The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Chibok girls

  • ‘Our Girls; IDPs; CBN; Power

    Our Chibok Girls were kidnapped on April 15, 2014, five years ago on Monday, and over 100 are still unaccounted for. Leah Sharibu, kidnapped on Feb 19, 2018, one plus years ago, in Dapchi was the only one held back after a mass release of over 100, excluding five who died.

    SECURITY: Both events are extreme terrorist murderous outings taken in proportional perspective to thousands killed and millions displaced with no names or places. Last week another 50 dead; murderers masquerading as Zamfara miners; stabbing of new doctor and kidnap of Lagos fire chief and suicide bombs females perhaps forced to kill JTF heroes compound the problems.

    Are we breeding humans for slaughter? The Presidency laments as ‘Operation Puff Adder’ kicks in. Why advertise? Perhaps to inform marauders to relocate before action is taken? The cycle of attack- mayhem-murder-kidnap- show of force visit- bold political statement of never again- withdrawal and another attack is familiar. And now the armed forces, usually reactionary, want more of our budget.

    Are checks and balances in place to ensure that multi-billion naira financial inflows, meant for armed forces service delivery across all defense services do not follow the pre-2015 path of being expropriated and buried in soak-aways, by armed forces top brass and the alleged purchase of jets and the stupendous wealth of many military children? Fear always wins where security is concerned. The armed forces will get their money but how much good will it do the suffering citizen and armed forces units in the fighting field or the Abuja-Kaduna Road requiring more accurate and faster intelligence, instant communication and quicker response time?

    Are there now checks and balances to prevent this profligacy during this government?  Across the spectrum, the ugly head of massive corruption has stained the process of delivery of democracy and distorted the outcomes in all segments from business, electricity, health, education, roads and even the care of IDPs.

    CBN: Stop discriminating against Nigerians!! The minor cut, not slash, in Monetary Policy Rate to 13.5% did not end the world. Cut more. Yes, give single digit loans to music, films and media, cocoa, palm oil etc. But those businesses will still die if the citizens are not empowered to buy their products. CBN still forces citizens to borrow at 30% including 14% MPR. Cut MPR and make single digit loans for every Nigerian citizen. Banks and oil companies are still reporting crazy profits.

    POWER: The nation remains severely underpowered in spite of powerful statements claiming we now have 8,000Mw but can only use 6,000Mws or so and that the problem is evacuation of created power. Well, fix it. That is your job. Who creates a product but does not take it to market, but still boasts about one’s failure?? Only government!!!

    Talk to the South Africans and especially the Japanese who got 10,000Mw of emergency power from emergency power companies [Google them] within three months during a shutdown of Fukushima power plant. South Africa has 51,309Mw for its 58 million population. UN recommends 1,000Mw for every one million citizens. The ministry should wake us up when it has achieved 150,000Mw for its approx. 150 million people. We are not 198 million-a fake fictional figure of politically manipulated grandiose delusions! First the beneficiaries of the power failures must be educated on the benefits of 24/7 grid power. Then get someone or the Chinese who put in 30,000Mw annually in China to extend and revamp our grid to 120,000Mw in four years.

    IDPs: This government wants $8b in loans and donations to rehabilitate/rebuild Nigeria’s IDPs. We must not only pray but we must work to ensure that that money, if realized, actually reaches the IDPs and does not disappear into the pockets of out of state, non IDP workers, contractors, building materials, accountants, bank accounts of  administrators – the very things that diluted the effects of other interventions in the past. Over-administration and excessive bureaucracy increase costs with no added benefit to improved results. This last one is particularly painful because this government should have prevented anything adverse happening to the IDPs. Have they not suffered and are they not suffering enough? Prevention of scandals -sexual and moral, fraud and funding are paramount responsibilities of the government.

    ELECTIONS:  Those thinking that the Buhari government has succeeded in the anti-corruption drive meet the harsh reality that the recent elections demonstrated huge expenditures of money [from where?] by all the major three or four parties- perhaps corruption fighting back but such expenditure was always cross-party for survival. This political financial flood including expenses for crazy mega-billboards, thugs-by-the-dozen, a billion posters and stomach-infrastructure gifts for millions of electorate effectively buying votes by foul or fair means but not for development suggests that political election corruption is alive and will be illegally recovered as ‘first line deductions with massive interest’ from the federal and state budgets. Losers will go the sympathetic states and get fake contracts to replenish their investment in the 2019 election- all crippling the ever-losing Nigerian citizen.

    Meanwhile the real winners of any election, corrupt or not, are the legal ‘luminaries’ lined up on either side of the political divide seeking changes in the results for various reasons and the victorious media houses drunk with the inflows of sacks of political cash for campaigns strategies and material like mega posters, flyers, etc. They have been laughing to the bank for many years-every four years, like clockwork.

     

  • Buhari’s exemplary punches on Boko Haram insurgency

    Public affairs analyst, John C. Maxwell,  once echoed that  “The best leaders are readers of people. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning how they feel and recognizing what they sense.” President Muhammadu Buhari is one such archetypal leader whose one unyielding obsession  was Boko Haram insurgency, when he  emerged as Nigeria’s democratic leader in 2015.
    President Buhari knew Nigeria was under suffocating siege by Boko Haram insurgency. It was apparent that if his national government hedges in firmly and squarely tackling and uprooting terrorism from the shores of Nigeria, it was as good as bidding farewell to the corporate existence of the nation. He knew Nigeria wanted to reclaim their country from terrorists; live in peace and security.
    And the problems were multiple.  He inherited a demoralized, unmotivated and poorly equipped military, led by an inept leadership. Soldiers in the trenches fighting Boko Haram were owed salaries and allowances. They operated more like unwilling horses.
    The shame of Nigeria manifested when Nigerian troops of the Nigerian  Army 213 battalion, Operation Task Force Mike and 234 battalion, shirked from the battlefront in Gwoza township as they approached the  Islamists militant Boko Haram from Madagali in 2014 in the Northeast.
    This expressed supremacy of Boko Haram insurgents, which seriously bruised the pride and dignity of the Nigerian nation-state was the signpost of the extent the terrorists had taken over Nigeria. The factsheet revealed that by May 2015 when President Buhari mounted the saddle as Nigeria’s leader, Boko Haram had effectively captured, controlled and administered 17 LGAs in the Northeast.  The insurgents also established partial control of another seven local government areas in the region.
    A greater number of the sensationally abducted Chibok schoolgirls by insurgents were still in captivity and generally, over 20, 000 Nigerians, comprising women and children were held hostage by the Islamic militants. Camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) dotted the landscapes of the Northeast, as thousands fled Nigeria to neighbouring countries.
    A United Nations (UN) report  estimated that over 2.4 million Nigerians were displaced by Boko Haram insurgency.  In a media interview in 2013, the then President Goodluck Jonathan said, Boko Haram insurgency has claimed the lives of over 13, 000 Nigerians.
    Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) became Boko Haram’s favourite striking point. They attacked the UN Building, security formations, shopping malls, motor parks and a dozen other places on a daily basis. Fear, pains, agonies, deaths and destructions in most parts of Northern Nigeria were the bitter pills insurgents forced Nigerians to swallow unmolested.
    President Buhari reviewed the scenario and understood the wisdom of a commentator, PeteHoekstra, who said, “Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.”  Buhari knew Nigerians needed his service in extricating them from the claws of lethal terrorism.
    Thus, President Buhari’s first official directive on his Inauguration day was that the Nigerian Military Command should relocate to Maiduguri from Abuja to battle  Boko Haram.
    Buhari stated in his speech that, “The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.”
    Next, President Buhari knew it was imperative to inject fresh blood into the military leadership in the country. And in July 2015, Nigeria had a new set of Service Chiefs   and Lt. Gen. T.Y. Buratai was appointed the Chief of Army Staff  (COAS) and leader of the counter-insurgency  operations in the country.
    And believing in the principle of John MacAthur who knows “A leader focuses on objectives, not obstacles,”  in  Gen. Buratai’s first verbal interface with Nigerians on the Boko Haram terrorism, he vowed to confront the insurgents fearlessly and decimate them by December 2015.
    The President now re-equipped the empty armory of the Nigerian military to adequately arm them for the ardous task and to conquer all obstacle on their path to corner victory. He also prioritized payment of salaries and allowances of Nigerian military, especially troops in the trenches.  It was a tonic that revived the dampened spirit of troops, who were in high spirits and went to extra miles in crushing insurgents.
    Therefore, President Buhari’s rejig of the Military’s top echelon was a major setback to the terrorists, who were persistently assailed   and defiantly by Nigerian troops on the battlefield. Gen. Buratai  migrated  the counter-insurgency war to the doorstep of the terrorists and begun to record streaks of victories for Nigeria.
    In essence, by December 2015, the administration of President Buhari had successfully subdued and decimated Boko Haram insurgency. By the turn of 2016, the Buhari President started reclaiming Nigerian territories seized and occupied by insurgents in the Northeast.  And December of the same year, Nigerian troops, invaded and captured the dreaded Sambisa forest, by penetrating its Camp Zero, the safe haven of Boko Haram’s factional leader, Abubakar Shekau and other top commanders.
    Looking back at yesterday, President Buhari’s imprints in battling insurgency in Nigeria in the past three years have posted rewarding and impressive results.  Over 16, 000 Nigerians under Boko Haram captivity have been rescued and reunited with their families and communities. Over 100 of the Chibok schoolgirls have been rescued and nearly all the Dapchi schoolgirls were expeditiously rescued from their captors.
    Majority of the IDPs camps in the Northeast have been dismantled, as thousands of IDPs, including those in the diaspora have returned to deserted communities and villages in secured environments.  Quite significantly, the Buhari Presidency has now confined the atrocities of Boko Haram to the fringes of Lake Chad Basin and far-flung areas of the Sambisa forest enclave.

    Read Also: ‘Naira will remain stable despite campaigns’

    The Buhari Presidency has not just stopped Boko Haram from capturing more territories, but no Nigerian territory is under Boko Haram occupation now. All the 17 LGAS have been retaken by Nigerian troops.  And all religious and traditional rulers dislodged or deposed by insurgents in the Northeast have been restored on their positions. Most cities in the Northeast, under the furnace of the Islamic militants like Maiduguri  and Damaturu  now bubbles with life, as  another sign of the restoration of normalcy.

    In the words of Peter Drucker,  “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”  So, President Buhari sauntered on Nigeria’s leadership pulpit and immediately grasped the enormity and severity of the menace of Boko Haram. He spoke less or, showcased his leadership through actions than words.
    Today, Boko Haram is an emaciated monster in the country, as their capacity to recklessly visit horrendous atrocities on Nigerians has been decapitated considerably. And President Buhari  is currently angling for the final defeat of Boko Haram insurgency with Nigerian troops  ongoing clearance operations in  the region.
    Nonetheless, the victory of Nigeria over Boko Haram has come with a great cost in human and material resources to the nation. To Nigerians who have paid the supreme price and still battling against insurgency, President Buhari consoles or encourages with the words of Steve Buyer thus; “For those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we are grateful that such men and women were among us. For those who continue to serve, we honor their commitment. For those who return to civilian life, we honor their service.”
    Okpabi, a researcher in Peace and Conflict Resolution wrote from the Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja.

     

  • President renews pledge on release of Chibok girls

    UNTIL the remaining Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in April 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists and others still being held by insurgents are released, our administration will not rest, President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.

    He renewed his commitment to the safe release of the captives on Monday in Katowice, Poland. It was at a bilateral meeting between him and Swiss President Alain Berset on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24.

    A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that the President had a busy day at the International Conference Centre in Katowice, where he made a remark at the opening of the 12-day meeting of COP24.

    Several world leaders are in Poland to attend the conference.

    The President thanked the Swiss Confederation for its efforts and important role as intermediaries to secure the release of some of the schoolgirls and assured his Swiss counterpart that the issue of the remaining kidnapped girls and other abducted persons would remain a “key priority” for his government.

    President Buhari and Besert discussed joint strategies to ensure the safe return of the girls, building on the past success of securing the release of some of the girls and other abducted persons in the Northeast.

    He also welcomed the Swiss President’s commitment to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria.

    “We will continue to make the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls a priority and will welcome any kind of support from any quarters to make this happen,” the President said.

    In separate bilateral meetings with the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda and the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, President Buhari commended the country for a successful outing at the opening of the COP24 meeting in Katowice.

    The President restated that “Nigeria is totally committed to global efforts to mitigate and adapt to effects of climate change.”

    At the meeting with Morawiecki, the President lauded the plan by the Polish  government to open a Trade Office in Lagos soon, promising that investors who look to Nigeria can be “guaranteed” of safe returns on their investments.

    “We have a vibrant and active young population and our government is doing so much on the Nigerian economy, including diversifying to non-oil sectors.

    ‘’We welcome increased cooperation with Poland and will encourage investments in other sectors of the economy like solid minerals and information technology.

    Morawiecki told President Buhari that traditionally, 96 per cent of oil imports to Poland come from Saudi Arabia and Russia, adding “but now we are looking at importing oil from Nigeria.”

    The prime minister noted that as the fastest-growing economy in the European Union, Poland had identified Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, as three top investment destinations in Africa.

    He said: “We want the hub of our investment destination to be in Nigeria,” as he welcomed President Buhari’s pledge to immediately put in place a framework to encourage more Polish investments in Nigeria.

    The President’s meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen, focused on the challenges of Lake Chad and what was required to recharge it.

    Read also: ‘PDP belittled Nigeria instead of building it’

    Noting that the Lake was facing two challenges of technology and financing, President Buhari told the Austrian leader that enormous financial resources and technology were required to transfer water to Lake Chad from the Congo Basin.

    Van der Bellen, who indicated his country’s interest to cooperate with Nigeria on recharging the Lake Chad, talked about climate change challenges in Austria, including drought, glaciers melting, among others.

    President Buhari also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and both leaders followed up on their past discussions, during their last meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, in July, which centred on trade, investments and partnerships in agriculture.

    The President welcomed the proposal by the Dutch Prime Minister to visit Abuja soon and promised that the Nigerian government would continue to provide an enabling environment for existing and prospective Dutch investors.

    On the sidelines of the COP24, President Buhari also met with Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas.

    The Prime Minister of the Northern European country sought Nigeria’s support on its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

    They  discussed bilateral cooperation and climate change mitigation.

  • Shettima to Jonathan: you lied on Chibok girls

    Even before it lands in book stores, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s book has sparked huge controversies.

    Some of the personalities mentioned in the book, which was presented on Tuesday as part of Dr. Jonathan’s 61st birthday ceremony, are disputing some facts in the work, My Transition Hours.

    The former president says the abduction of the Chibok girls was contrived to embarrass him and make him lose the 2015 election.

    Besides, Jonathan  writes, former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Attorney-General and Justice Minister Mohammed Adoke, former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka and former Senior Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs Waripamowei-Dudafa “were recomending sundry alternatives” before he concede defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Borno State Governor kashim Shettima, Adoke and Chidoka disagreed with the former President yesterday.

    Shettima told Jonathan on the Chibok abduction that his  probe panel’s report was missing in the book’s chapter four

    “In clever attempt to sweep under the carpet, incontrovertible facts surrounding the April 14, 2014 Chibok abduction,  former President Goodluck Jonathan has deliberately omitted in chapter four of his new book, an investigative report submitted to him in June 2014, by the presidential facts-finding committee he constituted in May, 2014, which was mandated to gather evidence-based facts and circumstances on the abduction,”   Shettima has said.

    The former president had indicated that the schoolgirls’ abduction was a product of conspiracy by the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), in connivance with Borno State government. He also accused the Borno government and then President Barack Obama’s administration in the United States of undermining efforts to rescue the Chibok girls in 2014.

    Shettima, in a statement released by his Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, said Jonathan never believed there was ever an abduction until rescue efforts were late, the “the former President’s elementary book of tales fell short of the courage required of him to publish findings by his own panel in chapter four of his book, he said.

    Gusau quoted the governor as saying: “The whole of Tuesday night, I took the pains of reading His Excellency, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s book, My Transition Hours, from the first to the 177th page. I took particular interest in chapter four (the Chibok school girls affair) which has 42 paragraphs written on pages 27 to 36. I was amused that despite  admitting in paragraph 15, that he had (in May 2014) constituted a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee under Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Sabo and many others “to investigate” the Chibok abduction, former President Jonathan refused to mention any part or whole of the findings by that panel which had submitted a highly-investigative report to him on Friday, June 20, 2014 after the panel held investigative meetings with the then chiefs of Defence Staff, Army Staff, Air Staff, the DG, DSS and IGP, met all security heads in Borno, visited Chibok, met with parents of abducted schoolgirls, met surviving students, interrogated officials of the school and the supervising Ministry of Education, interrogated officials of WAEC and analyzed all correspondences.

    “What has become very clear is that the former president decided to sit on facts in his custody while he published, in an elementary standard, a book of fiction designed to pass guilty verdicts on anyone but himself, with respect to the open failures of his administration to rescue our daughters and in tackling the Boko Haram challenges.”

    The governor declared that by refusing to publish any part of his own panel’s findings on the Chibok abduction, Jonathan’s book was nothing short of “a presidential tale by midday”.

    Read also: Jonathan: I was pressed to reject 2015 election result

    Shettima recalled that for  for the records, “on Tuesday, the 6th of May, 2014, President Jonathan had inaugurated multi-agency/stakeholder fact-finding panel under the chairmanship of Brig.-General Ibrahim Sabo (rtd), a one-time Director of Military Intelligence and also appointed a secretary from the Niger Delta. President Jonathan single handedly selected all members of that committee which included  his trustees amongst serving and retired security officers from the Army, DSS and Police; representatives of the UN and ECOWAS, representatives of the Chibok community, local and international civil rights organisations, representatives of the National Council on Women Societies, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, amongst other persons he trusted. For almost  two months, the probe panel undertook forensic assessment of all documents on the entire issues, held investigative meetings with parents of the schoolgirls during a visit to Chibok. The panel held separate one-on-one investigative meetings with myself, the then Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chiefs of Air and Naval Staff, met the then Director General of the DSS and the Inspector General of Police, all of whom were appointees of President Jonathan. The panel interrogated officials of Borno Government, including the Comof Education and the school principal. The panel also held investigative meetings with heads of all security agencies in Borno State, including security formations in charge of Chibok. At the end, the panel submitted its report directly to President Jonathan on Friday, the 20th of June, 2014 in Abuja. President Jonathan has refused to make public the findings submitted to him. I was expecting the findings in his book but he has deliberately swept that report under the carpet. However, I remember that on June 24, 2014, the ThisDay Newspaper claimed to have obtained a copy of the panel’s report and published as its lead, that painstaking findings by the Presidential panel had indicted the military under Jonathan’s watch and completely absolved the Borno State Government of any blame regarding the Chibok abduction. The newspaper went further to say that the panel actually commended efforts of the Borno State Government in its commitment to the fight against Boko Haram as testified by heads of security establishments,” the statement from Gusau said.

    Shettima also said it was clear to him after reading the former president’s book that he still lives with poor understanding of issues under his presidency. The Governor cited that, for instance, Jonathan’s claim on page 31 that Boko Haram wanted a Muslim President rather than him as Christian was laughable since the insurgents actually began their deadliest attacks in Borno under the regime of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a Moslem from northern Nigeria.

    “We know for a fact that as vicious cycle of evil, Boko Haram fighters do not care about the religion of their targeted victims.  They attack mosques and churches. They are lunatics who regard anyone who doesn’t share their ideology as an infidel. So, I wonder how the former President didn’t take time to understand the biggest challenge under his presidency,” Shettima said.

    The governor advised Jonathan to write another book on account of his presidency which should contain “the facts as have been presented to him, regarding the Chibok abduction rather than the fiction” he made public on Tuesday.

  • Our Girls; Lottery lunacy; Plastic-recycle

    Our Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 15, 2014 and Chibok was attacked again last week leaving eight dead. What heinous effrontery and where was the army? Inexplicably our Dapchi girl-child, 15, Leah Sharibu is not released.  The killing of the traditional monarch, Agom Adara, kidnapped on the Kaduna highway after several security officials were killed must be seen in the same vein as the Khashoggi murder – another horrendous crime whether in or outside a diplomatic mission. Now General Alkali’s first grave has been found, but his body had been moved. DSS personnel killed in Cross River! Death everywhere and no remorse and respite. There can be no restitution. No one can bring back the dead! And now six people including four nuns are kidnapped in Delta State. Once again we are praying.  The rape and murder of a 13 year old girl by the guardian and his son is another heinous crime.  No one is safe.

    I watched the amazing youth performing as mathematical whiz kids on Cowbellpedia. Inspirational girls and boys. Congratulations to Cowbell and former MD, Keith Richards and other companies supporting different subjects.

    Meanwhile the stupid world lottery formula is a mathematical disgrace to the human race, making no moral, economic, social or mathematical sense. Research among past winners has shown that large winnings have destabilised families, emotionally and mentally, with serious results including murder. Collective human madness has raised its irresponsible head in stupendous idiocy with the new rollover weekly jackpot of $1,600,000,000 or N576,000,000,000 or N576b. The obscene prize has been won by a rural American and is 20% of the state’s annual budget. Ridiculous.  Contrast that with the famine in Yemen and the 60% poverty in Nigeria, the IDPs and the drowning migrants. Is the local Nigerian lottery system any better? The problem with today’s lotteries is that numbers are picked at random from an infinite combination. The old lottery system was to pick from only the sold numbers. Lottery with no rollover should be used especially where the poor are many. Nowadays with computers, each number can be logged in at point of sale.  Just like the banks which use automated but random selection system from a data base of existing customers.  This LOTTERY LUNACY MUST STOP because the winnings could have been better divided into 16, 000 prizes of $100,000 or 8,000 prizes of $200,0000 or 1,600 prizes of $1m.

    The Americans have, with a fingerprint, allegedly caught the bomber linked to bomb sending to 14 high democrats and he is in jail. Meanwhile back home in Nigeria, we ask ‘wetin be ‘’fingafrint’’ abi fingerprint?’ For your information there are five or six countrywide Nigerian databases, the best of which is the SIM Card database, that are yet to be cross-linked for security  benefits to families, and society. And please remember that the man aka Evans, whose name is associated with serial kidnappings, is playing maximally to the public gallery hoping it will be exhausted by repeated delays. Now Evans seeks relief claiming that his statement was made under duress. I am sure those who were kidnapped and accusing him of being the ring leader will also claim they suffered extreme duress and forced to pay under duress, abi no be so?

    We all remember there is at least one eyewitness who identified him and his gang and there is telephone evidence. So what has confession got to do with the ‘open and closed’ case? Let him be tried in just one solid kidnap case and if found guilty he can be jailed for life especially if a security agent was killed. Then, if convicted, while in jail he can attend trial on cases more difficult to prove. We must never discountenance the horrendous terrorisation of victims and their families.

    Educate Nigerians about plastic and urgently introduce an environment curriculum review for inclusion of modern environmental information in education institutions from the 2018/2019 session. You, the reader, have a personal role to educate your family, workforce, community and commercial contacts including your market users. Note that 200 billion cubic metres of ice are melting in the Antarctic even as the world reels in floods, forest fires and even city fires and droughts. We must join the outrage against ‘The Deadly Worldwide Plastic Epidemic’ even as the 7.6 billion citizens fill our waste systems with plastic which fills the stomachs of fish and animal life, on land, sea and air and enters the food chain as invisible plastic micro-plastic pellets entering fish during feeding and is fed to humans, cows and chicken. Global plastic use stands at approximately 8-9billion tonnes produced approximately six billion tonnes waste. You have a role not to pollute the water and farmlands with waste plastic. Others will not save your world. You spread the word. You reduce your plastic use in cups and straws and spoons and bottles. You recycle plastic items many times. You use bigger dispenser containers for water storage and fill one reusable container, flask or plastic bottle, from it many times. Since last year, instead of wasting 12 bottles each 1.5litres/day x 200 working days or 2,400bottles /year for staff at work, we use zero bottles by using a recyclable and replaceable 20litre water dispenser and everyone brings a flask, so many different colours. And stop chewing gum because it is plastic.

     

    • Uncover ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019 -SDG 16.     

  • ‘Release Leah Sharibu, Chibok girls’

    A Christian Civil Society Organisation, Catalyst for Global Peace and Social Justice Initiative (CPJ), in conjunction with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), is seeking the release of Leah Sharibu and the remaining 112 Chibok girls from Boko Haram captivity.

    The group made its plea  at a prayer session for Leah Sharibu and the girls at the National Christian Centre in Abuja yesterday.

    It lamented threats by the insurgents to kill Leah Sharibu and two others in their custody.

    CPJ condemned the non-release of the remaining Chibok girls, as well as the inability of security agencies to arrest activities of kidnappers, ritualists, and insurgents.

    The Convener, Pastor Abraham Aiyedogbon, slammed abductions by Boko Haram insurgents, referring to them as “a show of gutless brutality by a group with a false claim to Islamic principles and endowed with criminal access to weapons of cruelty and mass murder”.

    He called on the Federal Government to ensure Leah Sharibu’s release before the threat deadline to avoid a repeat of Suifura Khorsa’s situation.

    “It is bad enough that following the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls in 2014, the Buhari administration would allow a recurrence of that incident with the February 2018 kidnapping of Dapchi girls.

    “It is much worse that Leah was held back by her abductors on account of her heroic refusal to renounce her Christian faith when government negotiated the release of the Dapchi girls.

    “It is inexcusable that some eight months after her abduction, the Federal Government has not been able to secure Leah Sharibu’s release.”

  • Christian leaders demand release of Leah Sharibu, Chibok girls

    A Christian civil society organization, Catalyst for Global Peace and Social Justice Initiative, CPJ, in conjunction with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has demanded for the release of Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl who, for over seven months, has remained in Boko Haram captivity along with the remaining 112 Chibok girls.

    The group made this plea at a prayer session held for Leah and the abducted girls which took place at the National Christian Center in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Read Also:Anglican primate to FG: Don’t forget other Chibok Girls, Leah Sharibu

    The group expressed its displeasure at the threat by the Boko Haram terrorists to kill Leah Sharibu and two others in their custody, non-release of the remaining Chibok girls, as well as the inability of security agencies to arrest the activities of kidnappers, ritualists, and insurgents.

    The Convener, CPJ Global, Pastor Abraham Aiyedogbon, condemned the abductions by Boko Haram, referring to it as “a show of gutless brutality by a group with a false claim to Islamic principles and endowed with criminal access to weapons of cruelty and mass murder.”

    He called on the federal government to use all its power to ensure the immediate release of Leah Sharibu before the threat deadline approaches to avoid the same situation that happened when Boko Haram murdered Suifura Khorsa, the Red Cross health worker.

    “It is bad enough that following the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls in 2014 during Jonathan’s administration, the Buhari administration would allow a recurrence of that incident with the February 2018 kidnapping of Dapchi girls,” he stated.

    “It is much worse that Leah was held back by her abductors on account of her heroic refusal to renounce her Christian faith when government negotiated the release of the Dapchi girls.

    “It is inexcusable that some eight months after her abduction, the Federal Government has not been able to secure Leah Sharibu’s release.”

    He also called on security agencies to bring kidnappers, ritualists, and terrorists to book, and adjured the FG to ensure that the 2019 elections remain credible, free, and fair.

    The General Overseer of the All Christians Fellowship Mission (ACFM), Rev. William Okoye, who represented the President of CAN, Olasupo Ayokunle, commended the initiative made by the groups to hasten the release of the girls and health workers in captivity and urged the federal government to harken to the cries of Christians.

    He made it clear that as long as the girls remain in captivity, the Independence Day celebrations and the 2019 elections are all in vain.

  • Okoh to Fed Govt: don’t forget Chibok girls, Leah Sharibu

    The Primate of The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Reverend Nicholas Okoh, has urged the Federal Government not to forget Miss Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok schoolgirls who are still in Boko Haram captivity.

    The cleric expressed worry about the dwindling attention and less mentions to the captured girls, saying there is need for the government to make more efforts to rescue the schoolgirls.

    He noted that the inability to do this would mark a black spot in the history of the administration.

    Okoh made the remarks in his opening address to the standing committee of the church at St. Peter’s Cathedral Church in Minna, the Niger State capital.

    The primate regretted that the Boko Haram sect was becoming more daring and desperate as if it had sworn to destroy Nigeria unless their interest and that of their sponsors are met.

    He urged the government to take its stand against them and the rising menace of killer herdsmen.

    Okoh said: “No sacrifice is too much to get these girls released. In the interest of democracy, freedom of religion and national cohesion, sufficient effort should be made to bring their ordeal and that of their parents and families to an end.”

    On next year’s elections, the cleric urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain an unbiased umpire.

    He added: “Whatever disenfranchises any Nigerian should not come from INEC and should be avoided at all.”

    The cleric also urged politicians to make reasonable promises that can be met.

    He said: “Nigerians are still yearning for dividends of democracy, as promised Nigerians. Therefore, new promises should be weighed against the background of available resources to ensure delivery.”

    Okoh noted that the “Not too Young to Run Bill”, which was heralded with so much zeal would not solve Nigeria’s problems.

    According to him, the nation’s brand of politics has over the years not been run by ideas and ideals but by personality and money.

    He advised the Church to preserve the nation from moral corruption and work against injustice, corruption, oppression, marginalisation, lies, selfishness, greed and dishonesty in the society.

    The cleric noted that if such vices were allowed within the church, practised and promoted by Christians, the church would be living below expectation.

    Okoh said: “The practice of receiving so much money from public funds for little or nothing and living flamboyant lifestyle at the expense of the poor masses cannot continue if we must develop as a nation. The citizens must be made to know that hard work pays and that they need to imbibe the culture of happily living within their means.”

    Over 163 bishops, 122 clerics and 79 delegates from across the country are attending the standing committee.

  • ‘World must not forget Chibok, Dapchi girls’ parents’

    Former President of Mauritius, Prof. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, on Thursday urged the world not to forget the parents of the yet to be released Chibok and Dapchi girls.

    Gurib-Fakim told our reporter in Lagos that she had a meeting with some parents of the yet to be released Chibok and Dapchi girls’ to share their experience and pains.

    The closed door meeting which was held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, was convened by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), Mrs Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode.

    No fewer than 10 parents of the yet to be released girls were at the meeting which started at about 7.15 p.m on Wednesday.

    Recall that 105 of the 110 girls abducted by members of the outlawed Boko Haram group from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in Yobe State on Feb. 19 have been released.

    Also, of the 276 girls abducted by members of the same group from the Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State on April 14, 2014, the government has been able to secure the release of many, but more than 100 are still missing.

    The mothers of the missing girls still remain expectant of the return of their girls.

    ”It was a real touching moment to be speaking with these mothers.

    ”The message I want to send to the world is that the world must not forget them.

    “They are suffering, they have lost relatives — some of them are in captivity and I’m sure they will get them back.

    ”So, let us all work together and help these girls come home safely to their families and be reunited with them once and for all.

    ”I have really enjoyed talking with them and If I can do something to take away their sufferings, I will do it, ” she said.

  • ‘Chibok girls not coming back’

    The remaining missing Chibok girls are not coming back, a top Boko Haram commander has told the Police.

    The revelation came after the police arrested eight Boko Haram suspects, including a top commander of the terror group.

    A police spokesman told CNN that the men confessed to their involvement in the kidnapping of more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.

    One of the men, 23-year-old Mayinta Modu, told the police that the remaining schoolgirls had been married to Boko Haram commanders and were not willing to come back.

    “They said many of the girls have accepted the Boko Haram doctrine and don’t see any reason to leave their husbands. It’s only those that were desperate to come back that were released in that swap deal,” Deputy Police Commissioner Abba Kyari told CNN.

    Modu also told the police during interrogations that he was one of the Boko Haram commanders who “coordinated and led” the notorious kidnapping.

    “They confessed that they were part of the group that kidnapped the Chibok girls. One of them, a commander, said over 100 members of the militant group took part in that abduction,”Kyari added.

    The men also confessed to organising suicide bomb attacks in the region.

    Police said the men were among 22 suspected Boko Haram members who were arrested following investigations.

    Two men have also been jailed for 15 and 20 years this year for their involvement in the kidnapping of the 276 schoolgirls from their boarding school in Chibok, northeast Nigeria.

    The kidnapping of the girls aged between 16 and 18 in April 2014 sparked global outrage.

    Eighty-two of the schoolgirls were released in a swap between the Nigerian government and the militant group last year.

    But more than 100 of them remain in captivity, with their whereabouts unknown.