By Chris Njoku, Owerri

The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has condemned the kick off of Operation Crocodile Smile VI in the region.

President-General of the coalition Goodluck Ibem, in a statement on Thursday, described the move as ill-timed and ill-advised. He said it was a calculated attempt to use brute force in administering a peaceful region.

The statement reads: “Such operations by the Army usually end in cutting our youths in the name and under the pretext of security enforcement. The infamous operation Python Dance or Egwu Eke, in 2017, still haunts the collective memory of Southeast youth to this day.

Read Also: Army to launch Exercise Crocodile Smile in Enugu

“The Army should rather focus its operation in Borno State and other northern states where Boko Haram terrorists and insurgents have taken root. We are convinced that there could be sinister motives by the Army’s Operation Crocodile Smile VI in the Southeast and Southsouth.

“We advise the Army to take its Operation Crocodile Smile Vl to Borno, Katsina, Adamawa and other northern states ravaged by Boko Haram terrorists and bandits. The Southeast is not in any war and is very peaceful; it is totally out of place to bring in the Army to a peaceful locality.”

By Nsa Gill, Calabar

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Cross River State has said its indefinite strike continues.

The association, on November 4, embarked on strike to protest incessant kidnapping of its members. Dr Godwin Udo of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) was kidnapped on November 1 and released on November 7.

A communiqué by the Chairman Dr Innocent Abang and Spokesman Dr Besong Akotanchi said there was no plan to suspend the strike until the security architecture improves.

Read Also: Resident doctors, Legal officers begin indefinite strike in Ondo

The communiqué reads: “The congress will continue with the ongoing withdrawal of services until concrete and tangible steps to curb insecurity are seen to be made by the government. While this decision may appear painful and insensitive to the public, NMA wants to state that the rising spate of kidnapping of about 10 more victims since the onset of this strike further justifies its position.

“We appeal to our members to remain steadfast and committed to this decision as nobody is immune to this devilish act. NMA calls on other professional bodies and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to support us in demanding for improved security from the government.”

By Bisi Olaniyi, Benin

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has said his administration would focus on the people to make Edo great again. He said his administration will focus on the people, who he described as the most cherished asset.

The governor also promised that his government would, next year, commit N6.1 billion to inject requisite skills into the civil service to ensure efficiency, productivity and drive sustainable development.

Obaseki, in a statement on Thursday, said his administration has concluded plans to recruit 725 professionals into the civil service. He promised to focus on strengthening the civil service, bestowing the workers with tools and skills that would stand them out, make for a better work-life balance and assure better service.

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He said: “Though we have embarked on far-reaching reforms to retool the civil service for efficiency and productivity in the last four years, the progress we have seen has buoyed us to pursue even more systemic reforms.

“We will be injecting more resources in enhancing the capacity of our civil and public servants, which includes training packages that will restore the service’ pride of place.

“With the completion of the John Odigie-Oyegun Training Academy, we are set to collaborate with local and international partners on top-of-the-range short and long-term courses.”

The governor added that his target was to make the workforce the envy of all, bestow the workers with tools and skills that stand them out, make for a better work-life balance and assure better service.

By Nwanosike Onu, Awka

The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Walid Jibrin, has said the 2021 governorship election in Anambra State will determine the place of Igbo in Nigerian politics.

According to him, the PDP has all it takes to win the 2021 election. He also urged party leaders to begin grassroots mobilisation to make it a reality.

Jibrin spoke at the weekend during a reception for the state Chairman, Ndubuisi Nwobu, by the party’s chapter in Anambra Central.

According to him, the reception was another strategy to unite the party ahead of the election.

He said: “All hands must be on deck as next year’s election will determine the future of the state and the fate of Ndigbo in the Nigerian political structure.”

Nwobu expressed satisfaction about the party’s unity, saying the PDP would produce a governor who would understand governance, care for Ndi Anambra and the state’s growth.

He assured the national leadership that the party, under his watch, would do everything legitimately possible to win the 2021 governorship.

The reception was attended by National Vice Chairman Austin Umahi and former National Women Leader Chief Josephine Anenih.

However, former Governor Peter Obi, Senators Uche Ekwunife and Stella Oduah, were absent and no reason was given for their absence.

By Okodili Ndidi, Abuja

Conference of Igbo Youth Professionals Worldwide has called on the United Kingdom (UK) to revoke the citizenship of leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.

The group urged UK and Israel to restrain Kanu from taking advantage of his foreign citizenship to incite violence in Nigeria.

It recalled that ‘IPOB is a terrorist organisation in the eyes of the law as declared by an Abuja Federal High Court’.

A statement yesterday by the President-General, Maduabuchi Nwodo, urged Ndigbo across the globe to demonstrate courage by denouncing Kanu, IPOB, its members and all that the group stands for.

The statement reads: “We are disturbed at the incessant inciting statements coming from Kanu against the Nigerian state. We are aware of his status as a citizen of both the UK and the Nation of Israel.

“Having worked to see Nigeria at its present state, we believe the UK and Israel would not want to see Nigeria a shattered place. It is in this regard that we appeal to them to rein in on Kanu because his activities have been against Nigeria’s unity.

“The latest call by Kanu on some security agencies to abandon their duty post, resign and burn their uniforms must be ignored. Kanu is alone in his cessation project and has nobody behind him…”

By Nwanosike Onu, Awka

Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has shut schools, markets and other private establishments to honour the first President of Nigeria, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Obiano first declared a public holiday for Zik in 2019.

He wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari to also declare every November 16 as public holidays for Zik.

Obiano said the government’s failure so far to declare Zik’s birthday as a national holiday has become a national and international scandal.

Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment C-Don Adinuba, who spoke for the governor, said all government offices, except those which provide essential services, would not open, just like the private sector and open markets.

He said: “The Ghanaians observe President Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday as a national holiday. Angolans observe Dr Agostino Neto’s birthday as a national holiday, just the way Tanzanians do the birthday of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

“Interestingly, it was Zik who discovered Nkrumah, mentored him, and sent him to Lincoln University in the United States of America (USA).

“Zik inspired a generation of Africans, including Nigerians, into African nationalism…”

Obiano maintained that Azikiwe remained Nigeria’s most detribalised leader in history.

“Nigeria is in dire need of transformational leaders like the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the symbol of national unity and progress,” he added.

By Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi is set to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) this week.

A source said the governor confirmed his defection during a meeting with stakeholders in his Uburu Ohaozara Local Government Area country home on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by bigwigs including the lawmaker representing Ezra South/Ikwo federal constituency Chinedu Ogah, Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission Elias Mbam,  State Chairman Senator Julius Ucha, Nwachukwu Eze and Senator Anthony Agbo, among others.

Read Also: APC bent on self-destruction

Minister of Science and Technology Ogbonnaya Onu did not attend the meeting.

Though details of the meeting were still sketchy as at last night, a source at the meeting said the governor also promised to reshuffle his executive council in December to accommodate members of the APC.

“He did not give us the exact date he will officially defect but he was categorical that it will happen this week,” the source said.

By Chris Njoku, Owerri

Chairman of SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Bryant Orjiako has said the construction of a $700 million gas plant at Assah, Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, would accelerate rural development and create jobs.

Orjiako, at the weekend, said the project would be completed within the last quarter of 2021.

He conducted Governor Hope Uzodimma on a tour of the project site. According to Orjiako, the project is jointly sponsired with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on equal percentage.

Orjiako said: “We decided to site the project here because we have our biggest gas asset here. We have one already in Sapele, Delta State, for the development and transformation of this country.

“The project would provide energy solution and about 30 per cent of gas supply in the country.”

Uzodimma described the project as important to the state and Federal Government. He denounced the discriminatory approach adopted by previous companies in the provision of basic infrastructural facilities.

He, however, pleaded with the firm to provide jobs, scholarships, and basic necessities of life for the people, and to assist in the renovation of dilapidated infrastructures.