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Tag: regret

  • I regret supporting Buhari, says Kwankwaso

    Former Kano State Governor Abiu Musa Kwankwaso has said he and others who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014, to support President Muhammadu Buhari against then President Goodluck Jonathan, are regretting their action.

    Kwankwaso, a presidential aspirant, who was in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on a consultation visit to PDP members, condemned President Buhari’s approach to “reviving the economy”.

    The senator condemned the poor state of infrastructure in the Southeast, saying the anomaly could only be corrected by a change of government at the centre next year.

    He hoped that the PDP would form the government at the centre and in many states.

    Kwankwaso said Nigerians were fed up with the All Progressives Congress (APC), “and will be happy seeing PDP return to power.”

    “From North to South, the citizens are looking for a government that will not place emphasis on religion, ethnicity and culture, but national development. The PDP government shall bring development, create platforms and provide jobs for Nigerians.

    “I have been in Southeast in the last few days. The state of infrastructure in this region is incredible. It is either that the government lacks the capacity to improve the economy or something. Electricity is important in this country. The people need a government that will be just and provide employment for teeming young Nigerians,” he said.

    Elder statesman and PDP Board of Trustee (BoT) member Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu described Kwankwaso as a good material for the president.

    He urged Nigerians to join PDP to “vote out a government that has failed the country.”

    State PDP Chairman Charles Ezekwem, represented by his Deputy, Martin Ejiogu, said the Igbo would only vote for a presidential candidate that would restructure the country and create an additional state in the region.

  • ‘Nigerians won’t regret electing Buhari in 2019’

    ‘Nigerians won’t regret electing Buhari in 2019’

    Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello has said Nigerians will not regret electing President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in 2019.

    According to him, if President Buhari does not contest on 2019, the country will face economic challenges and may eventually fall back into recession.

    Sani-Bello spoke when he received the people of his hometown, Kontagora, at the Government House in Minna.

    He said the support declared by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors was to ensure continuity and sustainability of Buhari’s good work of reviving the country from its economic woes and fighting corruption.

    “If President Muhammadu Buhari does not contest in 2019, there will be problem in solving the enormous challenges facing the country because he is truthful, fair and just in administering the country.”

    Bello, who urged Nigerians to support Buhari’s endorsement, said Nigeria would be greater under his administration.

    He thanked the people for the visit and for calls for recontest, even as he assured them that ongoing projects in Kontagora and other parts of the state would be completed.

    The Coordinator, Muazu Bawa Rijau, said the people were satisfied with the governor’s achievements in the last three years hence, the call for him to recontest.

  • My only regret, by 85-yr-old ex-Perm Sec

    My only regret, by 85-yr-old ex-Perm Sec

    TODAY, you are marking your 85th birthday but before now, many had thought that your birthday fell on September 6, but you have just discovered that it was on October 1, how do you feel about this?

    I want to say that it is the grace of God and sheer coincidence. Let me go back to history a bit. About October 1951, we were to go to Ilesha Grammar School to write the Senior Cambridge Certificate Examination. Ilesha Grammar School was the nearest centre to Ekiti then. Those of us who were in Form Six in Christ’s School were asked to either go and swear to an affidavit or bring birth certificate as to our age. And in those days, asking a Form Six student to go and bring a birth certificate then was like asking him for the moon. What was a birth certificate to a rural boy like myself?

    So, what happened then was that I went to the Assistant District Officer (ADO)’s office to swear to an affidavit and just guessed that I must have been born on September 6, 1931 being on a Sunday and I stuck to that up to about six months ago when I was going through my father’s handwritten diary. He opened the diary in 1913 and I saw the diary, I saw the notation about all his children in order of seniority. And I saw the one about me where he wrote 1, in figure October, 1931 and in Yoruba he said “eyi je ojo ti abi bose Ladeji” (the day I was given birth to). So, I had to write to my children to apologise that I have misled them and they have to accept it in happy mood.

    Particularly, as you said, the date coincided with the independence of Nigeria and the creation of Ekiti, my beloved state. How fulfilled are you as you are marking your birthday?

    It is providential, work of God. The coincidence is so revealing of the handiwork of God in my life. I took up the fight for a separate identity for Ekiti gratuitously like that, headlong without minding what problems or headache that I would face. I had just retired as a permanent secretary at the old Ondo State and I moved to this building then, it was new then.

    My experience both in the Western Region and Ondo State informed me that except we here got a state of our own, we would not achieve the maximum of which God has earmarked for us.

    So, I got a few friends , picked them from the then 12 local governments of Ekiti sector of the old Ondo and we were holding meetings in my main sitting room bi-monthly on Wednesdays. Hence, we called ourselves the Wednesday Group. So the third meeting of that group, we changed our name to the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State because it was our primary objective which we concealed until time was appropriate. We also went to enlist the support of the Obas led by the present Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, and together with the Council of Obas, we struggled for six and half years before we got Ekiti State.

    Now, as a person, I’m completely fulfilled because I’m contented with my lot in life. Look at me, I was born and raised in a rural area, although with strict parental discipline. I was lucky to go to some of the best schools around. I went to Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti. I went to Fourah Bay College which was founded in 1823. I went to the University College, Ibadan. I went to the University of Ife, for short courses; I went to the World Bank headquarters in Washington to do graduate studies in project management. I went to the University of Pennsylvania to do project analysis. All these were to prepare me for the life which God put me through later.

    And today, I lack nothing; the basic things of life, my needs are so modest, God does not give me my wants, He gives me my needs. I thank God for the situation, so I’m fulfilled. But it is another thing for the state.

    Can you share some of the places you have worked?

    I arrived in the country in December 1959 after I graduated in Economics from Freetown, I started work with the UAC which was a big conglomerate with more investment than any other group in West Africa. I was the first graduate employee. Two of us, late Jide Faloye of Akure and I, were employed.

    The other African managers who came before us moved along the management ladder from salesman to sales supervisor etc. We came in straight as management trainees. So, I was the first Nigerian graduate to be a manager of the UAC. So, I worked in Ibadan, Warri, Sapele as sales manager for the company. I left the place in 1962 and got appointment with then West Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC) located at the Secretariat. I worked then in the industrial office. Later they transferred me to Lagos, Ikeja Industrial Estate. The Western Region then extended to Eti-Osa, from Sapele, Asaba, Benin to Lagos.

    At the Ikeja Industrial Estate, we had about 12 associated companies and subsidiaries. They built an office for me and it was the best in Ikeja then. I was supervising government investments, Dunlop Industries, Nigerian Textile Mills, Guinness and gulvanised iron sheets, they were about eight of them in Ikeja then.

    I had some companies in Ilupeju and Apapa Industrial Estates.

    Later I was transferred back to Ibadan in 1963. It marked the beginning of the turmoil between Awolowo and Akintola. Unfortunately, some of us were seen to have taken sides with Awolowo and we were sent out of the public service, I topping the list because I was the most senior officer.

    So, I went out and got appointment with SO Oil, which was the then biggest oil company followed by Mobil, as sales representative and later sales supervisor until after the first coup when Adekunle Fajuyi was transferred to Ibadan as military governor. He then sent out what amounted to an instruction that anybody who was sent out in the previous regime, out of the public service without any blemish other than political, should be retained and made to return to his earlier post. But what happened was that before that instruction was carried out, there was this other coup in July same year, 1966 when Fajuyi and his boss, then military head of state, Major-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, were killed.

    It however fell on to the luck of now General Adeyinka Adebayo (then Brigadier Adebayo), who succeeded Fajuyi, to carry on the instruction of his younger brother and I came in then as personnel officer, industrial officer and so on got more promotions.

    Later on WNDC was changed to Industrial Investment and Credit Corporation (IICC), the predecessor of now Oodua investment. I rose from industrial officer to industrial manager.

    What later happened was that there was another coup, which led to the shedding of overweight officers in the public service. The public service then consisted of the civil service proper, statutory corporations, the judiciary and the academia. Some professors, permanent secretaries and general managers were sent out and the criteria then were old age, low productivity and absence of integrity and such like. I was then Director of Investment in the IICC, and only had a boss above me. He was General Manager. Even though I was more qualified than him, he had come from the favoured place, Ogun, which had always been more favoured from those of us from Ondo province.

    He didn’t send my name to be retired at first but Major Gen. David Jemibewon was the governor and he was insisting then that there must be some people in the IICC who met any of the criteria too.

    So, he had to send my name among eight others. The others were just messengers, cleaners, and some of them were eighty years old, while others were above 70. I was about 49 then and the retirement age was 55. So, I didn’t qualify for the retrenchement in any shape or form but I was just the next to him in the department. But he had picked me out as his enemy because I asked too many questions. I didn’t compromise and I didn’t hobnob. If you asked me to do 10 units of work, I would do 12. I made sure that there was nothing that you could criticise me for. He was compelled to send some names, he sent nine names and my name topped the list of the people to be retired.

    Unfortunately for him, the then Secretary to the Government and Head of Service, referred the letter to the governor. Later on I got the information about what transpired between the head of service and the governor. The head of service had said that this is the list from the IICC in Cocoa House. ‘This one was promoted director six months ago. His name has been listed as number one among the people to go. Your Excellency might wish to direct that I should ask the General Manager why number one should go.’ This is because he didn’t specify which of the criteria I met there.

    So, when GM got that information, he wrote back that ‘I’m sorry, the others should go, this number should be retained’ but when Jemibewon saw the letter, he literarily hit the roofs and wrote back with a red biro: ‘This man is dishonest,’ he undelined dishonest.

    ‘He should go now.’ He underlined now. ‘Fasuan should take his place.’ That was how I became the Chief Executive of the IICC by accident. And the one hitherto above me was dismissed for lack of evidence for recommending someone who was okay to be retired.

    That was the situation of things until Ondo State was created in 1976 and my corporation was changed to a limited liability company, Oodua Investment Company.

    The portfolio of Oodua Investment Company today, I donated 70 percent of them all.

    The first military governor of Ondo State literally begged me to come to Ondo State and perform the same duty I was doing in Ibadan. To head the IICC in Ondo State which was the hen that was laying the golden eggs then. So I came to Akure and founded the IICC branch of Ondo and within a year, I built the corporation which till today remains the best public corporation building in Akure. I ran a very profitable company, but the politicians came in 1979, and they had their eyes on my corporation. The secretary of the party, UPN, a late friend of mine from Akure, Bunmi Adegbonmire,said he wanted to be the full-time chairman of the company instead of part-time chairman of the then Ondo State Investment Corporation. And he gave it as a condition then that Fasuan must be moved as General Manager and the then governor, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, complied because he was the secretary of the party then.

    They gave him a commissioner in the state then but he refused and opted for the corporation.  I have been receiving persecution because of my strong beliefs and principles, and I have no regrets. So, I was moved to be General Manager of the Water Corporation. The headquarters of Ondo State Water Corporation then was in Ondo town, so I was commuting between Ondo and Akure on a daily basis and I was always the one to get to the office first before every other person.

    When I got to Ondo, I met some funny things. First of all, I was regarded as an outsider. The edict setting up the Ondo Water Corporation required an engineer, not just an engineer but a civil engineer to be the chief executive and I was a common economist. So, they went to the House, moved a motion, threatening Ajasin with impeachment if he failed to remove me again. Ajasin had to remove me again the third time. In all the three times I was removed, the only one I can say I took responsibility for was the first time we were asked to leave public service because we took sides with Awolowo against Akintola as public servants.

    They sent me out of the Water Corporation until later then they made up their mind and made me a permanent secretary in February 1980 and I moved to several miniseries before another coup again took place and I became a victim of that coup again. They didn’t want Ekiti boys in the public service in Akure, Ondo State capital, then. We were about 52 percent of the workforce then. An Akure man was installed military administrator, he was Bamidele Otiko. He was incidentally my junior by three years in Christ’s School. They asked Otiko to dismiss me but because he couldn’t find anything against me, he had to sent me to what we used to call “Kwara posting” then. He sent me to Ado-Ekiti which was called “Kwara posting” or punishment posting then. He sent me as General Manager, Agric. They swore that they knew Fasuan, he would resign the next day, but they were disappointed, I didn’t resign. I resigned at the age of 55 in 1986, the statutory age, as permanent secretary, General Manager.  I kept my cool, did my work and had enough time to build this house. I had very little to do and was closer to my people.

    So, I began to think that my experience Western Region and Ondo State demands that God has kept my life so that I can do something. I was preaching within myself that I have overcome several cases of persecution, so as to do something for myself.

    So, I founded a body called the Wednesday Group in which we collected about 24 Ekiti indigenes. Their pictures are with me. There were three structures of those of us who participated in the creation of Ekiti State. First was my committee, the second was the Council of Obas whose support we got through the Ewi as we realised our limitations to speak to the Federal Government as ordinary Nigerians. The Ewi, who was barely three months old on throne then, did us very proud as he gathered all the Obas and gave us the opportunity to speak with them and convince them on the project.

    Some of my colleagues in our own committee were my late deputy, the late Jonny Ajayi; the treasurer, the late Ojo Falegan from Ado; the financial secretary, Dr. Kunle Olajide, of Efon, Director of Social; the late Victor Omodara of Oye-Ekiti; media director, Dr. Aladetoyinbo from Ado-Ekiti and many others. I must also mention this, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) also played a prominent role in our struggle for statehood. He was doing it singlehandedly in Ibadan. He had easy access to the ruling military. He used that access to enhance our capability to having a state. It was Babalola who pleaded our case formally before the Arthur Mbanefo panel for state and local government creations. It was he who delivered all our papers to them. He did this wonderfully well.

    Would you say that the visions and dreams as founding fathers of Ekiti have been achieved?

    I must admit that our highest objectives, views and proposals or dreams have not been realised. We came to know Nigerian character more after the state was created.

    Particularly, we came to know the Ekiti character more when the state was created. There is a disease in Ekiti more than anywhere in Nigeria, it is Ilara, Itara, meaning envy. It has no referral hospital, it has no LUTH or UCH. They will say ‘Who is he? What is he now that we didn’t know about? It is everywhere but most prevalent in Ekiti. All the civil servants and commissioners of Ekiti descent that we inherited from Akure were against me and the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti. They told the foundation governor, Inua Bawa that Ewi and myself were running a parallel government.

    They ensured that there was a gulf between Ewi and myself on one side and military administrator Bawa on the other side, until Bawa knew they were deceiving him and he made rectification. He begged me to go and be a non-executive director representing Ekiti State’s interest at the Oodua Investment company. After that, I was nominated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as federal commissioner for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in Abuja. I didn’t know Obasanjo from Adam then. That was 1999.

    Within a space of 20 years, Ekiti has had 11 executives, some phoney ones, other running for just 24 hours. There was a particular day that there were three contending governors in Ekiti: The man they had illegally dismissed, the deputy who said she was acting in that capacity and the Speaker who by constitution, should succeed the affected governor.

    We have not had the best in Ekiti man as governor. That is the honest truth. Each of them has tried his best in the light that they see it but they do not epitomise our vision. All of them are just to me ADOs (Assistant District Officers) or Ajeles in Yoruba of the colonial times. They were born in Ekiti but bred elsewhere. They don’t share the fundamentals; they don’t know where the shoe pinches. They are also expatriates of Ekiti. They don’t appreciate the fundamental requirements of this place; they don’t know how Ekiti came about.

    During our struggles, we travelled to Abuja 13 times, saw the Sultan of Sokoto, Emir of Ilorin, Emir of Zaria, the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, father of the incumbent Senate President, Bukola Saraki, among others, to persuade General Sani Abacha who was the Head of State then. We met Abacha three times. Abacha of all people, I stood before him, reading papers to him as chairman of the committee. We prepared 24 papers, which we carried to Abuja to discuss with Abacha and the members of the then Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) or so.

    We travelled day and night and sometimes, we ran out of fuel and had to sleep where the car stopped in the bush. But no regrets for all that, the only regret is that now that all the beneficiaries from A to Z, did not participate in that struggle, did not visualise or think that a thing like a state could happen here.

    You admitted that your visions, dreams have not been achieved…

    But despite all the litany of woes that I have recounted, one thing remains, for as long as Nigeria exists, there will continue to be an Ekiti State, that is just my consolation.

    What words do you have for Ekiti at 20 and Nigeria at independence celebration?

    Ekiti people should embrace the essentials of life rather than the imponderables. We are too childish in our views. We are too pedestrian; we should be looking at noble things. We should gravitate to higher climes in our thoughts, tastes, not childish. For Nigerians, they should be patient enough. The ills of the past 17 years cannot be cured in 15 months. The cumulative effect of misrule, bad rule, manipulations, looting and the interface and interplay of the effect of a mono-product economy… We were selling 2.2m per barrels per day at $140; now we are selling I.6 million barrels per day at $40, who is the magician that would make things work? We ought to have had recession about a year ago. So, we should be patient enough.

    As we say in economics, there should be backward integration. The primary products which we exported into products in the past into Europe and America should now be processed home. And we should intensify our agricultural productivity. What values do you want our generation to share to have a better life? The noble ideas of inviolate integrity, total commitment to what you are doing and hope in the future.

    What is your philosophy of life?

    The happiest man is the contented man.

    What are your happiest and most memorable moments in life?

    I won’t really pinpoint, I’ve had many sad, happy and memorable moments. I would say the day Ekiti was created. Almost all the people in Ado poured into my house then. We contested with about six others to get the state. The Oduduwa State team, being led by the late Ooni of Ife; the Ijebu State team, Coastal State, Oke Ogun State and Ekiti State and we were the least financially endowed of all these. The whole money I collected for that six and half years we fought for the creation of Ekiti was N2.3 million and we accounted for the money to the last kobo.

    Were there any moment in life you thought you were near death?

    There have been many moments, but at 85, you live day by day. Let’s leave it like that.

    What regrets?

    There was a particular action I took which I later regretted. I offended one of my daughters. It was a higher ideal. She was admitted at the University of Ado-Ekiti to read Economics, she has a first class brain, but I changed it to Banking and Finance. It was the days mushroom banks were sprouting up like mushrooms, so I thought she would rise as a banker. When she was employed, she was made an accountant instead of an administrative officer. She has been in England since then. I have apologised to her and she has forgiven me.

  • My only regret in life -Mile 12 Market chair Haruna Mohhamed

    My only regret in life -Mile 12 Market chair Haruna Mohhamed

    Alhaji Haruna Mohhamed has been Chairman of the popular Mile 12 market since 2007. To many, attaining the leadership of such market may be a befitting lifetime achievement. But for the Katsina State-born trader, being chairman of the market would only have been a mere stepping stone to a higher office if he had been better educated.

    Speaking with The Nation inside his office, located in the middle of the market, Mohhamed described his parents as Talakawas and his childhood a tough one.

    “My father and mother were Talakawa. My father was a farmer, so also was my mother. My father, despite his poor economic status, wanted me to go to school. I was enrolled in school and I studied up to secondary school.”

    Though his father wanted him to get educated, Haruna said he opted to face farming and trading after he passed out of secondary school, a decision he regrets now.

    “After I finished my secondary education, I decided to face farming and trading. My father really wanted me to further my education, but my attention was focussed on other things. Back then, I thought I would make more money by farming than if I went to school.

    “But looking back now, I wished I had further my education, because if I did, I would probably be a senator or even a bigger person now. Let me tell you something, as far as politics is concerned, I am a very good mobiliser. Imagine if I were better educated, I would have been a big politician, even in Lagos. You know that Yoruba people don’t discriminate, as long as you have what it takes to hold that office, they will support you.”

    Mohhamed was appointed into the board of the Lagos State Arts and Culture by the former governor of the state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, during his time as governor.

    However, with his own experience and regrets, Mohhamed is determined to make sure that all his children are educated. And already, three of his children are graduates in different fields- Architecture, Business Administration and Agriculture.

    “I already have three of my children as graduates. Four of them are in the university, while the rest are in primary and secondary schools.”

    Mohhamed came to Lagos at the age of 20 about 35 years ago. He was apprenticed to an Irish Potato merchant to learn the nitty-gritty of the business.

    Mohhamed described his more than three decades sojourn in Lagos as wonderful and interesting. According to him, he arrived in Lagos in those days with a dream to make a living that would be enough to sustain him and his family, but has ended up with a bigger achievement.

    “My stay in Lagos has been wonderful. It has surpassed my expectations. I came to Lagos as a small boy to be trained by my master that sells Irish Potato.”

    Indeed, Haruna has truly been favoured in Lagos. As soon as he became his own master, his business grew to a point where he became a major supplier of Irish Potato to the United African Company (UAC) and other major manufacturers in the country.

    “I started my own business and I gradually grew to supply several big companies. I supplied UAC and other big companies in the country. That is the business that I do till today. “

    For him, the leadership of the Mile 12 market is a tough task that has been made easy by the traders, who he described as wonderful people.

    “You are right, the job is a tough one. But I must confess to you that I enjoy it because of the support I get from the people. While I agree that it is difficult to lead different people from different backgrounds, but the traders here have been very wonderful.”

    He also disproved the belief that the market belongs to the Hausa. The belief, he said, stems from the fact that the Hausa are in the majority among the traders in the market.

    “Some people believe that Mile 12 is Hausa market. But it is not true. It is just that the Hausa are the majority of traders here. It is the same as the Ladipo auto spare parts market. Some people also call it Igbo market simply the Igbo are in the majority.

    “But what is working for us here is the fact that there is a very cordial relationship among all the traders here. We don’t discriminate here, and that is the reason why we have achieved peace here. I love my people and they all  support me.”

    Perhaps, as a demonstration of the love the people have Haruna, he was recently honoured with the chieftaincy title of Seriki Adinni of Kosofe land by the Muslim community, most of who are Yoruba.

    He is also an executive member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kosofe Local Government Area of the state.

    As chairman, Haruna’s dream for the Mile 12 market is for it to attain the status of an international market.

    “My dream for Mile 12 is to make it an international market in about three years time. Our plan is to do it in stages. But the overall idea is to turn it around and make it very attractive to everybody. We want to make the floor interlocked, so that in the rainy season, the market will still be attractive to people. This is in addition to building modern stalls.”

    The chairman is, however, not unaware of the enormous task of rebuilding the market. He wants the state governor to use his good authorities to help the traders achieve their dream.

    “We want the government to support us. But let me send a special appeal to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to help reconsider the plan to relocate the market.

    “I tell you, all we need the government to do is to give us the go ahead, and you would be surprised that we can do the project by ourselves. All the people need, especially banks, is the assurance by the government and everybody would be willing to join hands with us in this project.

    “If you look at Tejuosho market, it is very beautiful now. But we can make Mile 12 even better. It has the capacity to be better and bigger. You know that we sell food items here, unlike Tejuosho, where they sell clothes. People trade every minute of the day to buy fresh foodstuffs. And that is why we are a begging the governor to temper justice with mercy and help us.”

    The government’s decision to relocate the market followed a violent fight that broke out in the Agiliti area of Ketu, a neighbouring community with the market,  in March.

    But the chairman explained that there was a misunderstanding about where the clash took place. According to him, the clash, which left some people dead and a number of buildings torched, had nothing to do with the market or its traders.

    According to him, the leadership of the market had observed the activities of cult-related groups in the area long before the clash, and took steps to inform the government about it.

    He said: “The fight had nothing to do with us at all. Among us here, we have Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and several other tribes. So, it is just not easy for anybody to foment trouble among us. But what happened was that some cult groups in the area were fighting among themselves. Long before the clash, we observed their activities and wrote letters to the authorities to do something about it.”

    But with the lessons learnt from the clash, the leadership of the market has put in a place a 100-man strong security team, which Haruna said is trained to prevent any crisis within the market.

    “You have many societies that always clash with okada riders in the area. That was what led to the crisis. But after the crisis, we came together to form a security team to secure the market.

    “The security team works inside the market for 24 hours. They are everywhere and monitor the activities of everybody. We want to make sure that the market is not turned into a haven for  criminals and other evil-minded people.

    “We also work with the police. Whenever our security team arrests anybody, we hand them over to the police, who in turn take care of the prosecution.”

    He also explained how the market leadership has maintained discipline among the different traders. “We have leaders at every level in the market. That has really helped us to maintain discipline among ourselves. Also, we hold regular meetings to make sure that we don’t allow any trouble to start.”

    He also called on the police authorities to increase the number of policemen around the Ketu neighbourhood. The number of policemen in the area, he said, is a far cry from the number needed to police the number of people that throng the community.

    Haruna married his first wife when he turned 18, shortly before he left his Katsina State base for Lagos. The reason he got married at such young age, he said, was the practice by parents in that part of the country to ensure that their children marry early in order to prevent them from being wayward.

    “I married my first wife when I was about 18 years old. That was because our parents didn’t want us to be wayward.”

    But Haruna has married a second wife. He said he decided to take a second wife after he became convinced that he can take care of the family. “I know that I can take care of two wives and my family. I want the best for them, and I can do that conveniently with what I am doing now.”

    Haruna does not drink or smoke, but he loves listening to music and watching television, especially news programmes. Among his favourites musicians, aside from some popular Hausa genre musicians, are two late popular Yoruba musicians- Haruna Ishola and Ayinla Omowura.

    But when he is not listening to music or watching television, Haruna takes time off his busy schedule at the market to rest at home.

    “My wives love to see me at home. This is because I spend too much time at the market. So, whenever I am not working at the market, I stay at home and rest.”

  • I regret making Suswam governor, says Akume

    I regret making Suswam governor, says Akume

    •Donates 500 tricycles 

    Senate Minority Leader in the Seventh National Assembly, Senator George Akume of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said he regretted ensuring that Gabriel Suswam became Benue State governor.

    Akume served as the governor between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He was succeeded by Suswam (PDP), who till 2007 represented Ukum, Katsina-Ala and Logo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

    Speaking at the weekend at the distribution of tricycles to Benue Northwest people, Senator Akume said he coerced and insisted that Suswam be made governor, as it was against the wishes of the people.

    He said his insistence that Suswam be made governor was to bring development to the poverty-stricken state, “but I regret because I had no premonition that my successor would embezzle the state’s fund.”

    Akume said Benue, a richly agricultural state, is broke because of the alleged corrupt practices of the Suswam administration.

  • No regret voting for Buhari

    When Nigerians trooped out on March 28, 2015 to cast our votes, what was on our mind was to effect change in the administration of this country.

    The change at that time was to elect an agent that would restore this country’s battered image in the comity of nations. Hence, our patience is needed to see to the realisation and the vision of the present government of President Mohammadu Buhari to make an impact to the socio-economic development of this country.

    The past sixteen years that previous governments were at the helm of affairs have seen a lot of insecurity with series of bomb blasts, corruption at the highest level, moral decadence prevailing in all strata of human endeavour, hence this must stop.

    The low esteem of respect Nigerians face around the globe due largely to our nonchalant attitudes is well known. The impunity and total disregard to development of critical infrastructure to the overall benefit of the society at large seen in the past administrations could take us nowhere.

    Many Nigerians who are impatient with the present reality should understand the destruction of the entire governance structure that pervaded the last administration while in power.

    The present reality facing Nigerians should be a litmus test to expect the good things the present government has for the country in future, hence all hands must be on deck to support this government in ensuring the expected change we voted for a year ago.

    Nigerians should believe in this government’s change mantra and its ability to bring relief in all facets of lives.

    The foreign trips by President Buhari should be seen in the context of what benefits the country would gain from such trips.

    The revelation trailing the looting of this country by some selfish citizens is a clear testimony that this country had been milked dry by the same people who don’t want such change to take place.

    I believe this government means well for this country, hence I’m not losing sleep over the election of President Buhari as president.

    • By Bala Nayashi

    Lokoja,  Kogi State         

  • We regret killing many people — Suspects

    We regret killing many people — Suspects

    In the last eight years, Idowu Tijani and his terror group have allegedly killed no fewer than nine persons in the Ijoko Community of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State.

    While their exploits in crime lasted, they were the nemesis of residents and members of a faction involved in the tussle for the traditional stool in Ijoko.

    The terror unleashed on the community by Tijani and his blood-thirsty gang ended when the police arrested his lieutenants, Rasaq Ogundairo aka ‘Babalawo Poly’ and Raimi Ogunkunle, 25, after a trail.

    Three cut-to-size single barrel pistols, two double barrel pistols, one pump action gun with 14 cartridges, five cutlasses and charms were recovered from the gang.

    Parading the suspects on Monday at the Ogun State Police Command, Eleweran, Abeokuta, the State Commissioner for Police, Mr Abdulmajid Ali, disclosed that a team of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad stormed the gang’s hideout in Ijoko and arrested Ogundairo. He said: “The arrest of the suspect led to the arrest of two members of the gang. The leader of the gang, Idowu Tijani, confessed to have killed four people, including Soje, Babajeje and Agali in the Ijoko area.”

    Speaking with The Nation, Tijani regretted killing many people in the community in the last eight years. In tears, he said: “May God forgive me my atrocities, and I want to advise those who foment trouble to desist because it does not pay. Even if my arrest leads to death, well, that is my fate. But I regret all the killings that I have carried out so far.”

    Tijani explained that he took to crime to avenge the death of his four-year-old son, Fathiu, who was allegedly killed during the violence that engulfed the Ijoko community in the wake of the Obaship crisis. “Oba Matanmi is a younger brother to my mother. I was not involved in land-grabbing activities because I am a furniture maker and married with four children. I have a workshop in my house, which I built a few years ago,” he said.

    “On a particular day about eight years ago, some members of Tobalase group who are loyalists of one Oba Ogunseye stormed my house while I had gone out to watch a football match at a nearby field. They destroyed my house before setting it ablaze, and a portion of the building fell on my son, Fathiu and killed him. Three days after the incident, I took my gun and headed to the home of one Monsusru Osoba aka ‘Olori Odo’. I met him in front of his house and shot him but he escaped into his room where I finished him up.

    ”A lot of people were arrested in connection with the murder of Olori Odo but I was not arrested. I also killed Soje during a fight in the community. Soje and his group attacked me during the visit of Olota of Ota to Sango Secondary School. Soje tried to shoot me but the trigger refused to pull, so I quickly shot him dead and ran away.

    “I did not intend to kill people, but the obaship tussle between Oba Matanmi and Oba Ogunseye was responsible for the attack on my house at No. 17, Ago Giwa Street, Ijoko which led to the death of my son made me to embark on a killing spree.”

    Tijani said he got his gun from his late boss, adding that his arrest was due to a row he had with Rasaq Ogundairo. “I got the gun I used from my late boss called Tunji. Rasaq (Ogundairo) is just like a brother to me but he suddenly turned to armed robbery and I reported him to Oba Matanmi, who asked me to inform the police. Rasaq and one of his friends were arrested and made to sign and undertaking not to engage in robbery again. After the police released them, Rasaq condemned me for instigating their arrest and vowed to reveal how I killed Olori Odo, hence, my eventual arrest.”

    Ogundairo, 25, who confessed to being a member of Eiye Confraternity, said he had killed some people, including one Tosin and Dare.

    He narrated how friends in the Ijoko neighbourhood initiated him into cultism. “I am a member of Eiye Confraternity. We have been terrorising Ijoko community and killing people for sometime now. I joined the cult group about two years ago when some boys in the neighbourhood initiated me through beating and alcoholic drink.

    “I have killed so many people, including one Tosin and Dare, who are members of a rival cult group called Aiye Confraternity. The duo are deadly too, and we used to hunt for Aiye members because they can kill us too. Whenever we attack Aiye members, they would run away and abandon their motorcycles and sundry items and sell them.”

    Ogundairo traced his descent into crime. ”I am called ‘Babalawo Poly’ because my father is a herbalist, but, regrettably, the charms found on me could not protect me from being arrested.

    “I also partake in land-grabbing activities and I work with Oba Matanmi’s group to visit construction sites in the community. I don’t know whether my parents are aware of my arrest because they had warned me not to get involved in crime, but I did not heed their warning until I was caught in the act. The reality of my parents’ homily has since dawned on me.

    The third member of the gang, Ogunkunle, also gave a confession. He said: ”I am neither a member of Eiye Confraternity nor Aiye member, but I belong to Ogundairo’s gang. My father is one of the baales installed by Oba Matanmi. I have never killed in my life and I regret all my actions.

  • No regret supporting Jonathan, says Ubah

    No regret supporting Jonathan, says Ubah

    Businessman and politician Dr.Ifeanyi Ubah yesterday reflected on the activities of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) during the last election, saying that he has no regret supporting former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    He also rejected the popular view that TAN is a tool of propaganda, stressing that the group only showcased the achievements of the former President before Nigerians.

    Ubah, the Chairman of Capital Oil and gas Limited, also dismissed insinuations that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is hunting him, following the arrest in London of former Petroleum Minister Mrs. Diezani Aloson-Madueke, for alleged financial crimes.

    He told reporters in Lagos that, during the Jonathan administration, he neither received oil bloc nor sought government contracts.

    Ubah also said the allegation that the Nigerian national Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was used to siphon crude oil totally N1.2 trillion through Capital Oil and Gas Limited to fund Dr. Jonathan’s campaign was spurious and falacious. He said the falsehood was concocted to rope him and TAN.

    He said: “Some fifth columnists are using the current political climate and the anti-corruption war by the Federal Government to blackmail their real and inaginary enemies to score cheap political gains. This invidious war of attrition is inadvertently being promoted in the media by idle and jobless psychopaths who see blackmail as their only means of retaining economic and political relevance. I have no skeleton in my cupboard. The idea of fabricating allegations against a law abiding citizen without facts and substance can erode the confidence of the public reposed in the media.

    Reflecting on the activities of TAN, Ubah said: “TAN is a non-governmental organisation that elevated political discourse and activities in Nigeria to another level. No money from government was used in running TAN activities. But, those who are intimidated by the achievement of the public advocacy group have been trying to drag it into an unnecessary controversy.”

    The former Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Anambra State also said that the election taught him a bitter lesson, which made him to return to his business.

    He said: “After losing the governorship election, I declined to contest for the Senate. I did’t come second. I was given a third position. But, I have since returned to my business.”

     

  • ‘Yoruba won’t regret voting for Buhari’

    ‘Yoruba won’t regret voting for Buhari’

    A former member of the House of Representatives and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bode Mustapha, has decried Senator Femi Okunrounmu on his comments on President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said only him and his cohorts in the Southwest were not comfortable with the Buhari administration.

    Okunrounmu, the chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on the National Conference, was reported to have said among other things that the Yoruba would regret voting for President Buhari and the APC.

    Speaking at the weekend, Mustapha, an ex-national auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the director-general of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun Campaign Organisation in the governorship election, dismissed Okunrounmu’s outburst as one coming from “an inconsistent and a self-serving politician.”

    Addressing reporters in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, he assured that the Yoruba would not regret voting for Buhari and the APC.

    He described Okunrounm’s criticism of Buhari and the appointment he made as “childish and premature,” expressing confidence that the Yoruba would “get the best out of the present government.”

  • Anambra PDP: we don’t regret voting for Jonathan

    •Chieftains support Metuh, Ekweremadu

    The Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State has said it does not regret voting for former President Goodluck Jonathan in the last elections and would do so again, if given another chance.

    The party warned those fuelling crisis against Metuh and others to desist from such.

    A statement signed by Uche Ekwunife, Stella Oduah, Andy Uba, and other party chieftains said PDP would not allow anybody, group or political party drag its Igbo leaders into the mud.

    Vice Chairman Central Ken Enenmuo said it was wrong to accuse Metuh of masterminding rigging in Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi States. He described the allegations as false.

    The statement reads: “One of the sins of Chief Olisah Metuh, as enumerated by former workers at the PDP National Secretariat, was that he had been at Wadata Plaza in the last 16 years as a party officer.

    “We wish to remind the workers that Olisa Metuh is not, and was never appointed at the zonal or national level, rather, he was elected to serve in all the capacities he has served.

    “We are not unaware of the plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to employ every means to distract and to discredit Chief Olisa Metuh and Senator Ike Ekweremadu to deny the PDP a credible voice in its new opposition role.

    “We pass a vote of confidence on our leader, Chief Olisa Metuh, and urge him to ignore the antics of the APC and continue with his works, alongside other members of the National Working Committee”.