The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Handling the challenge of health and environment

    Handling the challenge of health and environment

    By Kayode Ojewale

    SIR: Man and his environment can hardly be separated when human health is being discussed. The environment of a man is a true reflection of his health condition and status because it largely tells his hygiene level. Man’s environment is his immediate surroundings and this includes the living and non-living things around him. Man cannot live in isolation and as such he is bound to constantly interact with his environment. This interaction with the environment tells a lot about the well-being of man.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO), defines environment as, “all the physical, chemical and biological factors external to a person, and all the related behaviours.” About five decades ago, WHO also defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” It can be inferred from these definitions that man’s interactions with everything that surrounds him determines his well-being.

    Although at the international level, issues related to environmental health have always been addressed from the points of view of ozone layer depletion, climate change and biodiversity, it is important to begin to also address these environmental health challenges from an individual-basis viewpoint by assessing the impact of our activities on the environment.  Good or bad, everyone can easily tell from the most personal level how their activities have affected their immediate environment through regular checks on the natural world around us.

    Air, water and soil make up the non-living parts or the physical constituents of the environment. The quality of these elements determines environmental and human health. When these constituents of the environment are polluted or contaminated, then one might be easily exposed to some health risks. The sustainability of human life is dependent on the environment and it is also capable of infecting man with diseases if not well cared for.

    A school of thought, generally accepted by many environmentalists, has it that, virtually everything that man does, is in response to his environment. Man’s environment, internal or external, dictates his actions most times and hence affects the quality of life. Our environment affects us and we affect it in turn. This is because our environment does to us what we do to it in areas of treatment and handling. It may be indirectly, but we certainly do. This therefore establishes man’s core relationship with his environment.

    Some environmental experts have even argued that man is the real threat to his own life on planet earth. This narrative can change when we engage in healthy activities that will protect, maintain and restore the quality of our environment.

    Humanity has forgotten that the environment can exist without man, but no man without the environment. We are then at the mercy of the environment when we are attacked by diseases that are environmentally-induced. How then do we treat the environment to avoid being stricken by illnesses? Or in what ways have we been negatively impacting the environment by our actions and inactions as humans? Why have we neglected or paid little attention to the way we take care of our environment as humans? Where exactly did we miss the understanding of the role environment plays in our health as we daily interact with it? Why is the environment so important just as the human health? When are we reconciling with our environment by giving it what it deserves and demands?

    Certain human activities like overexploitation of resources, indiscriminate bush burning, pollution and deforestation all destroy or negatively impact the environment on a large scale. The environment is as important as our health and must be protected because a healthy environment or ecosystem provides us with food, clean water and purified air. A healthy environment also regulates climate and maintains our soil. Man’s failure to protect his environment is borne out of his poor understanding of the role it plays. An unhealthy environment will certainly snowball into unhealthy lifestyle. The time to reconcile with our environment is now so that we can save our own lives.

    Diseases are best prevented when the environment is healthy. Humanity must live life with this caveat in mind: When man dies, the environment still lives; but when the environment dies, it automatically signals the arrival of death for man.

    The task of keeping our environment in good shape remains an unflinching obligation for every human being if truly we desire good health in the long run. The attendant uneasiness, discomfort and dysfunction the body experiences when attacked by diseases will be stemmed if the environment is okay. The spread of diseases will also be nipped in the bud when the environment is adequately and properly catered for.

    • Kayode Ojewale, Lagos.
  • Measuring the health of the economy

    Measuring the health of the economy

    By Alifia Sunday

    SIR: Statistics rolled out to us by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, and other institutions hardly ever reflect the realities on ground. At any point of economic performance assessment, we expect things to reflect the reality and how the parameters impact on the life of the people. While that should be the bottom-line, the contrary appears to be the case with the recent claim that the economy has exited recession.

    We do not judge economy on the basis of theories and projections; not by the graphs and curves that puts things in favourable light; the integrity and the health of an economy is measured by the life of people occasioned by the level of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over time; the obverse side of that is the low productivity leading to scarcity, inflation and of course, the escalating prices of food items which the country is experiencing at the moment

    How can things be rosy at this time when the agricultural sector is down due to the onslaught of the herdsmen, Boko Haram and kidnappers who have kept farmers off their farmlands?

    And the manufacturing sector of the economy is not exempted as the operators in this sector face both internal and external variables beyond their control which in the end lowers their productivity.

    The oil sector is may be doing reasonably well with the crude oil price hovering around $67 to $70 per barrel; but for how long shall we continue  build the economy around the fragile product as the major source of our revenue and by extension foreign exchange? We have heard it times without number that the current mono-cultural economy has failed us and can no longer sustain the country.

    What parameters did the NBS deploy to arrive at the conclusion that the country is out of recession?  Did the NBS consider the continuous and persistent rising costs of food; low production of goods and services; the continuous weakening of naira particularly against the United States dollar and the topsy-turvy in the stock market?

    International financial institutions can’t measure the strength of our economy, either. At least, not better than the citizens who daily bear the brunt.

    Until adequate attention is given to the comatose agricultural sector as a way of diversification, the nation is going nowhere. We need to boost the morale of our farmers, encourage them to return to farms with the assurance that herdsmen will no longer pose as security threat to them. That is the only panacea for healthy and sustainable economic growth. We need to be committed and sincere to the course of the suffering of the majority and as Oscar Wilde said, “a little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.

    • Alifia Sunday, Ilorin, Kwara State.
  • Raising the bar

    Raising the bar

    Editorial

    Like the Senate in December 2020, the House of Representatives seems to have recognised the need to demand for better academically prepared candidates for some political offices. The lower house is on the verge of enacting a law that would make Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science (BA/BSc) or Higher National Diploma (HND) the minimum qualification to contest election for the office of president or governor, to replace the existing requirement of secondary education or its equivalent.

    Secondly, the same legislative house is getting ready for a second reading of a bill to make the provisions of Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution: Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy justiciable, that is, make any failure of government to provide any of the constitutional provisions in the chapter actionable in courts. In its original form in the 1979 Constitution till 2021, none of the provisions in this chapter has been justiciable, thus rendering this chapter of the 1999 Constitution a mere decorative padding.

    It is, therefore, reassuring that within 90 days of each other, the two houses have made an overdue move. Since the creation of the 1979 Constitution which the 1999 Constitution has copied substantially, the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy chapter has been made to function like a military decree, rather than a string of provisions to deliver the common good to citizens. The chapter was presented as a tantaliser locked up in a room with windows to dispense the aroma of the food itself to those who need it. In effect, this section of the constitution has, for 25 years of constitutional rule since its original version in 1979, made promises that may not be countenanced by the government and about which citizens could do nothing.

    Of course, nurturing such constitution has not been without problems.  Many of the problems that the chapter was designed to solve by successive administrations have been ignored. Many of them like provision of water, electricity, sanitation, poverty alleviation, and many other assistance, promised in this chapter, first in 1979 and later in 1999, became the core of a global initiative, United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the year 2000.

    Even after the expiration of the MDGs and the transfer of many of its activities to the current Sustainable Development Goals, Nigeria is behind many peer countries in many areas. Even in 2021, Nigeria has 13 million out-of-school children; is a leader of the pack of countries that have become notorious for open defecation; it lacks safe water for citizens;  and has grossly inadequate access to good health care, to the extent that it still has one of the worst rates of infant and maternal mortality in the Third World. We, therefore, commend the House of Representatives for apprehending the absurdity of a constitutional provision that has constitutionally been put in abeyance for half a century.

    Replacing the provision in the constitution that requires completion of secondary school as the minimum educational requirement for the post of president and governor with attainment of B.A. or BSc. or HND or its equivalent is also long overdue, 60 years after the country became independent. Given the number of universities and polytechnics in the country since 1960, there should have been no cause to legislate such requirement, which in the advanced countries has been treated as a convention. For example, in three centuries of democracy in the United Kingdom and over two centuries in the United States of America, there has not been such legislation.

    Yet, of the 55 prime ministers that the UK has had since Robert Walpole in 1721, there have been only eight without a university degree. Similarly, out of the 46 presidents in the United States, there have been only nine without college degree. Such decisions have been left to the discretion of political parties for high office in countries that have for centuries put the right emphasis on formal education by political leaders, who also have seen the readiness on the part of political leaders to lead by the power of example in countries that extol the importance of academic or professional training.

    There is no incontrovertible evidence though, that the cowl can automatically make the monk, or that individuals with academic degrees routinely have the wisdom or depth of character to make good presidents, governors, ministers, or lawmakers. For example, one of the most cited United States presidents, Abraham Lincoln, had no university education, let alone a degree. But the circumstances of growing up in knowledge societies that the UK and the U.S. had been for centuries made it possible for government leaders and statesmen like Winston Churchill and Lincoln to acquire, through reading and experience, the knowledge needed to distinguish themselves as national leaders.

    However, the circumstances of younger polities like Nigeria that remain arguably more oral than literate in a century of phenomenal growth in knowledge and increased globalisation make it is a wise and patriotic option for the lower house to see the need for academic training or other comparable training by politically ambitious individuals interested in holding public office at the executive level.

    Incontrovertibly in 2021, the ingredients of success in all spheres of life require exposure to the rigours and discipline of academic training in all parts of the world. And if Nigeria is to be able to cope with the challenges of development in a global space, and especially in a space of modern democratic governance, candidates for political office, like average citizens aspiring to leadership positions, should be required to possess the minimum academic achievement required of the beginning civil servant. We commend members of the lower house for introducing this bill. It could not have come at a better time.

    Undoubtedly, the positions of president and governor are pivotal in a presidential system of government. Yet, there are so many other political functions that require solid intellectual preparation to respond to the growing challenges of managing and assisting in managing modern democracies. We urge the National Assembly to consider extending the requirements of first degree to lawmakers, ministers, commissioners, members of state legislative assemblies, and chairpersons of local governments. The separation of power principle requires as much intellectual preparation for managing modern democracies for each of the three branches of government.

    We plead with both houses to reconcile their recommendations on providing new prerequisites for political office holders in good time. We also urge the National Assembly to ensure that the bill gets to the stage of presidential endorsement soon enough to become law ahead of the 2023 elections.

  • The Trump legacies

    The Trump legacies

    By Niyi Akinnaso

    Donald John Trump, the 45th President of the United States, was an unusual leader, if ever he was one. He was autocratic, whimsical, and ruled on instinct. He flouted established institutional norms and basically ran the government like a Trump business. No wonder, his administration had the largest turnover of top officials in history.

    No American President other than Trump has publicly pursued the policy of otherness, by openly insulting or denigrating others, especially Blacks, Native Americans, Asians, and Muslims. In a conversation about immigration, Trump referred to El Salvador, Haiti, and African nations as “shithole countries”. Even fellow politicians, who crossed his path, either by contesting against him or by opposing his policy, also earned one derogatory label or the other. He lashed out at others as much with his tongue as with his tweets. So vile and inciting were many of his tweets that his tweeter handle was pulled down.

    His racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic behavior was supplemented with rosy promises of protecting America against immigration, globalization, world trade, and the outsourcing of American jobs, especially in the auto industry. He also promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington.  It soon became apparent that his campaign, and later governance, slogan, “Make America Great Again”, was a code for “Make America White Again”.

    In no time, his base broadened beyond White Supremacists and Whites without a College degree to include far-right conspiracy theorists, such as QAnon, and extremist groups, such as Proud Boys. He courted them and they gave him a cultic following. The rank and file of the Republican party first tolerated and later adopted him, although not without notable exceptions. Luckily for him, his party controlled both Houses of Congress for two years and the Senate throughout his four-year term.

    There are at least three reasons why the Republican party, which first attempted in 2016 to scuttle Trump’s candidacy, eventually warmed up to Trump. First, he delivered on some conservative projects on trade, border protection, and tax break for the rich. He also loaded various courts, including the Supreme Court, with Conservative justices. Second, Trump developed a cultic following from which Republican politicians wanted to reap electoral benefit. Third, it would appear that Trump’s discriminatory tendencies matched Republican basic instincts. They both oppose the expansion of minority access to resources.

    Against the above backgrounds, there are many things for which Trump will be remembered. First, his anti-science stance drove him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change on June 1, 2017.

    But by far, his anti-science stance was best illustrated by his woeful handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He downplayed the recommendations of scientists, including members of his own Coronavirus Task Force, on basic mitigation measures. He scuttled federal plans to combat the virus, politicized mask wearing, and urged states to reopen prematurely. He staged events in the White House and held several political rallies, which were regarded as super spreaders. As a result of his negligence, millions of Americans, including him, were infected by the virus, while over half a million have died as a result.

    Facing criticisms at home, Trump turned on China and the World Health Organization as coronavirus scapegoats. In his tirade against China, Trump variously called the coronavirus the China virus, the Chinese plague, and Conflu. As a result, he made Chinese in particular and Asian Americans in general targets of hate. He defunded the WHO and even threatened to withdraw the US from the Organization.

    Second, a longtime skeptic of trade liberalization, Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and launched a trade war with China, by increasing tariffs on over 800 categories of Chinese imports worth over $50 billon. He also imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from various countries. As a result of his whimsical trade policies, the US trade deficit reached its highest level in 12 years.

    Third, Trump manifested his love for autocracy by cozying up to autocrats, notably, Vladimir Putin of Russia; Kim Jong-un of North Korea; Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines; Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil; and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The US gained nothing significant from his relationships with these autocrats.

    However, some developments resulted from his alliance with Netanyahu. First, in a break with decades of official US policy, Trump moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Second, four Arab countries-The United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco, and Bahrain-normalized ties with Israel. As pointed out in Foreign Policy’s Year in Review, these countries were motivated by narrow interests, including Trump’s promise of favours or advanced weapons from the United States.

    Fourth, according to CREW researchers, who tracked Trump’s conflicts of interest resulting from interactions between the Trump Organization and the American government during his presidency, Trump left a legacy of corruption. His administration was “marked by self-interest, profiteering … and more than 3,700 conflicts of interest”.

    Fifth, Trump will be remembered for his unprecedented assault on American democracy. He denigrated the electoral system and claimed he won the 2020 presidential election, which he lost by 74 electoral college votes and over 7 million popular votes, as certified by all 50 states. He refused to concede the race and delayed the formal transition process. He filed over 60 cases in various courts, including the Supreme Court, and lost them all, except an inconsequential one. He unsuccessfully pushed electoral officials to “find votes” for him.

    Not satisfied, Trump invited his supporters to Washington and incited them to march on the Capitol as the legislators were engaged in the certification of the results. The ensuing destruction involved five fatalities. Over 300 participants have been charged for various offenses. It was the worst domestic assault on the Capitol in history. Trump capped his refusal to concede the race by refusing to attend his successor’s inauguration as required by tradition.

    This dent on American democracy and image abroad will take years to repair. Similarly, the deep divisions Trump has planted among fellow Americans will endure and manifest in various ways for years to come.

    Finally, Trump remains the only American President to be impeached twice, one in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and the other in 2021 for inciting an insurrection. Although he was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate on both occasions, the two impeachments will remain on his record as permanent indicators of institutional rejection of the Trump presidency.

  • Dealing with Nigeria’s would-be secessionists

    Dealing with Nigeria’s would-be secessionists

    By Festus Eriye

    The right way of dealing with the troubling rise of secessionist sentiment in the land is to downplay but not dismiss them.

    That was the tack taken by Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, in response to the declaration by one-time Niger Delta militant leader, Asari Dokubo, of a so-called ‘Biafra Customary Government.’ He dismissed him as an “entertainer” seeking attention.

    If the retired militant was isolated comic relief, the graduation of Yoruba nationalist Sunday Igboho from hounding criminal herders to advocating the birth of an independent nation in the Southwest, darkened the mood.

    His comments produced a fighting response from military top brass who promised to go after the separatists very soon. I would suggest the military have bigger fish to fry in the insurgents in the Northeast and rampaging bandits in the Northwest.

    We can begin to worry, however, if separatist talk is embraced by mainstream political actors. That isn’t happening. We have seen prominent politicians and traditional rulers in the Southwest firmly distancing their people from any secessionist agenda.

    I doubt any rational person would say north, south, east or west, there’s serious desire by Nigerians to part ways. No one has produced polling that suggests secession is a priority for our people; not even those pushing the agenda. They just want us to trust them that a break-up is in our best interests.

    Until now, the Southeast was the region with the largest appetite for separation. That is understandable given its history with the Biafra secessionist bid. That sentiment has sustained the likes of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) through the years.

    In the Southwest, calls for separation have been lukewarm in the past. The most vocal have favoured some form of regional autonomy at best – believing it was the surest way of replicating the glory days of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    Many in the Southeast have looked at the Southwest with envy – seeing as the region produced an Olusegun Obasanjo who after a stint as military Head of State went on to serve another eight years as civilian president. The feeling it had done well politically deepened with Yemi Osinbajo’s emergence as Vice President.

    Despite occupying these prestigious offices, there’s a lingering sense that the region hasn’t benefitted much and is not in better shape than those who cry marginalisation all the time.

    Many are angry that the Federal Government hasn’t done more to address violation of their land by criminal herders. That deep sense of frustration is what Igboho fed into and is driving him to the more ambitious agenda of declaring a ‘Yoruba Nation.’

    In a trending a video Ighoho made an impassioned appeal to the United Nations and the international community to “come and separate us.”

    If you needed any evidence that his talk was just that – talk – it was in that demand. He may have become a vent for airing regional frustration, but his utterances expose the extent which he can be taken seriously.

    Those who keep calling on outside forces to come and prise us apart, don’t grasp how things work. If Igboho doesn’t understand the UN isn’t in the business of creating or breaking up countries, what would he do with a country if he was handed one?

    Agitators and their fans must realise that breaking Nigeria into little pieces is no guarantee we’ll live happily ever after. The South Sudan story is a cautionary tale for adventurers.

    After long years fighting to break away from Sudan, it got its independence wishes in 2011. But the newly-liberated nation was soon plunged into a civil war two years later as its diverse groups set upon each other.

    Between 2013 and 2018 that conflict resulted in the death of nearly 400,000 people, with 2.24 million of its 12 million population becoming refugees and asylum seekers.

    I wrote in an earlier piece titled “‘Nexit’ and the illusion of an ethnic paradise”: “In the end it isn’t just about freedom and a sense of identity. Nations and their governments have a responsibility to provide their people with a decent life. Can we honestly say that these envisaged states that may emerge from our collective shipwreck would offer us and our children a better deal than what imperfect Nigeria currently does?

    “There are many countries that exist as independent states, yet have failed in their responsibility of providing for the wellbeing of their people. The result are the overloaded boats of the desperate making the deadly dash from Libya to Italy only to perish in the Mediterranean Sea.

    “Getting your own ethnic enclave is no guarantee that your people would get their dream of the good life. Speaking the same language is no guarantee of love, peace, unity or equity. In every region of this country people from the same ethnic stock are slaughtering themselves in communal clashes.

    “Truth be told, no matter how far we go, neither Biafra nor a future Niger Delta Republic (or an Oduduwa Republic) would be heaven on earth. In anger, some of the haters of today’s Nigeria refer to it as hell or a zoo, I suspect that the ethnic enclave they are preparing for their people may not be marginally better. A jungle perhaps?”

    So far, the North is the region where you find the least desire for secession. That would suggest it is relatively satisfied with its lot, or has benefitted more from existing political arrangements and sees no need to fix a ‘good thing.’

    But in the face of an insecurity crisis that has ravaged the region, its leading lights are increasingly reconciling themselves to the fact that existing structures can no longer deal with today’s challenges.

    For instance, there was a time when leading opponents of the state police idea were from the region. They did so mainly for political reasons. Today, with bandits overrunning their communities, erstwhile rejectionists are becoming ardent advocates of devolution of the policing function.

    Similar movement is needed in other areas to deal with the frustration producing the secession rhetoric. Mainstream actors need to seize the initiative and do something positive with feedback the likes of Igboho are generating.

    Unless something is done urgently to reform and restructure this dysfunctional federation, what appears impracticable and unthinkable today may just happen to us tomorrow.

  • Hijab: Suspected hoodlums attack churches, schools in Kwara

    Hijab: Suspected hoodlums attack churches, schools in Kwara

    By Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin and Segun Showunmi, Ibadan

    The crisis over hijab (veil) wearing in Christian grant-aided mission schools took a violent turn yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

    Suspected hoodlums vandalised churches, shops and schools at Sabo-Oke, Muritala Mohammed Way and other areas of the metropolis.

    Other places affected include Post Office, Surulere and Maraba where churches and Christian schools are located.

    It took the combined efforts of officers and men of the Kwara State Police Command, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Army to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    The tense situation sent fears down the spines of residents.

    The hoodlums reportedly brandished machetes, cutlasses, bottles and other weapons while marching through some streets.

    It was also gathered some of them wore masks, apparently to cover their identities.

    Although the gate of the Cherubim and Seraphim College, Sabo Oke, Ilorin was locked, the hoodlums threw stones and other dangerous missiles into the premises in the presence of military operatives stationed at the gate of the school.

    The violence also spread to St. Barnabas LGEA Primary School, Murtala Muhammad Way, Ilorin and some churches in the area.

    The Christian community mobilised its own forces to counter the attack in a bid to protect their people and property.

    Owners of shops and offices located in the areas hurriedly closed for the day, to avoid attack.

    It was reported that some shops were looted by the hoodlums.

    Armed security agents patrolled the metropolis to restore peace.

    Police spokesman Ajayi Okasanmi said the prompt intervention of their men and officers prevented the situation from worsening.

    He said peace had been restored.

    The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) yesterday advised Kwara State Governor AbdulRaman AbdulRasaq not to set the state on fire with the hijab issue.

    It spoke at Cornerstone City, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, through its President, Bishop Wale Oke, while hosting the Ekiti and Ondo chapters of the Fellowship led by Bishop Clement Abifade and Bishop Joshua Kolawole Opayinka.

    Bishop Oke said if the hijab issue was not handled with care, it could cause crisis in the country.

  • Fayose to Buhari: You’ve disappointed Nigerians

    Fayose to Buhari: You’ve disappointed Nigerians

    By Alao Abiodun

    Former Ekiti Governor Ayodele Fayose on Monday night stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has disappointed Nigerians.

    He further explained that Nigerians are disappointed because of his failed promises.

    Fayose, on his official Twitter handle, carpeted the visit of former Ogun Governor, Gbenga Daniels and ex-Speaker Dimeji Bankole to Buhari, describing them as “political wanderers”.

    He said:”Nigerians are not interested in the President receiving political wanderers in the Villa.They are more interested in their well-being, especially security.

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    “They want to see a president who’s proactive in handling affairs of the country, rather than receiving recycled politicians.

    “Most importantly, Nigerians are not interested in how many politicians that decamp to APC, which is already a dead party.

    “The President should rather make himself available to Nigerians who can help solve our unending financial and security challenges amongst others.”

    “Above all, I wish the President knows how disappointed Nigerians are about him and his failed promises.”

  • Ondo Amotekun arrests nine herders

    Ondo Amotekun arrests nine herders

    By Osagie Otabor, Akure

    Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network called Amotekun Corps have apprehended nine herders and seized 100 cows along the Akure-Ilesa highway.

    The herders were arrested for flouting Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s directives that herdsmen should get registered.

    They were also nabbed for violating grazing rules on the highway.

    Ondo Amotekun Corps Commander Mr. Adetunji Adeleye said the cows were seized at the boundary of Osun and Ondo states.

    He said: “Our men took the cows to the headquarters of our office, which is about 30 kilometres from where they were intercepted.

    “The cows were actually blocking a major road leading to the state capital.

    “Apart from the possibility of illegal grazing, in most cases, it is a ploy kidnappers use. One of the occupants in a vehicle that was blocked called our distress line. And within a few minutes, our men were on ground.”

  • CAN urges National Assembly to suspend bill on hijab

    CAN urges National Assembly to suspend bill on hijab

    By Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the leadership of the National Assembly to suspend a bill before the House of Representatives seeking to institutionalise the use of hijab in the country.

    It said the bill is ill-timed and uncalled for.

    “The bill titled: ‘Religious Discrimination (Prohibition, Prevention) Bill, 2021’ is seeking to provide a mechanism for enforcing certain provisions of the Constitution and other international laws that recognise the right of female to adorn hijab in public and private establishments.

    “We wonder what the sponsors of the bill seek to gain from it other than to compound the security problem and the wearing of hijab in public and Christian schools,” CAN said.

  • Osimhen defends yellow card rage

    Osimhen defends yellow card rage

    Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen has blamed opposing defenders for incurring a late yellow in Napoli 2-0 away win over Roma in the Serie A on Sunday.

    The 21-year-old forward replaced Dries Mertens, who had scored a brace to give Napoli an important win in the battle for Champions League next season.

    But Osimhen was shown a yellow card for pushing Roma defender Gianluca Mancini in stoppages and he said: “He went in hard on me twice.”

    “He went in hard on me twice, I felt it and he was denying that he didn’t do it,” Osimhen said. “That got me so angry.”

    Meanwhile, Osimhen has confirmed he will take part in the AFCON qualifier games against Lesotho and Benin Republic.