The Nation Newspaper

Category: autopost

  • Monarch seeks justice over dad’s death

    Monarch seeks justice over dad’s death

    The monarch of Ubulu-Uku Kingdom in Aniocha South Local Government of Delta State, Obi Chukwuka  Akaeze, has urged the government to end the trauma his people have been subjected to in the past seven years, after suspected herders allegedly killed his father and predecessor, Obi Edward Akaeze Ofulue III.

    He spoke at the grand reception held by his subjects to welcome him back after completing his university education and being called to the English Bar.

    He said the people of Ubulu-Uku have had to bear the scar of having their traditional ruler being murdered by people who had confessed to the crime when they were paraded before the press.

    Obi Akaeze wondered why seven years after the murder of his father, the case is still dragging in the court. Frowning at the delay, the monarch said efforts should be intensified to bring the killers to book.

    He lamented that gunmen are still operating in Ubulu-Uku Kingdom, as a ‘vigilante’ was recently killed with no arrest made.

    Read Also; I’ll justify the trust Nigerians place on me – Tinubu

    The traditional ruler told the jubilant crowd at the palace that having completed his education, “I am now back to lead this kingdom to prosperity. With your support and cooperation, Ubulu-Uku will become the best town in Nigeria.”

    Commissioner for Technical Education, Joan Onyemaechi, praised the state government for helping to curb kidnapping and brutal killings.

    She appealed to the Federal Government to look into insecurity, noting that the state government could not do it alone.

    Onyemaechi said with the absence of state police in Delta, the responsibility of ensuring peace and safety falls on the Federal Government, hence the need for their intervention.

    Obi Akaeze, now 25-year-old, succeeded his late father, Obi Edward Akaeze Ofulue III, who was killed by suspected herdsmen in January 2016.

    The trial of the six suspects in the killing, all herders, who confessed to the crime when they were paraded before the press by the then Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Alkali Usman, on February 13, 2016, is still ongoing at the Delta State High Court, Ibusa.

  • Self-leadership and new year resolutions 

    Self-leadership and new year resolutions 

    By Ekpa Stanley Ekpa

    To keep track of time, many societies around the world developed their calendars as a way to ensure certainty out of many uncertainties of human activities and transitions. Each society’s calendar is a reflection of their cultural and religious beliefs. At the beginning of each year, under any of the calendars – Julian, Hindu, Hijri/Islamic, Chinese, Buddhist, Japanese, or the Hebrew calendar, human beings set new behavioural standards to meet new expectations. If you find yourself setting lofty goals for the new year, you are not alone, there are billions of other people around the world doing the same thing at different time of the year. 

    Whatever resolve you make for the beginning of this calendar year, two things are involved – you either discipline yourself to succeed in achieving your lofty goals, or you fail to achieve your new year resolutions within the first few weeks of the year as majority of people do. What distinguishes the former from the latter is self-leadership – the process and practice of influencing and directing your own thoughts and actions to successfully achieve goals and situate a satisfying life. 

    According to the Forbes Health/One Poll survey, the average resolution lasts just 3.74 months. Only 8% of respondents tend to stick to their goals for one month, while 22% last two-month, 13% last four months. 

    Read Also; I’ll justify the trust Nigerians place on me – Tinubu

    Leaning on yourself to lead yourself through the year requires effective self-leadership strategies, skills, disciplined commitments, self-regulation and accountability, recommitments and honesty on your personal preferences. Given that internal beliefs, thoughts and perceptions are your biggest influence, your ability to guide yourself becomes the most important step to design, achieve and sustain your new year resolution goals. In setting your yearly goals, you must first consider yourself as an institution that should be organized with clear visions, setting smart goals, with motivation to stimulate the right commitments for success. 

    Like corporate entities, achieving set goals comes with challenges and setbacks, perhaps, everyone needs to start the year with this reality in mind. How we respond to this reality is determined by the degree of our calmness – how we remain calm, clear-headed, and focused even in moments of difficult circumstances. 

    Of all the leadership skills you need in setting your new year resolutions, decision making is as important as the actions you take in actualizing the resolutions. To make informed, rational and actionable decision, you need to understand yourself, strength, weakness, character and competence. No matter how small the decision, you need information that will help you make fact-based decision on the nature, duration, responsibilities, possible challenges, results and impact of your resolution if followed through. This is even more important given the current socio-economic realties in Nigeria today – whereas you have little or no control over our nation’s economic fluctuations, you have a choice and control on your personal preferences, actions, inactions and adjustments to live a meaningful, happy and satisfying life in 2024. 

    Every leadership environment requires regulation, self-leadership is not an exception. If you cannot control yourself, you can hardly lead yourself effectively to achieve any set goal. To actualize your new year resolutions, you need to govern yourself in controlling your emotions and manage how you respond to external events. To ensure you don’t fall apart due to uncertainty, stress, anxiety and disappointments in achieving whatever goal you set for yourself this year, you need clarity that helps you to stretch beyond your own borders of emotion in order to reach accurate view of situations. Self-clarity affords you the opportunity to creatively come up with fresh ideas and new options when faced with great challenges. 

    Since no one can succeed in isolation, we all need that little external push and support, but nothing will keep you forging forward than self-generated energy. Learning to motivate, energize and refill yourself is an essential skill for resilience, strength, courage and sustained commitment to achieving your set goals. In moments when you cannot motivate yourself, for such time will eventually come, try to envisage the future if you fail to motivate yourself. Even in absence of required resources to drive your goals or maintain a habit, you must realize that there is no one-way traffic in the affairs of life – there is always an option out of any problem. You have a duty to find the strength and energy to propel through other options for the actualization of your goal. 

    When you set your goals for the year, you must have timeline, Key Performance Indices (KPIs) and a culture of taking responsibility for your actions and inactions without resorting to blame game. Leadership without accountability is simply an invitation to complacency. Without self-accountability, you can hardly meet the required efforts, obligations, tasks and commitments to achieving your goals. There are many ways you can be self-accounting – create a culture of consistency, adjust your mind-set, set timeline for yourself, set key performance indicators, discipline yourself to act on a task at a time, design a method to track your progress, reward yourself and find honest feedbacks. 

    Part of the skills of self-accountability is the strength to let go of desired things that cannot and should not be. 

    Congratulations as you propose to lead yourself through this new year. Remember, as Lao Tzu tells us, mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is where the true power really lies. And if you “can rule your mind” as Horace expects of you, you can rule your life and the society by extension. The big deal is not in making new year resolutions, the big deal lies in your sustained actions in achieving them. It is important you lead yourself aright because it will add to our national productivity measures. 

    • Ekpa, lawyer and leadership consultant, wrote via ekpastanleyekpa@gmail.com

  • Let’s bring back the short story

    Let’s bring back the short story

    By Banji Ojewale

    Art is a lie which makes us see the truth — Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish artist

    To prepare for this short essay on the short story, I have had to rescue from my home library two old local magazines that, in an earlier generation, sought to offer vibrant voice to this literary genre. First pushed out as a monthly in March 1985, one of the publications was simply called Mc.Quick Short Stories, with a cover price of N2. If you were willing to part with that ‘pittance’ for that product, you were guaranteed an animating literary excursion with some of the greats in the industry.

    So, I have in front of me Vol. 1 No. 1 1985 edition of Mc.Quick Short Stories. Wale Adeniran is the publisher. Kole Omotoso is the editor-in-chief, and Femi Omowumi, Odia Ofeimun, Seun Ige and Labo Yari, in tow as associate editors. Graphic arts and illustrations are handled by Abiodun Araba, Victor Olusa and Akin Adejuwon. As you close-up on Mc.Quick, you run into the inner world of some of the eminent short story exponents of the age. Leban Erapu, the Ugandan intellectual, has an entry he calls, Guns and Books. He looks at Africa’s political scene, and intrigued by its internal rumblings, wonders why the problems they mischievously engineer remain unresolved. There’s a sardonic take on soldiers and their civilian collaborators who pretend they can govern society when they can’t even ‘read the title on the cover or the name of the author’ they arrest on coup days. Kole Omotoso’s The Story of a Driving Lesson is comical; but it ends tragically as his wife he is teaching how to drive rams into a Mercedes Benz. Instructor loses his temperament and calls his wife ‘idiot’. The woman can’t stand such abuse and leaves the scene, packing her belongings the following day from the home to stay with her parents. Its moral: you can lose what you think belongs to you if you don’t handle it with a nuanced and demanded respect. Famous folklorist Amos Tutuola is on board with Popondoro’s Beauty of Magnet. His legendary world of magic, animals, forests and evil creatures, is fully at work to outplay the fables of Aesop or the mythology which the Greeks spin from Mount Olympus. Mc.Quick also has Poet’s Corner, with Niyi Osundare’s A Song for Ajegunle, where the writer sees that Lagos community as ‘a satanic rumble of supper-less stomachs’. Quite an imagery!

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    The other short story magazine I have before me is Rake. It’s the Fourth Edition of Volume One of 1991. Nnimmo Bassey, (Benin), Olusoji Owolabi, (Budapest), Ike Okonta, (Benin) and Tunde Fatunde (Lagos), are the Rake team with offices in Benin City and Lagos. They have a large army of writers including Naiwu Osahon, Ogaga Ifowodo, Wale Okediran, all of whose contributions reflect the lives and times of the day. The Crusade by Nnimmo Bassey is a relentless attack on Chief Priest Kimani Tua, who is leading throngs of hypnotized healing and miracle-seekers. “The fire of miracles is spewing from my fingertips’’ the false prophet tells his followers. At a crusade, he appears on stage ‘borne shoulder-high by two stocky women.’

    In the distinctive tradition of the short story (and literature broadly), these two publications ran fiction that not only told exciting tales, but also released open and subtle commentary on the society—its citizens’ and authorities’ foibles. As it makes us see ourselves in its mirror, it challenges us to laugh or weep, and follow up with remedial measures. That’s Picasso’s point about art (lie, fiction) being the compass locating the truth that liberates man and his environment.

    For instance, the moral of The Necklace, by Frenchman Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), considered one of the greatest short story writers of all time, is a lampoon on a society obsessed with material possession. Slum girl Mathilde Loisel and her husband suffer for their greed and pretence in a community that slaughters the poor. Maupassant is able to do so in only 3091 words. A novel which may not be read at one sitting would require several more thousands of words to deliver the message. It’s true both approaches do benefit mankind. But the short story is no longer honoured; it’s being killed for the novel to have all the space. It’s being ignored by publishers and top literary prize institutions like Nobel, Booker, the Commonwealth etc. But all these didn’t deter Alice Ann Munro, the Canadian. She shot her way into history in 2013 by winning the Nobel in Literature through her short stories. She also bagged the Giller and International Booker Prizes.

    Other classical figures in the field over the ages include James Baldwin, Anita Desai, Anton Chekov, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and Nigeria’s own Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her new book, Mama’s Sleeping Scarf, a fiction for children, has just been presented to the public in Lagos.

    Their writings keep society on their toe as they satirize us, pillory our excesses for correction and return us to civilization and fading reading cultures. We may talk of come-along commercial and entertainment perspectives; but in the long run it’s the ideological gains for society and its human constituents that count. We don’t write majorly to decongest our system of ceaselessly invading ideas. The objective of good fiction is to free mankind from political, religious, economic, and ideological serfdoms and ignorance. It is to arm man against those whose preoccupation is to keep the majority of the people under their jackboots.

    We need to get the popular short story live again in Nigeria. Our newspapers can help us by accepting such fiction works in their Arts and Review columns, while the radio and TV can support the project through weekly broadcasts of short stories. Our biggest patrons should be the government (federal, state and local). Let them use their efforts in this regard to return our young people to reading habits, which have given way to urban criminality dressed in numerous garbs.

    Our Dangotes, Otedolas, Ovias, Elumelus etc. can invest in the project to make the short story stage a comeback and wake our slumbering youth. We plead with them to unlock their treasures for the deliverance of the leaders of tomorrow. I believe such investment is far more agreeable in the weighing scales of history than throwing about capital to gain more capital in a polity ruled by unruly, uncultured and untamed army of young people.

    We have a surfeit of eminent talent to churn out stuff not only to hug local and global headlines and acclaim, but also to help transform our nation and continent.

    • Ojewale writes from Ota, Ogun State.

  • As bandits relocate to Taraba and the Plateau 

    As bandits relocate to Taraba and the Plateau 

    By Zayyad I. Muhammad

    SIR: Recently, the media have been awash with the news of bandits’ daring attacks in Taraba and Plateau states. On November 24, 2023, it was reported that gunmen in their numbers attacked and killed 20 people in the Yangtu Development Area of the Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba State. On the early hours of Tuesday, December 19, 2023, gunmen attacked Pupule community in Yoro Local Government Area of the same Taraba State, kidnapped Umaru Nyala, the chief of Yorro chiefdom, and also abducted 22 other people.

    Though the Taraba State Police Command and other security operatives killed over 50 bandits terrorising villages along the corridor of Bali Local Government Area on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, a month after, on Wednesday, December 27, 2023, a group of bandits stormed the Gondon Maliki weekly market in Taraba State, kidnapped scores of people, and carted away food and wares using motorcycles.

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, while condemning the gruesome murder of over 100 people on the Plateau said, ‘the bandits seem to be ahead of the government’.

    To be fair to all the Nigerian security operatives, they’ve done an excellent job in the Northwest’s states of Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina, facing the menace of the bandits. These states have witnessed a visible improvement in security in areas being terrorised by the bandits, and the Abuja-Kaduna highway is secured while the Niger axis is a little bit silent.

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    It appears that the military and other security onslaughts on the bandits and other terrorists have killed many of their leaders, and they have dispersed to the northeast axis and some parts of the plateau. Why did the bandits settle in these areas, especially the northern parts of Taraba State—Yorro, Lau, Jalingo, and Ardo Kola local government areas? Is it due to its topography, location or economy? Taraba State is among the poorest states in Nigeria but rich in agriculture and forestry. Probably the bandits found solace in Taraba due to its uniqueness in geography and agricultural activities. Furthermore, the Cameroonian mountains, which stretch almost the entire northern and southern parts of Taraba, linking the state with the River Niger, will certainly provide a hiding place for criminals, bandits in particular.

    The state, federal, and local communities should work together; collaboration is key to security management. For example, at its 8th and 9th meetings held in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on September 9, 2023, and in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on November 24 and 25, 2023, the Northeast Governors’ Forum expressed its concern about the new dimension of growing banditry in Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba states as a result of the concerted efforts of the military on neutralising the bandits from other parts of the country. The governors called on the federal government to intervene and promised to work with and support all security agencies.

    Managing security in a vast country like Nigeria with inadequate modern technology for security management is difficult, and our security operatives cannot be everywhere and anywhere at the same time. So what is the solution?

    The reinvigoration of the kinetic and non-kinetic security approaches by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has resulted in many successes and breakthroughs; however, more intelligence gathering is needed; community engagement and direct communication with the bandits should be employed.

    In community engagement, the model being used by the Umaru Fintiri-led Adamawa State government in tackling farmer-herder conflict should be adopted; the community should be made to feel part of the solution in security management, thus providing intelligence and also being a watchdog for security operatives without being endangered.

    Secondly, the reported ongoing. ‘soft approach’ should be sustained, and, in direct communication with the bandits, most of them now also use social media; thus, a kind of smooth operation should be launched by the ONSA and other relevant bodies to recruit people who speak the languages of bandits to send convincing messages to them on the ills, disadvantages, and evils associated with their dangerous ‘trade’ while showing them the beauty and benefits being enjoyed by their ‘kind’ who adopt normal lives, go to school both western and religious, but still maintain their culture, beliefs, and inherited legal trade. Furthermore, radio and TV are also still tools to reach the bandits, as satellite TV and solar power technology have now made it possible to watch or listen to the world, wherever one is- bandits, hiding in thick forests, use solar power and satellite technology to charge their phones, watch TV and listen to the radio.

    • Zayyad I. Muhammad, Abuja.

  • On the trending Mama Chukwudi story

    On the trending Mama Chukwudi story

    By Zayd Ibn Isah

    SIR: The social media has been agog with the story of a woman identified as Mama Chukwudi said to have rejected the gift of a car from her undergraduate son. Apparently, the young man had bought the car as a surprise gift for his mother, intending to show that he had finally “made it” in life. But to his surprise, his mother did not jump with joy at the sight of the gift; she did not shout at the top of her voice either; the neighbours did not troop out in their numbers to see “what the Lord had done for her”. Instead of asking Chukwudi to kneel so she could bless him with prayers, Mama Chukwudi simply asked to know how her son had been able to buy a car. She asked because it was puzzling how a child, whom she sent to school to study, had mysteriously made enough money to buy a brand new car. And when the son could not tell her the truth, Mama Chukwudi told him that she could not accept his gift.

    Mama Chukwudi’s rare act of integrity won her praises from different angles, even though some people were of the opinion that she should not have rejected the car gift. Those who reasoned this way believed that the young man might actually be into cryptocurrency trading or other online-based ventures, as we live in an era where people can make legitimate money from the comfort of their homes with smartphones, laptops and an internet connection.

    We live in a society of people with unexplained wealth sources. The get-rich-quick syndrome has reached feverish pitch, especially among the younger ones. According to a 2017 article, statistics from The Nigerian Police traced a majority of online fraudulent activity to areas populated by Nigerian undergraduate students. As worrisome as this is, the societal disposition towards online fraud and wealth in general is even more disturbing.

    Read Also; I’ll justify the trust Nigerians place on me – Tinubu

    For one, most parents hardly attempt to question their children’s sources of income. Rather, they prefer to justify any evidence of success with such vague statements as, “It is by the grace of God o.”  This predisposition runs parallel to that of regular people who not only glorify rich individuals, but also aspire to what they view as the only way to live life. A visit to certain night clubs and social gatherings (particularly wedding and burial ceremonies) will expose one to ostentatious displays of wealth, as well as the shameless ways Nigerians grovel before such exhibitions.

    This is all the more reason why we should celebrate Mama Chukwudi for setting a different standard, especially at a time when the mothers of certain “Yahoo Boys” are forming associations to protect their children’s interests. We should all celebrate Mama Chukwudi in this era where some parents pressure their children to emulate, by any means necessary, their peers who buy cars and build mansions for themselves and their parents. There is no doubt that we live in troubling times of low morality and integrity. And as such, Mama Chukwudi should become a compelling model of parental discipline and personal integrity.

    Mama Chukwudi¼s refusal of the car gift gains even more significance if it can be proven that her son acquired his wealth fraudulently. In fact, the whole experience could serve as a catalyst for him to introspect and mend his ways. To curb this rabid societal eagerness for wealth by any means, it is crucial to encourage a culture of scrutiny towards individuals’ income sources, as opposed to a culture of celebrating wealth without ever asking questions.

    Moreover, relieving children of the pressure to match their peers’ material success can contribute to a much needed paradigm shift in terms of how we value wealth, especially when simply being rich guarantees one a certain level of respect and consideration. In revitalizing our society’s moral fabric, parents — as key influencers of any child’s mental development, should always play a pivotal role. This is because fostering an environment that values ethical pursuits over mere accumulation of riches is paramount to the stability of any progressive society.

    • Zayd Ibn Isah, lawcadet1@gmail.com

  • Fare discount

    Fare discount

    • All’s well that ends well

    Initially, it sounded unbelievable and so was greeted with much cynicism: That the President Bola Tinubu administration had announced a 50 percent discount in inter-state land transportation fares across 28 luxury bus routes nationwide from December 21, 2023 to January 4. And that train services on the Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itapke, and Abuja-Kaduna routes will not only be free but are expected to maintain their existing schedules throughout the yuletide season.

    Days after Dele Alake – the Minister of Solid Minerals who doubles as chairman of the six-man Inter – Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention – announced the measures and gave assurances that the government will be working with transporters, road transport unions, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to seamlessly deliver on the special initiative, it is noteworthy that the initial scepticism has since evaporated.

    Expectedly, the public scepticism centred largely on how the initiative would be delivered, given the country’s size and diversity. There were questions about the choice of the private companies to take part since the government does not operate transport fleets, the routes involved, and how the government would track the number of passengers for accountability purposes since the government will ultimately shoulder the cost of the subsidy.

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    As one might expect, there were those who wondered if the initiative was actually necessary since, in their opinion, only a tiny minority of the travelling public would use those established transport firms.

    With just a few days left for the initiative to run its course, clearly, Nigerians, and indeed the government, can look back with some level of satisfaction that not only have those initial misgivings given way but also the stated objectives have substantially been met. On December 29, the government announced an addition of 20 new motor parks – a clear indication of the warm embrace of the initiative by the citizens.

    Of course, the thousands of Nigerians who benefited had good words for the government for coming to their aid at a most difficult time. For the two pivotal associations – the Association of Luxury Bus Owners (ALBON) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) – it certainly heralded a new era of partnership, a fruitful one, something that the government might want to fine-tune, going forward. Ultimately, it was a lesson in the government’s responsiveness to the yearnings of the people.

    No doubt, such well-meaning interventions are the least a caring government can do. In fact, they are what reasonable citizens expect, and so the government cannot be faulted for doing what it did.

    Yuletide is, after all, like no other in terms of the associated mass movement of citizens across the length and breadth of the country. At a time when many citizens are looking up to the government for one form of palliative or another, it is commendable that the authorities demonstrated such empathy. All travellers needed to do to benefit from the government intervention was to show up at designated motor parks. Their pockets experienced relief directly.

    To us, it makes no difference whether the programme covered hundreds or thousands, or even millions. In fact, it is unrealistic to expect that every single traveller during the yuletide season would benefit. What is important is that the beneficiaries are Nigerians, and that they are able to experience the impact of the measure. The point is that the intervention helped in mitigating hardship, and in ensuring the mobility of citizens who may have been unable to afford the cost of travel. On these, we have no doubt that the government has delivered, and consider the government’s funding as money well spent.

    We note the government’s assurance that this will not be a one-off thing. We expect the government to utilise the lessons learnt to forge a better, more robust template with the aid of information technology.

  • Silence as the enemy

    Silence as the enemy

    By Feyisetan Akeeb Kareem

    SIR: Silence is the enemy when you keep quiet against human rights violations in your communities and don’t confront it. Silence is the enemy when you keep quiet against bad governance in your communities.

    Silence is the enemy when you keep quiet against injustices committed by security agencies, political leaders, community leaders and the elites in your communities.

    Silence is the enemy when you know those who sell hard drugs destroying the lives of the youths in your communities and say nothing about it.

    Silence is the enemy when you know criminals who commit atrocities in your communities and do nothing about it. Silence is the enemy when you know corrupt colleagues in the civil service and do nothing to stop it.

    Read Also; I’ll justify the trust Nigerians place on me – Tinubu

    Silence is the enemy when you know staffers in courts who collect illegal fees for affidavits and oaths in courts and do nothing about it.

    Silence is the enemy when you know police stations across the 36 States and 774 Local Govt. Areas that collect money for bails that are not accounted for and you keep quiet as an officer of the law and an advocate of justice.

    Silence is the enemy when you engage in corruption as a civil servant and a private sector actor.

    Silence is the enemy when you can’t say truth to power because those in power are of your ethnic, tribal and religious affiliations.

    Silence is the enemy when you can’t summon the courage to hold your political leaders accountable. Silence is the enemy when you know civil servants who demand bribe to do their jobs and you don’t report them. Silence is the enemy when you know lecturers who demand sex from students or collect money to pass students and you don’t report them.

    Silence is the enemy why the Nigeria of your dream hasn’t come to reality because you remain silent and refuse to action to confront it.

    • Feyisetan Akeeb Kareem, <karfeyio@gmail.com>

  • Threatening trajectory

    Threatening trajectory

    • Rising youth involvement in crime must be addressed without delay

    Although it turned out that the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukoyede, was misquoted regarding a comment linking Nigerian youths with criminal activities, there is only a minor difference between what he reportedly said and the misrepresentation. And his observation is serious enough to demand attention.

    Olukoyede ran into trouble when he reportedly said “it is worrisome that seven out of 10 students today are involved in cybercrimes.” A post on the anti-corruption agency’s X page had credited him with the comment. He was speaking with a delegation from Daar Communications Plc at EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.

     ”These are the youths we are preparing to be leaders of tomorrow. The media should not relent in enlightening them on the evils of such criminal practices,” the EFCC boss was quoted as saying.

    This is ordinarily candid talk. But it apparently did not go down well with some people, particularly the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which promptly demanded that the anti-graft agency boss must provide verifiable proof to support his claim or retract his statement.

    Clarification from the EFCC calmed the brewing storm. The commission’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, in a statement, clarified that Olukoyede’s observation was misrepresented. According to him, the EFCC boss had expressed concern about “the rising incidence of internet-related crimes involving youths across the country.”

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    He said Olukoyede “did say that reports and intelligence available to him indicated that, unless this trajectory of youth involvement in internet fraud is addressed and reversed, the future of their leadership of our great nation may be threatened, and if it continues in the next 10 years, 7 out 10 of our youths may be getting involved in cybercrimes.” He described the misinterpretation as “needless.” Perhaps the commission should have communicated what its boss said in a clearer way.

     Nobody should castigate the EFCC boss for his candour. As the anti-corruption czar, he must know what he is talking about.  Nigerians are regularly bombarded with news of suspected internet fraudsters rounded up by EFCC officials all over the country. Most of those involved are youths. We also have an increasing number of youths involved in cultism, armed robbery, ritual murders, etc.

    We understand the reaction of NANS, among others. But this is not about sentiment. We expect that by virtue of his position, the EFCC boss can speak authoritatively on crime, particularly escalating youth involvement in criminal activities. Even if 70 percent of Nigerian youths or students are involved in internet frauds, it means that not all of them are involved. But, as the saying goes, one bad egg could spoil it all.  What Olukoyede has done is to warn of the consequences, if those that would inevitably pilot the affairs of the country in the future are involved in crimes.

     Rather than NANS getting angry with the EFCC boss, the association should look inward. After all, at its last election, guns boomed.  That was condemnable. Definitely, not all Nigerian students or youths would sanction such conduct.

    Olukoyede’s statement should be seen as a clarion call to address the worrisome trend before it snowballs into something worse.  Indeed, according to the EFFC’s clarification, “Olukoyede is doubly committed to the progress of Nigerian youths and this underscores his calls for collaborative interventions in offering them more productive and sustainable alternatives.”

    Governments at all levels too must be involved in seeking solutions to the challenge by way of job creation and empowerment programmes to keep the youths productively engaged so that they can put their creative energies to productive use rather than getting involved in criminal activities.

  • I’m most competent, qualified to succeed Obaseki, says Ighodalo 

    I’m most competent, qualified to succeed Obaseki, says Ighodalo 

    Governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Chairman of Sterling Bank Plc, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, has said he is the most competent, credible and qualified contender to succeed Governor Godwin Obaseki in Edo State. 

    He promised to place the state on the path of accelerated development and growth.

    Ighodalo spoke when he visited PDP leaders of Edo South Senatorial District to inform them of his intention to run for the governorship election in Edo State come 2024.

    Noting that poor leadership is the bane of Nigeria’s development, Ighodalo said the monies released from crude oil over the last 60 years alone is enough to turn Nigeria to a first world country if it had leaders who loved the country.

    He said, “In the last 60 years, the amount of remuneration Nigeria earned from crude oil alone is enough to turn Nigeria to a first world Country if we have leaders that love Nigeria.

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    He said: “I offer myself to serve the State as I know what I want for Edo people. I love my people and am concerned about their welfare.

    “If we know the leakages in the Nigerian economy most of us will be angry and fight to correct it because it’s painful.”

    On plans to leverage the State’s comparative advantage to drive development, Ighodalo noted: “Edo State has the highest Diaspora remittances in Nigeria. We would encourage our people abroad to invest in Diaspora bonds in certain infrastructural areas and earn returns safely and some of the soft infrastructural problems facing us will disappear.”

    Ighodalo said: “The leakages in the Nigerian economy is terrible. We have leakages that leave the Nigerian economy and flow to other economies to develop them. A chunk of our money are used to develop Dubai, Switzerland, among others and yet we are suffering as a people.

    “We need to have leadership that the people trust to correct the narrative and set the nation on the path of growth and development.

    “Edo is blessed with good soil and can grow any crop and our citizens should not go to bed hungry. Agriculture remains a viable platform to reposition the State. I offer myself to serve Edo people and urge the people to give me a chance.”

    He added: “I resigned as chairman of eight boards to serve Edo people with genuineness of mind and service with the purpose to transform Edo State and make life better for citizens.

    “The State is blessed with human resources, capacity and capabilities that will help Edo State to grow strong. If Edo State starts growing at 10 or 11 per cent , we can pull other States in Nigeria to grow at a rate faster than we are growing today.

    “I am strong on integrity and I am lucky and blessed because I have placed value on integrity. I am concerned about the values in our system and if we all are still strong in values to bring up children with great values, Nigeria will have been a changed Country.

    “Parents should pay attention to values and our problems as a nation will diminish. I have offered myself to the State to bring all my experience and capacity to develop the State.”

    Ighodalo added, “As governor of Edo State, I will ensure the children of Edo State are taught strong values.”

    On his part, a PDP leader in Edo Central Senatorial District, Akhire Ogbesia said, “We are parading a credible, competent and reliable aspirant and a man that has the capacity to develop and take Edo State to the next level.

    “He has the international connection to woo foreign investors to contribute to the development of the State.”

    PDP Chairman, Edo South Senatorial District Nosakhare Ogieva Okunbor, thanked PDP aspirant, Ighodalo, for coming to introduce himself to leaders in the Senatorial District, assuring him of their support.

    Other  at the occasion include the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Monday Osaigbovo; Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Hon. Chris Nehikhare; PDP leaders from the seven Local Governments in Edo South Senatorial District and members of the Edo State House of Assembly, among others.

  • Pope denounces violence against children in Gaza

    Pope denounces violence against children in Gaza

    Pope Francis said children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians.

    Francis also called the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants “abominable” and again appealed for the release of around 100 hostages still being held in Gaza.

    Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he took another swipe at the armaments industry, saying it ultimately controlled the “puppet-strings of war”.

    The 87-year-old Pope, celebrating the 11th Christmas of his pontificate, called for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and he defended the rights of migrants around the world.

    “How many innocents are being slaughtered in our world! In their mothers’ wombs, in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope, in the lives of all those little ones whose childhoods have been devastated by war. They are the little Jesuses of today,” he said.

    He gave particular attention to the Holy Land, including Gaza, where, according to Palestinian health officials, Israeli air strikes killed at least 78 people in one of the besieged enclave’s deadliest nights of Israel’s 11-week-old battle with Hamas.

    Read Also; New Year: Gov Alia pardons 12 inmates

    Pope Francis also highlighted the central role women have played in salvation history and that they still have for bringing peace to the world of the 21st century.

    Addressing a congregation of seven thousand Catholics from all continents who gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day, including cardinals, bishops, women and men religious, lay people, and ambassadors from the 184 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, Francis spoke about the role God gave to women in the history of the world, and the important role women have to play today in both the church and society.

    He began by reminding them, “God becomes man, and he does so through a woman, Mary.

    She is the means chosen by God, the culmination of that long line of individuals and generations that ‘drop by drop’ prepared for the Lord’s coming into the world. She stands at the very heart of the mystery of time. It pleased God to turn history around through her, the woman.”

    “The Mother and Child mark a new creation, a new beginning,” the pope said; “the Lord, a tiny child in his mama’s arms, has united himself forever to our humanity, to the point that it is no longer only ours, but his as well.”

    Pope Francis, speaking in a strong voice after recovering from pneumonia, said: “The church needs Mary in order to recover her own feminine face” which, he said, means making “space for women and [being] ‘generative’ through a pastoral ministry marked by concern and care, patience and maternal courage.” His words echoed the increasingly pressing call that has come from Catholics around the world through the synods on the family, the Amazon, and the ongoing Synod on Synodality, asking church leadership to open up greater spaces and roles of responsibility for women in the church of the 21st century.”

    He also called on those in St. Peter’s Square and worldwide to pray for peace in countries suffering from war, and especially “the martyred Ukraine, Palestine and Israel.” He also asked them to pray for the bishops and priests in Nicaragua “who have been deprived of their liberty in recent days.” He expressed his closeness to them, and to the entire church and people of Nicaragua, and appealed “for a dialogue that can overcome the problems.”

    He concluded by wishing everyone Happy New Year and asked them not to forget to pray for him.