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Tag: gift

  • EFCC sues firm, MD over alleged N1.275b ‘gift’ to PDP

    EFCC sues firm, MD over alleged N1.275b ‘gift’ to PDP

    The Economic and Financial CrimesCommission (EFCC) has filed charges at the  Federal Capital Territory High Court against Stallion Motors Limited and its Managing Director, Hapreet Singh, for allegedly offering a gratification of N1.275 billion to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2015 polls.

    A former National Security Adviser, Mr. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and ex-Minister of Finance Mr. Bashir Yuguda allegedly collected the money for the party.

    The two suspects will face a four-count charge bordering on alleged bribery and gratification.

    The bribe cash was, however, suspected to be “assistance” to PDP for 2015 general election.

    The EFCC also suspected that the payment was an inducement to facilitate payment by the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) for a contract for the supply of some 700 trucks and 50 buses.

    But the PDP, in a letter to EFCC, denied receiving such a gratification from Stallion Motors.

    The development has made the anti-graft agency to probe the whereabouts of the cash.

    According to investigation by the anti-graft agency, the bribe sum was routed through a Bureau De Change, Jabbama Ada Global Ventures Limited.

    The owner of the said BDC, SalisuGarus, admitted on oath that he received the cash on behalf of Yuguda.

    He said based on Yuguda’s instruction, he handed over the dollar equivalent of the cash to the ex-Minister’s son, Safinu.

    A top source said: “We have filed charges against Stallion and its MDHapreet Singh in the High Court of Federal Capital Territory.

    “Stallion between December 2014 and February 2015 paid the sum of N1.275billion to Dasuki ostensibly to assist in the 2015 general election campaign of the People’s Democratic Party.

    “The MD of Stallion(Singh) allegedly claimed that the PDP, through Yuguda and Dasuki, demanded for donation to assist the party prosecute its campaign in the 2015 general election.

    “The fund was paid to Jabbama Ada Global Ventures Limited, a Bureau de Change (BDC). SalisuGarus, who is the owner of the BDC, claimed he received the funds on behalf of Bashir Yuguda, a former Minister of State for Finance, at whose instruction the money was changed into dollars and handed over to his son, Safinu Bashir Yuguda.

    “When the former minister was invited for questioning, he admitted receiving the money from his son but, added that he “handed the entire sum to Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).”

    “The former NSA, the source disclosed, claimed that a former minister directed him to contact the owners of Stallion Motors because they had promised to make contributions to the election campaign of the PDP.

    He consequently mandated Yuguda to collect the money.”

    But the EFCC said it was suspecting that the payment was an inducement to facilitate payment for the supply of some 700 trucks and buses.

    The contract was awarded by the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    The source added: “Detectives suspected that the bribe was allegedly paid by the auto marketing firm to induce payment of a contract by the Office of National Security Adviser under Mr. Sambo Dasuki for the supply of 700 Stallion carrier trucks and 50 buses.”

    Though the value of the contract is not stated, military sources disclosed that the vehicles were not on the priority list of the Federal Government’s need at the time.

    But only 50 of the vehicles were allegedly supplied by the company and while payment was still ‘hanging’, the company donated the N1.275billion to the PDP.

    “This suspicion was more or less confirmed as the PDP, in a January 26, 2018 letter to the EFCC and signed by Prince TunjiAdeyemo, its Acting National Director of Finance, denied having any relationship with Stallion Nigeria Limited.

    “The party had at no time requested and or solicited for any fund as donation towards the 2014/2015 general electioneering campaign or for any other purpose whatsoever from Stallion Nigeria Limited,”Adeyemo said.

    A source in the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan gave insights into how the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) came about the contract.

    The source said: “Stallion is a Nigerian company and it was among those local firms into vehicles manufacturing in the country.

    “The auto policy of the government was to patronise the local companies like the case with the patronage of Innoson Motors.

    “The contract was never consummated and that was at the peak of Boko Haram attacks when the government needed all the facilities and military vehicles to prosecute the war.

    “Don’t forget that they bought Volkswagen and there was a problem with it. But members of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) solved it.”

  • Teenager bathes friend with hot water over N200 gift

    Teenager bathes friend with hot water over N200 gift

    A 16-year-old  girl, (name withheld) who allegedly poured hot water on her friend over N200 gift yesterday  appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court.

    The accused, a student, who resides at 42, Arefun St., Ayobo, Lagos, with her brother is being tried for assault and causing grievous harm.

    The Prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu, told the court that the offences were committed on Jan. 15, at the accused residence.

    Ogu said that the accused and her friend, Busayo Olorundahunsi, 17, were fighting over how the accused spent N200 that was meant to be shared between them.

    “The complainant accommodated the accused in her brother’s house since 2017.

    “The complainant’s brother gave her N500 to prepare beans, but the accused collected N200 from her friend claiming she did not want to eat the beans,” he said.

    Ogu explained that the complainant, thereafter, told the accused that they would both share the N200 and then use N300 to prepare the beans.

    “The accused spent the money alone and a fight ensued between them.

    “The accused, who was at that time boiling hot water to cook noodles, poured it on her friend’s body,” he said.

    Ogu added that the complainant face, neck and chest got burnt and she was rushed to a hospital.

    The prosecutor said the case was reported to the police and the accused was arrested.

    The offences contravened Sections 173 and 245 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

    Chief Magistrate Taiwo Akanni granted the accused to a bail of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    The case was adjourned until Feb. 26, for mention.

  • Why I gave N450,000 ‘gift’ to judge, by SAN

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Paul Usoro, has explained the circumstances in which he gave N450,000 to a judge of the National Industrial Court, Justice James Agbadu-Fishim.

    He said it was a gift, not a bribe.

    Usoro, who is aspiring for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA presidency, was reacting to a statement credited to a human rights lawyer, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu.

    Odinkalu said Usoro admitted “bribing” a judge and should not be allowed to run for the office.

    But, Usoro, in a statement by a Partner in his firm, Munirudeen Liadi, said he and Justice Agbadu-Fishim had been friends and were known to each other long before His Lordship joined the Bench.

    The SAN said he had only one case before the judge, and that before his firm was engaged to handle the case, he gave a gift of N250,000 to the judge on August 5, 2014, about five months before his firm got the brief.

    Usoro said all the three cash gifts he gave to the judge were at the judge’s request and that none was related to the case.

    “These were requests based on longstanding friendship between Mr. Usoro and His Lordship and this fact is borne out by the text messages (which were analysed by EFCC) sent by His Lordship to Mr. Usoro requesting for assistance…,” the statement said.

  • Senators’ rice gift

    Senators’ rice gift

    Fighting Dino Melaye’s recall with ‘stomach infrastructure’?

    Kogi State has been in the news most often these days for the wrong reasons. With due respect to my friends and senior colleagues from that state, not many of us are still wondering why things are the way they are in Kogi State. As a matter of fact, we are quick to point out that it is because if the state is not being governed by a carpenter, then a tailor is in charge. So, what do you expect? Often, we laugh over this joke.

    But Kogi is not alone in this absurdity. This is a country where the more you look, the less you see. The Abdulrasheed Maina saga that is playing out is a typical example. However it ends will no doubt be interesting. It was in this same country that Nigerians elected a Grade Two teacher as president despite the availability of well educated persons that were also better exposed and cosmopolitan, even in the political party that fielded the teacher. Consider even a state like Ogun, during the first term of Otunba Gbenga Daniel as governor; I learnt there was no single university graduate in the house of assembly. Then Ekiti; which is supposed to be the bastion of learning in the country, with its numerous professors, being led by an Ayo Fayose, whose only electoral joker is ‘stomach infrastructure’ which fascinated the highly educated Ekiti people. Fayose today is dreaming of becoming president (although a usually reliable but unconfirmed source said all he wants is the country’s vice presidency)! But, who, in all honesty, can say Fayose is not entitled to this, given the shenanigans that characterise our politics?

    Beyond the national boundaries, is it not puzzling that a man like Jacob Zuma, with his innumerable harem is the one leading a country that the great Nelson Mandela once led? Or a Donald Trump leading the once- upon-a-United States of America? No one would be shocked seeing either Zuma or Trump donating bags of rice the way some of our senators last week donated 1,280 bags to civil servants in Kogi State who have been without salaries for between two and 20 months, and expecting that the people should clap for them for the milk of human kindness flowing in their veins.

    By the way, how much is a bag of rice, probably about N14,000 for the imported brands. That is about N18million in all. That is chicken change to our lawmakers in the National Assembly, reputed to be about the highest paid in the world. If this claim is true, though, it means Nigeria too has something to showcase in The Guinness Book of Records. Our country is not only about the bad and the ugly; we also have some of the highest paid legislators the world can boast of.

    Without doubt, Kogi State workers, like any other person in their circumstance, pummelled to the ground and without any self esteem whatsoever, might have appreciated the gesture by our kind-hearted senators, the point is; we keep having a repeat of such cynical gifts because of the level of deprivation that the average Nigerian has been subjected to by its rulers and their (Nigerians’) minimalist disposition to such subversive generosity. At the base of it all are ignorance and its twin brother, illiteracy.

    Indeed, when I first read the story on Thursday, I wondered the kind of reaction that would trail the donation. But the first, most surprisingly, came from Kogi State, a thing which made me so happy. The state chapter of the National Youth Council (NYC)  rightly saw it as Greek gift. The body said Thursday that it was an insult to the civil servants in particular and the state at large. Its chairman, Oladele Nihi, said: “We see these actions and reactions of the senators as unguided and a desperate move to toil with the collective sensibility of the people of Kogi State and not only the civil servants. It is being orchestrated by primordial instincts, to paint Kogi in dark light, for cheap and selfish political gains. It is an insult on us.” Nihi is not done yet: “Kogi might be feeling the brunt of the economic crisis that is currently bedeviling the whole country, but, that does not mean a group of people with inordinate ambition should sit in Abuja and paint Kogi like a Somalia of (some) sort”.

    The situation could not have been better described, especially with the rice gifts spearheaded by the controversial Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West. In fact, Melaye had told journalists at a press briefing to announce the donation that: “Today, I drew the attention of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the plight of civil servants in my native Kogi State following the recent disturbing reports of deaths by suicide and inability to pay medical bills by some workers. I’m happy to report to you that my colleagues in the Senate have immediately responded by donating bags of rice and other essential items to the workers in order to cushion the biting effects of non-payment of their salaries by the Kogi State government (emphasis mine). The donation, which amounted to 1,280 bags of rice as of today, and others that will follow later, will be handed over to the Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress for onward distribution to the most vulnerable workers who need immediate assistance.”

    Indeed, Melaye, the one I love referring to as  the ‘Ajekun iya exponent’ since he released that evergreen album, as usual, went theatrical by kneeling down during plenary Wednesday to beg his colleagues to salvage the ‘dying’ Kogi workers.

    One needed no binoculars to see the mischief in the statement and the gesture. Without necessarily gloating over it, nonpayment of salaries is not peculiar to Kogi State.  We have had instances of workers taking their plight to God in prayers after all else had failed. We have had many other instances of people committing suicide, etc. outside Kogi State. So, how could Senator Melaye have given the impression that non-payment of salaries is peculiar to Kogi? If there is no mischief here, how come the senators have not done the same in other states with similar problems?

    Without doubt, a worker not only deserves his wages, he should be paid before his sweat dries. But we all know how we came to this sorry pass where state governments cannot pay their workers, even after collecting bailouts and Paris Club refunds from the Federal Government. Those who have been clamouring for a return to federalism (I don’t know what ‘true federalism’ means because to me, you are either practicing federalism or you are not) have a point here; we need to return to that past when every component part of the country would move at its own pace and generate its own revenue.

    Anyway, as I usually say in matters like this, Kogi workers (if that is what the senators want to hear) are for now grate… for what the senators have done. But the workers can only add the ful (to complete it –  grateful) when the Senators do the rightful with their bogus pay, free some of it to take care of Kogi workers and other Nigerians who are in dire need of succour in these perilous times.

    But nothing I have said should make Governor Yahaya Bello of the state count me as one of his admirers. I have my reservations about his style and policies. One only found it compelling today to situate our senators’ generosity in context. It may be Governor Bello’s turn sometime later.

    However, in the lighter mood, I know that His Excellency will always swear that he knew nothing about the plot to recall Melaye, but I have a feeling the matter will definitely resurface now, and with vengeance. The matter has stayed too long at the foundation stage. It is time for it to move to advanced stage. Senator Melaye has sent a rat after the governor. What is wrong in the governor sending a snake after him?  After all, as some people say, do me I do you, God no dey vex.

    All said, now that our senators have given the workers rice, where do they get the other things to go with it – groundnut oil, pepper, turkey, chicken, fish, etc? Perhaps these should form the plank of deliberations at their next plenary. These other items and many more goodies should be accommodated in the next tranche to make the 1,280 bags of rice meaningful, full and final for the ‘dying’ workers.

    Man cannot live by rice alone.

  • National duty or Greek’s gift?

    •The Senate’s July 27 passage of the NFIA bill could strengthen or weaken the fight against corruption, depending on the overbearing motive 

    On the structural plane, the Senate did right by passing the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency (NFIA) Bill, which moved the old Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) from an “autonomous unit” under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to a full-fledged administrative agency, now located in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    This not only suits both the letters and spirit of the EFCC Act of 2004, which indeed stated the NFIU would be an “autonomous” unit, it also approximates global best practices, in which administrative FIUs are located outside a crime agency, as in the United States; and most countries in West Africa, where FIUs are located in the Central Bank, Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Finance.

    Yet, the speed with which the Senate passed the bill — riffling from introduction to passage in just one week — cannot but draw suspicion it may be a legislative equivalent of a subversive gift from the Greek; after the old Greek gift of Trojan horse that destroyed Troy.

    The Senate-Ibrahim Magu confrontation has been an open feud. The Senate loves to flaunt a Department of State Services (DSS) report, on which it purportedly anchored its decision not to confirm Mr. Magu as EFCC chair, despite his demonstrable elan at the job. Still, its body language shows clear unease, if not outright panic, at Mr. Magu keeping his job. For a body that has continued to show base motives, when absolute transparency is called for in doing its legislative duties, the Senate has lent itself to legitimate charges of wanting to, at all cost, scupper Mr. Magu.

    Yet, in this case, both the EFCC and the highest legislative chamber appear guilty of self-indictment.

    On the EFCC part, its chairs have been guilty of removing and replacing FIU directors, almost at whims; thus gravely undermining its autonomy, and scuppering its capacity to provide financial intelligence for the many government agencies combating sleaze and allied crimes. That has not only led to friction among these agencies — who rightly or wrongly perceive EFCC as using the FIU as own joker — it also led to umpteenth warnings, from the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, the global regulators, for Nigeria to ensure the autonomy of its FIU.

    That came to a head when, after its July 2-7 meeting in China, the Egmont Group suspended Nigeria. Not only that. It also threatened that if by January 2018 an autonomous Nigeria FIU was not in place, the country faced possible expulsion. That would have been well and truly tragic, for Egmont Group, of 151 countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, is the global clearing house for intelligence in financial crimes and money laundering.

    Were Nigeria to be expelled, the consequences would be dire. First, it would lose access to the pool of financial intelligence shared among the 151-country network; lose the ability to recover stolen funds abroad, lose track of money laundering intelligence, particularly as they fuel terrorism; and risk a possible blacklist of Nigeria from international finance. That could impair the issuance of MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards by Nigerian banks to customers and negate the business models of Nigerian banks.

    Might this clear and present danger then have propelled the Senate to its turbo-charged passage of the bill? Maybe.  Maybe not. But one thing was clear: the imperative to relocate NFIA (noble and patriotic goal) was yet another front in the war to vanquish Magu (ignoble motive). That portrayed the whole exercise as legislative cant, even if the final institutional result is supposed to be beneficial.

    It could well still be — if a person with the right temper and who is above board could be appointed to boss the new agency. That way, his focus would be his job and his oath: to feed all the anti-sleaze agencies with all the financial intelligence they need to rid the country of the menace of corruption.

    But it could also go tragically awry — if the appointee is another turf warrior, zealous and merry to be recruited into the unfinished Senate-Magu war. That way, even an autonomous NFIA could well mean some institutional trigger, to ensure the agencies work at cross-purposes, and scatter the war against corruption.

    Still, all these are symptoms. The real problem is the inability to build strong state institutions. If the Egmont Group insists on NFIA, its assumption is that policy continuation is a function of strong institutions, hardly strong personalities, even if right personalities lay solid foundations for strong institutions.

    If every party learns this sole truth, it could be the beginning of a systemic, sustainable and productive war against corruption.

  • Buhari: girls’ release second anniversary gift to Nigerians

    Buhari: girls’ release second anniversary gift to Nigerians

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday received the newly rescued 82 Chibok girls at his official residence in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Buhari, who received the girls behind closed doors,  described their release as a pleasant second anniversary gift to Nigerians.

    The two white Nigerian Army buses conveying the girls arrived at the President’s residence gate around 7:06 p.m

    The buses were with window blinds that made it impossible to see the faces of the girls. Minister of Women Affairs Aisha Alhassan arrived with the girls.

    State House correspondents were not allowed to have access to the venue.

    Only Nigeria Television Authority (NTA)  cameraman and the President’s personal photographer, Bayo Omoboriowo, were allowed in .

    Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said the media was not barred but the restriction was an attempt “to control the narrative”.

    According to him, only NTA, VON and FRCN were allowed into the venue.

    Buhari expressed delight over the release of the girls and reassured Nigerians, especially relatives and friends of the determination of his administration to secure freedom for the remaining girls and other Nigerians still under the insurgents captivity.

    “I cannot express in a few words how happy I am to welcome our dear girls back to freedom. On behalf of all Nigerians, I will like to share my joy with you, your parents, your relatives, friends and the Government of Borno State on regaining your freedom.

    “Let me reassure Nigerians, especially relatives and friends of the remaining girls that the Federal Government will spare no effort to see that they and all other Nigerians who have been abducted safely regain their freedom.’’

    He said  the Presidency would  supervise the performance of those entrusted with their welfare.

    He said: “No human being should go through this kind of ordeal.’’

    The President directed security agencies and state governments to continue to provide special protection to educational institutions in remote areas.

    According to him, the Federal Government is resolutely determined to safeguard the security of all Nigerians at all times.

  • A memorable gift in Imo

    A memorable gift in Imo

    Workers’ Day is largely boring. It is an annual ritual of marches, rallies and speeches, and then workers return to their beats to bemoan their fate afresh. In Imo State, this year’s edition was a break from the norm. There was something to cheer about. The state governor Rochas Okorocha lifted a six-year embargo on promotion in the state.
    The workers, who defied the heavy downpour to attend the ceremony at the Heroes Square, broke into wild jubilation on hearing the announcement. Majority of them were overdue for promotion but were restricted by the embargo that was placed on promotion since 2011.
    Okorocha who lauded the mutual relationship between the leadership of workers’ union and his administration, described the gesture as an appreciation of the contribution of the workers and a way of stimulating the state workforce.
    Speaking to the ecstatic crowd, Governor Okorocha assured that his administration will lift the ban on promotion as soon as the sanitisation exercise going on in the system was completed, adding that the government would like to know the status of those to benefit from the promotion exercise. He urged the workers to always show appreciation for what his administration has done for them since 2011 when he came on board.
    He reminded the workers that they are the greatest beneficiaries of the free education programme in the state because there is no more pressure on them or on their salaries for the payment of school fees of their children and wards especially when the free education policy is from primary to tertiary institutions.
    He also told the workers that he was the first to pay them N20,000 minimum wage against the approved N18,000 minimum wage and also paid them wardrobe allowance, which has seen them today appearing in a special dress code, and is also building ICT centres at the state secretariat and local government headquarters to enable them become computer literate.
    The governor informed the workers that the government has concluded arrangement to recruit more than 3000 fresh graduates who are Computer literate into the Civil Service to make the System vibrant, adding that more than ninety percent of the workers are not Computer literate.
    He assured that he would continue to dialogue with the leaders of the Labour Union in the State to ensure that the harmonious relationship his government enjoys with workers continues, adding that he would remain committed to the welfare of the workers in the State.
    Meanwhile the Deputy Governor of the State, Eze Madumere in his felicitation message, hailed the workers for their commitment and resilience towards tackling the daunting challenges facing the country.
    Madumere emphasized the importance of the roles of the workers in nation building, describing them as the real heroes.
    He particularly commended Imo Workers for their cooperation and strategic partnership with the present rescue Mission Government led by Owelle Rochas Okorocha to building an Imo of State of collective dream.
    The Deputy Governor commended the leadership of Labour for their understanding and for embracing best practices while negotiating for welfare of its members by putting the survival of the State and the country first. He  also commended the State Governor over “his untiring effort to ensure that issues concerning the welfare of the workers are always on the priority list and his readiness to always listen to their heat beats whenever they come knocking.
    He reminded the workers of importance of making the best out of the present Back to Farm Policy of the Government, which he said will not only “launch them into financial stability but will make them great contributors in the effort to re-launch Nigeria to its supposed position in the comity of nations.”
    In his speech at the event, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Austin Chilakpa, commended the governor for lifting the embargo, stating that it will reawaken the spirit of hard work, which he noted can only be guaranteed through a vibrant reward system.
    He called for 100 per cent review of the agreement the Labour leaders had with the state government some time ago over the payment of salaries, stating that the Labour leaders would continue to demand that, until it is done.”

     

  • You’re the best gift, says JJC to daughter

    You’re the best gift, says JJC to daughter

    Musician JJC Skillz has revealed that his daughter, Tamira Bello, who turned 20 on February 9, 2017, is his inspiration.

    According to “20 years ago I was given the best gift,” said Skillz who is also husband of Funke Akindele. The child who was born two decades ago made him focus on becoming a role model, he added.

    “You came along and gave me focus and determination to be somebody that you can look up to. Keep making me proud.”

    A week ago, the proud father also celebrated his son Benito Bello, who also added a year.

    The multi-talented and award winning producer/musician, has three grown kids from three baby mamas.

  • Baby of the year gift allegation: Mother denies husband’s claims

    he Osun State government has described as false, claims by the father of the baby of the year, Kajogbola Olasunkanmi, that his family was cheated by the management of the State Specialist Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, the state capital, where his wife was delivered of her  baby.

    The government said it was embarrassed by media reports which quoted Olasunkanmi as saying that only a part of the gifts for the baby were presented to his family.

    The government, through the Bureau of Communication and Strategy, said Governor Rauf Aregbesola ordered an investigation into the claims, adding that the mother, Mrs. Kemisola Olasunkanmi, debunked her husband’s claims.

    “It has become imperative to make this clarification in view of the negative impressions generated by Olasunkanmi’s claims.

    After the embarrassing media reports which accused the management of the hospital of shortchanging the family by not presenting all the gifts for the baby of the year, the Governor ordered a full scale investigation.

    “To our chagrin, the mother of the baby of the year said her husband lied with his claims adding that the envelope containing the cash gift from the governor ‘s wife, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, was sealed and intact when it was delivered to her.

    “She further explained that the money from the representatives of the Lions Club, which was also delivered, was meant for all the women who were delivered of babies that day and that each of them got her share of the gift.

    “In the course of the interview, Mrs Kemisola Olasunkanmi expressed regrets while lamenting that she did not know what came over her husband to warrant such dubious and false claims,” the Bureau statement noted.

    The Bureau, in its statement signed by the Director, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, therefore urged those who had been misinformed by the misleading allegation to disregard it in its entirety.

  • Fall of Sambisa, rare Christmas gift

    SIR: On Christmas Eve – Friday December 23, the final stronghold of the Boko- Haram terrorists named Camp- Zero tucked inside the belly of the dreaded Sambisa Forest in Borno State finally fell to the heavy war machinery of the Nigerian military through the grace of God. The news came to many Nigerians as a unique/rare Christmas gift from God to the nation that is despondent and living under the heavy yoke of an economic recession whose end is yet to be determined at least giving by the damming statistics/economic indices and prevalence of hunger in the land.

    Kudos should also be given to the fighting spirits and the resilience of our troops for doing the nation proud amidst the reports of alleged poor logistics/welfare which they suffered especially when it comes to adequate supply of food and water.

    Despite this latest success, the intelligence community in collaboration with the Nigerian public and diplomatic community should not rest on their oars. This is because the fall of the Camp-Zero occupied by the Boko-Haram as their fortress should not be likened to the fall of the insurgent group or its ideology. The event of last week, as strategic as it was, only represented the dislodgment of the Boko-Haram group from their strongholds with their resultant dispersal into the larger community. As a matter of fact, few days after the fall of the Camp Zero, one of the sect’s commanders was reportedly apprehended in Ikorodu near Lagos.

    As if this was not enough, two female suicide bombers were also apprehended on Monday December 26 in Maiduguri, Borno State. One of them reportedly died while detonating the bomb while her partner in the deadly suicide mission was gunned down while the bomb-belt strapped to her body was detonated later. The federal government has also called for extra-vigilance on the part of the public to prevent integration of these deadly insurgents into the larger society so that they do not continue to perpetrate their evil agenda.

    It should be noted that Boko-Haram is an ideology in the hearts of its adherents and supporters. And that is the reason why the federal government should quickly move in to address the remote causes of the insurgency in the first place so that it doesn’t resurface in another location under the guise of another extremist/fundamentalist group.

    By the way, we learnt that Camp-Zero was an abandoned military facility constructed by the former Military President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida for his ill-fated National Guard project. The camp reportedly has underground bunkers. But how did the location of this military facility come to the knowledge of the Boko-Haram insurgents and its subsequent acquisition and use as their own fortress without the knowledge of the nation’s intelligence community during the era of the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan? And on whose authority were they using the facility? This may be the subject- matter of research and National Discourse by other writers/social commentators.

    But for now, while congratulating the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the entire military with their sister security agencies for this remarkable success/breakthrough in the fight against terrorism, we want to admonish the President and his economic team to also strive and win the fight against hunger and abject poverty that are prevalent in the land. When the government wins the war against hunger and poverty in the land, it will drastically reduce its expenditure on purchase of arms and ammunition to fight crimes.

    Meanwhile, let us celebrate, cling our glasses and toast to the dislodgment of Boko-Haram insurgents from their fortresses in the Sambisa forest as we continue to be more vigilant in our respective immediate environments.

    • Gbemiga Olakunle JP

    gbemigaolakunle@yahoo.co.uk