEC.

    After the supplementary election, INEC Returning Officer for the district, Prof. Kayode Onifade, declared Tofowomo winner with 81,892 votes against Omogunwa’s 55,610.

    But Felder, who came third, went to the Federal High Court in Alagbaka, Akure, to challenge the conduct of the supplementary election.

    Justice Folasade Olubanjo however struck out the case for lack of merit.

  • NGO, young candidates deliberate on prospects for 2023

    Young candidates who participated in the 2019 general elections at the weekend converged at Abuja under the auspices of Young-stars Development Initiative (YDI), a Pan African Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).

    The participants shared experiences and exchanged ideas over their electioneering activities.

    The event with theme: ‘Deliberating on the challenges encountered by young candidates and their prospects for future elections’, was a melting pot of experiences – the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was a time for successful and ‘unsuccessful’ candidates to compare notes and forge a formidable network for future elections.

    Executive Director, YDI, Mr. Kingsley Bangwell, said “Young Aspirants Leadership Fellowship (YALF) is a project supported by Ford Foundation and designed to prepare and empower young people to be able to run for office so that we can increase youth political inclusion.

    “We actually trained about 380 young candidates in the North West, North Central, and North-East of the country. Now that elections are over, we are bringing those young candidates (those who won their elections and those who did not) to come and share their experience and begin to think about next steps in terms of agenda setting for those who won, and for those who didn’t win, in terms of strategy to continue to position themselves to remain relevant because 2023 is just close by.

    Read Also: 2023: Antagonism to Yoruba presidency uncalled for – Olokoba

    “We trained about 380 young candidates, 23 of them won elections in Seven states – Kebbi, Gombe, Yobe, Katsina, Zamfara, Kogi, and Kaduna.

    “We saw significant increase in terms of the number of young people that came out to run for office, and the number of them that won elections.

    “For instance, in Zamfara state, half of the members of state house of Assembly are in the youth category. So, we have seen significant improvement in the number of young people that not just ran for office by won. In Oyo, Plateau states the Speakers are young people. Between 2015 and 2019, we only had one person that was a Speaker – now you are seeing an increase in that number.

    “It is increasing in terms of number, but what we hope to now see is the quality of their representation.”

    He further added: “There are different rating of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in the just concluded elections, and as an organization, Youngstars have been able to identify some areas. We did a research where young people communicated their concerns about a couple of things.

    “There was the issue of trust in the way INEC handled collation of results. We also saw in terms of logistics, young people didn’t rank INEC well in terms of managing the Corps members, moving sensitive materials to location. We are seeing the same recurrent issues since 1999; twenty years down the line we are still dealing with sensitive materials arriving late, logistics and welfare for ad hoc staff, collation etc.

    “We still have a gamut of issues that INEC needs to really deal with. However, it is important to say that we are not where we were in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011; we are seeing incremental changes but we are saying – for who we are as a nation, we expect a lot more in the quality and outcome of our elections.

    “After this retreat we are going to be putting together a report capturing a feedback of young people; over a hundred of them have shared their experiences through a survey. Also, over a thousand plus Nigerian youths have done an assessment of the election. We are putting it together to send our own views to INEC in the believe that it will help them in their efforts to improve future elections.”

    “Towards 2023, it is a continuous process. For instance, the young people coming out of the program who won elections have a network where we continue to engage with them and see how we can continue to provide them with technical support. For those who didn’t win elections, we will continue our engagement with them to sustain their relevance in their community.

    “From our research we find that most of the candidates who want to run for office come into that space a year to the election; and you are coming to meet veterans who have been there for years building goodwill and relationships. It takes a lot to be able to come in and overwhelm such veterans.

    “So we advise them that if they have ventured in 2019, they don’t need to rest on their oars; your campaign starts the next day after you didn’t win,” he said.

    Kingsley also stressed the needs for schools to begin to institutionalise democratic processes in selecting leaders, captains, monitors, and representatives. This way the students are taught civic culture and the rudiments and processes of citizens’ participation in electoral processes.

    A 33-year-old elected member representing Bunguru West constituency, Zamfara state, Hon. Nasiru Bello Lawal, advised the youth to adopt perseverance in making sure that you pursue what you want.

    According to him, “I applied perseverance in making sure that in the first place I was nominated as a candidate to represent my party – The People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    “I set a target to win the election despite the fact that my state was dominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “In pursing those targets I encountered so many blockage and issues to my success – resources, money, godfathers, everything that is considered a material in Nigeria to win an election. What I had was perseverance and commitment.

    “I came into the race in August 2018 and nominated in September. It wasn’t easy for me as a young candidate contesting elections without money, but you need to believe that you will have to make other things before.

    “As a young person during my days in the university I made a lot of commitments in seeing that the communities at the grassroots progressed. That is what inspired people to support me and build confidence in myself. I didn’t find it difficult because of funds; the support I got at the community level helped me greatly.”

    Another elected member of the House of Assembly in Yobe state, Hon. Abdullahi Bazuwa, added that, “For me things were not so hard because I started from the PDP and won my elections in 2015. I later joined the APC. The challenges with the youth is that we come onboard without a plan. Sometimes the elders don’t want to give a space to participate.

    “My advice to the youth will be that if they can find themselves into the political system, they should remain there no matter how hard – do your best, remain in the political system because your time will come.”

    Zainab Suleiman from Kano state ran for state house of assembly under New Progressive Movement (NPM) but lost. Speaking to our correspondent she said, “Although I lost the election, but I gained experience. My losing the elections is a plus to me.

    “Now I have more experience and am getting better. I understand now that my constituency needs certain things, and I don’t have to be in office before I can make a difference in my community – health, education etc. I have registered my NGO to look for the problems in my community and solve them so that people understand that young people coming into the political system are going to bring change.”

    Some of the major challenges highlighted by the participants in the retreat were issues of – vote buying by political parties and candidates with deep pockets, ‘godfatherism’, fund raising, amongst others.

  • Sister stabs elder brother to death

    A teenage mother, simply known as Ummi, of Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State was on Saturday, arrested by the police for allegedly stabbing her 30-year-old brother, Sani Suleiman  to death following a dispute.

    Confirming the incident, the Kano State Police Command spokesman, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said the Command, through its Badawa Divisional office, received a report at about 5:pm on Saturday that  Ummi had stabbed her elder brother on his neck.

    Kiyawa said it was learnt that Ummi, who had been engaged in a heated argument with her brother for two days, suddenly stabbed him on the neck, resulting to his death, shortly after he was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

    Read Also: Just In : Woman, 20, stabs husband to death in Anambra

    Kiyawa, said an argument ensued because the late Sani allegedly maltreated  his sister’s baby as eyewitnesses claimed that the cause of the tragic incident was the refusal of Sani to organize a traditional wedding party for two of his younger sisters.

    Ward Head of Unguwan Gaya Badawa, Alhaji Haliru Mohammed, expressed shock, over the tragic incident, adding the parents of the accused and the victim slumped when the sad news was broken to them and are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, as at the time of filing this report.

    Meanwhile, the late Sani had been buried according to  Islamic rites.

    The PPRO said the Kano State Police Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu had ordered the transfer of the case from Badawa Division to the Criminal Investigation Department, at the Police Headquarters, Bompai, for further investigation.

  • Kogi 2019: Plight of our people behind my second term bid – Wada

    The immediate past governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Wada, on Saturday, declared his intention to reclaim the seat he lost in 2015.

    The former governor during a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, in Lokoja, said he was moved into re-contesting under the umbrella of his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because of the plight of the people of the state.

    He said that if elected, he will create the much needed employment opportunities, and return the state to the path of fulfilling that promise that people desired at the creation of the state.

    He bemoaned the plight of workers in the state, saying his administration was always up to date on salary payment, save for his last three months in office, one of which he attributed to disagreement with labour leaders, as to how best to utilize dwindled federal allocation and the others because monthly allocation had not arrived before his departure.

    According to him, the well being, progress and development of Kogi people remain non negotiable, this is the reason why he has accepted the call to seek a return to office, adding that the sufferings of the people, necessitated his acceptance to run.

    The former governor said that it had become difficult to fold his hands and allow the unimaginable suffering of Kogi people continue unabated.

    Read Also: APC adopts indirect primary for Kogi

    He tasked the PDP state executive to see the election as a defining moment that calls for deep reflection, saying all hands must be on deck to make the November 16 governorship election a turning point for the state.

    He said he had learnt and known much more of the things that will catapult the state’s all round development if elected.

    “Within the available resources available to my administration, I made the completion of inherited projects and payment of salaries a priority. What should inform the decision as to who becomes the next Kogi State governor should be about capacity and experience. My aspiration is about the people who now see suicide as an option.

    “The November 16, governorship election present to the people another lifeline; my administration made transparency, accountability and honesty its watchword, and i appeal for the support of the PDP executives to enable me realise more”, he appealed.

    He said that the people’s decision in who flies the party’s flag is crucial to making education, affordable healthcare delivery and infrastructure development central to the people.

    He urged the party executives to create a level playing field that would allow for a candidate that is passionate in actualising the dream of a better and enviable Kogi, to emerge as its candidate.

    He said that it would be “suicidal if Kogi people mess up the only opportunity left in choosing a purposeful leader as governor. Our only lifeline should be well utilized and not traded off for peanuts, and for anti Kogi progress”.

  • NNPC inaugurates modern multi-media studio

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has inaugurated a modern multi-media studio to enhance its communication strategies.

    The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru, applauded the leadership of the corporation’s Group Public Affairs Division (GPAD) for efficiently managing resources to build an ultra-modern multi-media studio.

    Baru gave the commendation in a statement issued by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, Group General Manager of GPAD, in Abuja, on Sunday.

    He described the project as laudable and expressed optimism that the studio would make work easier for staff of the division.

    According to him. it will also enhance the quality of audio-visual productions and public communication materials from corporation.

    Earlier while briefing the GMD on the rationale behind the project, Ughamadu explained that the division was driven by the need to ensure that audio-visual messages from the corporation were of high quality that meet international standards.

    Read Also: Work to begin on NNPC Aba depot road

    He said the studio which was equipped with a sound-proof system would, among other things, serve as a place where media interviews would be conducted for members of NNPC top management.

    High point of the occasion was the commissioning of the studio and recording of the GMD’s valedictory podcast to staff.

    The GMD was accompanied to the studio by members of NNPC Top Management including outgoing Chief Operating Officer, Refining, Engr. Anibor Kragha; Chief Operating Officer, Ventures, Dr. Babatunde Adeniran .

    Also part of the team was the incoming Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Mr Yusuf Usman. (NAN)