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Tag: Coalition

  • Coalition against genital mutilation

    Coalition against genital mutilation

    UNICEF and an NGO are leading a campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM). They are seeking stiffer penalties for offenders, OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE reports

    The United Nations Chil-dren’s Fund (UNICEF) and a non-governmental organisation, Inter-African Committee on Female Genital Mutilation have called for the end of female genital mutilation or FGM.

    The age-old practice is said to be prevalent in Ebonyi and other Southeast and Southsouth states.

    UNICEF and the NGO also wooed the media to help in speeding up the end of what has been described as a scourge.

    Both organisations addressed journalists at a workshop co-sponsored by Federal Ministry of Information in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    The theme of the workshop was “Female genital mutilation/cutting abandonment in Nigeria”.

    National President of the NGO, Prof Modupe Onadeko expressed shock that every year three million girls and women undergo the painful and life-threatening crude operation.

    Onadeko, a retired professor of Medicine, said that Ebonyi, Imo, Osun, Nasarawa, among other states in the country have high prevalence rate and called for the total abandonment of the practice.

    She stated that apart from the pain the girls and women go through during mutilation other dangers associated with the Female Genital Mutilation includes, risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, urinary tract infections, fracture and death and called for the support of faith-based organisations in the campaign to end it.

    Prof Onadeko debunked insinuations and traditional beliefs that uncircumcised girls are usually promiscuous and do not get married. She also condemned the use of the finger by mothers and mothers-in-law especially in Ebonyi and Imo states in pricking, piercing or cutting the clitoris, adding that such practices amount to circumcision.

    Prof Onadeko urged the state governments to domesticate the law prohibiting female genital mutilation and rights of newborns and women, adding that there should be stiffer penalties for offenders.

    She said the various types of female gentile mutilation or circumcision account for the increasing number of prostitutes and mortality of women during child delivery.

    Onadeko, a retired professor of medicine from University of Ibadan said that research had revealed that 95 percent of prostitutes in Nigeria had their female organs mutilated by circumcisers.

    “No Anastasia, no analgesics, some could bleed to death. Their belief is that if the clitoris is allowed to grow it could grow longer than the male organ, and then there would be two masters in one boat. They also believe that cutting the woman would drive away evil spirit from the girl child or woman. Some say it is to make her not to be promiscuous, so would remain a virgin for the husband or her would-be husband. Any of them who failed to do it is mutilated in the seventh month of pregnancy”.

    She explained that any cutting of the female genitalia is harmful, and violation of her rights, and called for implementation of any existing laws against the practice while the state that had not enacted such laws should do so.

    Onadeko said that the prevalence of the mutilation is more in Osun state with 77% prevalence, followed by Ebonyi state 74 %, Ekiti 72%, Imo 68%,  and Oyo 42%.

    She noted that the worst of the mutilation is the infibulations type where the girl-child or woman has her genitalia stitched up leaving  only a small hole for her urination and menstruation.

    The professor explained that the cutting accounts for the series of protracted labor and ultimate complications in child delivery including VVF, and had in many cases resulted to deaths.

    “There is no need for cutting any parts of the body of any person except for medical reasons. In the cases of these mutilations they are done in respect or obedience to culture and traditions. In some cases these children are held down by able bodied men or women for them to be cut, their bodies/face are cut with unhygienic implements to give marks so that no other family can claim them.”

    The medical expert said that leaving the female organ as created does not make her promiscuous rather makes for pleasurable marriage and normal child delivery.

    Many other experts drawn from various disciplines delivered talks at the workshop.

    In an opening remark, the Chief of Communication UNICEF Nigeria, Doune Porter said the agency decided to put up the programme to partner the media in combating the act and commended the Wife of the President for the proposed flag off of the campaign against FGM/C scheduled to hold in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The Chief of Communication said that the agency has recorded greater success in the advocacy pointing out that the agency would not relent until the country records total abandonment of the practice.

    Porter further said that some practitioners in Ile Ife, Osun State have abandoned the act and joined in the advocacy and called other practitioners in areas where there is prevalent cases to abandon the

    practice and join in the advocacy.

    She also commended the Federal Ministry of Information and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA for collaborating with the agency in the media dialogue.

    Journalists across the Southeast, Southsouth and Abuja participated in the dialogue and resolved to champion the campaign in their different state.

  • Coalition against crime in Enyimba City

    Coalition against crime in Enyimba City

    As violent criminals return to Aba and other Abia State communities, some security organisations have devised strategies to ward them off, including daily joint patrols. SUNNY NWANKWO reports

    The resurgence of violent crime in Abia State hurts but there is good news, too. There is a well-thought-out counterforce against the criminals. Every day, a security team comprising the police, Civil Defence, the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Prisons, Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS), among others, patrols Aba, the state’s commercial nerve, and other communities to deter the outlaws. It was said that the joint patrol, code-named “Operation Show of Force”, will continue until the battle is won against the criminals who terrorise residents and scare off visitors.

    Security sources said the essence of the daily patrol is to ensure that security around the commercial city is tight enough to keep criminal elements at bay.

    They said the exercise will be demanding but the safety of Aba residents and their properties cannot be compromised.

    A source in the Aba police command further disclosed that beyond the daily joint operation,  plainclothes personnel gather intelligence which would be processed and worked upon in order to disarm hoodlums planning any sort of atack in the state.

    The source also urged Aba residents to be courageous enough to give police and other sister agencies information over the activities of hoodlums in their streets, communities and business areas.

    The source assured that the security team was fully equipped and determined to make Aba peaceful and friendly for business operations to thrive.

    Some Aba residents have hailed the steps taken by the state police command and other  agencies to tackle the resurgence of crime in Enyimba City and some other towns in the state.

    They recalled that insecurity of lives and property became worse in Aba especially after the conduct of 2015 general elections, even as they accused politicians of being the brain behind the high level of arm circulation in the city.

    “Many of the politicians, we learnt, brought back some  of the bad boys that had left the city during the 2011-2012 heat on them because they want to win election. They bought guns and other dangerous weapons for them. But with the elections over and having spent all the monies that they were given and without any source of income, the boys are now using the guns and those dangerous weapons which the desperate politicians gave them to terrorise and steal from us.

    “If police and other security agencies failed to recover such weapons from these hoodlums and improve on their response time to distress calls, I bet you, crime will continue to be on the increase in not only in Aba, but other parts of the state,” a respondent who gave his name as Chinedu, said.

     

  • Coalition against genital mutilation

    Coalition against genital mutilation

    UNICEF and an NGO are leading a campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM). They are seeking stiffer penalties for offenders, OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE reports

    The United Nations Chil-dren’s Fund (UNICEF) and a non-governmental organisation, Inter-African Committee on Female Genital Mutilation have called for the end of female genital mutilation or FGM.

    The age-old practice is said to be prevalent in Ebonyi and other Southeast and Southsouth states.

    UNICEF and the NGO also wooed the media to help in speeding up the end of what has been described as a scourge.

    Both organisations addressed journalists at a workshop co-sponsored by Federal Ministry of Information in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    The theme of the workshop was “Female genital mutilation/cutting abandonment in Nigeria”.

    National President of the NGO, Prof Modupe Onadeko expressed shock that every year three million girls and women undergo the painful and life-threatening crude operation.

    Onadeko, a retired professor of Medicine, said that Ebonyi, Imo, Osun, Nasarawa, among other states in the country have high prevalence rate and called for the total abandonment of the practice.

    She stated that apart from the pain the girls and women go through during mutilation other dangers associated with the Female Genital Mutilation includes, risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, urinary tract infections, fracture and death and called for the support of faith-based organisations in the campaign to end it.

    Prof Onadeko debunked insinuations and traditional beliefs that uncircumcised girls are usually promiscuous and do not get married. She also condemned the use of the finger by mothers and mothers-in-law especially in Ebonyi and Imo states in pricking, piercing or cutting the clitoris, adding that such practices amount to circumcision.

    Prof Onadeko urged the state governments to domesticate the law prohibiting female genital mutilation and rights of newborns and women, adding that there should be stiffer penalties for offenders.

    She said the various types of female gentile mutilation or circumcision account for the increasing number of prostitutes and mortality of women during child delivery.

    Onadeko, a retired professor of medicine from University of Ibadan said that research had revealed that 95 percent of prostitutes in Nigeria had their female organs mutilated by circumcisers.

    “No Anastasia, no analgesics, some could bleed to death. Their belief is that if the clitoris is allowed to grow it could grow longer than the male organ, and then there would be two masters in one boat. They also believe that cutting the woman would drive away evil spirit from the girl child or woman. Some say it is to make her not to be promiscuous, so would remain a virgin for the husband or her would-be husband. Any of them who failed to do it is mutilated in the seventh month of pregnancy”.

    She explained that any cutting of the female genitalia is harmful, and violation of her rights, and called for implementation of any existing laws against the practice while the state that had not enacted such laws should do so.

    Onadeko said that the prevalence of the mutilation is more in Osun state with 77% prevalence, followed by Ebonyi state 74 %, Ekiti 72%, Imo 68%,  and Oyo 42%.

    She noted that the worst of the mutilation is the infibulations type where the girl-child or woman has her genitalia stitched up leaving  only a small hole for her urination and menstruation.

    The professor explained that the cutting accounts for the series of protracted labor and ultimate complications in child delivery including VVF, and had in many cases resulted to deaths.

    “There is no need for cutting any parts of the body of any person except for medical reasons. In the cases of these mutilations they are done in respect or obedience to culture and traditions. In some cases these children are held down by able bodied men or women for them to be cut, their bodies/face are cut with unhygienic implements to give marks so that no other family can claim them.”

    The medical expert said that leaving the female organ as created does not make her promiscuous rather makes for pleasurable marriage and normal child delivery.

    Many other experts drawn from various disciplines delivered talks at the workshop.

    In an opening remark, the Chief of Communication UNICEF Nigeria, Doune Porter said the agency decided to put up the programme to partner the media in combating the act and commended the Wife of the President for the proposed flag off of the campaign against FGM/C scheduled to hold in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The Chief of Communication said that the agency has recorded greater success in the advocacy pointing out that the agency would not relent until the country records total abandonment of the practice.

    Porter further said that some practitioners in Ile Ife, Osun State have abandoned the act and joined in the advocacy and called other practitioners in areas where there is prevalent cases to abandon the

    practice and join in the advocacy.

    She also commended the Federal Ministry of Information and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA for collaborating with the agency in the media dialogue.

    Journalists across the Southeast, Southsouth and Abuja participated in the dialogue and resolved to champion the campaign in their different state.

  • Coalition hails FMBN chief Kumo

    The Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations for Change has hailed the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Gimba Yau Kumo, for his “laudable achievements”.

    The coalition, which comprises students, artisans, traders and the civil society, in a communiqué by its President, Wole Badmus, at the end of its roundtable at the weekend, said Kumo deserved accolades for revamping housing financing.

    The communiqué reads: “The FMBN revamped corporate governance and risk management structure in line with international best practices; improved housing delivery through Ministerial Pilot Housing Scheme in conjunction with the parent Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development using the public-private partnership model and improved lending for estate development and mortgage financing for affordable home ownership in the country.

    “The products portfolio of the apex mortgage bank was also boosted to include services to the non-salaried/informal sector which accounts for about 85 per cent of the working population. The builders’ bank also under his stewardship focuses on cooperative societies and trade unions. The bank’s latest products include the Nigeria Diaspora Mortgage Scheme that provides opportunities for Nigerians abroad to acquire houses in the country.”

  • Coalition petitions President over plans to discredit NOUN VC

    Coalition petitions President over plans to discredit NOUN VC

    A coalition of 13 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari on what they called the activities of some sponsored Nigerians who are bent on discrediting the Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Vincent Tenebe and his management team.

    Speaking under the aegis of Civil Society Organization for Social Justice, Fairness, and Transparency (CESJET) in Abuja yesterday, its Executive Secretary, Torkuma Asongo, said efforts are on-going to arrest those behind the ugly incident.

    Asongo said more worrisome to the group is the emergence of a group under the auspices of NOUN Congress of Staff and Students making  moves to extort, blackmail and intimidate the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Vincent  Tenebe and his management team into succumbing to funding  union activities where these elements would be able to steal under the guise of unionization.

    Asongo said: “We have discovered that many universities Vice Chancellors who are afraid of having their reputation being tarnished have fallen prey to these unscrupulous elements.

    “Since some professors are afraid of fighting back, it is imperative that we exhibit some amount of social justice, decorum and morality in our engagements with public servants as not to bring the structure of corporate governance into disrepute before the rest of the world.

    “There is also the need for the President to come to their rescue before overzealous citizens take advantage of the war against corruption to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians under the cover of anti-corruption crusade within his regime,” he said.

    Asongo said the coalition after careful verification discovered that the several petitions against Professor Vincent Tenebe and the management team of NOUN have ulterior motives.

     

    “We suspect that the petitions are part of efforts to overwhelm the anti-corruption efforts with frivolities that will increase the workload of the statutory agencies and derail their focus.

    “We  appeal to President Buhari to not only disregard the distractions of such frivolous petitioners but to also cause the relevant agencies to expose those abusing the nation’s scarce resources by sending anti-corruption bodies on wild goose chase.

    “Our belief is that a timely intervention along this line will discourage those who want to distract or mislead the anti-corruption fight in the education sector and other sectors of our national lives”.

  • Coalition against decadence in Anambra

    Coalition against decadence in Anambra

    The Army, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and a non-governmental organisation, among others, lead a campaign to scale back the slide in values, reports NWANOSIKE ONU

    Everyone appears to hate moral decadence but in Anambra State, aversion to declining values is not enough. The Army, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and a non-governmental organisation, Chaplain Corps Policing Explorers (CHAPOL) are fighting the monster which is threatening everything from the home to schools, offices and governance.

    The onslaught looked formidable at the Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre in Awka, the state capital, where CHAPOL and the Post Primary Schools Service Commission (PPSSC) organised a forum to tackle loss of values.

    The turn-up was huge, with five pupils representing each of the 256 secondary schools in the state. Teachers listened attentively as the various speakers made their presentations.

    It was the third annual conference on moral values for students from government secondary schools in the state organised by CHAPOL and PPSSC. The aim is to tackle moral decadence and help rebuild what seems to be a broken society where merit and integrity have taken the back seat and cult groups threaten to shut down schools.

    The exercise was first organised on July 27, 2012 with 12 pilot schools spread across the six education zones in the state, namely; Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Aguata, Ogidi and Otuocha.

    The state commandant of CHAPOL, Joseph Ekwunife told The Nation that the reason for such initiative was to reduce moral decadence that had eaten deep in schools in the state.

    The state commissioner for Education, Prof Kate Omenugha, Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to Governor Willie Obiano on secondary school education, Dr. Paul Ifeanyi attended the conference.

    Others who attended included members of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the military and state commandants of CHAPOL from Imo, Rivers, Cross River, Awka-Ibom, Delta states.

    Wife of Anambra State governor, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano was represented by Lady Ify Atuogu, Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Southeast, Prof David Ebelechukwu.

    In his lecture entitled ‘How Do I Overcome Moral Decadence’, Capt. Saheed Shittu, officer in-charge of 302 Military Cantonment, Onitsha, said the only way moral decadence could be checked is desisting from promoting bad life in the society.

    He said it is unfortunate that secondary schools where the children are supposed to learn good behaviours, have become a breeding ground for all sorts of vices including cultism.

    Shittu noted that there are 46 secret cult groups in the country’s schools, adding that another way of curbing moral decadence in schools is for government to equip schools adequately.

    However, he equally advocated that a dress code should be introduced in higher institutions in the country to curtail some of the excesses of students.

    He added that negative movies, indiscriminate copying of European cultures by the students have not helped matters either.

    Governor Obiano’s Senior Special Adviser on Secondary Schools, Dr. Paul Ifeanyi said a state of emergency should be declared on moral decadence in the country.

    “The society is bedeviled with social, political and religious crimes because of moral decadence, corruption has become the order of the day, children are now walking naked along the streets in the name of fashion.”

    Ifeanyi also had some strong words for some parents especially some mothers who, according to him, have failed to lead by example.

    He added that that some of these parents use such loose words as ‘sexy’ to describe the skimpy dresses their daughters wear.

    He said that the major thing to curb the menace in schools is for re-orientation to take place.

    The chairman of the occasion, Bishop Emma Obiorah of Life of Faith Gospel Assembly, called for the parents to take full responsibility of their children’s moral development by talking to them about the evil consequences of immorality.

    “Our teachers, please let’s go beyond academic exercise and salary, let our teachers be fully concerned about the behaviour and character of the students because the work of a teacher is to develop his or her students academically and in character.”

    “For our government and agencies, let us devise a more practical means and system that will have direct influence on the moral vanity and values of our children in schools.”

    “Let the governments know that the future of our society is in danger if our young people are bedeviled by moral bankruptcy and this is also where the religious leaders and churches come in to save the society.

    “The issue of moral depravity in schools calls for the concern of parents, teachers, governments and whoever can be referred to as stakeholder in the education sector.”

    “It is not only the standard of education that has fallen but also, the moral values in schools.”

    “We have heard cases of cultism in schools, this is no longer restricted to the universities and other tertiary institutions, it has spread to secondary and primary schools in the country.”

    Speaking with The Nation, the state commandant of (CHAPOL), Joseph Ekwunife, commended Obiano and the state commissioner for education, Prof Kate Omenugha for the various innovations they had brought in the education system in the state.

    He said CHAPOL went a step further by paying the school fees of some indigent students in these zones, but lamented lack of funds for the hindrance in carrying out some of its programmes.

    Also, Ekwunife told The Nation that the group will pay school fees of eight best students from these zones for one full year, who excelled during the just concluded Junior Secondary Schools WAEC examinations.

    He said, “Our aim is to encourage reading habit among the students, as no one passes his or her exams without proper study, this will also discourage those students who scramble for private centres during such examinations,” the commander said.

    The state Education Commissioner, Prof Kate Omenugha, said that it was because of the moral decadence that the Obiano administration had introduced many policies in the education sector.

    She said until all these things were got right that the state government would not rest on its oars, adding that before the end of Obiano’s tenure, that the state would be the first in all academic activities in the country.

    Omenugha, therefore, commended CHAPOL and PPSSC for coming up with such wonderful idea, adding that the Obiano administration would always support  good innovations.

     

  • Coalition against desertification

    Coalition against desertification

    Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad, among other leaders, have launched a campaign to stop the advance of the desert and save their environment. ADAMU SULEIMAN reports

    It was a demonstration of will not to allow the encroaching desert, perhaps the North’s worst and urgent threat, to take over the region. That was why Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Sultan of the Caliphate Muhammad Abubakar Sa’ad stepped out to halt the menace in its tracks.

    sultan of sokoto
    sultan of sokoto

    The governor and the monarch are not the only ones fighting the encroachment, though. Members of the state House of Assembly and All Progressives Congress (APC) chiefs are part of the campaign, as are senior officials of the state government.

    It is not difficult to see why. The advancing desert has sacked many communities in the region and overrun farmlands and scarce water sources. This is not just the handiwork of the Sahel; climate change, resulting in intense heat, is also to blame. The effect is devastating, with the ecosystem in danger, flora and fauna in as much trouble as humans.

    Sokoto and other states fringing the desert are under immediate threat.

    Is there any solution? Yes, tree planting, in what has been termed the Great Green Wall Project.

    That is what leaders in the Caliphate are doing: planting trees to counter the advancing desert and inject life into the atmosphere.

    The campaign is for everyone to sustain, including organisations, local governments, but those who must embrace it more than anyone else are all-season farmers.

    The advance of the desert has been accelerated by unrelenting felling of trees without planting more to replace those cut down. That is why the state government has also mounted a campaign to encourage even individuals who must cut down trees to plant as many as, if not more than, they chop down.

    What type of tree is ideal for this fight? The Neem will do nicely, because it is tough and can resist harsh rough weather. This is the reason you find rows of this medicinal, bitter tree at the seat of the caliphate, sometimes in clusters or in rows in open spaces.

    Moreover, this tree also adds beauty to the city and communities nurturing them. Governor Tambuwal is also providing date palm seedlings for distribution free to farmers across the 23 local governments of the state.

    4459101729_e37a4ce3c8_z
    Neem trees will help.

    Tambuwal flagged off this year’s tree planting campaign in Kawadata village in Goronyo Local Government Area, warning residents and households to desist from indiscriminate tree felling. Embrace tree planting, he stressed.

    He said the ban on tree felling for use as firewood in homes by households is now effective.

    He said, to mitigate the effect of the new policy on especially the rural dwellers, the state government will provide stoves, while advising them to explore other sources of energy like coal.

    The governor’s demonstration of commitment to curb desertification in the state keys into the 2015 Tree Planting Campaign theme tagged,’’ Sustainable Ecosystem Restoration.”

    Tambuwal said at the flag-off that date palm trees would be planted across the state under the Great Green-Wall Project.

    He said the gesture of the state government was part of renewed and sustained efforts to curb the menace of desertification.

    The governor also called on individuals and organisations across the state to take interest in the cultivation of tree crops such as date palm and gum Arabic, noting that such would enhance the preservation of environment.

    He pointed out that tree planting is not only an environmental imperative but also a spiritual obligation.

    He said, “Islam encourages tree planting for the benefit of humanity in communities. This should be done as a measure to alleviate poverty and unemployment, and reap from the abundant benefits of planting trees.”

    He added that everyone must take it seriously and embrace the tree planting exercise by emulating him and launching the campaign in their environments.

    Tambuwal said further: “This is necessary if not to roll back the process of desertification, at least to cancel some of its gains through a sustained effort in planting trees.

    Tambuwal
    Tambuwal

    “All stakeholders should have a change of attitude by ensuring that the exercise is given all the seriousness it deserves.’’

    The governor also called on farmers to adopt more modern and sustainable methods of farming.

    “Having economic trees on your farms actually improves the yield of your harvests and agro-forestry is now the more acceptable form of modern and sustainable farming.

    “I would like to appeal to our royal and religious leaders to continue to give their maximum support in order to ensure the success of this exercise.”

    The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Environment, Garba Muhammad Sarkin-Kudu, said a 2km shelter-belt will be established in each of the three senatorial zones of the state as part of this year’s campaign.

    He added: “Government House to house campaign has been carried out in the 400-unit housing estates to provide shelter and windbreak.”

     

  • Coalition honours Etimigba

    Coalition honours Etimigba

    The Coalition of Delta State Students on Sunday rolled out the drums to celebrate a Niger Delta businessman and philanthropist, Chief Evans Etimigba. He was honoured with the group’s “21st Century Ambassador Diligent Service and Nation Building” award, in Warri Delta State.

    The National President of CODESSTU, Ambassador Patrick Kalin (JP), said the award given to the Chairman/CEO of Evatimi Global Ventures, was in recognition of his forthrightness and commitment towards provision of quality education for indigent members of the society.

    He said the students salute his “salient contributions to improving standard of living of the youths in the state and Ijaw nation and his advocacy for peace and sustainable development in the Niger Delta region.”

    Etimigba, who is the Igbelegbelebinewei of Iduwini Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta states, described the award as something out of the blues.

    He said: “I particularly value this award because I know that people spend money searching for and buying honours, but I feel honored that a group I do not know from anywhere popped up and decided to recognise my little contributions to the society.”

    While dedicating the award to God and his “beautiful wife”,  Etimigba said the honour was the third he was receiving within just one year, having earlier being celebrated by Centre for Productive Leadership and the Niger Delta Youth Voice’s ‘Visionary Leadership of Action Gold’ and ‘Symbol of Diligent and Efficient Leadership’ awards respectively.

    “These may be awards and recognitions, but I see them as a challenge to rise and do more because there’s a portion of the bible that says ‘to whom much is given, much more is expected’. I have been challenged and I must say that I am motivated and spurred to do more for my community, my society and my country.

    “This latest award will make me more focused and productive, not only for myself and my family, but my community and our great nation. I also wish to thank friends and well wishers who celebrated this honour with me.

    “I have concluded plans to distribute 5,000 books and writing materials to pupils and students in various schools in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State. That is just the beginning. I pray God to give me and my family long life and good health and I promise to do more,” he vowed.

    Chief Itimigba, an indigene of Ofougbene town, was decorated with his traditional title by HRM Bosu Dio, the Ebenanawei of Iduwini Kingdom. Burutu Local Government Area of Delta state, in 1999.

  • Coalition urges NDDC to establish micro-credit schemes

    A coalition of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) has urged the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to institute micro-credit schemes.

    The collation, Niger Delta Network Advancement Program (NDNAP), in a statement  in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, advocated for the initiation of some palliative measures including grants for Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMSEs) to calm the frayed nerves of youths.

    The statement signed by NDNAP President, Al mustapher Emem Edoho and Jubril Uwem Edukere, Board of Trustees (BoT) member, commended the Commission under the Managing Director, Sir Bassey Dan Abia, noting that his time has witnessed strategic interventions with positive impacts in the region.

    Edoho, who disclosed that the NDDC under Abia’s watch has effectively complemented the Federal Government’s development agenda for the region, said the decision of the group to give the Commission a pass mark was a fallout of what he called “reality check” embarked upon by the group in recent times.

    During the inspection, the group, according to Edoho, took inventory of Abia’s performance, noting that “within this short time as the Commission’s Managing Director, the NDDC has gotten a befitting 12-storey building that will serve as the permanent headquarters since it was established in 2000”.

    “The people of Niger Delta will be proud of the building which is awaiting commissioning by Mr. President”, he added.

    Besides, he pointed out that the Commission, in spite challenges of funding, has intervened in roads, bridges, hostels facilities in tertiary institutions, scholarship grants for indigent students and youths’ empowerment to address the restiveness of youths in the region.

    “We call on NDDC to initiate micro, small and medium enterprise grants or loans to further stimulate the economic development of the region and accelerate poverty reduction,” he said.

  • Coalition against the other evil forest

    Coalition against the other evil forest

    Apart from the Sambisa forest, the base of the Boko Haram insurgents, there is Kamuku, another stretch of vegetation covering four Northwest states and Niger, used by criminals. The good part is that the state governments have teamed up to rid the forest of hoodlums. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports

    The horrors of Boko Haram inside Sambisa forest are well documented. Not so the evil perpetrated in and from the Kamuku forest, which stretches across four northwest states of Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, and the Northcentral Niger.

    While Sambisa has served the insurgents as an operational base, den to keep hostages and routes through which to ferry arms and other supplies, the Kamuku vegetation has provided cow thieves places to keep stolen animals, as well as a base from which to strike such cities as Kaduna and rob and kill victims. Criminals using the forest as hideout are not members of the Boko Haram group, though, but they are no less dreaded.

    The governments of the states, seing the present and future threat of the forest, came together with an action plan to smoke the criminals out of the forest. They want to tame the evil forest and contain other security challenges peculiar to their states. They fear that Kamuku could breed future insurgents.

    The governors met in Kaduna to brainstorm ways of addressing the security threats posed by the forest. Even though, the resolution of the meeting held behind closed doors in the state Government House was not disclosed, the host Governor Nasir el-Rufai told reporters their discussion was mainly about security.

    He said, “The forest which is in the centre of the Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara, has been of serious security concern. So, we need to address it because that forest is capable of breeding future Boko Haram. So, we have just met to brainstorm with a view to fashioning out a coordinated approach in tackling the security challenges in our states. This has become necessary to avoid spillover.

    “We met with security chiefs in charge of our respective states so that we can as quickly as possible bring an end to the loss of lives, cattle rustling and loss of property.”

    He disclosed that the five state governors have the support of the federal government in the plan. Even, the Federal Government has demonstrated commitment to collaborate with the state governments. But the most gratifying news is the arrest of nine accused cattle rustlers and recovery of over 2,000 cows in the Kaduna axis of the forest.

    The breakthrough was achieved after the joint security operatives, including the military, police and others raided the bandits hideout in Birnin Gwari and Damari village. Three suspects were killed in the gun battle with the security operatives.

    Governor el-Rufai, who visited the forest, commended the security personnel for their “swift intervention”, pledging that the government would offer maximum support to ensure success of the operation.

    He said that the operation was part of the new offensive in the Northwest against cattle rustling. “So far, so good. We are satisfied with the work done by the armed forces in trying to contain the problem of cattle rustling and general security threats that have lingered for too long.

    “The joint operation is between six states that share the Birnin Gwari forest, that is Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto and Niger. This operation is the Kaduna State end, but it is also happening in the other affected neighbouring states. We will recover stolen cattle and tackle the security challenges in the area,’’ he said.

    Over 700 cattle have been recovered.

    •Some of the suspects
    •Some of the suspects

    The nine arrested suspects, under interrogation by el-Rufai and Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Umar Shehu, said they were innocent. One of them who was allegedly arrested with rustled cattle told the governor that he is a farmer.

    But after touching his palms, el-Rufai said they were too soft to be a farmer’s.

    The security operatives also informed the governor that one of the accused identified as Iliya had local bulletproof, otherwise known as ‘Odieshi’ or anti-bullet charms.

    With the recent arrest, residents of villages bordering the forest expressed the hope that crime in their area will be curtailed. Virtually each of the five states bordering Kamuku forest has had its share of attacks by the criminals  in the last four years, with Kaduna and Zamfara the worst hit.

    The criminals suspected to be a large group had invaded villages in the two states of Kaduna and Zamfara, killing not less than 25 persons.

    In October 2012, a group of high profile gunmen from the forest who always disguised as armed robbers, invaded Dogon Daji community in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing at least 20 villagers including those who were leaving a mosque after the morning prayers.

    They carried out the brazen attack in the early hours of the day after embarking on a house to house search and shooting and killing people indiscriminately. Some of their victims were stabbed to death, while others were slaughtered.

    Sources in the village claimed the killings were a revenge attack by armed robbers as the community vigilance group helped capture some robbers who were attacking passengers and motorists in the area some weeks prior to the attack.

    Some villagers sharply disagreed with the armed robbery theory, insisting that the attackers had other motives beyond armed robbery.

    In Zamfara, the same group of gunmen under the guise of armed robbery attacked several villages in the remote villages of Zamfara bordering the forest and killed 27 persons.

    The Nation gathered that the Zamfara attack was also a revenge mission, after some criminal gang members were arrested or killed and the gangs blamed the villagers for informing on them.

    A police source in Gusau said they were not suspected to be members of Islamist sect Boko Haram, which have infiltrated most of northern Nigeria, but another terrorist group.

    Out of the 27 persons, 18 were killed at Dangulbi village in Marua Local Government Area and the rest from other surrounding villages of Diya, Guru and Sabo Kasuwa.

    Eyewitnesses said the gunmen numbering over 30 stormed Dangulbi around 2am with an informant who was directing them to the houses of key members of the vigilance group.

    Since the 2012 attacks, crimes around the forest have been unceasing, and even though previous governments of the respective states took several security to contain such criminality, there was no permanent solution.