By Augustine Okezie, Katsina

The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, has taunted #BringBackOurBoys campaigners to return the money they allegedly collected to campaign for the return of abducted 344 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina State.

Besides some northern groups, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Uche Secondus also led a protest in which he asked President Buhari to rescue the schoolboys who have been rescued and reunited with their families.

In an article on Sunday, titled: Five Takeaways from the Safe Return of 344 Kankara Schoolboys Shehu noted that while patriotic citizens prayed for the safe return of the pupils, “these merchants” were renting crowds and trending “suspicious hashtags”.

He added: “There will always be profiteers from other people’s misfortune. The lack of patriotism shown by few unnecessary elements in a moment of national distress was crass, shameful and despicable.

“If they are not directly affected by a tragedy or no immediate family member involved, it is fair game for them and time to gloat or even make a few fast bucks. Indeed, emergency activists thought they could cash in on these schoolboys and their parents’ misfortune devoid of their conscience.

“While patriotic Nigerians prayed for the boys’ quick return, these merchants of fortune were renting crowds, creating certain suspicious hashtags, opening bank accounts for the sole aim of soliciting funds for a cause they thought would linger. What will they do now with the one million T-shirts they have produced?

“This is hugely shameful. These scavengers should now be honourable enough to refund the money they have so far collected for the now futile campaign to discredit their fatherland.”

Read Also: Fed Govt hails Oyetola

Shehu said the President and the parents of the schoolboys would have been traumatised if one of the pupils had died.

“They had a plan, kept to it, and got the job done without firing a single shot. This is important because one casualty, one dead schoolboy, could have traumatised President Buhari and the parents,” he said.

“One dead student would have tainted the rescue mission. The President wanted the boys back alive and delivered to their parents. As a compassionate father figure, he would have been pained if one life had been lost in the rescue process.

“Bravo to the Nigerian military and our security agencies for a well-coordinated and professionally executed mission to the President’s order reuniting the boys with their parents.”

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed had also taunted the #BringBackOurBoys campaigners, asking them to go home.

Also, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) yesterday hailed Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari for the early release of 344 abducted pupils of Science Secondary School in Kankara.

The coalition’s coordinator, Balarabe Rufai, spoke during a visit to the governor in Katsina.

He hailed Masari for showing exemplary leadership by recognising the seriousness of the situation and keeping his promise of ensuring the safe return of the abducted boys within the shortest time.

Rufai said: “We wish also to congratulate the rescued children, their parents and the entire people of Katsina State. We commend their resilience while the crisis lasted.”

By Damian Duruiheoma, Owerri

Following the launch of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a pan-Igbo group, the Movement Against Dissidents in Nigeria, on Monday urged the Federal Government to initiate the process of extraditing IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.

At a briefing in Owerri, the Imo State capital, its co-convener, Obinna Osita, said Kanu should be brought home to answer to alleged offences committed against Ndigbo through IPOB.

He lamented that Kanu and IPOB had been “thriving on their kinsmen’s blood to maintain their profligate lifestyle that entices you to shed more Igbo blood”

According to him, statistics shows that since IPOB started operations, 28,000 “indoctrinated and brainwashed” Igbo youths have been killed.

He also alleged that no fewer than 30,000 Igbo youths are currently languishing in different jails in Nigeria for violence and civil disobedience.

Osita added that IPOB has created more than 30,000 widows among Igbo daughters and that Kanu had rendered old fathers and mothers childless, forcing 45,000 children to drop out of school, having made them fatherless.

“IPOB has some set of reckless, gullible, ignorant and untrained minds called members.

“We must caution here that if this group of untrained and bigoted minds is encouraged by Nnamdi Kanu to carry assault rifles and other weapons and unleash them on Nigerians, we are doomed in this country with a new set of dangerous militia group in Eastern Nigeria,” the group said.

Ta he group maintained that Kanu has never spoken for Ndigbo and does not have any authority to do so because he “lacks the credibility to demand a new independent state of Biafra with the manner he goes about it”.

Ndigbo, he stated, could lose their over $1.5 trillion investment in the North and South because of Kanu’s antics and daily drums of war.

But Kanu, in a statement on Sunday, said IPOB does not need the approval of Southeast governors to run the security outfit.

Read Also: Kanu’s Hotel case adjourned to January 16

Southeast Governors Forum Chairman and Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi had described the IPOB vigilante group as “very laughable and should be totally ignored”.

Reacting, Kanu accused the governors of being against the wish of the masses, describing their disapproval of the outfit as “very shameful” and “cowardly”.

He said: “They only further exposed their emptiness and detachment from the people.

“At a time when well-meaning individuals and groups from entire Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt are hailing the setting up of ESN, the so-called governors are busy advertising their opposition to the people they claim to be leading.

“Anyway, they never had the mandate of the people. So, we are not surprised.

“The train has since left the station and can’t reverse its course. It’s pretty too late to have a rethink.

“The people have got what they long desired which the cowardly governors failed to give them because of selfish political interest.”

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has expressed fears that universities will not be able to afford electricity bill next year.

Ogundipe spoke on Monday in Lagos while addressing reporters on the status of the Energising Education Programme (EEP) which is meant to provide the institution with constant power supply through a hybrid solar power plant.

The vice chancellor said the university’s electricity bill had increased to N62 million for one month while students were not on campus due to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.

He feared that when students resume, the bill could be as high as N90 million, which he said no university could afford.

“The universities in Nigeria are likely to have problem from 2021. The problem is that before the lockdown, in March, 2020, when you look at our electricity bill, it was around N61 million/ N62 million. During the lockdown, the bill went to about N30 million plus.

“The last bill that I signed – N62 million – and that is without students being on ground. It means that when the students come back, we are going to be paying around N90 million every month. It is going to be a big problem for the universities.

“Not only the University of Lagos. I know of a university that, during the lockdown, they were paying about N25 million. At the last count, it was around N45 million.

“So, when the students return to campus, it means that the bill will be on the high side and it will be very difficult for universities to pick up that type of bill. Like I said, N62 million we paid last time.  And if we don’t pay on time they disconnect us.

Read Also: UNILAG: Niyi Akinnaso’s contempt for facts

“We paid about N45 million to buy diesel, which we used for about three or four months without students. So, you can see the future problem that we have in the area of power supply in the university.”

Ogundipe said the completion of the EEP would enable the university to spend less on power supply, adding that it was only the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), which is overseeing the project in the nine pioneer universities, that could answer why it had not been completed.

By Sanni Onogu, Abuja

Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Monday questioned the preparedness of the Federal Ministry of Health to effectively acquire, store and vaccinate Nigerians against COVID-19.

This is coming as the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who was accompanied by his counterpart in the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government has earmarked N400 billion for the acquisition of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Lawan spoke when the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 visited him to brief the leadership of the upper chamber on the preparation by the Federal Government to acquire COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country.

The Senate President expressed doubt about the readiness of the Federal Government to manage the COVID-19 vaccination.

Lawan said the National Assembly was ready to support the funding for adequate vaccines to protect Nigerians, but that the Minister of Health must convince the National Assembly that they have adequate facilities and manpower to protect the proposed vaccine.

He said: “I have not been convinced with your presentation that we are ready to bring in the vaccines. You have to do much more to convince me that we are ready. This is a matter of life and death. I am not only a doubting Thomas, but I am also doubting Ahmad.”

Lawan insisted that the Health Minister should provide the list and location of the storage facilities for inspection.

Read Also: Lawan, Omo-Agege laud Buhari at 78

Deputy President of the Senate Ovie Omo-Agege also joined in expressing doubt over the ability of the health officials to guarantee the safety of the vaccines.

He said: “I am a doubting Omo-Agege also.”

He expressed strong worry that the government so far had made preparations for only four cold chains for the vaccines in Abuja,  Kano,  Enugu and Lagos and asked why the entire Southsouth region was not included in the plan.

The DSP also expressed worry that the vaccines might lose their efficacy on transit to the Southsouth, if no facility was provided in the region.

Omo-Agege urged the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ensure that the citizens, especially from the zone, did not end up being inoculated with bad vaccines that may do more harm than good.

Other senators also expressed strong doubts over the presentations of the officials from the Ministry of Health on the facilities that had been put in place to ensure adequate storage protection for the vaccines.

The minister said about N400 billion would be required to vaccinate 70 per cent of Nigeria’s 211 million population, at $8 per person.

Ehanire said  N156 billion would be needed in 2021 and N200 billion would be required in 2022.

But, the Director-General of the NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, created a drama at session.

Adeyeye, who forced herself to join the conversation without clearance from the minister, said the agency, being the regulator of drugs consumed by citizens, would make sure vaccines acquired by the Federal Government are safe.

Her bombshell drew the attention of the lawmakers, who inquired from Ehanire if he was not carrying NAFDAC along in the entire exercise.

Ehanire’s explanation did not sound convincing to the lawmakers who warned him against procuring any vaccine that does not have the full approval of NAFDAC.

By Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti

Founder of Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti, (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), has decried the continuous fall in the standard of education in the country.

Babalola lamented that many graduates in the country cannot defend their certificates, a situation which he said was a cause for concern.

He spoke at a reception held in Igbajo, Boluwaduro Local Government Area of Osun State for Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Research and Strategic Partnerships of the institution who recently became a Senior Advovate of Nigeria (SAN).

A statement in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, by ABUAD Head of Corporate Affairs, Tunde Olofintila, said Babalola who spoke on the topic: The Power of Education, expressed worry that many of today’s graduates cannot defend their certificates.

He described such a situation as a far cry from what obtained in the past.

Read Also: Devolution of power panacea for Nigeria’s challenges, says Afe Babalola

“The common saying is that ignorance is a disease. I do agree. Indeed, poor education is worse than illiteracy. Poor education is even more dangerous than ignorance.

“But what do we have today? Indeed, I mean the type of quality and functional education I had in my primary school, which I am now replicating in my university, ABUAD.

“Due to poor education, Nigeria is today producing graduates whose education makes them more dangerous than uneducated people.

“Today, Nigeria produces graduates who cannot write simple and correct sentences; graduates who do not understand the difference between   transitive and intransitive verbs.

“We have graduates who do not know the place and import of prepositions in grammar; graduates who do not know the use of adjectives and adverbs; graduates who do not know the place of agreement of nouns and number; graduates who do not know the import of adjectival and adverbial clauses.

“There are graduates who do not know the difference between Tropics of Cancer and Tropics of Capricorn.

“There are those who do not know Magellan line, that is, the line that divides the earth into two.

“There are many graduates who do not know the distance between the earth and where the rain starts to fall.

“There are also those who do not know why we have day and night or the difference between Neap or High Tide or the fact that what is called heaven consists of billions of stars and different planets.

“Whereas our towns will only be better if we have quality education, our nation will be better if we have quality education, and the world will be better if we all have quality education,” he said.

Babalola urged all stakeholders in the Education sector to bridge the gap in the sector within the shortest possible term.

By Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and its Chairman Prof Bolaji Owasanoye have been restrained from arresting and prosecuting Abdullahi Inde Dikko, an ex-Comptroller General of Customs.

They were restrained by a Federal High Court in Abuja from prosecuting the one-time Customs boss in relation to the allegation that he obtained N1.1 billion from a firm -Cambial Limited – under false pretence.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a judgment in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/980/020 held that there was nothing in Cambial Limited’s petition, dated December 21, 2016, on which the ICPC and Owasanoye claimed to rely in inviting Dikko, to suggest that the ex-Customs boss committed a criminal offence.

Justice Mohammed, who resolved the sole issue he identified for determination, in favour of the applicant, was of the view that Dikko effectively discharged the burden placed on him by law to prove, by affidavit evidence, that his fundamental rights were being threatened.

The judge, in the judgment delivered on December 18, held that the ICPC and its Chairman (listed as the second and third respondents in the fundamental rights enforcement suit by Dikko) like the police, could only exercise their power to invite or arrest anyone if there is a reasonable suspicion of the person having committed a criminal offence or he/she was about to commit any.

Read Also: Oyo council bosses deny ICPC probe

“Taking another look at exhibit six, upon which the second and third respondents claimed to rely, in persistently inviting the applicant, I find no iota of suspicion therein, that the applicant has committed a criminal offence that would warrant his being harassed, intimidated and subjected to threat of arrest for failure to honour their invitation,” the judge said.

He added that, by its petition to the ICPC and its Chairman, Cambial Ltd merely sought to use them as debt recovery agents, which power they lack under the law.

“I am not in doubt that the purport of exhibit six (the petition) is to use the second and third respondents as debt collectors for the fourth respondent.

“Exhibit six clearly and loudly speaks for itself. It is evidently asking the second and third respondents to obtain the payment of the balance of the sum of 754,952,380.96 owed to it by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

“Once again, I say that exhibit six relied on by the second and third respondents in their defence, in its literal sense, talks about the shortfall in the payment made to the fourth respondent (Cambial Ltd) in respect of the contract executed between the fourth respondent and NCS.

“There is nothing in exhibit six to suggest that the applicant has committed any offence known to law.

“Consequent on the above, it is the finding of this court that the second and third respondents acted beyond their powers donated to them under the second respondent’s (ICPC) Act, and consequently violated the applicant’s rights by harassing, intimidating and threatening to arrest and detain the applicant,” Justice Mohammed said.

 

 

 

 Kofoworola Belo-Osagie (Lagos), Nwanosike Onu (Awka) and Frank Ikpefan (Abuja)

 

ACADEMIC activities in public varsities will resume next month, Labour and Employment Minister Dr. Chris Ngige has assured.

His assurance followed the outcome of the Federal Government negotiation with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at last Thursday’s parley.

According to the minister, parties will be back at the negotiating table today to resume discussions on the special assignment given to both sides at the last meeting.

ASUU National President Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said that the union would respond to the minister’s assurance tomorrow.

When asked the unoin’s response to Ngige’s claim that universities would resume in January, next year, Ogunyemi wrote in a WhatsApp message: “ASUU shall respond appropriately by Wednesday, 23 December.  Thank you.”

Confirming today’s meeting, he said: “Yes, we are meeting tomorrow but I can’t speak further till Wednesday when I will be able to tell you if we will suspend the strike or not.”

He declined to speak further.

Ngige expressed the hope that there will be breakthrough in discussions in today’s meeting with the lecturers who have been on strike since March, adding that the government has met almost all the demands of ASUU.

He said negotiations between the ASUU leadership and the government had reached 98 per cent, adding that it remains only two per cent to be completed.

Ngige spoke in his Alor, Idemili South Local Government Area country home in Anambra State, during the launch of his free medical outreach at the Community’s Health Center.

The Federal Government, few weeks ago, raised its offer to the striking lecturers to N70 billion.

In a statement, Ngige said: said the government was willing to pay N40 for Earned Allowances which would be shared among three university-based unions and N30 billion for revitalisation.

The minister added that the funds were ready for disbursement pending when the union agrees to call of the over eight-month-old strike.

The government also accepted ASUU demand to exempt its members from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) pending the approval of the proposed payment system – the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

Read Also: ASUU to blame for prolonged strike, says Ngige

However, the payment of arrears remained the most contentious issue on which the government and ASUU had failed to reach an understanding.

The union insists on the settling of the arrears of his members’ salaries before calling off the strike.

Ngige said: “We have met about 98 per cent of the request of ASUU. Some five to two per cent is what you can call promissory notes.

“So, I am very hopeful that by midnight today, there are some works we are supposed to get on to do. They also have some work they are supposed to do on their own side with their people.

“Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will meet in the afternoon and we will compare notes. We will put everything on the table and compare. I believe that we might have come to the end of the strike when we meet.

“Well, it is a journey of a thousand miles which you will have to take one step first. Tomorrow (today), all things being equal, we will agree now to agree because we were disagreeing before.

“We disagree to agree and agree to disagree formerly. But tomorrow (today), I hope we will agree to agree. Once we do that, schools will re – open in January.”

On the free medical outreach, Ngige said he was extending the largesse beyond Alor to neighbouring communities like Abatete, Oraukwu, Ideani and Nnobi among others.

He said those with different ailments like hepatitis, eye problems among others should take advantage of the outreach, adding that about 15 medical doctors in different fields would handle the cases at the Health Centre.

Lucas Ajanaku and Blessing Olaifa, Abuja

 

THERE was a big rush in major cities on Monday to obtain the National Identity Number (NIN) at National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) offices.

NIN is required for a telephone subscriber to sustain his line, following the directive by the government.

However, the December 31 deadline has been extended till January 19 for subscribers who have their NIN and February 9, for those yet to obtain their NIN.

Monday’s extension of the deadline was approved at a meeting of stakeholders with Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr. Isa Ali Pantami.

The huge crowd of would-be NIN enrollers was noticed at the NIMC offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan.

Those at the Lagos office of the commission had their hope dashed when the NIMC shut its doors after initially attending to them.

When our correspondent visited the NIMC office at Alausa, Ikeja, many people expressed frustration and bitterness because many of them left their homes very early hoping to get the registration done.

This huge gathering was at a time the country is battling the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak. It was observed that most of the people breached COVID-19 protocols.

Many didn’t wear face masks; some others failed to maintain social distance.

One of them, who gave his name simply as Ayodeji, said he read about the directive of the NCC to deactivate telephone numbers without NIN in the newspapers.

“I live in Aayetoro, Ogun State and got here at 4.30 a.m. I was shocked with the sea of human heads I saw. I felt like running back to Shoprite bus stop. I decided to brave the odds and got number 153.

An 85-year-old man, Fatai Akinbile, who was at the NIMC office to correct his date of birth, expressed how bitter he felt with the entire process.

”I came from Ajah, left the house very early. The issue is they wrote 1953 as my date of birth instead of 1935. I have made attempts to correct it and they referred me to Ikeja,” he said.

Read Also: NIN: Storm over SIM deactivation

A female teenage prospective enrolee said: “They chased us away threatening to invite policemen if we refused to go. You know NIMC shares these premises with officers and men of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Besides that, this place is very close to Alausa, the seat of government. I am sure the CCTV in Alausa will be monitoring everything happening here. That notwithstanding, policemen arrived shortly,” she said.

It was gathered that the Commission shut down abruptly after distributing forms to some of them, saying they got an order from Abuja to do so.

A statement by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Executive Vice Chairman Prof Umar Danbatta and NIMC Director-General Aliyu Abdulaziz noted that the National Task Force on National Identity agreed that the deadline be extended.

The statement reads: “National Task Force on National Identification Number (NIN) and SIM Registration met today, 21st December, 2020. The meeting was chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) with major stakeholders in the sector including Chairman-NCC, EVC-NCC, DG-NITDA, DG-NIMC, ECTS/ECSM-NCC, Chairman ALTON, CEOs of MTN, Airtel, Ntel, Glo, Smile, and 9Moble in attendance.

“Based on the endorsement of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the following resolutions were made:

“Three (3) weeks extension for subscribers with NIN from 30th December, 2020 to 19th January, 2021.

“Six (6) weeks extension for subscribers without NIN from 30th December, 2020 to 9th February, 2021.

“NIMC has provided strategies to enable citizens attend the registration in full compliance with Covid-19 protocols – particularly the use of facemasks which remains mandatory and maintenance of social distancing.

“The President appreciates Nigerians for their patience and commitment to update their Identities; The Federal Government also thanks all stakeholders for their compliance with the directives.

“Mr. President has also commended the efforts of the Task Force and urges all stakeholders to take advantage of the extension to link their SIM card with their NIN. USSD and verification charges remain suspended during these extensions.”