The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

I’ve no rift with Oyetola, says Aregbesola

By Toba Adedeji, Osogbo

Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola has refuted speculations that there is a rift between him and Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

Aregbesola, who served as the state’s governor for two terms before handing over to Oyetola in 2018, said he is not quarrelling with anybody.

Read Also: UPDATED: Tinubu, Oyetola, Aregbesola, Akande meet in Osun

The minister, answering questions from reporters in his hometown, Ilesha, at the weekend, said he was away from the state so that he could allow the Oyetola administration to settle down and be focused.

He said he is back in the state to strengthen the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and make it more relevant, adding that he will engage people to make the party grow.

December 21, 2020
No to dictatorship

Editorial

One of the defining features of democracy is adherence to the Rule of Law by all. Constitutionalism is unavoidable n every country that lays claim to the presidential system of government. It is thus inescapable that anyone who claims to be a leader would respect the citizens and respect their fundamental rights. It is in this context that the decision by the Federal Government to monitor citizens’ phone calls is unacceptable. It is sheer abridgement of their right to privacy.

Already, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) saddled with the task has procured the equipment needed for the purpose. It did not deem it fit to consult the people or their elected representatives in the legislature. While the people at every general election hands the victorious party the mandate to govern, they do not expect the government to ride roughshod over them. Popular mandate remains with the people who retain the power to keep the government in check through public opinion, demand for scrupulous adherence to the terms of the mandate, possible initiation of impeachment through the legislators and use of the courts to test the lawfulness of government’s actions. This is one case that necessitates the people to get government to respect their inalienable rights.

Many philosophers in the older democracies have established that governance is founded on social contract. No government has the right to go beyond the mandate handed through the ballot box. At every election, the political parties present their respective manifestos, thus affording the electorate the opportunity of making a choice. Whenever other issues arise that were not envisaged before the polls, the government is supposed to liaise with the lawmakers, or collate views through public opinion or, better still, organise a referendum in acknowledgement that power belongs to the people.

In this case, the Federal Government has taken the people for granted. It is another pointer to the fact that impunity reigns in the land. Nigeria is not a conquered territory where the rights of the people could be abridged at will. While we recognise that we are in unusual times when uncertainty reigns in the land, government has the duty of coming up with solutions that would not reduce the people to slaves in their own country. The only countries where such practices are acceptable are those run by dictators. Nigeria is not one and the people will not accept any attempt to turn their country into a totalitarian state.

We expect the National Assembly to swing into action immediately by summoning the Director-General of the NIA to explain where he derived his powers from. Moreover, were the equipment bought appropriated? Where he is unable to do so, appropriate sanctions due to such infractions should be meted to him. Nigeria should not be a country where anything goes.

The people, led by the civil rights groups, should also swing into action and engage the executive in robust dialogue. We are aware that other countries where, owing to security concerns steps are taken to pore through private concerns of citizens, the intelligence community is expected to receive endorsement by the courts. The agency is expected to show why such extraordinary measures should be taken, whereupon the action is taken. In this case, unlike in the United States of America where there is a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), there is no such institution or process in Nigeria. The government cannot just jump into taking such a measure without necessary legal framework.

Nigeria may be faced with serious social, economic, political and security challenges, but we do not see why this should lead to descending into a lawless society where the leader rules like a despot and the people do not exist in the equation.

December 21, 2020
WHO: New variant of virus in South Africa, UK

Moses Emorinken, Abuja

The World Health Organization (WHO) Monday disclosed that there have been new variants of the covid-19 virus in South Africa and United Kingdom.

Stating that the virus seems to be mutating over time, the WHO further disclosed that it is more likely to cause severe disease or death.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, made this known Monday during a media briefing.

He said, “In the past few days, there have been reports of new variants of the COVID-19 virus in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Viruses mutate over time; that’s natural and expected. The UK has reported that this new variant transmits more easily but there is no evidence so far that it is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality.

“WHO is working with scientists to understand how these genetic changes affect how the virus behaves. The bottom line is that we need to suppress transmission of all SARS-CoV-2 viruses as quickly as we can. The more we allow it to spread, the more opportunity it has to change.

“I can’t stress enough – to all governments and all people – how important it is to take the necessary precautions to limit transmission.”

Ghebreyesus further revealed that $4.6bn additional funding will be needed in the year 2021 to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for at least 20 percent of the population of all low and lower-middle income countries.

Read Also: COVAX rolls out nearly two billion vaccines in 2021 — WHO

He said, “Last week, we announced that the COVAX Facility – which is backed by 190 countries and economies – has secured access to nearly two billion doses of promising vaccine candidates.

“In early 2021, US$ 4.6 billions in additional funding will be needed to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for at least 20 percent of the population of all low and lower-middle income countries. This will ensure health workers and those at highest risk of severe disease are vaccinated, which is the fastest way to stabilise health systems and economies and stimulate a truly global recovery.

“The hundred-hundred initiative of WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank aims to support 100 countries to conduct rapid readiness assessments and develop country-specific plans within 100 days for vaccines and other COVID-19 tools.

“89 countries have already completed the assessments and our teams are working around the clock to ensure that governments and health systems are ready for global vaccine rollout. WHO has also released a new training course for health workers on COVID-19 vaccination, which is available at OpenWHO.org.

“Vaccines will help to end the pandemic, but the effects of COVID-19 will continue to be felt for many years to come.”

December 21, 2020
Miyetti Allah, Ohanaeze and Afenifere can help tackle insecurity
By Fredrick Nwabufo

SIR: Security is everybody’s business. It is a flawed assumption that issues of security must remain strictly within the orbit of agencies with the statutory responsibility. Even security agencies cannot function without citizens’ alliance and community help. Simply, they cannot operate in vacancy of citizens’ collaboration and the support of stakeholders and other institutions – both formal and informal.

The most fundamental ingredient to addressing crime is intelligence. And intelligence does not jump out from the coloured screen of a computer; it comes from people – of all shades and appliances. It is the reason I believe our traditional institutions and socio-cultural organisations can be veritable accomplices in the fight against insurgency and banditry. We are yet to really extract commitment from and forge a partnership with these institutions. Yes, we are yet to give them due recognition as accessories to peace and stability in the country. These institutions are the closest to the people. They know their own; they understand and speak the language, and they know the terrain.

Socio-cultural organisations should not only be cymbals for sounding alarms and making demands. They can be the partners of the security agencies in securing the country. In fact, they hold a bigger share in the security enterprise because they represent their people, and as such any challenge affects them directly.

On Friday, Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara, said Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), the Fulani socio-cultural group, helped secure the release of abducted the Kankara schoolboys who have spent nearly seven days in grisly captivity. According to him, no ransom was paid. In his words: ‘’Ask anybody, we don’t pay bandits a dime. What we do is to extend olive branch to them because they also want to live in peace.’’

Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina, corroborated Matawalle’s claim. He said: “Those involved in the negotiation include my adviser, some top military and police operatives. Members of Miyetti Allah; (they) were all involved in the negotiation.”

The alleged involvement of Miyetti Allah in the negotiation for the release of the schoolboys actuated a furore on social media. Some asked why Miyetti Allah would be involved in the parleying while others wondered when the socio-cultural organisation became a security agency and state actor.

The suspicion of Nigerians who have commented on this issue is understandable, but the misgiving is more of emotion than reason. I must say, Nigerians have a right to be cynical about the purported involvement of Miyetti Allah in this matter, considering the past actions, posturing and statements of the group. But was Miyetti Allah’s intervention needed? Yes. Though the group is not a state actor, it is a stakeholder in Nigeria, particularly in the north just like Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and Afenifere. If we all agree that most of the bandits terrorising the country are of a particular stock, does it not make sense that an organisation representing the group intervenes in moments of crisis by its own, and most importantly prevail on them to give up their arms?

Perhaps, the reason for the hurly-burly of emotions on social media is that Miyetti Allah, before the Kankara schoolboys abduction, had not condemned the actions of these stray hounds or intervened wholesomely in similar cases of banditry and kidnapping elsewhere. If they had, I am not aware. This is where I think Miyetti Allah comes short. The group should seize this moment to condemn the perpetrators of banditry and intervene actively and consistently in cases of banditry and kidnapping by providing intelligence to security agencies and speaking with its youths to re-channel their energies away from the kidnapping industry.

Miyetti Allah, Ohanaeze and Afenifere can play crucial roles in rolling back the boulder of banditry and kidnapping. Banditry is not a northern problem; it is a Nigerian snag. It involves everyone. To deal with this challenge we must not isolate any stakeholder or group. Security is everybody’s business.
- Fredrick Nwabufo, <fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com>
December 21, 2020
Ports and railway

Editorial

That Apapa Ports need a trans-modal system of transportation is not in doubt. If anything, the chaotic traffic scenes created by articulated vehicles lining the major roads to the place, stretching in some cases for several kilometres, bear testimony to the need to do something about alternative transportation system to and fro the ports. Not only do such vehicles cause problems for other road users, they are also sources of environmental nuisance, accidents, in addition to shortening the lifespan of the roads.

That is why it beats our imagination that the original Lagos-Ibadan rail contract did not include a branch line into the ports complex. However, as they say, “better late than never.” But it is sad that when this anomaly was finally being rectified, with the ports now to enjoy railway facilities, all manner of challenges have been rearing their ugly heads.

The latest is the ruckus by The Netherlands-based firm, APMT, which has accused the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) handling the rail project of stalling its business by moving to site without giving ports stakeholders any prior notice. APMT is the largest container operator on the Apapa complex. It has accused the CCECC of moving to site at a peak period of clearing activities, arguing that this could hurt the nation’s economy.

It would appear the Dutch firm is not alone in this.

The President of Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA), Godwin Onyekazi , though acknowledged the salutary effects of the rail project, is also nonetheless worried that “This is the peak season for importation. More goods are coming into the country and disruption will mean these goods will be stranded at the ports and will in the end attract additional demurrage.”

NPA officials have however debunked this claim, saying the Dutch firm has always been involved in matters concerning the rail project at the ports.

For sure, this is not the time for unnecessary disagreement on this matter. We have come a long way and the only option we have is to press forward. Individuals and corporate citizens who have been at the receiving end of the traffic snarl occasioned by the ports activities in Apapa have told all manner of heartrending stories. Drivers of some of the articulated vehicles sleep on the road while awaiting their turns to move into the ports to load, and do virtually everything, including converting portions of the road to toilets and bathrooms.

All of these would become a thing of the past when the ports are linked by rail. Rail operations will remove many trucks from the road and improve environmental standards. Lagos District Manager of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC)., Jerry Oche, gave a clearer insight into what this means for the ports: “A train is made up of 19 wagons and each of the wagons can take one 40feet or two 20feet containers. So, if we are doing 40feet, that is 19 trucks off the road and if it is 20feet, that is 38 trucks off the road per trip.” We can only imagine the multiplier effect when rail services commence fully at the ports.

Lagos Port is the biggest port in the country; it is also one of its honey pots. Indeed, a substantial amount of the N1.1 trillion revenue obtained from Customs and Excise duties in 2018 from importation was obtained from the several ports in Nigeria, and Apapa Wharf is estimated to have contributed at least 50 per cent of the revenue. But, its revenue spinning capability notwithstanding, we cannot continue to look on while things deteriorate at the ports. As a matter of fact, the ports can only do better with railway services in and out of them. Whatever we are losing under the current arrangement of lack of railway infrastructure at the ports far outweighs whatever we will lose by removing the structures and other bottlenecks on our path to our dream inter-modal transportation at the ports.

December 21, 2020
Kankara puzzles

By Emeka Omeihe

Even with the release of 344 abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State, those familiar with surrounding villages and communities still wonder how bandits were able to kidnap the boys and vanish into the thin air. They find it increasingly difficult to come to terms with the reality that such a huge number of boys could be ferried out of the area without the authorities noticing. The story that they were taken away from their school on motorcycles made the entire episode more perplexing. How many motor cycles were involved and how many of the students the armed cyclists were able to carry at a time, are puzzles that perhaps, only time will entangle.

If 344 students were taken away in motor cycles, there is everything to suspect that close to that number of cycle-riding armed bandits would have been deployed into active duty that ill-fated night. That should have been more than enough disturbance to alert the security agencies if actually they maintain some presence around the areas they passed through. But it appeared the bandits operated without being noticed or resisted.

The initial story by the presidency was that the military supported by airpower had located the “bandit’s enclave at the Zango/Paula forest in Kankara and there have been exchange of fire in an-ongoing operation”. But five days after the kidnap, Governor Bello Masari of Katsina State told the BBC Hausa Service that the kidnapped students “are in Zamfara. We have got the information. We are negotiating with the kidnappers to ensure the release of the abducted students”.

The disclosure by Masari further injected some confusion and puzzle into the entire episode. Which of the two accounts do we now believe: the tale by the presidency or the account of the state governor? And since Masari’s was the latest, we were led to the assumption that his account was the real position at the moment he spoke. So the narrative that the bandits were holed up in an exchange of fire power with the military in the Zango/Paula forest in Kankara was after all a hoax. Not also with the disclosure by Masari that the abducted students were in Zamfara with negotiations going on to free them. Their eventual release in Tsafe, Zamfara State proved very conclusively that there was no iota of truth in the claim by the presidency that the bandits were holding the boys in a Kankara forest.

Apparently rattled by the contradiction in the two accounts, the Nigerian military was quick in dissociating itself from any negotiation reaffirming its committed to militarily dislodge the bandits. How they intended doing that with the negotiations entered into by Masari is left to be conjectured. But it leaves the unmistakable impression that at least one of the parties is not telling us the truth about the efforts to rescue the poor students.

Incidentally, Masari while claiming that no ransom was paid for the release of the students, named the military, police operatives and Miyetti Allah as those involved in the negotiations. So, we are left to form opinions on some of the issues that have been traded. But in all, it appears the facts of the matter are not as clear as they were presented. This may be the first negotiation entered into with organized criminals without some conditions. So, what was the negotiation all about if the bandits did not get anything in return? The issues are still hazy.

There is also the additional matter arising – that the bandits were able to ferry their victims from Katsina across to Zamfara State. In which case, they did not only beat the security in Katsina State, they totally outsmarted whatever security presence there exists in Zamfara State. That says a lot on the security situation in that part of the country.

Not unexpectedly, conspiracy theories have for good reasons, resonated. There are speculations that the kidnap could not have been possible without the connivance or active participation of security personnel, traditional rulers and community leaders. How come hundreds of motor cycle-riding bandits carrying many passengers were able to pass through the villages and communities without village heads, traditional rulers, security agencies or even ordinary residents raising an eyelid?

This puzzle further gives credence to the growing feeling that some powerful interests are behind the debilitating insecurity in parts of the north possible for financial or political gains or both. The stunning manner in which a security summit organized by civil society groups in Kaduna was sacked by sponsored armed thugs who stormed the venue and attacked the distinguished audience with dangerous weapons seem to corroborate this theory. Somebody somewhere must be benefitting from the spate of heightened insecurity that has reduced the worth of life in that part of the country in particular.

This requires very thorough investigation by the federal authorities to fish out those behind the recurring mass kidnapping of students. First was the Chibok girls’ incident of 2014 that is yet to account for the lives of many of the students. That was followed by the Dapchi abduction of 2018. The latest incident at Kankara would seem one abduction too many.

Like the two previous abductions, the Boko Haram insurgents have claimed responsibility for the incident. They showed a video footage of some of the presumed abducted students with their spokesmen pleading with the government to negotiate with their abductors and avoid force to secure their release. Though the Nigerian military and Masari have sought to diminish the weight of this claim, the fact that the abduction bears the imprimatur of Boko Haram’s weird ideological prompting, weakens any attempt to dissociate them from the attack.

At any rate, who are the so-called bandits and which territories do they occupy? If the so-called bandits could muster such a huge force to diminish and beat our security architecture hands down, they must have a strong operational base. So, who harbors the bandits and why has it been impossible for the security agencies to flush them out if they are an ad hoc and rag tag criminal as they are being painted?

On the contrary, the bandits from what we have seen, maintain a large and strong army comparable to what we know of the Boko Haram insurgents. The Kankara abduction bears the footprints of the Boko Haram insurgents both in planning, surprise and manner of execution. Not only does Boko Haram have grouse with western education, its agenda is to discourage school attendance by selectively marking out students for frequent abduction. When this ignoble mission is weighed against the campaigns by northern governors to substantially get more pupils enroll in their schools, the correlation between students’ abduction and the campaign to discourage education by the insurgents becomes very glaring. It is little surprising that many state governments in the north had in the wake of the Katsina showdown, shut down boarding schools within their domain

So, there is everything to link the abduction to Boko Haram. Or are we really talking about the same people by using the terms bandits and Boko Haram interchangeably? The sooner we untangle the puzzle surrounding the seeming invincible bandits, the better we are in resolving the debilitating insecurity that has reduced life in the north to a verity of the Hobbesian state of nature.

If bandits have now ventured into the mass kidnap of students for either pecuniary or other gains, then there is no difference between them and the Boko Haram insurgents. They are clearly terrorists and must be confronted the same way the terrorists are being fought.

But the relative ease with which the negotiations progressed leading to the release of the 344 students unharmed meant the leaders of the so-called bandits are known. They are known to Miyetti Allah otherwise they would not have been part of the negotiations. They are also known to the Katsina State government that had in the past entered into an amnesty program with their leaders.

So, what happened to the peace agreement Masari signed with the leaders of the bandits even to the extent that he posed in a photograph with some of them clutching sophisticated riffles. What happened? And what is the link between Katsina bandits and the ones in Zamfara? Many puzzles!

December 21, 2020
JUST IN: Anxiety over Olu of Warri’s health

Our Reporter

There was anxiety Monday over the state of health the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli.

Sources said the monarch’s health nosedived on Sunday evening.

Chiefs, community leaders and place staff declined comment over the condition of the Olu, saying they were not authorised to speak.

December 21, 2020
BREAKING: Rivers APC faction suspends Amaechi, Ogbobula

…Expels Giadom

…Says party will partake in Rivers LGA election

Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

The Igo Aguma-led All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has suspended the Transport Minister and former Governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi, from the party.

The development has deepened the crisis in the state APC as both camps strived to gain control of the APC ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The Amaechi’s group of the party had at the weekend declared the suspensions of Senator Magnus Abe, Igo Aguma, Livingstone Wechie, Wogu Boms and all caretaker committee leaders inaugurated by Aguma.

Aguma in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Livingstone Wechie, also said the APC had written to the Rivers State Electoral Commission (RISIEC) to declare its readiness to partake in the forthcoming local government election in the state.

Wechie said the decision to suspend Amaechi from the party was taken at an extraordinary Executive meeting presided over by Aguma in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He said the meeting was well-attended by the statutory executive members, who participated physically and virtually to take major decisions affecting the party.

Read Also: Wike’s aide, Amaechi’s loyalist clash over alleged APC plot

The statement said the State Executive Caretaker Committee ratified the recommendation of the State Disciplinary Committee of the party which looked into the decision of the ward and local government chapters to suspend Amaechi, who hails from Ward 8, Ikwerre Local Government Area for anti-party activities.

He said: “The State Executive Committee also accepted and ratified the decision of the State Disciplinary Committee to uphold the indefinite suspension of Isaac Ogbobula by the Ward 10 and LGA Executive of Ahoada-East Local Government Area of Rivers State. Isaac Ogbobula is hereby suspended indefinitely from APC Rivers.

“The state chairman briefed the executive committee meeting that he received communication from the APC executive of Gokana LGA to the effect that both Ward 16, Bera and the Gokana LGA chapters of the party have expelled Chief Victor Giadom from the APC as well as a report from Emohua LGA chapter that both Ward 4 and Emohua Local Government chapter of the party in Rivers State has suspended Senator Chief Andrew Uchendu from the APC.

“The executive committee referred both reports from Emohua and Gokana Local Government Areas on Chief Victor Giadom and Senator Andrew Uchendu to the State Disciplinary Committee for further action in line with Article 21 of APC Constitution.”

He said the state executive committee mandated Aguma to write a letter to RISIEC communicating the readiness of the APC to fully participate in the April 17th 2021 local government election in the state.

He said: “The state caretaker committee also expressed commitment to work assiduously to bring the party to reckoning in Rivers state. We, therefore, urge our teeming members and supporters to stay focused as we collectively usher in the new dawn of APC in Rivers state.”

December 21, 2020
Kankara abduction: Some unanswered questions
By Kazeem Olalekan Israel

It is no gainsaying that insecurity has been the order of the day in Nigeria and, under a government that promised to secure lives and properties of the people, its best and brightest people are being killed on a daily basis either by kidnappers, ravaging vampires, militants, bandits just to mention a few.

Although, the problem of insecurity is not new in Nigeria, but, ever since the emergence of Maj. Gen. Buhari (rtd.) as the president, the country has been witnessing unparalleled security challenges despite the fact that this government rode in on the promise of easing the burden of insecurity. Ever since then, insecurity has become a hydra-headed monster which security agents in Nigeria appear incapable of handling most especially when discussing its multifaceted manifestations like bombing, kidnapping, hostage-taking, destruction of properties just to mention a few. And, the aforementioned amongst others have not just created fears in the minds of the people but it has also made our security agents to be over-stretched considering the number of threats they have to quell with little and unsophisticated weapons.

As against the narrative that religion is the major cause of insecurity/terrorism in the country, successive governments have helped and aided criminal elements in the society with porous boundaries, unemployment and illiteracy just to mention a few and these have really affected/contributed to the issue of insecurity in the country with our level of threat increasing on a daily basis. Despite that Section 14(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) explicitly states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary objective of every government” and that this government swore an oath to protect lives and properties, insecurity has been on the increase and it is having a negative effect on the general well-being of the people.

It is fast becoming reality that this government cannot effectively guarantee the security of lives and properties of the citizens with different lawless groups holding the Nigerian country to ransom by their conducts which security agencies in the country have not been able to quell as a result of the absence of political will by those at the helm of affairs. It is a known fact that this government has performed abysmally low most especially in the area of security which is having a resultant effect on the economy too with many businesses closing down while others relocates.

It is quite pathetic that some persons have been spewing various narratives to commend the ‘efforts’ of the federal government in seeing to the release of hundreds of schoolboys that were abducted by ‘bandits’ few days ago in Katsina while the president was on a private visit to his home-state without asking relevant questions that begs for answers from both the state and the federal government in relation to the abduction and release of the schoolboys.

As a matter of fact, if not that the Nigerian people have been psychologically defeated by those entrusted with power, there is no reason to be praise-singing a government for facilitating the release of children that should not have been kidnapped in the first instance but rather to ask questions of how and when the release was made which the government must proffer answers to, based on transparency and accountability. Or, isn’t it disturbing that school-children were kidnapped via a hundred-plus bikes and transported via roads by their abductors without any efforts by security agencies to rescue them with alacrity? Isn’t it disturbing that the government has failed to brief the country the medium through which the negotiation that led to their release took place and the effort(s) being made by the government to see to it that such attack does not take place in the nearest future and that the criminals are brought to book?

For the record, the fact that the attack took place while the president was on a visit to the state shows the level of insecurity in the country and it has only given credence to the fact that this government has failed in all ramifications.

It is a security-knowledge that within the immediate proximity of the Head of State, a lot of efforts would have been made to beef-up security which include pre-visit aerial surveillance, positioning of snipers and all sorts of defensive measures. In fact, there is always an advance team responsible for on-the-spot assessment of physical and latent threats while the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the President would have gotten a comprehensive report on current threats in the area to determine if the visit is possible and measures needed to curtail any threat that manifests during intelligence gathering.

For clarity, the ‘proximity’ includes the town and key areas of the state to know the level of threat in areas that the motorcade of the president would pass. So, let us assume without conceding that the motorcade of the president did not pass through Kankara, was there no discussion of certain threats (not necessarily physical and of immediate danger to the president) in key areas of the state by the advance team of the president who must have been there to perform on-the-spot assessment?

The kidnap (whether planned or not to make it appear that a government which has been unable to rescue Leah Sharibu and curtail activities of lawless groups in the country worked assiduously to see to the release of the abductees within six days) is a serious insult on this government considering the circumstances surrounding the abduction. And, on a final note, it is important to charge this government to fix security challenges we are bedevilled with as a people and stop playing to the gallery.
- Israel writes via kazeemolalekanisraelgcaf@yahoo.com
December 21, 2020
2023: Loyalists launch Tinubu-for-president campaign in Ibadan

By Bisi Oladele, Southwest Bureau Chief

A group of former senators, House of Representative members and some other politicians across Southwest states have launched the ‘Bola Tinubu for President’ campaign for the 2023 election.

They started the campaign with visits to the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji and Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111 last Monday. They conveyed their agenda to the leading monarchs.

Chaired by former Senator Dayo Adeyeye from Ekiti State, the group christened Southwest Agenda (SWAGA), said members came together to actualise the agenda for the Southwest to produce the next president in 2023. Other members of the group include Senator Adesoji Akanbi (Vice Chairman), Bosun Oladele (Secretary), Rotimi Makinde, Otunba Abayomi Ogunnusi. Mrs. Kafilat Ogbara, Oyetunde Ojo, Deji Jakande and Ifedayo Abegunde (aka Abena).

Tinubu is the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He championed the formation of the party and the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate in 2014.

Adeyeye told the two monarchs that SWAGA was aimed at ensuring that an electable political leader from the Southwest is supported to succeed Buhari in 2023. He pointed out that Tinubu possesses all the qualities and experience needed to lead Nigeria as the next president. Besides, Adeyeye revealed that there was an agreement among APC leaders during the 2015 election that presidential power will rotate to the South after Buhari’s eight-year tenure.

His words: “We are here for politics. Politics has started. We Yoruba believe that it is our right to produce the next president. It has been an agreement that presidential power will rotate from the North to the South. May God preserve President Buhari. After his tenure, power will shift to the South. Yoruba will be part of the contest. We want the best candidate to emerge as the presidential candidate. As the media adviser to Abiola, I know what Yoruba want. Except a thorough-bred Yoruba person becomes president, we can’t get it. We saw that we have a very capable hand in Asiwaju Tinubu. He is so capable. I’ve tried a bit in Nigerian politics. No one has a bigger political stature than Tinubu in Nigeria today. He has not told us he would contest. We as true Yoruba sons and daughters just decided to embark on this to ensure that we push forward a good candidate. He is sellable all over Nigeria.

“We are having our inaugural meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) in Ibadan. Ibadan is the political headquarters of Yoruba. All Yorubas are represented in Ibadan. Hence, we chose Ibadan. As Yoruba children, we have come to seek your blessings for the meeting and the agenda.”

He said they will continue to consult elders and traditional rulers in the land. Responding, Oba Adetunji commended members of the group for taking the bold step to advance the interest of Yoruba. He said it is not out of place for people to press for their rights in Nigeria.

Read Also: Tinubu: Let’s take unemployed youths off the streets

The monarch said Yoruba played key roles in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence and development, stressing that they deserve top roles in government, particularly those eminently qualified citizens of Yoruba extraction.

As a traditional ruler, Adetunji said his door is open to all political parties. He assured them of open arms, stressing that they were free to visit him at any time. He blessed their agenda thereafter.

At Alaafin’s palace, Adeyeye told Oba Adeyemi that all regions want the presidential slot but having had an agreement, written or unwritten, there should be no alteration.

He said: “We have a joker that others don’t have. That is Asiwaju. He has no peer in Nigeria today. That’s why we are confident that Yoruba will produce the next president. Tinubu is not only qualified, he offered good governance in Lagos. Prior to that, he was an active member of NADECO. After Abiola, the next eminently qualified candidate we have is Tinubu.”

Expressing belief in the group’s mission, Oba Adeyemi recalled the leading roles which Yoruba people have been playing in Nigeria’s development. He said it was right for Yoruba to aspire to be president, adding that it is a noble cause for all Yoruba to consider.

The monarch said for Nigeria to progress, the country must practise true federalism. He said: “We must have true federalism. If we don’t run true federalism, it will be difficult to move forward. Yoruba has been at the forefront of exploits and development efforts of Nigeria but there has been no sincerity in Nigerian politics.

“We need a leader who understands Nigeria very well and able to offer purposeful leadership.

I think your agenda is well thought out. I believe in your mission. In this journey, don’t entertain any fear no matter the situation. You will attain your goal.”

December 21, 2020