The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • FCT reactivates polio eradication task force

    In order to maintain the zero prevalence level of poliomyelitis in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the administration has reactivated the task force to tackle the disease. The task force has the brief to coordinate an immunisation programme to eradicate the disease.

    The FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye said this  while inaugurating the reactivated task force.

    Ajakaiye said the action was taken as a proactive measure to prevent any resurgence of the disease in any part of the Federal Capital Territory.

    He revealed that the administration has also approved the expansion of the task force membership in order to ensure sector-wide stakeholder participation.

    The Permanent Secretary said that this effort of the FCT Administration is geared towards strengthening Childhood Immunization Services across the 8,000 square kilometers of the Territory.

    According to the statement issued by the Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary Muhammad Sule, Ajakaiye insisted that Abuja must remain the pace setter for the 36 states of the federation to emulate and therefore urged members of the Task Team to work very hard to maintain the tempo.

    He stated that the FCT Administration would continue to provide all the necessary support to ensure that the programmes earmarked for the sustenance of the agenda are fully implemented.

    The Task Force’s terms of reference is to ensure effective leadership and coordination of all immunization activities by the FCT; prepare and regularly review/update a 12 month state plan for the intensification of Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization activities required interrupt/sustain interruption of wild poliovirus transmission.

    Other terms of reference are to ensure the formation of LGA inter-sectoral committees to coordinate planning and implementation of quality routine immunisation campaigns at LGA level; to oversee preparation of budgets for immunization activities, advocate for timely and adequate resource allocation and ensure judicious use of all funds allocation for these activities as well as coordinate the planning and execution of polio eradication supplemental immunisation activities amongst others.

    According to him, to give the desired impetus the assignment deserves, the reactivated and expanded Task Force would be chaired by himself, the FCT Permanent Secretary and the Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Health Care Board would serve as the Secretary.

    Other members of the 35-Member Task Force include some officials of the FCT Administration, Traditional Rulers, Religious Organizations, Media, World Health Organization, UNICEF, European Union, Emergency Agencies as well as the FCT Area Councils’ officials.

    Speaking earlier, the Acting Secretary of the FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, Mrs. Alice Odey Achu assured that the Secretariat is poised to sustain the zero status of the Federal Capital Territory in poliomyelitis.

    The inaugural meeting to appraise the previous achievements as well as hit the ground running on the new task ahead was held immediately after the inauguration.

     

  • Couple celebrates childbirth, 23 years after

    Couple celebrates childbirth, 23 years after

    They tied the knots in 1993 but it wasn’t until 23 years after that they handled their bundle of joy.

    Those years of waiting were tortuous for Soji Sogunro, chief executive officer of Royal Heritage Health Foundation, and his wife Nike. The pain is over, and they have celebrated the arrival of their baby girl in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. The event took place at the auditorium of Royal Covenant Assembly.

    Sogunro, an associate pastor with the church, spoke of the challenges of the years before the birth of their girl.

    He said, “It is because of us that you are all gathered here this morning. I bless the name of the Lord because God has been so good to us. The day I noticed that war has started predated my marriage.

    “I remember a day when I was in Union Bank in Ilorin here. I woke up in the morning, put my soup on gas cooker. I dressed up to go to the office but instead of that I joined a bus going to Ibadan, leaving the fire on. I have some people here who can bear me witness.

    “On getting to Ibadan, it dawned on me that I should be in my workplace in Ilorin. I boarded another vehicle back home. On getting home the whole place was on fire. People were crying that the whole house had got burnt. I remember then my now mother-in-law, as we were so close then, exclaimed that they have got this boy. But the testimony then was that people were seeing fire but nothing got burnt. That day I knew I had to put on my shoe of war.

    “The second incident that calls for testimony this morning was in 1992. I was not married then too. I was going to Jebba in our 504 Peugeot immediately after Bacita Junction; this my wife was with me as I wanted to go and show her to my mother in Jebba. After the turning the car started somersaulting.

    “Fortunately, we all belted up. The car somersaulted several times and when it stopped I managed to loosen her belt and mine and we escaped unhurt. After we had alighted the vehicle caught fire and I stood at the middle of the road begging motorists and passersby to please assist us.

    “A trailer-load of people came and started extinguishing the fire yet the fire was raging on and I shouted the name of Jesus Christ. Then one woman said I should not call on the name of Jesus but I persisted. Suddenly thunder came down from heaven and put the fire out.

    “We got married 23 years ago; in the first two years we said we were not starting to procreate yet because shortly after our marriage I was transferred to Minna, Niger State and my wife was in Ilorin.  But by the time we were ready nothing happened. The first doctor that we met told me ‘you cannot father a baby in life,’ without doing any test. He was an old man. And I told him thank you sir.

    “I want to thank God today that He answers prayers. It is the grace of God. I came to this church when I was suffering. No job and nothing but God directed me here. Today I am an employer of labour. The journey was very tough.

    “It never crossed my mind that I should have a baby outside of my wedlock during those trying times. I just believe in God that He Himself would do it.

    “One man asked if my mom was still around and I told him that she was alive till 2011. He said she ought to have counseled me to take another wife and I said my mom never told me so. My in-laws too never asked my wife to re-marry another man too. They have been wonderful. We never visited any herbalist.

    “We concluded that if God would not give us children so be it.”

    Giving her testimony, Deaconess Sogunro said, “Words are not enough to explain what happened and what God has done. It is true that God answers prayers. I thank Him that He makes everything beautiful in my life at His own appointed time. It is a new beginning.”

    Founder of the church, Pastor Bola Paimo said, “I think this is telling us that if anyone waits upon the Lord, he can never and will never be disappointed.”

    And I thank the Lord for this couple who were able, by the grace of God, to wait. When I met them many years ago, I remember that the two of them sat in front of us crying. But I remember the Lord said, that day, they would laugh.

    “And so I announced to them that the Lord said you would laugh. That was a confirmation to so many other prophesies said by other people. And to the glory of God, today we are laughing. Aside that this is a thanksgiving service, the Bible says it is a good thing to give thanks to the Most High. Psalm 92 verse one said.

    “So I came to a conclusion at the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that anyone who waits upon the Lord, who receives a testimony, God will expect us to give thanks. When you give thanks, you have taken upon a good thing. God’s presence will continue. So for everyone in the house and everyone hearing us, wherever we are, let us give thanks and He will do more.”

    Caption: The Sogunros

     

  • Boko Haram: Minister orders speedy completion of UN House

    The rehabilitation of the United Nations House in Abuja destroyed by Boko Haram in 2012 should be completed in time for its handover, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Muhammad Bello has directed.

    The minister gave the directive to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) when he paid an unscheduled visit to the House in the Central Business District, Abuja to ascertain the level of completion.

    The Minister said that the completion would allow the UN agencies presently staying at different locations in the FCT to return to base, thereby making their operation more efficient.

    It would be recalled that the UN House was bombed on August 26, 2012 by Boko Haram terrorists and the Nigerian government awarded contract for its rehabilitation on the 27th December, 2012 and the project is 80 per cent complete as at today.

    Bello stressed that the authorities of the FCDA should sit down with the contractors, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC and the UN Resident Co-ordinator in Nigeria to resolve all grey areas that would lead to the completion and early handover.

    According to a statement issued by the Deputy Director cum Chief Press Secretary, Muhammad Sule, the minister said:  “It is all our duty to see that all the United Nations agencies staying around Abuja are back here. And I think it will send a strong signal to those that bombed this place. Whatever they do to us, we will continue to be strong.”

    He used the opportunity to thank the UN for the support it has been giving to Nigeria; stating that such humanitarian gesture would always be appreciated.

    Taking the Minister round the site, the UN Resident Co-ordinator who is also UNICEF Country Representative, Jean Gough thanked the Minister for the special attention he has been giving to the rehabilitation works.

    The FCDA Executive Secretary, Mr. Adamu Ismaila and some officials of the FCT administration accompanied the Minister on the unscheduled visit.

     

  • NAS helps Abuja IDPs

    The National Association of Seadogs has started distributing  medical and relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in New Kuchingoro and Waru IDP camps in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The initiative, according to Vice President of the Association, Uzor Ziko, aligns with the NAS key objective of positively impacting the communities we operate and is aimed at ameliorating the pains and suffering of families affected by insecurity and violence in the North East.

    He said, “We have identified and are concerned about these communities of displaced people who find their limited resources quickly depleted and are unable to cater for their basic needs, hence the need for the intervention.

    She further asserted that the association have a borehole project they are working on that will go round different part of the IDP Camps across the nation.

    “This is the fourth IDP camp we are visiting and our intervention initiative will continue to focus on working together with the government, other humanitarian stakeholders and donors to deliver basic assistance and support to displaced people and IDP populations.”

    Also, Director of Media, John Oke explained that the government can’t do everything alone as its needs the assistance from other stakeholder’s ýin impacting in the community.

    He further explained that Seadogs is like an old sailor and they are acting like an old sailor.

    The Medical consultant of NAS, Dr Oteri Joseph, said “this is something we do every quarter of the year in different communities. We have gone to Oyo, Bayelsa State among others.

    One of the recipient of the relief materials Aisha Garba lauded the association’s good gesture saying, “God will bless the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) . The number of lives they touched today is unbelievable, not to talk of other camps, which are 10 times bigger than the camps here,” she said.

    Another of the recipients Musa Bako, also lauded the NAS’s philanthropic gesture and appealed to other prominent Nigerians to emulate the good deeds.

    Dangote Foundation recently provided succour to the victims of Nepal’s disastrous earthquake by donating $1 million to the government and people of that country. The amount was in line with its mandate to provide relief in times of disaster, with a message that the Chairman of the Foundation, Aliko Dangote, and the people of Nigeria shared in that country’s moment of grief.

    The Dangote Foundation has been touching lives both within and outside the shores of Nigeria since its establishment in 1993, providing opportunities for social and economic transformation through investments and interventions that improve and promote health, education and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.

    Aliko Dangote endowed the Foundation with $1.35 billion in March 2014 to ensure that the Foundation had secure and steady funding to carry out its mission and significantly scales up its work both within and outside the shores of the country.

  • NGO takes medical outreach to Gwoza IDPs

    NGO takes medical outreach to Gwoza IDPs

    Not every internally displaced person in Abuja is in the popular camps. Many live in remote places, and fend for themselves the best way they can.

    Some of them, mostly from Borno State, rent apartments in Nasarawa State villages and try to provide for their families.

    They complain of the difficulties in making ends meet, not having  enough to eat and their children constantly falling ill due to the cold.

    Twenty-eight-year-old mother of four, Christina Ibrahim told a typical story of the Gwoza, Borno State IDPs.

    She said, “We mostly suffer from fever, malaria, typhoid, high blood pressure, when most of our people are taken to the hospital, they are always diagnosed with high blood pressure because we don’t really have anything to do, barely have enough food to feed the children, when you look at the children and see them hungry, it is not easy as a parent, we have to pay so much for rent in the village where we stay since we don’t have a camp and even pay for water, we pay N15 or as much as N25 for a gallon of water, it is difficult doing it especially coming from a village where we want for nothing.

    “Our children are always falling sick because we don’t have mattresses, blankets or sweaters for them, we sleep on the floor with the children and the weather can be so cold mostly at night, we do not have mosquito nets.

    “Because we are not in normal camps like the others, we are left to fend for ourselves, we don’t get much assistance unlike the others. Most times people come to us, ask us our problems, we tell them but they never come back, which is why most times, we ignore it when some others ask because we have never gotten any positive result from the ones that promised to help.”

    Help has come. The Life Builders Initiative for Education and Societal Integration has taken a medical outreach to the unconventional camp, along with doctors, pharmacists and nurses who diagnosed and adminstered drugs to the IDPs.  from Gworza.

    Coordinator of Life Builders Mr Sanno David explained that they are interested in helping the poor and vulnerable in the society.

    David who said that his organisation had conducted a research which found out seven areas that the poor in the society need help added that they have been to other major camps around Abuja and provided medical and economic empowerment skills.

    His words, “We are helping the poor and vulnerable in our society and it so happens that the IDPs can presently be found in this category. We recently conducted a research and found out seven areas that the poor and vulnerable in our society need help.

    ”They include education, health, accommodation, societal integration, economic empowerment, food and basic sanitation and we have been trying to help them as best we can. We have been to the other camps around Abuja and Nasarawa State and every month we go to an IDP camp to provide them with these basic needs.”

    Coordinator of the camp, Mr Sunday Waba added, “Recently we found out that a lot of our children suffer from worms and malaria, recently FEMA donated mosquito coils to us which we have been using as insect repellent to fight the mosquitoes.”

     

  • Who steps into Abuah’s big shoes?

    The Presidency and many Nigerians were shocked last week Sunday when the news of the death of the State House’s Director of Information, Mr Justin Onuorah Abuah hit the social media.

    Abuah, who died in Abuja after a brief illness, has served eight Presidents and Heads of State for 30 years since 1986.

    The leaders he served included ex-military President, Ibrahim Babangida, former Head of Interim National Government, Ernest Shonekan, the late Head of State, Sani Abacha, former Head of State, Abdulsami Abubakar.

    He also served ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, the late President Musa Yar’Adua, former President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    For holding sway for a long time and beating the records of his predecessors at the Media and Publicity Department, Abuah was specially presented to President Buhari on May 30, 2016 during the Presidential Lunch for State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    At the dinner, which was part of events marking the first 12 months of Buhari’s democratic administration, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who served as the Master of Ceremony, had presented Abuah alongside 84-year-old photojournalist member of the State House Press Corps, Ladan Abubakar, who has put in 42 years into journalism beside being a tailor.

    It was the first time Abuah and Ladan were accorded such recognition by a sitting President since their long stay at the Presidential Villa.

    Abuah, at the dinner in May, however, never knew that the occasion was also going to be his last recognition alive by a President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    At the State House Media and Publicity office, Abuah was often seen as a technocrat needed to make the engine room of the media office operate effectively from one government to the other.

    Many of the past governments could not do without him.

    He had not only been a dependable hand in the concise and timely press statements the administrations have churned out, but he ensured members of the State House Press Corps, who needed to work on the statements, get them.

    He was so good on the job that he hardly made mistakes on any press statement to warrant re-issuing a corrected version of the statement.

    To get the work done, Abuah had also severally followed some late night press statements with telephone calls to some members of the Press Corps.

    You will hear his voice from the other side of the line mentioning your name and asking you if you had received the press statement he just circulated.

    By so doing, he had not only woken up some colleagues who had already retired to bed for the night, but also helped them in keeping their jobs by not missing out front-page stories the following day.

    No wonder many State House correspondents joined some staff in the Presidency to mourn Abuah’s death.

    Many of them were seen clad in black cloth, at different days from last week Monday, which was the first working day after Abuah’s death.

    A good number of them accompanied the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, to officially pay condolence visit to Abuah’s family in Abuja last Wednesday.

    The two buses and a jeep that conveyed the journalists to Abuah’s Apo resident were filled to the brim as some of them had to stay back for lack of sitting space.

    Some of the journalists also drove their vehicles in a convoy to Abuah’s house.

    Before last Wednesday’s visit, many State House correspondents had also gone on their own to pay condolence visits to Abuah’s family.

    Leading the Media Department, State House Press Corps and Protocol Department on the visit last Wednesday, Adesina said: “Words failed me to actually described him (Abuah), when he passed the first thing that came to mind was that a competent man has gone.

    “He related well with many people. He was an excellent man and did his job excellently. His passage is trauma to us.” He said

    Shehu, who was also on the entourage, noted that Abuah wasý a pillar of support, an icon of emulation and a unique individual.

    He said: “ýWe feel a sense of loss over a man who has served seven Presidents with dedication. We lost a pillar of support, an icon of emulation.ý

    “We were just learning about him, we felt angry we were not in the know of his ill-health but we found out that he is a man who did not like to bother anybody with his pains”. He added

    While praying to Almighty God for Abuah’s soul to rest in peace, he will definitely not be forgotten in a hurry.

    He has left behind very big shoes that may take some time to fill effectively and efficiently.

    His exit has really thrown up the challenge of how to replace him.

    Is he going to be replaced by one of the staff in the State House who has understudied him over the years?

    Or will he be replaced by a fresh Director from outside the Presidential Villa?

    Experiences on the job, definitely cannot be thrown to the winds knowing that the State House is a unique place that demands special skills.

     

  • Southern Kaduna boils, again

    Southern Kaduna boils, again

    For about six months, the southern parts of Kaduna State, usually a hotbed of crisis, was peaceful. Now violence has erupted in the area, reports ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE

    Once, there was violence, fear and hopelessness. Then, came Malam Nasir el-Rufai, and suddenly all was quiet in Southern Kaduna. Serial killings ceased. Houses were no longer burnt. The people enjoyed peace. Governor el-Rufai savoured the new lease of life, blaming the violence on cattle herders from Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal.

    He said a committee chaired by Gen Martin Luther Agwai (Retd) played a huge part in the restoration of peace in the area.

    “We had to reach out to some of these countries outside Nigeria, telling them this cannot continue,” he said, adding that his government compensated those affected by the killings.

    “These tactics have brought about the needed result, because there has been no killing in the last six months, since Agwai did that job and reached out to these people and talked to them.”

    The peace has been shattered. Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have invaded three villages near Godogodo town in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, reportedly leaving about 11 people dead and several others injured; some houses were set ablaze. The villages attacked were Gada Biyu, where six men and three women were said to have been killed; Akwa’a, which lost two men, but the village was not vandalised and Anguwan Anjo, where no life was lost, but shooting was heard till daybreak.

    An eyewitness said, “Gunmen in plenty numbers invaded Gada Biyu, 2km from Godogodo around 6 am on Monday morning and started shooting, stabbing and burning down houses. People fled in different directions. When the killers escaped from Gada Biyu, they resurfaced at Akua’a this morning and killed two people. But they did not burn any house there. The police arrived on time again, and they ran away. But this afternoon they appeared at Agwan Anjo and started shooting. But by this time people had fled the village, and the police also arrived promptly”.

    Barely two weeks after the attack, yet to be identified gunmen killed another six farmers in Godogodo village. According the villagers, the gunmen said that the villages have become cattle grazing reserves and wanted them to vacate immediately.

    The state government sought to end the violence. The state executive council committee was last week held in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a council after el-Rufai led an inspection tour of the crisis zone.

    The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division Nigerian Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade visited the villages after deploying his soldiers to keep the peace in the area after the first attack.

    Briefing the GOC at Gada Biyu, the chief of Kagoma, Paul Zaka Wyom, said the presence of the military had provided a physical and psychological relief for members of the affected communities. He said the locals would do a lot of psychological work to get them resettled.

    “You would recall that I told Mr. President we should not allow the people to be pushed to the wall. If they are pushed to the wall they would have no option but to fight back. But I can assure you that if they are given the assurance of safety, they will listen.

    “Our brothers, the Fulani people have been living here before I was born, and I am 72 years old. And we have been living peacefully. The question is: What has brought this rubbish here. There is the need for people to sit down and talk sincerely. Let us have peace. I went to Ladduga and addressed the Fulani there, all in the interest of peace.

    “We must be our brothers’ keepers because we are benefitting from each other. We need to sit down and identify the devil that has come between us, kick him out and live in peace once again. I know that if we are able to find the root of the trouble, peace will return to the community,” he said.

    Also speaking, the District Head of Jaginde Tasha, Dala Miabarde said, “We have had many consultations with the Fulani community. We even have a reconciliation report we sat down and put together. But unfortunately, on Monday, the Fulani from Ninte attacked a farmer, killed his wife and injured him.”

    Both community leaders agreed that attacks and reprisals had led to the loss of several lives and property, not only in the area but across the country. They said Nigeria won’t move forward in the midst of ethno-religious crises. According to them, what is happening at Gada Biyu is a result of what happened at Ninte.

    Speaking at his palace, the Chief of Gadogado, Iliya Ajiya Atang, who was ill, said the community had been having farmers-herdsmen clashes for a long time.

    “We have tried to make them see reason to stop the attacks, but our attempts have fallen on deaf ears. Herdsmen will lead their animals into farmlands and farmers will retaliate, leading to very terrible outcomes such as what you have seen,” he said.

    Speaking after touring the affected communities, Major General Oyebade said the Nigerian Army would remain in the area until normalcy is returned.

    The GOC said, “It is quite unfortunate that attacks by supposedly friendly neighbours have led to what we are seeing in Godogodo. Our job as the members of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police is to make sure that we provide security to people so that they can go about their normal businesses and lives.

    “We have engaged the locals so that they can also start talking to themselves to avoid these kinds of attacks and reprisals. Such attacks do not do anybody any good. We hope that in the next few weeks, stability and peace would be fully restored to this area. We are encouraging the locals to come back to their communities and start their lives all over again.

    “The most important thing I want to say is that the Nigerian Army is on ground and ready to ensure that security is provided for everybody here. We are extending our operations far beyond this area. Whoever the attackers are, we will track them down. We will not be distracted by anybody because we have a mandate and the constitution to provide aid to civil power and synergise with other security agencies to take out any form of threat that would make the lives of people unbearable,” he said.

    Meanwhile, as part of his moves to bring the killings to a permanent end, Governor El-Rufai led Kaduna State Security Council on assessment tour of the crisis zone, after which he presided over their meeting in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a local government area.

    The Governor and the security chiefs visited Ninte in Jema’a local government and Angwan Mada in Sanga local government.

    Speaking to journalists shortly after the meeting held behind closed-doors, the Governor said, ”These cycles of killings are unjustifiable and senseless. No individual or group has a right to kill other people. Murder is inhuman and ungodly.

  • Community, school relish rebuilt bridge

    Community, school relish rebuilt bridge

    For 15 years the only bridge linking Phase One and Three  of  Jikwoyi  community  in Abuja  was abandoned after flood waters washed it off. Now, it has been rebuilt, much to the joy of the community as well as the Cheery Field College, which contributed to the construction effort.

    While the bridge remained unusable, commuters suffered greatly. The bridge served over 3,000 people.

    The Chairman, Board of Governors, Cheery Field College Ajune Emmanuel said the college  contributed to the  construction of  a new bridge  to link the two communities  because it wanted to help the host community following its request for intervention.

    Emmanuel said the move to embark on the bridge construction project was the only way to give back to the society which he described as partners in progress.

    He said, “I am happy to see that vehicles, okada and pedestrians now move freely from one end to another because of the new bridge.”

    Emmanuel who spoke at the 7th graduation   ceremony of the college on the school’s achievements in the ending academic year of  2016, disclosed that Cheery Field  since inception  in 2004 has continued to  maintain  a good relationship with the host  community and has  left no one in doubt of his developmental  projects for the people around.

    In the area of security, the college has also received commendation from the residents as it has mounted 24 hours security check point and streetlights to compliment the effort the security men.

    Emmanuel urged corporate bodies to always give back to the society as a way of complimenting government effort.

    Emmanuel explained that the school will continue to touch the lives of people living within the school and that the school has visited some orphanages homes in Abuja   and donated food items and learning materials for the less privileged.

  • Suntai: Misconceptions, manoevres after plane crash

    Suntai: Misconceptions, manoevres after plane crash

    It is nearly four years now since former Taraba State governor Danbaba Suntai, a pharmacist, survived an air crash in the suburb of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, in which he was the pilot. Many may have forgotten about the crash and the political crisis Taraba State slipped into. But four years after, a book on the ailing governor has renewed the story and exposed those who stood to his defence and those who betrayed him after the air mishap he and his three security aides unbelievably survived.

    No one had written any memoir on him throughout the eight years he held sway as the helmsman in Taraba State until he left Government House unceremoniously. The book on him, entitled: Suntai: Betrayers, Loyalists and the Media War, by an editor and columnist, Emmanuel Bello, who was his media chief and Commissioner for Information, is not his biography, but an account of the struggle for power shift, particularly the intrigues which plunged Taraba State into political and constitutional crisis.

    Coming out two months after the former governor’s birthday, the book will be presented to the public on the author’s birthday September 15. Taraba’s new governor, Darius Ishaku will be the distinguished guest of honour at the book launch while the senator representing Southern Taraba, Emmanuel Bwacha will chair the occasion. Bwacha was a major character in the drama that heralded the dawn after Suntai crashed on October 25, 2012.

    The period from October 25, 2012 to November 21, 2015 was characterised by intrigues, scheming and backstabbing as Suntai’s deputy Garba Umar wanted to become the substantive governor by removing his principal and benefactor on health grounds, and succeeding him in last year’s general election.

    Abubakar Sani Danladi who was Suntai’s running mate in 2007 and 2011 elections was on October 4, 2012 impeached by the State House of Assembly, allegedly at the prompting of Suntai, which paved the way for Umar to come on board. In the end, Taraba State returned to stability when Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, among six other judges of the Supreme Court sacked Umar and Danladi was reinstated as Suntai’s deputy on November 21 last year. Danladi, now a senator, returned as acting governor and worked in partnership with the Suntai camp in the remaining six months of the Suntai administration. He also supported and aided power shift to the south of the state which was the major cause of the political crisis.

    The crisis had taken many fronts, but Bello’s 130-page book in 11 interesting chapters, including “Bad News, Good News”, “The Return”, and “A House Divided,” duels more on the media warfare of the crisis.

    For instance, Garba Umar’s supporters mounted a strong propaganda in the media against Suntai, to give a sort of credibility that he was a vegetable and brain-damaged. They even said Suntai could not talk and that his wife Hajiya Hauwa appreciated this predicament. The Suntai group however, continued to report that the injured governor was not really bad. They pointed out that Suntai made a broadcast to the state, inspected some projects and could walk unaided. They flayed a video propaganda in which Suntai admitted he was not strong to resume work, describing the video as “fake, scandalous, and mischievous”.

    What motivated Bello to write on the Taraba crisis? “I have been asked all sorts of questions concerning the saga by reporters and the general public alike, so I thought I should write a little book to correct some misconceptions and also to reawaken some debates. Maybe we could understand more why the two camps took the positions they took and why they behaved the way they did. The book is also a narrative of the humble role I played during the crisis.

    “Ultimately, I want to shed a little light on the events of that period. The book covers the period after the plane crash that saw Governor Suntai and three of his aides surviving. The political manoeuvres which followed are its central theme.”

    With a foreword written by the Chairman, Thisday editorial board, Olusegun Adeniyi, the book says the Taraba saga bears some similarities with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua situation especially the role the nation’s media played in the ensuing dramas.

    In his lucid account of what really happened, Bello said the Suntai narrative is one of those weird stories of how humans supernaturally escape the fangs of death. However, politics and the attendant media war, he said, “marred the side of survival as many dramas ensued afterwards.” He said the issues that involved the media motivated him to write the book, which he has said is not intended to indict anybody.

    “My book is not an attempt to indict or exonerate anyone. Everyone acted out of their place which decidedly is the protection of interests at best. One man’s betrayer is another man’s loyalist.”

    The author noted that many years after, some of the “misrepresentations” he confronted back then are still very much around. “I believe this work would come in handy to those who were not privy to some of the issues that cropped up at that time.

    “Even now people still ask me questions they asked nearly four years ago. This book should be able to serve as an answer sheet to some of these thorny questions.

    “I believe other more qualified persons can weigh in, and hopefully someday, write a much more robust story of the period under review, taking into account the politics. What I have done is to take a small part of the Suntai story and expound on the subject of media warfare at the time.”

    Nevertheless, Bello believes his book, an interesting piece of the political comedy drama in Taraba, will certainly spawn new controversies and debates.

    “I have no doubt that this book would generate some controversies as some of the wounds are still fresh. But lest we forget, I thought we should be able to quickly remind ourselves of events of one of the most trying periods in Taraba state annals. After all, history is nothing but a guide for the present and a road map to the future.”

    The book is a must read for those who could not understand what really happened. Looking back in retrospect at what befell Suntai, Bello said in the book; “Nigerians, particularly Taraba people, must thank God for sparing the lives of the former governor and all his aides who were involved in that crash. Today, all the four men are still living. They remain a shining testimony to the resilience of a people and the assurance of divine mercy and intervention in the affairs of mortal. The book is a tribute to all of them who survived the plane crash.”

  • He went for greener pastures, now he’s lost his mind

    He went for greener pastures, now he’s lost his mind

    Raimi Kayode who claimed to have left his Igboho hometown in Osun State in search of greener pastures in Kaduna State, is homeless, jobless and mentally challenged. SEUN AKIOYE writes

    Do you know Raimi Kayode of Ile Onimosa Igboho in Osun State who migrated to Kaduna in 1987, or any of his relatives? A newspaper vendor, Ayodele Obaloko, in Jos Road, Kaduna has some news: Kayode who has been untraceable for many years is alive but has unfortunately lost his mind.

    Kayode is a popular face at L1 and L2 Ahmadu Bello Way where he has made a home for himself in front of some shops. Many people called him an Islamic cleric as he had a reputation for offering buoyant Islamic prayers for all who seek his help. During the day, apart from offering prayers for prospective clients who pay him a token, he sits offering unsolicited advice to the government.  He had an opinion on almost every subject including security, economy, infrastructure, etc.

    Kayode is destitute and a nuisance who has been mentally ill for many years. On Jos Road with a large Yoruba immigrant population, he is regarded as a cleric of sorts with special powers for effective prayers. For others who do not believe in his supernatural talents, he is simply a mad man.

    The first impression on seeing Kayode did not betray his illness, he is dark with tribal marks which age filled into his cheeks and age has done a good job of hiding. He has a full beard and moustache part of which has gone grey and bloodshot eyes.

    He wore a cheap green lace traditional outfit which was tolerably clean, however, if one looked closely, one would see that underneath, he was wearing another lace. His hands are clean and his fingernails are neatly trimmed. On his two wrists he wore two different watches which surprisingly tell the correct time.  He had a light brown cap on his head, a pair of bathroom slippers and carried a sack.

    The content of the sack betrayed him as a vagabond, there were several empty packaged water sachets, a rotten corn cob, a small jotter filled with gibberish, a Techno mobile phone, prayer rosary, pliers, screw driver, a tape rule, body cream and money in different denominations. But the most important article in the bag is a blue overall with a bag belonging to “Welding Association of Nigeria, Igboho branch, zone A.”

     

    The journey to insanity

    No one could remember exactly when Kayode went mad or anything about his antecedents before the unfortunate illness; the farthest people could tell about his history is only one year ago when he suddenly showed up at Jos Road vendor stand and became friends with a certain Muda who is a newspaper vendor.

    “He was a friend of Muda; whenever he came around he would buy Alaroye  newspaper, he would offer prayers for people and they would give him money. When he is hungry, he would use part of the money they paid him to buy food. He has never given anybody any problem, we don’t know anything about his background except what he said himself that he came from Igboho,” Obaloko said.

    It was not difficult to get words out of the loquacious Kayode who willingly answered every question even though only few of them could be relied upon. “My name is Raimi Kayode and I am 91 years old, I came from Ile Onimosa in Igboho in 1987 to Kaduna to work,” he began.

    Kayode claimed to have been a vegetable oil seller in his home town and an apprentice to a welder before relocating to Kaduna.

    That was where the sense in his narration ended. He claimed to be  91 years old but that must be absolutely incorrect because from his looks he would be in his early 50s.

    Despite the inadequacies in his story, Kayode remembers addresses well. For Instance, he said robbers broke into his shop at No 3, Ago Sanusi Road by Tudun Wada, he remembers too that he took his tools to one Iya Ijebu in Barkinwa Express by Sanusi Road.

    The Yoruba community in Jos road considers him as one of their own who should be helped.  In December 2015, the Islamic group, Ansarudeen volunteered to return him to his hometown. But before plans could be formalised, Kayode was attacked by a group of suspected robbers while he slept on the front lawn of the building. They stole his bag and whatever money they could find on him.

    There is no record of Kayode’s family or friends in Kaduna. In the past, according to Obaloko, he had told him about his children in Igboho.

    Would he like to return to Igboho? At first he looked lost as if he didn’t understand the question, then said in a sorrowful voice, “I can’t go because I don’t have a job there.” When he was assured of a job once he gets to Igboho he changed the narrative and claimed to have recently returned from Igboho on August 7, 2016.

    Many of the traders appeal that his people should come forward to collect and rehabilitate him as he has become a nuisance to the Yoruba community in Kaduna.

    “If there is anyone who knows  his family, they should please come forward and help him, there is no way we can trace them but we are appealing to them to come and claim him and care for him,” Obaloko said.