An Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI), Mrs. Justina Ekpo, has petitioned the police over allegations of blackmail, cyberstalking and threat to life by a retired colleague.
Mrs. Ekpo, a widow, in a November 16 petition to the Assistant Inspector of Police (AIG), Zone 6, Calabar, alleged that Mr. Ime Nta, a retired Deputy Inspector of Immigration (DCI), has been blackmailing her on Facebook and other social media platforms.
According to her, Nta posted on Facebook that she was responsible for the death of her husband, Emmanuel Ekpo, who died as an Assistant Controller of Immigration (ACI) while on service in Spain in August this year.
In the petition by her counsel, Ita Ekpo of Alex, Ita and Partners, Mrs. Ekpo said Nta also accused her of employment and passport racketeering, seizing her husband’s body, bullying her in-laws, among others. She threatened to sue Nta for character assassination, attempted kidnapping and murder among others, adding that she will seek justice to restore her battered image.
But Nta insisted his allegations against Mrs. Ekpo are all true, and he was ready to prove them in court.
Nta, who was earlier arrested by the police and later granted bail on health grounds, said “I have evidences to prove all my allegations”.
(Although this piece was first published on Saturday, August 11, 2023, before the PEPT’s judgement of September 6, its contents are still continuing to be relevant as the social media and sections of the traditional media as well as some intellectually fraudulent political actors are unrelenting in their sustained efforts to discredit the judiciary as an institution and taint the credibility of the presidential election. These ultimately futile efforts are obviously likely to continue as the Supreme Court prepares to consider appeals against the judgement of the PEPT)
The allegations are not only scandalously outlandish and far-fetched, but they have been made by an identifiable individual, one Jackson Ude, on social media and without the slightest scintilla of evidence to back up the outrageous assaults on the reputation, integrity and character of two eminent members of the public. Ude, on his Twitter handle, had alleged, firstly, that Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), a former governor of Lagos State and immediate past Minister of Works and Housing, and some lawyers working for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were currently drafting a judgement favourable to President Bola Tinubu to be handed over to the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) for delivery. The accuser provides no sources. He offers no details. All we have from him is a brazen allegation made with reckless impunity which he calculates gullible members of the public will swallow hook, line and sinker. And a cursory perusal of his Twitter handle indicates that a not-inconsiderable number of persons have fallen for his bait.
Not content with his odious attempt at tainting Mr Fashola’s character, Jackson Ude posted another tweet in which he made manifestly defamatory allegations against a retired jurist of the Supreme Court, Justice (Mrs) Mary Peter-Odili, claiming that she was also involved in trying to influence the PEPT to give judgement in favour of Tinubu. He claimed that Justice Odili is “currently negotiating a pathway for Bola Tinubu” and that “she meets regularly with Appeal and Supreme courts” for that purpose. Again, all we have here is Jackson’s claim with no attempt at a logical and empirical corroboration of his story. We will recall that during the protracted election petition case between Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola over the governorship of Osun State, for instance, allegations of bias against some members of the tribunal were backed by extracts of telephone conversations which led to at least two of the judges being retired from the judiciary prematurely. In Jackson’s case, all we have are allegations with no attempt at credible corroboration.
Of course, both Mr Fashola and Justice (Mrs) Odili have understandably not taken the allegations lightly. They have issued strongly worded rebuttals and petitioned the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to investigate the allegations with a view to ascertaining the truth. These latest wild allegations are obviously part of an elaborate and coordinated effort to intimidate, harass and blackmail the judiciary as regards the handling of the petitions of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), respectively, against President Tinubu’s election. It will be recalled that even before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) began sitting, there had been fake news on social media that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kayode Ariwoola, had secretly met with then President-elect, Bola Tinubu, in London. It turned out to be patently and scandalously false.
A few weeks ago, another fake news was peddled to the effect that the CJN had engaged in telephone conversations both with President Tinubu and some of the judges handling the presidential election petitions with a view to influencing the judgement. Again, the Supreme Court unequivocally denied the report and those who made the allegation were not forthcoming with validating evidence. Obviously they had none. And about two weeks ago, a member of the five-man PEPT was reported to have unprecedentedly resigned in protest against alleged attempts to influence judgement in favour of President Tinubu. This turned out to be another reckless fake news.
The PEPT has since adjourned and reserved its judgement for a date to be duly communicated to parties in the various petitions. It is not unlikely that attempts to blackmail the judiciary and destroy the integrity of judges hearing the petitions will intensify in the days ahead, especially from petitioners who are aware they did not present a compelling, cast-iron case before the tribunal. To be fair to Alhaji Atiku and his counsel, they have presented their case before the tribunal and refrained from undue sensationalism even though the PDP came second in the election. It is rather Mr Peter Obi and his ‘Obidient’ mob who have strenuously tried to blackmail and intimidate the judiciary threatening mayhem if judgement does not go their way and this despite the LP coming a distant third in the election.
We will recall Peter Obi’s vice-presidential candidate, Mr Yusuf Baba-Ahmed, breathing fire on national television and warning of dire consequences if judgement does not go his party’s way. In a similar vein, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC), Mr Joe Ajaero, had warned ominously that the Congress would shame judges who did not deliver Justice in the election petitions. Apart from the NLC understandably giving institutional support to the LP, Mr Ajaero, an Igbo, on a personal level is a fanatical Peter Obi supporter largely for ethnic reasons. He seems to have retraced his steps from threatening the judges, possibly realizing that he is in no position to determine whether a given judgement is just or not.
It is ironical that the 2023 presidential election, easily the freest, fairest and most credible since the commencement of this dispensation in 1999, has also been the object of the most intense, limitless blackmail in Nigeria’s electoral history particularly from Mr Obi and his ‘Obidient’ social media army. Attempts to manipulate public opinion as regards the elections began long before the actual polls with mostly dubious opinion polls of scant scientific validity projecting a landslide Peter Obi victory.
When the reality of the election’s outcome did not tally with the predictions of the fictional pre-election opinion polls, Peter Obi and the ‘Obidients’ cried foul and persisted in branding the election as the worst ever in Nigeria. Atiku and the PDP have also challenged the credibility of the elections even though the logic of the outcome is so evidently clear. The PDP broke into three factions and faced the ruling and largely cohesive APC as a fragmented party even though the latter was electorally vulnerable given the policy failures and self-defeating politics of the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Peter Obi quit the PDP to join the LP and swept the votes in his ethnic Igbo land as well as substantial parts of the South-South which used to be traditional PDP strongholds. Similarly, Mr Rabiu Kwankwaso jettisoned the PDP to form the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and took away substantial votes from the PDP in Kano State. Even within the remaining rump of the PDP, five governors, the G5, did not campaign for Atiku and the latter did not win any of these states. What then could have been Atiku’s pathway to victory?
The case of Peter Obi is not substantially different. He won massively in the five states of the Igbo South-East scoring over 95% of the votes in the region. He also won significant votes in the South-South as well as states in the North-Central like Plateau and Nasarawa with substantial Christian votes. He also won in Lagos and Abuja where you have large clusters of Igbo votes. However, Obi’s campaign which deliberately focused on Igbo and Christian votes also alienated him from large numbers of Muslim votes and he did not secure the majority of the votes in any of the Northern zones – North-West, North-East or North-Central. Obi simply had no pathway to victory. The requirements for victory in a presidential election have been so designed constitutionally that the winning candidate must secure victory in at least three of the six zones of the country. Neither Atiku nor Obi met this requirement.
Ironically, the losing candidates accepted the validity, credibility and integrity of the elections in places where they won but queried the conduct of the exercise in areas where they lost. This was an election in which the sitting President, Buhari, lost his home state, Katsina, to Atiku who also won in other key northern states including Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto, Yobe, Kebbi, etc. Atiku also won Osun in the South-West. Not only did Obi win stupendously in the South-East, he also achieved victory in Tinubu’s stronghold, Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Edo, Delta, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River in the South-South as well as Plateau and Nasarawa in the North-Central. It was an election in which no less than six sitting governors lost their bid to be elected Senators. Furthermore, the presidential and National Assembly elections were held simultaneously and the APC replicated its victory in the presidential election at the legislative polls winning a majority of seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives although the opposition parties combined have a larger number of legislators in the latter – another pointer to the credibility of the election.
The 2023 elections reflect the presidential election of 1979 in a number of ways. The NPN won in 1979 because it had the widest support base across the country just as the APC was triumphant in the February 25 presidential election because it secured the widest spread winning in the South-West, North-Central and North-West. In 1979, Chief Obafemi Awolowo swept the South-West states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo states while also winning in the then Bendel state and performing well in Kwara and Gongola states. Just as Peter Obi scored over 95% of Igbo votes this year, Awolowo secured the overwhelming majority of Yoruba votes in 1979. But just as Igbo and Christian votes were insufficient to guarantee victory for Obi this year, Yoruba votes could not propel Awolowo to the presidency in 1979.
Interestingly, just as most Nigerians of South-East extraction believe that Peter Obi won the 2023 presidential election but was rigged out, most Yorubas in 1979 believed that the presidential election was rigged against Awolowo. But the truth of the matter is that Awolowo lost the 1979 presidential election free and square just as Obi clearly came third in this year’s election. Just like the Igbo are doing now, the Yoruba lived in denial after the 1979 elections with the late Dr Tai Solarin running a series of articles in the Nigerian Tribune at the time titled ‘The Stolen Presidency’. In reality, no presidency was stolen. Shagari won an unequivocal victory.
I remember watching an NTA Ibadan panel discussion programme featuring five lecturers from the University of Ibadan, all Yoruba, on the eve of the 1979 presidential election. Asked to predict who they thought would win the presidential election, they all predicted an NPN victory. They were only being realistic and their predictions were validated. Awolowo inexplicably picked his running mate, Mr Philip Umeadi, a Christian from the South-East and yet expected to win a national election with substantial votes from the vast Muslim North. Peter Obi not only picked a politically inconsequential Yusuf Datti-Ahmed from the North as his running mate in this year’s election, he made church tourism the central feature of his campaign and expected to reap substantial Muslim votes even as he condoned incendiary rhetoric of many Christian clerics against Muslims in overreactions to the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Just as is happening now with the petitions of Atiku and Obi soon to be adjudicated by the PEPT, the judiciary was the final arbiter in determining the final outcome of the 1979 presidential election. The court controversially gave Shagari victory on the ground that twelve two-thirds and not 13 constituted 25% of each of at least two-thirds of the then 19 states of Nigeria, which the victor was required to win to become President and the heavens did not fall. In 1979, there were no dark threats against the judiciary; no attempts to blackmail or intimidate the institution.
At the commencement of the sitting of the PEPT, counsel to Atiku and Obi had sought the consent of the tribunal for live transmission of proceedings, a request that the panel rightly turned down. This was in itself a subtle questioning of the integrity of the judges. The insinuation was that they could not be trusted to ensure Justice unless the proceedings were in full view of the public notwithstanding that large numbers of the viewing public would most likely be unable to appreciate the technical details involved in the cases. Surely, court proceedings cannot be turned into the equivalent of premier league football matches with victory awarded to the side with the loudest cheering spectators. The ongoing limitless blackmail of the judiciary and the attempt to psychologically coerce the PEPT judges to give judgement in a predetermined direction is unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. This is why Jackson Ude’s feckless allegations must be thoroughly investigated and treated with utmost seriousness. More importantly, he should have his day in court to prove his allegations.
IT was supposed to be the best part of his life. Kelechi got calls from far and wide but deep down; he knew that this was a mistake. It was just a few hours to the d-day and all the arrangements had been perfected. All that was left was to sleep, wake up and get to the church to sign the dotted lines
The big question, however, is how was he going to go through the ordeal of getting hooked to someone he just discovered was unfaithful? Should he continue as if nothing had happened or just walk away from everything?
Wondering what happened? “I got a phone call from someone who told me, he was her ex boyfriend. He told me that she had a baby for him about five years ago and wanted me to know that part of the woman that I was getting married to. The news was so shocking because Ada is someone that I cherish so much. I gave up so many things because of her and I did not hide anything from her since I met her.”
Blackmail? Yes, that is natural. “It is normal to have a past but it is also important to let the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with know about those things that might upset the relationship. If you hide things from the love of your life, then would certainly get upset when they get the information from another source.”
So, what did Ada have to say about this revelation you wonder? “I called her up immediately and asked her about that part of her life. She told me it was the truth. That she had a baby in her final year in school and she kept it a secret because she thought I wouldn’t accept her if I knew. I was really upset and I felt she couldn’t be trusted anymore.”
A few friends intervened, they tried to talk to him, asking him to forgive her but someone he thinks that something is wrong somewhere. Ada certainly was his dream girl. For Kelechi, she fit into the picture nicely and he did his best to make it work.
His heart was literarily on fire and he almost made up his mind not to allow the wedding ceremony to go on. Then Ada sent him a message, it was very long and she took time to talk about the baby, blackmail from the other guy and why she kept everything away from him. It was obvious that she had gone through so much pain already and his heart melted and forgave her.
Also, the letters, gifts and souvenirs they shared in the past brought the emotional flames back again and the emotional tragedy was reverted.
Great! Thank God, it was resolved by the duo. The crux of the matter here is that you must always carry your partner along. This way, you will be able to build trust and understanding around the issues that confront you from time to time. It is also important to have regular discussion to see how you are faring, areas of similarities as well as differences.
At such moments, you can talk about what you appreciate most about each other during the last two weeks. Then you can go on to discuss what can be improved in the relationship, and how to do so. You can then finish up with gratitude to each other for doing the relationship check-in and have a great lunch or dinner as the case may be.
Trust is also very important. You trust yourselves as well as the people around you, especially those who admire in your life. All of these strategies will help you build up trust, and research shows that this is key to having happy, lasting relationships. Always keep in the back of your mind a personal evaluation of the level of trust in the relationship. How much do you trust the other person to act in ways that both match your mental model of that person? How much do you trust that person to have your back?
If you want an intentional relationship, do things to build up trust and gather information about the other person’s trustworthiness. Exhibit vulnerability and personality traits, share secrets, and be generous in your offers to compromise. If the other person shows themselves trustworthy, then be more committed to the relationship. If they do not, then re-evaluate your own level of commitment, as the relationship likely will not work in the long term.
One great way to depict trust is by allowing each other to set boundaries and permit privacy. Luckily, technological developments make it so easy for us to track each other and to be in constant communication. However, permitting each other to have a private space and avoiding pushing the other person to do things they would prefer not to do helps a lot in creating sustaining happiness in relationships. Respecting boundaries and permitting privacy will do wonders for building up mutual trust!
LOVE sick! That was exactly how Motunrayo felt that morning. She just could not do anything reasonably and she knew it was because of the grand emotional betrayal that hit her. Instead of the emotional mess ending this way, the guilty one opted for blackmail and it worsened everything.
Now, she is feeling so lonely and depressed. Everything, sadly, is embedded in her heart, mind and soul, making her sick and unhealthy. She decided to clean up her puppy’s cage to divert her attention for good. Then the phone rang and she forgot the puppy in the water. When she suddenly remembered, the poor thing was in a state, shivering. It needed some warmth and her hair dryer came to the rescue. But again it was overdone and her dear pet was not the same again.
Motunrayo has been in the eye of the emotional storm, but survived against the odds. Like her pet, she had been sucked in, washed up and blown over. This is exactly what happens to a lot of lovebirds. One minute they are seated happily in familiar territory with a love song on their lips. Then out of the blues, something strange happens and you switch over to the rejection side of the emotional table.
Just while you are grappling with this diversion, more trouble creeps in and you just cannot fathom how it all began or where you are heading to. Like the pet, you get sucked into a season of doubts, doused with cold water of reality and then stung with the hot air of empty promises. It leaves you soliloquising and crying that this can’t be true. Somebody, tell me that it’s all a lie!
Great hearts should be like parachutes; they function only when they are open. Whatever happens, it was meant to be that way. No point blaming others for the situations that you find yourself in. The real battle is not with others, but with ourselves.
The crux of the matter here is that everyone goes through periods of uncertainty and it can affect their physical and emotional goals. It hurts when you see those who promised you heaven and earth, chicken out when they should have delivered the deal. As we pursue our emotional purpose, we must learn that what works for A may not necessarily work for B. The average mind is prone to distraction from the intended path. Lovebirds travel the road of emotions, hoping it would be blissful and filled with excitements.
A few metres ahead, they hit the bump, fall into valleys and what you have is different from the original dream. So how do you avoid the common emotional pitfalls? The truth of the matter is that the answer is not straight jacket.
However, the important thing is to treat those in your life with care. A good heart can be compared to windows letting light into a room, making the hearts that you cherish feel your warmth by your actions and words. Here, you make them see more of themselves in you and they would change some of the habits that you do not like.
Even when you get to that stage, you must not force it; let the decisions come naturally. Fretting about the things you have no control over is a bloody waste of emotional time. Instead, look at your potential, new opportunities, recoup lost emotional energy and rediscover yourself. This way you would become a better heart and the pain endured becomes a learning curve. What would be, would be.
This reminds you of the book, Love in the time Of Cholera. It is about Florentino Ariza who sees Fermina Daza through a villa window and falls in love. Love at first sight? Yes, it is. Though a man of modest means, Florentino’s skill as a poet awakens a similar passion within Fermina. The snag, however, was Fermina’s father, who disapproves of the affair and vows to keep the lovers apart. Well, he did this for a while. Fermina eventually marries an aristocratic doctor, and they moved to Paris. Florentino, however, still loves Fermina and patiently waits for a chance to be with her again.
Falling in love in the time of cholera obviously connotes some confusion; an environment that is unhealthy and if you are not careful the cholera epidemic may claim the life or lives of the lovebirds. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
Diarrhoea can be so severe that it leads within hours to severe dehydration and electorate imbalance. This may result in sunken eyes, cold skin, decreased skin elasticity, and wrinkling of the hands and feet. It is spread mostly by water and food that has been contaminated with human faeces containing the bacteria.
Even if it doesn’t claim lives, it is going to be tumultuous and a lot of strain would have to be contended with. Interestingly, the highpoint would be that at the end love may just conquer all.
The Nigerian presidential system of government is under siege. Just as the American government of President Donald Trump has been since his unexpected victory at the 2016 elections of the USA whose expensive presidential system we copied, albeit under military rule. The Nigerian political system siege is not only about politicians and leader ship and it is not necessarily because the 2019 election is around the corner. It is a siege of blackmail, self interest, political survival, relevance and that most dangerous and subjective of all issues, faith. It has become in recent times a real test of our collective faith in our politics, our political institutions and parties and is slowly but steadily taxing our faith in our unity and security as one people and one nation. It is sadly both a dangerous proposition and development. That is our food for thought today.
Let us start from the presidency in both Nigeria and the US . Then we will look at the polemics between the Nigerian Vice President and his fellow Christian leaders questioning his faith. Then we round up with the declared war between the Nigerian Inspector General of Police and the import of that for our security, rule of law and democracy. In this instance the Senate President has accused the IGP of planning a charge against him based on information he got from his state governor. That is an institutional clash between the law making senate and the security managing police force. It is a sure recipe for anarchy and insecurity if great care is not taken by the presidency of this nation.
By the time I am through you will realize that we face an erupting lava from a raging political volcano similar to the natural one currently threatening the citizens of Hawaii in the US and eating up their power lines and houses with molten mud and red hot smoldering lava of fire.
The first scenario came from a serious allegation this week against the Nigeria president that he is not doing enough to protect Nigerian Christians against Fulani herdsmen killing Christians in Benue State which is predominantly Christian. The president replied that he has Christians in his cabinet and he can not preside over the liquidation of Christians in Nigeria. Yet the facts are there that many Nigerians of Benue state stock have been killed by Fulani herdsmen in recent times. It is tempting to say the president is being blackmailed but the facts are there and are not helped by the fact that the president once noted wryly that if he had not gone to school he would have been like the Fulani herdsmen. Anyway he told the US president during his last visit that Fulani herdsmen carry only sticks and do not use rifles and guns as reported in the killings which again is debatable and controversial in the light of the situation on the ground in Nigeria.
Of course in the US, the US president has adapted very fast to the politics of blackmail he faces in his nation and has indeed carried the fight to his attackers and traducers. His main fight now is to defend the legitimacy of his election victory against the wide media notion that he was helped by the Russians. He is defending himself vigorously with a new communication weapon, twitter which he has adopted against governance convention and tradition. He had a problem with his Attorney General who recused himself from the Russian interference probe which is the greatest threat to the legitimacy of the Trump Administration. Another threat to his credibility is the evidence now surfacing that he paid a porn queen to keep quiet after having sex with her just after he married his wife who about then gave birth to his last son, a boy. So Trump is in a nasty fight for his political life and his opponents are not sparing any stone unturned to dent both his legitimacy and credibility. Not unexpectedly for a successful businessman familiar with litigation and business inquests he is holding his own and is not allowing his personal litigations on adultery and extra marital affairs, a taboo in US and UK politics, to overshadow his diplomatic success in protecting US trade interests, reducing unemployment to less than four per cent and the diplomatic success on the Korean Peninsular where he is scheduled to meet the N Korean leader for a historic denuclearization summit in Singapore on June 12. Like in R L Stevenson ‘s book ‘ Kidnapped’ , Trump, in facing and assailing his many political adversaries has lived up to the statement in that book that says – play me foul, and I play you tricky!
We now look at the case involving the Nigerian Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo and some Catholic leaders doubting his faith to his face, on account of the killing of Christians by Fulani herdsmen and the charge of Islamisation of Nigeria by the Buhari administration, thereby prompting him to say that he will vacate his position in a jiffy if it affects his faith. He made allusion to his distinguished career as a professor of the law of evidence before his conversion as a born again Christian. While not holding brief for him let state clearly and unambiguously that I have a soft spot for him as a person and as a leader in this nation. Most especially for the brilliant way he led this nation in the many absences of the ailing president.
Continued online www.staging.thenationonlineng.net
The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned its members, particularly aspirants jostling for tickets in the forthcoming local government election and their supporters, to desist from any conduct that can bring the party into disrepute or cause its leadership to lose focus.
The warning followed a protest rally at the Oke-Ado, Ibadan, state secretariat of the party by a group of persons believed to be APC members and supporters.
The protesters said they feared that there were plans to compromise the conduct of the party’s primaries for many aspirants eyeing chairmanship and councillorship seats in the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the May 12 poll.
In a statement on Monday by its spokesman Olawale Sadare, APC described the allegations of planned imposition of candidates as a figment of the imagination of the protesters and their sponsors.
The party urged the public to regard it as cheap blackmail to cause unnecessary tension in the land.
It said: “We are indeed embarrassed at the level which decorum was thrown into the air by this set of people, some of who we could identify as APC members in the state. Peaceful and purposeful protests are some of the essentials of democracy. But when cheap blackmail is involved, it becomes condemnable.
SIR: The ensuing scarcity for fuel on our country once more points to the fact that Nigeria is ever vulnerable to cheap, calculated blackmail. In most cases this trend is due to mercantilism personal interest and political vendetta.
The scarcity of fuel which is re-current decimal during festival seasons is a constant reminder that our country is divided along multiple causes. A nation that is the sixth exporter of petroleum crude with a large potential for domestic processing is so often blackmailed by selfish and vindictive people.
The marketers to whom the scarcity was traced has since recruited other persons and institutions of state to their ranks. Passing the ball from goal post to goal post the marketers and others are claiming innocent. In our environment this is understandable. This is a country where politicians exploit every soft sport to embarrass government and to inflict unnecessary punishment on the populace.
The marketers mischievously wait till festive periods to complain about price like in their delivery process, urging government as usual to increase pump price, this time to about N180 per litre. The marketers, their collaborators and handlers may be having their laugh now, but this laughter can’t last as the present social and economic dislocation will soon peter out.
One has to salute the Nigerian motorist, the ordinary market men and women who are made to suffer for sins they did not commit. The power struggle among the elite as usual has resulted in to a devastating effect on the populace. Then, shouldn’t we rise up by daring these saboteurs to continue? Is there no limit to which they can stretch their luck? The answer is obvious in the long run, right will be right.
Beside this momentary dislocation, the government should plan to process much of their petroleum requirement in this country. Government does not need to run refineries directly, but it can certainly encourage multi-nationals including the many billionaires in our midst to organize themselves to run refinery projects. Government might be scared up to a point since much capital project that were established in the past have become ghost, the essential of manufacturing and management having been subverted by greed or inefficiency.
The Ajaokuta Steel Complex, the few refineries in our country, the collaborative projects and many other capital projects in Nigeria bear testimony to government inefficiency, unwieldiness and petty stealing that are hallmarks of these investments. Yet we cannot afford to hands off, leaving our fate to the importation of these vital products. Apart from the much drain on our external reserves, Nigeria is constantly being derided by outsiders who are quick to write off this country as incompetent and visionless.
In my younger days in the Western Region, apart from annual budget, there use to be Time Frame Economic plans for three years, five years etc, during these long periods, the execution of capital projects which cannot be completed in a budget period could conveniently be executed in two or three plan periods constituting the time of periodic plans of five to six years. We should remember S.O. Adebo, Jerome Udoji, Maitama Sule and others who succeeded in large measure in running and stabilizing the government of the time.
Nigeria should cease being traumatized periodically by opportunists whose so aim is to achieve deep pockets.
Benue State has been in the storm since Governor Samuel Ortom assented to a bill by the state House of Assembly banning open grazing in the state. Titled: Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Bill, the law prohibits open grazing, provides protection for both farmers and breeders with stiff punishment against infraction.
Soon after the bill was signed into law, Ortom raised a serious alarm to the effect that a faction of the breeders association – Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore was about to launch armed attack against the people of the state in protest. He alleged they were already amassing at neighbouring states and Cameroon to attack the people of Benue.
The governor, vowing to implement the law to the letters said he had reported the matter to the president and awaiting the arrest of its masterminds. Ortom’s outcry came few days after the association addressed a press conference threatening to challenge the law in court claiming that Fulani people were the first settlers of the Benue Valley and as such original owners of the state.
But the group was quick to deny the allegation even as they have not hidden their opposition to the law on the grounds that it is discriminatory as it will deny them their means of livelihood. They have therefore called on the federal government, the international community and the National Assembly for intervention. They claim the law was implemented without consultation with herdsmen in the state; their members were not educated on modern methods of rearing cattle and sufficient time was not provided before the implementation of ranching.
But the state government disagreed contending that it consulted widely and held public hearing before the law was finally approved. Coming from the chief security officer of the state, the alarm by the governor must be taken very seriously. This is more so, as the governor has taken up the matter with the president. The fact that the planners of that onslaught have not made good their devious intention may have been as a result of the pre-emptive alarm. But that does not in any way, whittle down the prospects of the trademark murderous invasion of the herdsmen. It is therefore vital that urgent steps are taken by relevant agencies to diminish the capacity of the herdsmen for such attacks.
But even as the state is contending with the prospects of armed invasion, a report credited to one Garus Gololo, a member of the Miyetti Allah cattle breeders association, claimed that a Fulani herdsman, Mohammed Abdulkadire, committed suicide by jumping into the River Benue in the Logo Local Government area after he lost 200 of his cows to hunger and lack of water. He claimed that since the commencement of the anti-open grazing law, Fulani herdsmen had lost 600 cows due to poor feeding and inaccessibility to water.
According to him, Abdulkadire who had 22 children cried and jumped into the river out of frustration when he discovered that 200 out of his 500 flock had died where they were camped as he searched for means to relocate them.
Apparently sensing danger in the report, the state government was quick to react, describing it the height of falsehood in the series of organized blackmail and propaganda against it. It said contacts with the state police command and other security agencies produced no evidence either of the alleged suicide or loss of cows. The state government placed the burden of proof at the doorsteps of the man at the centre of the allegation.
Since the government denied any of such happened, the expectation was that Gololo would come public to substantiate his claim. He should have come public with Abdulkadire’s family members including some of his 22 children to show why he should be taken serious. But nothing of such has happened leaving us with the inescapable conclusion that the story was merely contrived to blackmail the anti-open grazing law.
But, it is a very dangerous allegation capable of inciting the herdsmen into the kind of invasion the governor complained of. Since the said Gololo is known to the authorities, he should since have been arrested for false information that could precipitate the breakdown of law and order. That he still moves around without the full weight of the law brought against him, is a discredit to the proficiency of law enforcement agencies.
It shows the base level people could degenerate all in an effort to discredit a law which has assumed popularity in the face of the mindless killings that trail the activities of the herdsmen. Before now, the Ekiti State government had implemented its version of the law and it has largely reduced confrontation associated with the itinerant activities of the herdsmen. Taraba State has also passed a similar law which its governor, Darius Isiaku said will take effect from January next year.
It is clear from the positions of these governments that nomadic cattle’s rearing is living on borrowed time. Not with the mindless killings and despoliation of communities, a regular feature of the activities of the herdsmen. It is true that the laws will, in the interim, impose some challenges on the herdsmen. It is equally no less correct that they are not accustomed to modern methods of animal husbandry. But that is not sufficient reason to continue with the old practice even when it has proved a great liability to peace, security of lives and property. So the fate of the herdsmen is their own making. They should take responsibility for compelling the state governments into these legislations to protect their citizens.
The rush to enact the anti-open grazing law was a desperate attempt to save their indigenes from the marauding activities of the herdsmen who move with sophisticated weapons in the open, attacking and maiming their hosts at the slightest incident of infraction or no provocation at all. In the face of all these, the federal government has at best, remained tepid in addressing the manifest threat to peace and security which the activities of the herdsmen have come to represent.
They operate with murderous ease and have been rated the world’s third most deadly group after ISIS and Boko Haram. Definitely no government worth its salt can afford to sit by while its people are moved down by those who have more regard for cows than human life. The anti-open grazing laws are a child of necessity. And that is where we are now.
Ortom said that Benue between 2012 and 2016 lost more than N95 billion worth of goods and property to the attacks by herdsmen in the state. This excludes thousands of men, women and children who were killed with some burnt alive during the clashes. Many other states have gory tales to relieve. Even states in the south have increasingly come under the gun fire of the herdsmen who operate with relative invincibility.
A former Inspector-General of the Police shocked the nation when he claimed that Fulani herdsmen responsible for the mindless killings were foreigners from neighbouring countries. He said the inability to rein them in was as a result of ECOWAS protocols that guaranteed free movement of people of member countries. And we seemed to have accepted the base rationalization. It is sad we swallowed line hook and sinker the convoluted excuse that the said protocol should be the basis to allow foreign criminals to make mince meat of our citizens.
It is this kind of warped excuse that has overtime, been exploited by the herdsmen – foreign and local –to levy war on innocent citizens. The fact that some of them are foreigners is the more reason they should be mercilessly dealt with. The resort to anti-open grazing laws indicates very vividly, general frustration and dissatisfaction with the activities of the herdsmen. Having stretched the patience of victims to its elastic limits, the law is simply saying we are done with that nonsense.
That is where the situation has now left us. It is important herdsmen cooperate with the law rather than seek unwholesome means to sabotage it. Open grazing has turned out an unmitigated liability to the society and can only continue at a great risk to peace and national security.
The Senate will continue ongoing investigation into the alleged N30 trillion revenue scam in the import and export chain, the Chairman its Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport said yesterday.
Committee Chairman Hope Uzodinma told reporters shortly after meeting with some of the affected companies on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the interest of the Senate in the investigation was to assist the government to recover monies trapped in the import and export chain.
”There are allegations that the investigation is borne out of personal interest.
”Once a Senate in a committee of the whole passes a resolution such as this it cannot be termed as the decision of a single senator.
”You may not like my face as a person but it is important to look at the credibility of the work we are doing.
”This is so that together we will succeed in making sure that the import export circle is sanitised, trade is facilitated and non-oil revenue is recovered and strengthened.
”In that manner, government will not rely so much on oil and with that whether crude oil is sold or not,” he said.
He further said that while some detractors had alleged that the investigation was a sham, some of the indicted companies had started refunding money running into billions of Naira to the Federal Government
”As a result of this investigation the banks which are the authorised dealers in the export and import chain have been making effort to remit everything collected by them to the Central Bank.
”We are doing this on a friendly note because we do not want to send a wrong signal to the market.
”Although more funds other than the N120bn I announced some time ago have been recovered but because we do not want to send the wrong signal we are limited to speak further on how much has been recovered so far.
”However, we will definitely come up with the figures recovered at the end of the investigation, ” he said.
Uzodinma explained that the committee was saving the figures till the end of the investigation because some of the companies were quoted on the Capital Market and would not want to send panic to the market.
He also explained that the committee resorted to interfacing with individual companies rather than meeting with them in group, adding that the strategy had yielded positive result.
He said” the companies are now free to admit and some of them have promised to make payments.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) has urged Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi to stop “blackmailing” the union over the purported forensic audit of the university.
Last week, the governor ordered the reopening of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education and pleaded with LAUTECH stakeholders to allow auditors to peruse the records of the institution.
He said this would pave the way for the reopening of the institution.
But yesterday, ASUU challenged the governor to show documentary and other evidences on how the union allegedly impeded the audit.
In a statement by its Chairman and Secretary, Drs Biodun Olaniran and Toyin Abegunrin, ASUU said it had nothing to do with the audit and could not impede the audit.
In the statement, titled: Auditing LAUTECH: ASUU Sets the Record Straight, the union asked the state government to stop what it called cheap blackmail and focus its attention on how LAUTECH could benefit from the Paris Club fund refund the Federal Government just released to the state.
LAUTECH’s ASUU described The Paris Club refund as a golden opportunity for the government to bail out the institution before it is swallowed by contractual commitment.
The statement said: “For the umpteenth time, let us reiterate the fact that ASUU has nothing to do with audit and, therefore, cannot stand in the way of the exercise. If the governor of Oyo State has any evidence to the contrary, we challenge him to come to the public domain and state what role ASUU has to play in the audit.
