President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR (born 17 December 1942) is the President of Nigeria. He assumed office on 29 May 2015. He is a retired major general in the Nigerian Army and previously served as the nation’s head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking over power in a military coup d’état. The term Buharism is ascribed to the Buhari military government.
He unsuccessfully ran for the office of president in the general elections held in 2003, 2007 and 2011. In December 2014, he emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)for the March 2015 general elections.
Buhari won the election, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan who is from the southern Niger Delta region. This marked the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent president lost to an opposition candidate in a general election. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015.
Buhari is a Muslim from Daura in Katsina State, who has given his support to Sharia in the north. He has previously had to deny allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda. This proved a problem for him in the 2003 polls – he failed to secure much support among Christians in the south, where he was viewed with some suspicion.
However, having escaped an attack on his convoy in Kaduna in July 2014, which bore all the hallmarks of a Boko Haram assassination attempt, he promised to end the insurgency within months and is at it.
He also fought corruption in the Nigerian civil service system head-on.
President Buhari is the first Nigerian President to engage more young persons in his administration, through the introduction of New Media Department. Thus, he appointed Tolu Ogunlesi @toluogunlesias Head Digital Communications for the Office of the President @NGRPresident, @asorock and @DigiCommsNG
Former Presidential spokesman to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati on Tuesday revealed lessons learnt from the just concluded reality TV show, Big Brother Naija.
The former presidential spokesman also touched the bad effects of the reality show on Nigeria’s family value and Nigeria as a whole.
In his article, Abati noted that although the show promoted the idea of choice, people’s power at the heart of democracy, stressing that the conclusion of the over 70 days show was a relief
He added that it should not be aired again because it promoted prostitution, nudity, chiefly adultery, love of money, and sex.
Read the full article below:
What a relief! So, the Big Brother Naija reality television programme is finally over. It ended Sunday evening with 23-year old Efe Michael Ejemba, University of Jos graduate of Economics and singer winning the N25 million + SUV at stake, with 57.6% of the votes from over 24 million voters across Africa. Warri, where Efe’s family lives, erupted in excitement. At the Multichoice viewing centre in Ikeja, Lagos, where Katung Aduwak took charge so brilliantly, there was a similar eruption of incandescent joy. I was relieved because, for about 70 days, the Big Brother Naija show was a big distraction, crass capitalism at its most cynical edge, a source of unmanageable madness in homes and on the streets. Now that it is over, it is time for some honest frank talk for the attention of all stakeholders involved.
Let me start with the lessons, on a positive note, before delivering the blows. Lesson one: In a very instructive manner, the Big Brother Naija reality television show promoted the ideas of choice and people power at the heart of democracy. Televised across Africa, the viewers had the final say in determining who stayed in the house or left during eviction moments on Sundays.
The votes were collated, audited and confirmed by Deloitte, a firm of auditors and thus, the viewer as the voter-determined the outcomes. In that regard, a reality show of that sort promoted a consciousness of democracy, choice and influence and it further explained why the people from Nigeria to Cape Agulhas all the way up to the Mediterranean sea took fierce ownership of the programme. In a continent where power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and every access to power, fame and influence is seen as an opportunity to oppress and demean, whatever is done to promote a consciousness of choice and the civil society is laudable. Multichoice, thanks.
L-R: Wangi Mba-Uzokwu, Regional Director, M-net West Africa; Michael Efe Ejeba, winner of BBNaija Season 2; Fela Ibidapo, Group Head, Corporate Affairs, Heritage Bank; John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria and Eyo Bassey, Chief Executive Officer, Payporte during the presentation
Lesson Two: in every business concept, perseverance pays. Multichoice has been running its Big Brother Naija and Big Brother Africa concepts for a number of years. Apparently, this year’s Big Brother Naija has been the most impactful, the most profitable and probably also, the most exciting. In one week, over 11 million persons voted to determine the eviction. In the final week of the programme, over 24 million persons voted – that is more than the total number of persons who voted in the Nigerian Presidential election in 2015. This year, Multichoice has made more money from the Big Brother franchise than it has ever done. The programme was sponsored by PayPorte, and with all the voting, and the money spent on recharge cards, Big Brother and Multichoice are the biggest winners. In the end, it is all about business and profit. Everybody has been used. In business, once you have a good, attractive product and you can capture the market, you can fool everybody and make profit. Multichoice, weh done – in Falz, the bad guy’s voice.
[quote font_size=”18″ font_style=”italic” color=”#000000″ bgcolor=”#ddbc87″ bcolor=”#dd3333″ arrow=”yes”]Lesson three: humility pays. At the end of the day, in the last week of the programme, the decision by the viewing public was a moral, sentimental one. The biggest star of the programme was, I don’t know what you think, TBOSS (real name: Tokunbo Idowu), half Nigerian, half-Romanian. She dominated the space with her Jezebelic antics, even got some of the male participants ousted by entrapping and outsmarting them with her sexual wiles. She projected herself as a sex object, the ultimate manipulator, the champion Delilah of the Big Brother Africa series. She even made a joke of the entire Big Brother concept by saying she didn’t need the money and if she won, she would spend it in two weeks to pay off debts, and in any case, she had men hitting on her, offering to take her on a ride in their private jets. She played the role of a female barracuda.[/quote]
Given her looks and talents, she would have been a perfect winner. She would have looked good on the billboards. But she lost because of her arrogance. Attitude is everything: this is the lesson of TBOSS’s disgrace and humiliation. When she was sent out of the House as the second runner-up, the viewing centre in Ikeja, Lagos, including Kemen whose nemesis she was, danced in joy. “They are taunting me?” she asked Ebuka, the anchor. No, sweetheart, they were making a far more serious statement about you. The melodramatic ending of Big Brother Naija 2017 is its only redeeming outcome.
Bisola, the first runner up does not even have a degree but she showed talent and resolve, even if her whorish flirtation with Thin Tall Tony is so cheap and self-denigrating. Her One-Nigeria consolation prize is something big she should take seriously.
[quote font_size=”18″ font_style=”italic” color=”#000000″ bgcolor=”#ddbc87″ bcolor=”#dd3333″ arrow=”yes”]Efe won because of his humility. He is considered the poorest and the most needy of the contestants. Patrons of the programme chose to vote for the contestant who looked and sounded like he would need the money and the opportunity. They gave him a chance in life, although the organisers must ensure that going forward, the show does not become a poverty alleviation scheme. Bisola came second because she too looked like she needed help. Debbie Rise and Marvis also made the finals, but that was meant to be a great compliment to their good conduct, but they didn’t have enough support to make it to the top.[/quote]
TBOSS is the main star who lost. I hope she was taken out of South Africa with a private jet or maybe a submarine! Beauty is not everything, baby.
TBoss, Bisola, ThinTallTony and Gifty
Lesson four: Marketing helps. Branding is everything. Propaganda is profitable. Packaging is nice. Big Brother Naija is nothing but marketing, branding, propaganda, and packaging. A reality show is supposed to be nothing but reality, virtual reality as it happens, but let no one deceive you, everything that happened in the 70 days of BBNaija was packaged, marketed, carefully branded and manipulated. Ebuka, the Big Brother, thumbs up, the scenic designers, kudos, the content developers, three hearty cheers, Multichoice, you guys are the smartest capitalists around, well done! The finale was a bit overdone though, dragged out, over-delayed. Tiwa Savage (hey baby, watch that growing fat around your waist and thigh), Tuface (thanks, TuBaba but next time tell Annie to twerk for us- what was that!). In all, the power of television was well advertised.
Now the hard knocks: I rate the theatre high but I consider the whole show a sham, a 419 manipulative effort by a corporate agency, long overdue for an ethical review and scrutiny, a bad influence on corporate ethics. The owners of the programme are just a bunch of insultive, manipulative and exploitative capitalists, feeding on public need for distraction and the negligence of the authorities. Big Brother Naija 2017 is something that should never happen again in the shape we have seen. If Multichoice as a corporate investor wants to make a contribution to Nigeria, it must find ways of doing so in more meaningful forms.
Reality shows have become an established form on television, but whereas there are reality shows that promote talent, music, human capability and genius, enhanced relationships, and intellect, Multichoice, through its Big Brother Naija and Big Brother Africa franchises seems committed to the promotion of base values, chiefly adultery, prostitution, love of money, nudity and sex. What just ended as Big Brother Naija 2017 was nothing other than the corralling of some human beings into a zoo, pressured to behave like nothing but animals. The organisers made money devaluing other human beings.
[quote font_size=”18″ font_style=”italic” color=”#000000″ bgcolor=”#ddbc87″ bcolor=”#dd3333″ arrow=”yes”]Multichoice and Payporte, the sponsors, turned alcohol and pornography into a legitimate sport.[/quote]
TBOSS and the other girls kissed and got groped by the boys on live television putting their upbringing to shame. TBOSS, who claimed she didn’t need the money even exposed her breasts on live television more than once. I have seen better breasts TBOSS. I am not too sure those private jet owners will be excited by your fluffy, South-looking, slightly bigger than mangoes breasts. If the same men see bigger assets, I mean, those interesting Ojiakor-like ones that look like papayas, pineapples and watermelons, they will not send private jets, they will deploy submarines and fighter jets! And that ‘s why you got N500k in the end, way back behind Bisola with her hard facial features, and Efe whose victory is based on poverty logistics and appeal. But I have no doubt that TBOSS will end up doing better in the larger, outside market than the other finalists, because even those who did not vote for her, know in their hearts that she represents the message of the programme.
[quote font_size=”18″ font_style=”italic” color=”#000000″ bgcolor=”#ddbc87″ bcolor=”#dd3333″ arrow=”yes”]It is a wrong message and that is why Big Brother Naija drew more audience in Southern Nigeria than in the North. In the last week of the programme, every town in Southern Nigeria was seized by the #BBNaija fever. Prayers were offered in churches for Efe. One lady threatened to commit suicide if Efe did not win. Another one said she would not stop crying until Efe won. Nollywood stars declared support for housemates. There was Team Bisola, Team Efe, EfeNation, TBOSSNation, TeamDebbieRise (small), TeamMarvis (even smaller). There were public processions even in universities. We were told how to vote. Twitter was on fire. What I saw was nothing but sheer madness. T-shirts were printed. One musician turned his personal car into a billboard. Nigeria became a madhouse because of one reality television show. It looked like mass hypnotism at work.[/quote]
But it should not be allowed to happen again. BBNaija should not be hosted and staged in South Africa as has been the case. Multichoice, Payporte and their partners made crazy money and got brand promotion off the back and sweat of Nigerians. Do the maths; we got peanuts in return. We were told BBNaija could not be staged in Nigeria due to electricity problems so the studio had to be in South Africa. And the Nigerian government looked the other way. Wawu! All the billions that the South Africans are running away with, after giving our boy a Kia SUV and some N25m, who is going to collect the Value Added Tax on that? Nigeria or South Africa? See the real Gobbe! All the staff who worked on the programme with extremely marginal exception were South Africans. Where were the Nigerians? Abi, Lobatan oh.
The Nigerian government must assert itself. Nobody henceforth must brand anything involving primary production, Nigerian off Nigerian soil. We can’t get far by wearing made-in-Nigerian clothes on Mondays and Wednesdays, turning the country into an extension of Nollywood, but we can gain a lot by insisting that economic production and profit based on Nigerian talent and resource must have significant Nigerian content.
Congratulations Efe; the grace of God is forever sufficient, but sorry Nigeria.
The Presidency has disclosed that a number of deceitful and ghost projects were awarded under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Many of the projects were said to be merely on paper and no payment was made for their start-up.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, revealed these in an interview program on Express Radio in Kano on Tuesday.
Noting that a number of projects existed on paper are now being activated, he cited the Kano-Katsina dual road project as an example of what he called “deceitful and ghost projects now being given life.”
“Kano-Katsina dual highway was awarded three years ago by the last administration. They didn’t pay a kobo for its start-up. President Buhari just paid money for the first tranche of 75 kilometres and work has begun apace.” He stated
He said that Nigeria is taking a giant leap in infrastructure development by speeding up ongoing projects and investing heavily in the construction and repair of highways, railways and power generating plants across the country.
The Buhari administration, he said, had chosen to fast-track projects related to infrastructure in order to pump money into the economy as a way of pulling the economy out of recession.
To this end, he said that an unprecedented amount of N750 Billion Naira has been released for capital projects in the last five months and that counterpart funds for the take-off of the USD 11 billion Kano-Lagos rail project had been paid.
He described the essence of infrastructure in the country’s economic as an equivalent of the arteries forming the bloodstream in the body.
“Without infrastructure, the country will not witness growth,” he noted.
On the resurgence of militancy and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region, Malam Garba appealed to militants to maintain peace in the region as the President seeks a permanent solution to the problems that are worrisome to every citizen.
“We must keep national interest above all else and give priority to eschewing violence and destruction,” he urged.
The Presidential spokesman expressed regrets that despite its good faith in pursuing dialogue with the Niger Delta stakeholders, the militant groups have not reciprocated the government’s good gesture in finding the peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis in the oil-producing areas of Nigeria.
“Despite the government’s practical demonstration of goodwill by bringing the parties or stakeholders to the round table, the militant groups have continued to blow up national economic assets.”
According to Malam Garba, the continued destruction of oil installations, including those repaired, has thrown a spanner in the works, causing enormous hardships on innocent Nigerians on account of declining oil production output and massive losses of revenues, which in turn, badly affect the ability of governments at all levels to meet their basic obligations, including payment of salaries.
While cautioning that violence brings no benefits to anybody, he appealed to Niger Delta leaders at all levels to exert every influence they have to stop the violence and economic sabotage “so that normalcy returns to the region.”
Fifty-five people stole N1.3trillion from the national treasury in seven years under President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has said.
The committee said Jonathan tolerated corruption, closed his eyes to graft while his administration fared worse than his predecessors in tackling official sleaze.
In its report of activities from August 2015 to July 2016 presented to civil society organisations (CSOs) by its Executive Secretary Prof Bolaji Owasanoye during an interactive session in Abuja Thursday, PACAC said corruption brought Nigeria under to its knees under Jonathan.
The report says: “His (Jonathan’s) tolerance of corruption was reflected in the sunset of activities of anti-corruption agencies under his watch and exponential increase of other vices no doubt fuel by corruption.
“For example, it is widely believed that insecurity escalated because of the massive embezzlement of $2billion through the Office of the National Security Adviser under the leadership of Col. Sambo Dasuki, who allegedly diverted the money appropriated to fight insurgency.
“The problems in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry reached zenith with multi-billion dollars subsidy scams while President Jonathan looked the other way.
“At the same time, other vices spread like cancer – kidnapping, import duty waivers, financial recklessness, a profligate legislature, corrupt judiciary, etc. There was no single high profile conviction under his watch yet there were allegations of high profile corruption within his cabinet.
“Jonathan’s legendary comment that stealing is not corruption underscored his perspective on corruption and remains a watershed in the history of anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria.
“Under his watch, corruption brought Nigeria to its knees.”
PACAC said using World Bank rates, one-third of the N1.3trillion allegedly stolen by only 55 people in seven years could have provided 635.18 kilometers of roads, built 36 ultra-modern hospitals in each state, built and furnished 183 schools, educated 3,974 people from primary to tertiary level (at N25.2million per child) and built 20,062 units of two-bedroom houses.
The committee noted that while former President Olusegun Obasanjo established key anti-corruption agencies which led to high-profile convictions even though “his actions were not above board”, the crusade against corruption went comatose from 2007 “largely due to leadership deficit”.
PACAC said corruption is Nigeria’s greatest challenge and is directly associated with the current economic decline, poverty rates, reduced life expectancy, mortality and deteriorated living standards.
Owasanoye said due to corruption, a few Nigerians were richer than their states, while plea bargaining was abused as people who stole the country dry were given slaps on the wrist and asked to go home.
He said PACAC has designed a Plea Bargain Manual which mandates custodial sentence for all those who plead guilty of looting after returning all they stole.
Other strategy documents developed by PACAC and adopted by the government, he said, are a draft National Anti-Corruption Action Plan and Strategy Document, Corruption Case Management Manual (full and abridged versions), Corruption Information/Intelligence Sharing Protocol, and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Corruption and other Related Economic Offences.
Others are the Strategic Communication Blueprint for FGN in the Fight Against Corruption, Assets Recovery Strategy Document, Framework for Management and Administration of Recovered Stolen Assets, Draft Bill and Explanatory Memorandum for the Establishment of Special Crimes Court, amongst others.
Ijaw youths across the various clans in the Niger Delta on Thursday staged a massive protest in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State over what they described as the persecution of former President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife Dame Patience and other close associates.
The youths, in a large number, carried several placards with inscriptions that condemned sponsored media attacks and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s conspiratorial prosecution of the former first family.
The group demanded an immediate cessation of what it called state-sponsored attacks and warned of a complete shutdown of oil installations should they persist.
It would be recalled that the EFCC ordered the freeze of accounts belonging to the former first lady and through media outlets have bandied several amounts allegedly held by Mrs. Jonathan as being proceeds from crimes.
Some lawyers, while insisting on Mrs. Jonathan’s innocence have insisted that the EFCC is being sensational with the issue as the bank balances of her accounts are far less than the various figures being touted. Mrs. Jonathan on her part has sued the management of Skye Bank in a joint suit with the EFCC.
Former Minister of Environment, Mrs. Laurentia Laraba Malam and her husband have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along Bwari axis of Abuja-Kaduna highway.
They were kidnapped on Monday evening on their way to Kaduna from Abuja.
Laraba Malam was minister for about nine months during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Meanwhile, The Nation learnt that the kidnappers have demanded N10m ransom.
Kaduna State Police Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the State, ASP Aliyu Usman confirmed the incident, saying the command has set its dragnet to rescue the victims.
The victims were said to have been seized in the presence of their driver whom they released to release the information to the family.
Reported cases of kidnapping in Kaduna State are on the rise though the police say they are trying their best to bring the situation under control.
Youths from Ogbia, the Local Government Area of former President Goodluck Jonathan, in Bayelsa State, Saturday, warned against linking Jonathan to the notorious militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
Rising from their meeting in Ogbia, the youth wing of the famous Ogbia Brotherhood defended Jonathan saying it was unthinkable for the former President to contemplate violence against anybody especially against Nigeria, a country he loves so much.
The National President, Ogbia Brotherhood Youth Wing (OBYW), Dr. Laguo Gilbert, insisted that Jonathan has no avenging traits, describing him as a man of peace and father of modern democracy in Africa.
Gilbert said: “History has it that even from his youth, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been a humble peace-lover who values good and quality education. This is why with such great thoughts he was able to grow to this current political position not minding his background.
“Moreover, Dr. Jonathan’s political activities from deputy governor to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were in line with his true thoughts and characters which anchor on of peace, integrity and drive for quality education. Truly, this has been demonstrated in last 2015 general election”.
He said it was senseless and stupid to think that Jonathan who saved Nigeria from bloodshed by willingly handing over to the opposition would think of sponsoring a violent gang against the same country.
“This is why, the Ogbia Brotherhood youths wonder why detractors and enemies of progress would at this time come up with falsehood to intentionally deceive the public and discredit the former president”, he said.
Gilbert said while in various offices as political a leader, Jonathan recorded tremendous contributions towards nations building, and has remained consistent in that position as a former president.
He said: “Therefore, it is totally unreasonable for any group to intentionally drag this famous name to the mud. We the Ogbia Brotherhood Youths have discovered that the recent publication is not just senseless and baseless but also lacks merit and extremely unreasonable. It does not reflects the true character of Dr. Jonathan.
“We the Ogbia people are equally affected negatively by the activities of the militant groups in the Niger Delta just as every other Nigerian. We have been on the same page with other good Nigerians to finding lasting solutions to resolve this menace. Therefore, will not allow unreasonable utterances against the name of Dr. Jonathan.
“The Ogbia Brotherhood youths and the entire good people of Ogbia Kingdom condemn and reject these good-for nothing-elements and their wicked attitude. We warn that this must stop. Time for elections are far gone and what is required now is reasonable contribution towards moving Nigeria forward.
“We appeal to the general public to continually disregard these disgruntled elements capable of inciting negative impacts in society as their view remains senseless and selfish.
“Ogbia is known for peace and will at all time demonstrate peaceful coexistence. We encourage all well-meaning Nigerians to join hands with the government in making a better Nigeria”.
After been away from my second home for four years to study abroad, I visited Maiduguri in July 2014 for a week and decided to see a friend of mine at Bulumkutu Abuja.
As soon as it was time for the late afternoon prayers known as Asr, I asked him to accompany me to the mosque in the neighbourhood for congregational prayers.
He declined. Jokingly, he said he will not be responsible for anything that happens to me at the mosque as Boko Haram had agents in every mosque in Maiduguri, knowingly fully well that many people in the neighborhood knew I have been out of the country for a while.
He conveyed a very important message to me in a sarcastic manner, that the people had their hearts in their mouth as Boko Haram was a government within a government.
The people seem to have seen phases of the insurgency from when the governor publicly broke down in tears seeing hundreds of his people killed by suicide bombs and threat of removal from then President Goodluck Jonathan. When I met Governor Kashim Shettima later, my fears were confirmed. He looked frail, with gray hair on his head and moustache like a troubled village head indicating stress and laughter seems to have taken flight from his face for a while. This is a story for another day.
When I look at the situation in Borno two years ago and make a comparison with the condition of the people today, the situation has improved tremendously. The mere fact Eid-el-Fitr was celebrated without restriction of movement and major roads are now open for the first time in five years means the place is gradually living up to its former reputation as ‘’Home of Peace”.
A semblance of cultural activities taking place at the Shehu of Borno’s palace also underscore the sacrifice made by our gallant soldiers led by the Chief of Army Staff(COAS),General Yusuf Tukur Buratai and Governor Kashim Shettima for taking away Borno from opposition politics. I do not know what the situation would have been like if the state was still under an opposition party even under President Muhammadu Buhari.
The appointment of the trio of Babagana Monguno as National Security Adviser who hails from Monguno in Northern Borno,Buratai from Biu local government area in Southern Borno as COAS and Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as chief of Air Staff respectively underscores the vision of the Buhari administration in tackling the Boko Haram scourge.
The duo of Monguno and Buratai apart from being sons of the soil,their knowledge of the terrain has been a great blessing and also been personally affected by the insurgency has given the operation the needed bite and commitment. Air Marshal Sadique is also conversant with the terrain having served in the state during the military era that his records as a young officer then remain unbeaten in Borno today.
The Boko Haram insurgency and the attendant loss of lives and property that will take states affected four decades to recover fully was due to complacency and negligence. Anyone who was at the Ibn Taimiyya Mosque and listened to Late Mohammed Yusuf’s last sermon in July 2009 few days after members of the Operation Flush attacked his members for not putting on their crash helmet will not be surprised to see many towns reduced to rubbles today.
Apart from TELL magazine and Daily Trust newspaper that did a marvelous job of interpreting what the threat from Yusuf meant for peace and national security, every other medium treated it as a normal story. The government of the day and security apparatus saw the matter differently. The rest is history.
‘’Gama Aiki’’ the code name for the ongoing military operation in the North East to crush Boko Haram which in Hausa literally means getting the job done is the first step in fighting insurgency. This is because Boko Haram tapped into structural and economic defects in Borno society especially in the ten local governments of Northern Borno. The political class in this Senatorial zone institutionalized the culture of laziness and dependency among youths especially those within the age of 20-30years. This accounts for why places like Monguno, Damasak, Marte, Baga and Abadam became their stronghold until our soldiers crushed or chased them away.
Out of the ten local government areas in Northern Borno that has produced three governors namely Mohammed Goni, Asheik Jarma and Maina Maa’ji Lawan, only Baga town in Kukawa local government has a vibrant economy where young people can earn a living on daily basis, thanks to the fishing business. All other towns have no single industry where youths can earn a living.
Their only industry is the secretariat of the local government where the chairman doles out peanuts to idle young men once a month after paying salaries. Of these towns, the case Mallam Fatori which is the headquarters of Abadam local government area that has produced three speakers for the state house of assembly namely Bulama Fugu, Goni Ali Modu and AbdulRahman Lawan is the worst.
They are cut off from civilization due to desert encroachment and their only source of affordable healthcare is Bosso in Niger republic. In addition, the desert has so much eaten into the Abadam that only a four wheel drive vehicle can take one there and it will cost five times what it will cost one to build a block of classroom in Maiduguri.
This is why Nigerian soldiers currently serving in Northern Borno deserve our support and prayers because it is the most difficult terrain to fight an unknown enemy especially in the rainy season. Professor Bulakarima, Bulama Fugu, Goni Ali Modu, other sons and daughters of Abadam can prove me wrong if I am exaggerating. This is why I laugh whenever I hear Niger Delta youths complaining that they have environmental problems. This is because if the people of Abadam alone decide to use the Niger Delta approach to draw government attention to their plight, then the situation will be very messy.
If the federal government and the state government are really committed to ending the insurgency, it must begin to think beyond just rebuilding houses for the people to return home. This is because resettling people without putting in place economic structures for young people to realize their potential is rubbishing the gains of Operation ‘’Gama Aiki’ . Nigeria can never win the war against Boko Haram if these ten local government areas do not have small scale industries like block making,welding, carpentry, shoe making, packaged water and so- on where young people can earn a daily pay. This remains the only way to block Boko Haram from indoctrinating young men and recruiting them for suicide missions.
The absorption of some members of the Civilian Joint Task Force into the Nigerian army last week is indeed commendable, but still like a drop in the ocean. I was happy when I read in the newspapers a few days ago that the National Assembly has passed the law for the establishment of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) with headquarters in Maiduguri. While this development is commendable, it is too early to celebrate until the commission takes off and begin to implement laudable programs. This is because the disagreement over where the headquarters of the commission will be located that almost killed the bill is an indication that the political class is looking at it as another version of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) where contract bazaar and elephant projects will be executed for private pockets. The federal and state government must realize that should they fail to make the commission work, build small scale industries in the area, then the aftermath will be catastrophic.
The state and federal government must come up with a deliberate program that will address the needs of children orphaned by Boko Haram living in camps across the state and ensure they grow up to be responsible citizens. Efforts should gear towards minimizing the effects of the loss of their parents by catering for the educational, social and economic needs. It is traumatizing enough that some children will grow up not knowing either of their parents due to the activities of some lunatics acting in the name of religion.
When the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) eventually return home, there is need for psychologists and psychiatrists who will help people dealing with trauma. Some of these IDPs will not comprehend the effect of the horrifying scenes they witnessed before fleeing their homes until they return to begin life afresh in their various communities once again.
Other states should learn a lesson from what is happening in the North East. After all, a Hausa proverb says ‘’once your neighbour’s beard is on fire, quickly apply water to yours’’. This means other states should not gnash their teeth and think such can never happen in their domain. The insurgency is a just a microcosm of the larger Nigerian problem and reaction to the absence of good governance and corruption. In the South West, we have “Area Boys and Omo Onile”, the North West has Yan Daba” and the South East has ‘’Ndi Agboro”. The National Bureau of Statistics captures it more succinctly when it said recently that seventy percent of Nigerian youth are unemployed. These are potential time bomb waiting to explode. The resultant effect of youth employment in these areas may be worse than Boko Haram. The state and federal government must look for ways of creating job opportunities for youths as the private sector in Nigeria is still not vibrant enough to be the largest employer of labour.
The sacrifice of our gallant soldiers who laid their lives for peace to return to the North East must not be in vain. State and federal government must come together to put structures in place for youth employment and carryout environmental impact assessment of farmlands in these areas so that the people can make use of their farms in the near future. Nigeria cannot afford another form of insurgency in whatever form as the consequences are better imagined than said.
Lawal, a Public Commentator writes from Boston, United States and can be reached at rafla2002pl@yahoo.com
Students of the National Film Institute (NFI), Jos, Plateau State, yesterday embarked on protest where they asked for the removal of the Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), managers of the institution, Mr Danjuma Dadu.
Activities of the school and the NFC were brought to a halt since Tuesday when the staff of the corporation kick-started the strike that was soon joined by the students.
According to the protesters who milled outside the Corporation’s headquarters before taking to the streets, the staff were told to convene for a promotion exam on Monday, the sixth time since last year, after which nothing was done. They also cited non-payment of allowances and a decline in the administration of the corporation as the reason for the protest rally.
Holding placards with inscriptions such as ‘Seven years no promotion’, ‘Fed Govt Help us’, ‘No to personal interest’, ‘Dadu (MD NFC) is a bricklayer not a filmmaker’, ‘Dadu (MD NFC) must go’, ‘Pay us all our allowances’ and ‘This slavery must stop,’ they also took to the social media where they vent their displeasure of the Dadu’s leadership.
It was the first-of-its-kind protest since the establishment of the corporation in 1979.
In some of the grievances on the social media, Manasseh Whyte said: ‘The NFC has a lot of innovation to put in place in order to add immensely to the development of the film industry. The only good thing about the NFC as it is now is the NFI; even that as I heard, is been affected seriously. The NFC needs to take seriously the reasons for its establishment.’
Otuogbodor Andrew on his part, was cynic saying, ‘They are just realizing the absence of vision of the corporation. I laugh!’
Complaints about the management of NFC and the NFI by staff and students respectively had been rife.
‘Now I wonder why the students did not join in this struggle,’ said Okeagu Ikechukwu Henry, a filmmaker, advocating that students also possessed the power to influence what he considered as the rot in NFC.
‘If only they knew the power they had to make their filmic education grow. But I’m glad the staff has come out to fight for what is right. These things should stop in even other sectors. He killed the school and wants to kill the staff with his polices’
Thus, when the students began their protest yesterday, they cited lack of requisite training facilities as some of the problems confronting them. The students in one voice also denounced the school administration and called for a change.
“We need all help, from the Media to transform the National film Institute, Jos,” Agbo Kelly said, complaining that they couldn’t have a degree and couldn’t participate in the National Youth Service Corps, while Ejim Fortune Kezi said, ‘NFI’s autonomy is the only solution to this nonsense!!! Aluta continue my peeps! Kudos.’
Another student, Friday Nwagwu, also said: ‘When we protested lack of equipment and facilities in NFI and our admission was threatened, what did we get as a response from staffs?’
‘The rat wey bite me don enter somebody’s house. Fight for your right, oh.’
However, by yesterday evening, NFC’s Public Affairs Officer, Ngozi Udoh, in a telephone call with The Nation, said all the issues have been resolved.
“The issues that generated the protest has been resolved,” Udoh said.
“It was just a small minor misunderstanding based on our promotion that ought to have held yesterday (Tuesday) but because of some logistics, the promotion was not held. But as I am talking to you now, we have just finished the promotion exercise. So everything has been resolved. The management, the union, we had a meeting, the managing director addressed the staff in the morning where everything has been amicably resolved.”
She said the managing director also met with the union of the NFI.
“The MD has also met with the student representatives in the morning. He had a meeting with them. And he has also promised to look into the issues. They also had one or two issues that they wanted management to look into. And MD has promised them. As we are talking, we are in the facility of the NFI. And because the issues were amicably addressed, they (students) allowed us to use the facility for the promotion exam.”
Dadu has been hugely criticised for lack of professionalism and transparent leadership since he took over as MD of the corporation in 2013.
It was the first time a non-film practitioner was made the MD of the NFC. This, many condemned as one of the faults of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Dadu is an Engineer who was made MD despite huge protest by Nigerian filmmakers.
