The Nation Newspaper

Tag: actions

  • Osinbajo warns against reckless utterances, actions

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday called on Nigerians not to allow reckless utterances and actions of some people, who are playing on the country’s religious and ethnic fault lines to threaten its unity.

    Osinbajo spoke during the Interdenominational Church Service for the 2019 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration in Abuja.

    According to him, the supreme sacrifice paid by the nation’s military should not be allowed to go in vain.

    Reflecting on the resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram sect, which recently claimed the lives of several dozens of soldiers, Osinbajo said the era of the terrorists holding local government areas and hoisting their flags has gone.

    The vice president also appealed that the families of the gallant military officers that sacrificed their lives in the bid to secure the territorial integrity should not be allowed to suffer.

    He said: “Today, again we participate in an annual tradition of remembering and honouring our departed military heroes. This particular remembrance day is perhaps more poignant than any other.

    “In the past few weeks, we have buried 13 soldiers and one officer, and just last week, two Air force pilots and three airmen; all these men died in battle fending off Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa terrorists in the Northeast of Nigeria.

    “In the past few years, we have seen patriotism at its highest. Our valiant men and women of the armed forces have destroyed the backbone of Boko Haram, who once attacked Abuja, Kano and Kaduna with impunity and hoisted their tattered flags over 17 local governments in the Northeast.

    “Today, both Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa operate as small even if deadly guerilla  bands  in parts of Borno State. But in these battles we have been sharply reminded that indeed “freedom is not free”. . That peace is often  paid for with blood and gore.

    “And that no nation can secure its territory without the selflessness and the supreme sacrifices of many. And truly as someone said: ‘Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it’.”

    He added: “So, as we celebrate this Remembrance Day, we solemnly thank the Almighty God for giving us men and women ready to obey the call to fight and if need be, die for the fatherland.”

    Hailing the dead soldiers for dying on line of duty, he said: “We are grateful that they were faithful to the cause, that they did not betray the trust of millions, that they gave up all the comforts of life and the love and affection of family that we may enjoy the same.

    “Our posthumous thanks to them and their families, who not only bore the fearful apprehension of their going to war, but also the heartbreak of their deaths.

    “But our gratitude must also mean a  commitment to ensuring that their families are cared for, that their children do not ask why the sacrifices they made were made at all.

    “Also important is to ensure that they did not die in vain. This unity and territorial integrity of the nation for which they died must not be jeopardised by the reckless utterances and actions, which play on the religious and ethnic faultlines of our nation.

    “The ordinary  people of Nigeria have demonstrated time and time again that they share common problems and a believe in  common destiny. The desire for food, shelter, clothing and decent jobs does is unblinkered by tribe, tongue or faith. Our unity and peaceful coexistence is the best tribute to our fallen heroes.

    “I honour the bold and brave  departed and pay heartfelt tribute to their  families,  indeed they daily pay the supreme sacrifice by their loss, and I thank the Almighty God for our nation, and for the men and women of honour and courage that gave all for it.”

    The first Scripture Reading was taken by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonisakin, from Isaiah 43:1-13.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, took the second Scripture Reading from the book of John 10:1-18.

    During the service, there were intercessory prayers for the country.

    A special rendition was made by the Armed Forces Christian Women Fellowship. The Military Mass Choir also made a presentation.

    Those who attended the church service included Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and his wife, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

  • Your actions insulting, Deji tells Igbo

    Your actions insulting, Deji tells Igbo

    The Deji of Akure, Oba Ogunlade Aladetoyinbo, has accused the Igbo in Akure of  insubordination.

    He accused them of violating the tradition of the ancient capital of Ondo State.

    The 48th Akure monarch alleged that the Igbo have no respect for him or the town’s culture.

    According to Oba Aladetoyinbo, Igbo traders often violated the town’s culture and tradition.  He said efforts to caution them had failed.

    The Deji, who spoke through the Asamo of Akure land, Rotimi Olusanya, alleged that the Eze Ndigbo, Sir Gregory Ilehohika, recently embarrassed him and some of his chiefs in his palace.

    The Igbo last week alerted to alleged plot by the Deji-in-council to dethrone the Eze Ndigbo.

    They protested against the planned closure of their businesses and markets in Akure.

    However, Oba Aladetoyinbo alleged that the Igbo trading at Mojere market recently contravened  the rules guiding the market, which he said led to the invitation of some Igbo leaders, including the Eze Ndigbo, to the palace.

    The monarch noted that the Eze Ndigbo refused to carry out his order to eject illegal traders from Mojere market.

    He stressed that Akure is reputed to be peaceful, loving, accommodating and law abiding.

    Oba Aladetoyinbo said: “We shall continue to allow integration of all Nigerians, but we will not allow anyone to degrade or trample upon our tradition and institution.”

    But the President, Ohaneze Ndigbo in Ondo State, Okechukwu Okorie, earlier said the Igbo are law abiding and peaceful, adding that they respect their traditions and those of other ethnic groups.

    He said the Igbo leaders who went to the Deji’s palace to honour his invitation were beaten up by some irate youths at the palace.

    Okorie said the Deji was being misinformed by some individuals on the activities of the Igbo in Akure.

  • Jonathan’s election-motivated actions can’t save him, says APC

    Jonathan’s election-motivated actions can’t save him, says APC

    Election-propelled acts of governance by President Goodluck Jonathan are “too little, too late” to convince Nigerians to vote for him and his party in the rescheduled polls.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in a statement yesterday in Lagos.

    The statement reads: “Mr. President, you cannot undo, in six weeks, the glaring instances of cluelessness, incompetence and near total lack of governance that your administration has exhibited in the past six years, even if you move Aso Rock to the Southwest or bribe every Nigerian with the proceeds of corruption.

    ‘’Your administration-sanctioned smear campaigns against APC leaders, your obscenity-laden meeting with youths, your offer of jobs to 167 out of over 40 million unemployed youths, and your temporary relocation to the Southwest, where you believe your naira and dollar rain will translate to votes are all belated and of no effect.”

    The party noted that the President’s latter-day efforts went up in smokes on Saturday when over one million Nigerians marched through the streets of Lagos in support of change, even as “a hurriedly-organised, pretend march led by the President in Abuja failed to distract from the success of the Lagos march, as envisaged by the organisers”.

    APC said its latest opinion poll on the elections showed that Nigerians have already made up their minds regarding which party they would “vote for, even before the six-week postponement of the elections, which was orchestrated to allow the sinking PDP and its candidates at all levels to recover from the dizzying effect of the daily blows being dealt on them by Nigerians”.

    The APC said a president, who was playing dirty politics while over 15,000 Nigerians were being murdered by the Boko Haram, could not expect to reap from a sudden resurgence in the fight against the terrorists.

    The statement added: “Mr. President, you had all of six years to secure the lives and property of Nigerians, provide jobs, improve the economy, give Nigerians constant power supply and curb corruption, but you did none of those things.

    ‘’Under your watch, Mr. President, the economy has virtually collapsed with the United States (U.S.) dollar now exchanging for over N220 – the highest ever, millions of youths are roaming the streets even as your government fleeces them from time to time over phantom jobs, industries are collapsing in droves, Nigerians are more divided than ever, many states and even the Federal Government can’t pay workers’ salaries and corruption is at an all-time high as the looting of the public treasury has become the order of the day while Nigerians have never felt so insecure.

    ‘’It is amazing, therefore, how you can even think that six weeks of unprecedented bribery of individuals, pretend governance, and cash-induced occult-like ‘prayer’ sessions, among others, will turn the tide in your favour. Nigerians are not fooled by your antics, Mr. President. Your efforts are too little, too late.”

    The APC noted that it was glaring that the alleged missing $20 billion, the multi-billion-naira pension scam and the multi-trillion oil subsidy fraud, just to mention a few, all fed into the massive bribery that the Jonathan Administration has engaged in over the past few weeks, hoping to buy the votes of Nigerians.

    It said, however, that such profligate and immoral act would not have been necessary if the administration had done what it was elected to do in the first instance: provide good governance.

    “They thought six weeks constitute an eternity. Well, six weeks are almost over now and Nigerians are ready to give the Jonathan Administration the score-sheet it deserves, because they are more interested in contents than in labels, hence would not be hoodwinked by the contrived acts of governance,” APC said.

    The party thanked Nigerians for their support, both morally and financially, that has seen the APC becoming a people-driven movement.

    “In spite of the massive muckraking by the Jonathan Administration, the use of statistics to dish lies to the public about economic growth and the unprecedented bribery of some citizens, Nigerians are solidly behind us and we thank them for their support. We urge them to continue to eschew all acts of violence even in the face of provocations, and to remain vigilant in the three weeks remaining to the decisive elections,’’ it said.

  • Criticisms won’t affect my actions, says Abe

    Criticisms won’t affect my actions, says Abe

    •300 indigent students get support

    The lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, has said criticisms would not affect his actions, particularly the empowerment initiatives in the senatorial district.

    He presented bank draft to 300 beneficiaries of his annual school fee support scheme.

    Nine hundred indigent final year students in institutions of higher learning drawn from the seven local governments of the Rivers Southeast, which include Andoni, Eleme, Gokana, Khana, Opobo/Nkoro,Oyigbo and Tai have benefitted from the exercise, which started in 2012.

    Abe, who spoke while presenting the support to the students at his constituency office, Bori, headquarters of Khana Local Government, said the empowerment initiatives he introduced, some of which were designed to provide employment and build capacity in the senatorial district were not part of his constituency project.

    “What I do is between me and my God. I don’t effect actions to expect praise, whatever I do is based on my conviction; it is about my relationship with my people and not about what people will say or not,” the Senate Committee Chairman on Petroleum (Downstream) said.

    He said the scholarship scheme among others was initiated in line with his commitment to invest in the people, encourage educational excellence and competition, adding that a society without competition produces people who know everybody, but know nothing.

    “Among us here are people from different background and political belief. What qualifies you for this exercise is merit. The reason we insist on merit is that any society that does not base its values on merit will be full of people who know everybody but know nothing. We want to build a society full of people who know something even if they don’t know anybody.

    “There are people whose stock-in-trade is to condemn others; their attitude cannot stop us from doing what we think is right or God’s intention for us. If we buy wrappers for the women of the district as part of our appreciation strategy outside the constituency projects; what is wrong with that,” the senator opined.

    The facilitator of the scheme, Kadilo Kabari, President, National Union of Oyigbo Students, Nwankwo Chijioke; that of Andoni, Timi Mbaba, and their Opobo/Nkoro counterpart, Solomon Tamunotonye, vowed that students from the senatorial district would continue to support Abe in whatever he aspired for politically.

     

  • Saraki: let’s shape our actions

    A Former Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki has urged Nigerians to exhibit actions which reflect the Nigeria of their dreams.

    The senator representing Kwara Central advised Nigerians to be more prudent.

    In a Sallah message in Ilorin,he said: “The sectional violence in other trouble zones of our country requires our prayers and empathy for the families who have been displaced from their homes and their loved ones.

    “I am pleased to extend my greetings and best wishes to my fellow Muslims on the auspicious occasion of Eid-el-Kabir celebration. The celebration infuses in us a sense of brotherhood and spirit of togetherness.”

     

     

  • My actions in best interest of PDP, says Tukur

    My actions in best interest of PDP, says Tukur

    •’I’ve done nothing to warrant gang-up’

    Embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur yesterday dared critics of his leadership style, saying all his actions had been in the best interest of the party.

    In a statement, Tukur said he would continue to serve the interest of the party to the best of his ability, stressing that his reconciliatory moves had yielded fruitful results.

    According to him, his doors are open to all aggrieved groups and members to lay their grievances, assuring them that such complaints will be treated strictly on merit.

    The chairman decried alleged moves by certain groups and individuals in the party to ease him out, saying that he had done nothing wrong to warrant the current gang up against him.

    Tukur, who is currently holidaying abroad, blamed his travails on certain groups within the party who did not like the open and transparent manner in which he has been conducting the affairs of the party.

    The statement reads: “But the truth remains that openness and transparency remain the best tool for making the PDP to progress. I have been resolute in ensuring that all members of the party get carried along in the party’s programmes and policies.

    “As the chairman, I love my party. If I am serving PDP at my age, the reason is not because I want anything as gains. The reason is that serving the ruling party amounts to serving my nation.

    “I have my nation to serve and diligently too, because the country has made me.

    So, for me, it is a pay back time for the country that made me who I am. So, why would I complain in the face of stiff challenges.

    “As the chairman, I had taken decisions which had metamorphosed in the reconciliation moves we have been making. We want every member to see the party as his or her own and as a party that bestows pride on all.

    “Many people would not like such. In that case, I have no apology for doing good to PDP. I appreciate Mr. President who has been a major pillar of support for the PDP.

    “The President had endorsed every action we took with the conviction that they were all in the good interest of the PDP. The governors have been supportive too. We have been in touch and they keep on assuring me of their support.

    “While I take care of my health, I urge party members to continue to support the National Working Committee (NWC) in its drive towards re-launching PDP into a more formidable structure capable of wining and winning elections without stress”.

    Tukur thanked members of the PDP for being steadfast, most especially in the face of threats by the opposition groups to “pull down PDP at all costs”.

    He said the agenda by the opposition in that regard would always come to naught if PDP members all over the country do not succumb to its “antics“.