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Tag: storm

  • Storm over a bus

    Storm over a bus

    How much did the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State buy a 14-seater Toyota Hiace bus? The SUG President, Ibukun Oyekan, said it cost N2.5million. But members of his executive council disagreed, putting the price at N2.9million. Where lies the truth? He invited the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe the matter.  TEMITOPE YAKUBU reports.

    It was a scheme conceived to ease the transportation problem of students of the  Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The Ibukun Oyekan-led Students’ Union Government (SUG) set up an independent transport scheme to solve the challenges.

    The union bought a Toyota Hiace 14-seater bus to convey students to school at subsidised rate. But a controversy has trailed the acquisition of bus. The union’s Financial Secretary, Kehinde Omisakin, claimed that the bus was bought from a Modakeke-based auto dealer, De Val Multi Concept, at N2,900,000, with additional expenses of about N100,000.

    But, other members of the executive council disagreed, saying the bus was bought for N2.5 million, with no additional expenses.

    Also, an independent students’ body, Ideological Group, accused Ibukun inflating the price by N400,000. The group wondered why Ibukun sidelined other members of the exco in the purchase of the bus, accusing him of “milking the union ”.

    The Students’ Representatives Council (SRC), the legislative arm of the union, alleged that it was not carried along in the purchase of the bus. Its Transport and Monitoring Committee denied knowledge of the deal, describing the executive action as “disheartening”.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the bus was bought from the funds approved for the union by the former Acting Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Anthony Elujoba. But the money was not released until the VC, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede, assumed office.

    Kehinde said the money was approved during a meeting with Prof Elujoba and chairman of OAU Security Committee, Prof B.J. Olasode.

    He said: “It was like the union hit the jackpot. The then Acting VC, Prof Elujoba, approved the payment of the money, but we did not get it on time.”

    Kehinde said he relied on the figure quoted by the school’s Maintenance Department, from where the union enquired about the price. The Maintenance Department’s figure, it was learnt, was put at N3 million.

    In his reaction, Ibukun denied inflating the price, saying he would not succumb to the threat of mischief makers. He urged those interested in knowing the price to go to the auto dealer.

    He said he would not be deterred by opposition to the welfare scheme, adding that students’ wellbeing remained his priority.

    He said: “We were elected to prioritise the welfare of students. And were will use every medium and means to strengthen the bargaining power of the union to students’ advantage.”

    Giving details of the deal, Ibukun released an audio tape of his call to the dealer to validate his claim. He also released the screenshot of money transferred to the dealer in three tranches. He also released the original receipt of the transaction. He invited the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter.

    De Val Multi Concept General Manager  Omolade Adeolu confirmed that the bus was bought at N2.5million, saying that it was the best price the union could get it.

    Adeolu said: “The transaction was well-negotiated and we considered their status as students. That was why we sold the bus at that rate. We also believe a lot of students will benefit from the scheme. This was why we sold the bus cheap. You can ask other dealers around, the real market price of the bus is over N3 million. But, we sold to the OAU students at N2.5 million.”

    But in a statement last Wednesday, the SRC Transport and Monitoring Committee chairman, Babatunde Oluwalade, said the executive erred by not carrying the parliament along in the deal.

    The statement reads: “It is very important for students and the public to know that everything affiliated with transport affairs is our business. The union constitution gave us power to do so. It is, however, sad that we are not aware of the date, location of the purchase and the cost of the new union bus.

    “It is very disheartening also that the bus, which is supposed to be a palliative to students in this period of transportation crisis on campus, has now turned to be a point of concern. We would not take up the job of the budget committee, but we have all seen what transpired. Even, a lame man would ask questions regarding the price and condition of the bus.”

    Opposition groups, led by Pacesetters Movement, described the bus as “totally irrelevant”, saying the union should be a pressure group to agitate for students’ welfare and not one that should help management to provide services.

    The group in a statement signed by Prophet Jeremiah, said: “If the N2.5 million committed to the purchase of the bus is targeted towards coordinating protest nationally, students would have benefited from this tremendously. A huge sum of money was used to purchase a mere bus whose cost was inflated by the top union leaders.

    “We are going to fight this issue to the fullest as we have done in the past. The left organisations on campus, particularly the Pacesetters Movement, are staunchly opposed to this creeping idea of capitalism emerging from our campus.”

    Some students asked the union not to be discouraged by the controversy.

    Mutiu Adesegun, SRC member representing College of Health Sciences, said: “It has always been the idea of Ideological Group to criticise the union for initiating good projects, but it will fail this time around. They criticised previous administrations of Paul Alaje, Isaac Ibikunle and Omotayo Akande and now Oyekan Ibukun in 2017. They have always criticised blindly. How can you say the union should not initiate projects for the benefit of students, but for protest?”

    A student of Political Science, Emeka Mbah, said: “Ibukun should keep on doing his great work, rather than attending to distractions by faceless groups. But, he should avoid further controversy in procurement processes. The union can have a mini tenders board that would give students opportunity to be part of procurement. This would not lead to needless controversy and it would also enable the union to have good prices and quality service.”

    Meanwhile, Ibukun has invited the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter.

     

     

     

  • Melaye in eye of storm

    Melaye in eye of storm

    The recall initiated against Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) is gathering momentum. Correspondent James Azania examines the issues that have continued to fuel division in the Kogi State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It began as an anti-Senator Dino Melaye protest in Kabba, headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State in June. Today, it has graduated into the recall of the embattled Melaye. It is the culmination of the rift between the senator and Governor Yahaya Bello.

    On June 2, scores of All Progressives Congress (APC) members and other partisan residents of Kabba, converged at the party headquarters along Aiyetoro Road, chanting anti Melaye songs.

    Later, they drove in convoy to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Lokoja, to initiate the recall of Senator Melaye, which the electoral body has set for itself July, 3 to commence with the process, having received “188,580” signatories.

    They listed 18 allegations against Melaye.

    One of the arrowheads of the pro-Melaye recall groups, Pius Kolawole, said: “Senator Dino Melaye’s recall is not only long overdue, but the right thing to do in the best interests of Kogi West Senatorial zone, Kogi State, Nigeria, and in fact the institution and dignity of the distinguished Senate of the Federal Republic”.

    Melaye is accused of “Not deeming it “fit to have a Constituency Office in Kogi West Senatorial Zone, even after two years in the Senate. He has no projects initiated in the constituency after two years in the Senate. He is known for a continuous flow of irresponsible utterances which embarrass the constituency.

    Despite the cordial relations between the governor and Melaye, problem started when the governors thought the senator wanted to control the party and the government.

    The circumstances that brought Bello to power, aside playing a pivotal role in elevating Melaye in the scheme of things, made it expedient for the governor to curry political friendship wherever it could be found, if only to stabilise the administration.

    The sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, the APC governorship candidate, on November 22, 2015 opened the floodgate of crisis in Kogi; for while the Audu camp  insisted that his running mate, Chief James Faleke, should inherit the ticket, the INEC and the APC national leadership had other ideas, which eventually prevailed.

    Following Governor Bello’s inauguration at the Confluence Stadium Lokoja, where Melaye proclaimed him as God-elected, the lawmaker nominated the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Folasade Ayoade Arike.

    The governor and Melaye parted ways, owing to the alleged overbearing tendencies of Melaye. The senator wanted his loyalists to be appointed as chairmen and councillors into the seven local government areas in Kogi West.

    Bello resisted the move. Later, APC stakeholders’ passed a vote of no confidence on the governor over sundry allegations.

    In a letter by members of the Kogi APC state executive council on April 12, last year, to the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun , Bello was accused of side-lining party members and hobnobbing with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and giving appointments to the opposition.

    Bello fought back. The governor’s media aide, Kingsle Fanwo, said Melaye started attacking his principal the moment he lost out in his scheme to produce all the local government administrators from Kogi West. He said: “It is laughable when someone who has been given the opportunity to produce the SSG is still demanding for other positions as if he is the only member in the party. The same stakeholders have earlier claimed that they don’t recognise the Yahaya Bello-led administration. We wonder why such people are busy in Abuja crying foul over the lauded appointments made so far by the governor”.

    When Melaye was attacked in Aiyetoro-Gbede, his home town, he pointed fingers at the Ijumu council Administrator, Alhaji Taufiq Isa, who he alleged was working at the behest of Governor Bello.

    Isa, who doubles as the chairman of the Association of Local Government (ALGON) in Kogi, and five others, are standing trial before the Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja, for the assassination attempt on Senator Melaye.

    During the anti-Melate rally, violence broke out and lives was lost.

    Cross accusations were to follow, with the governor blaming the deaths on the senator, adding he had written to the Inspector General of Police over alleged plans by the latter to use hired thugs and cultists to unleash mayhem on the state.

    He said: “I have written petition and received reports that the president has ordered the IGP to investigate. but, up till now, nothing has happened. The petition was to the extent that the senator was planning to cause mayhem and violence in Kogi State to rubbish the administration of the president and my government and paint a picture that Nigeria is ungovernable. Today, because Dino has nobody to collaborate as such, he has decided himself to come and cause mayhem. as I speak, we have a lifeless body lying in the hospital. Immediately I got wind of the rally I called the commissioner of police and the director of SSS if they granted permission to the senator to hold the rally and they said no. That means somebody that is supposed to make law has taken law into his hands and a life is already lost with properties destroyed.”

    Melaye accused Bello of masterminding the violence. He added that it was the second assassination attempt on his life “orchestrated by Bello”.

    The recall started a fortnight ago with the collection of signatures and photostat copies of voter cards of constituents across the seven local governments of Kogi West.

    Melaye described it as a charade being bankrolled by the government.

    A group, the Coalition of Enlightened Voters, dissociated the people of the constituency from the recall process.

    The group, in a statement titled: “Yagba People not Part of Senator Dino Melaiye Recall Farce”, signed by Kehinde Abayomi (Yagba East), Temitope Olajide (Yagba West) and Adebayo Michael (Mopa-Muro).

    The group said: “We note that the comedy falls short of the expectations of the drafters of the relevant law on the recall of a parliamentarian. It is not in our character as Yagba people to orchestrate the recall ofelected representatives, especially when such a project is not founded on proven allegations of misrepresentation or non-performance.

    “Our findings showed that the recall process did not emanate from the electorate, but is a sponsored enterprise based on political malice, initiated by interests outside Kogi West Senatorial district and anchored by state and local government appointees. To make things worse, through inducement involving cash and materials, gullible electorate were lured into the submission of their Permanent Voters’ Cards, after being deceived that the collection of the cards was for the purpose of population census.”

    Melaye, alleged that N1.4 billion was earmarked by the state government, for his recall “project”, an allegation the government says is spurious.

    While the lawmaker alleges that Governor Bello is bankrolling efforts to recall him from the Senate, with the release of N200 million to each of the seven local government areas in the district, the government in a reaction denied the allegation, describing it as spurious.

    Melaye said that the threat to recall him remains a huge joke.

    He said 30 members of the APC, who refused to collect the money and append their signature on the recall form being distributed “by the Kogi State government have been arrested by the police”.

    He said: “Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, has released N200 million to each of the seven LGAs in my Senatorial district to facilitate my recall from the Senate. The money has been released but they are facing resistance in all the polling units, as people refused to sign for the recall form. But he is a joker, my achievements speak for me. So far, about 30 persons, including the Ward/Unit chairman in Ife/Olukotun, Mosunmola Shittu, have been arrested and taken to the police station on the orders of the Kogi State government. Everywhere they go, they are facing resistance and have not been able to get signatures because the people are resisting them.”

    The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Petra Akinti Onyegbule in a terse response said: “It is a spurious allegation.”

    One of the Kabba chiefs, Ayodele Olukore Okono, expressed their support for Senator Melaye, saying, “We are all supporting him. Nobody can remove Dino. He is working for us seriously in Kogi West. All they are doing is under government house directive and they have already met with their Waterloo, because they will serious resistance in Kabba”.

    Melaye has meanwhile filed a lawsuit at the Federal high Court in Abuja seeking court injunction to halt his recall from the Senate. He is seeking an injunction to halt INEC, in response to the submission of the 188,580 signatures last Wednesday from his constituents.

    Last Thursday INEC issued a statement notifying the public that it will be verifying the signatures on July 3, 2017. The commission it was gathered also wrote to Melaye notifying him of the official commencement of the recall exercise.

    Melaye’s lawyers filed a 33-page legal argument seeking to obtain injunctive reliefs from the court. The application was accompanied by an affidavit of urgency filed by a staff from the chambers of Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

    Notwithstanding the seeming seriousness of what appears to be staring him straight in the face, Melaye in his characteristic manner has said that “many will go to jail for my recall”, even as the process gathers more momentum. But, whether or not some will find themselves in the enterprise to oust him from the Senate, or if it is he that fate has it to bite the dust, time alone will tell in the battle of political supremacy, between Governor Bello and Senator Melaye.

  • After the storm of quit notice(s)

    SIR: Truly, Nigeria does not yield to dull moments. A coalition of northern youths made a proof of this about two weeks ago, issuing a quit notice to the Igbo in northern Nigeria with explained reasons. Any one among the northern youths could easily be dismissed on a straight encounter, but the import of the quit notice they served the Igbos, with the month of October as deadline hit Nigeria and the international community like a thunderbolt. The country has since been on edge.

    From 1960, date of the nation’s independence till now, Nigeria has been battling with unanswered questions trailing the 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates by Lord Lugard. Efforts made to address the questions through constitutional conferences failed repeatedly. Nigeria slipped into difficult eras occasioned by the military interventions, a civil war that raged for three years, the annulment of June 12, 1993 Presidential election results by the military, countless and yet severe homicide misfortunes caused by communal clashes, inter-ethnic and religious wars, insurgency at the instance of Boko Haram and above all, political and economic instability.

    It is apt to note that Nigeria has survived many trials and tribulations, just as it has mastered the art of welding its broken parts with uncommon sense of bonding and compromise. It is not by happenstance that despite all daunting challenges, Nigeria continues to trudge on, pulling behind it, 57 years of nationhood while still commanding attention in the comity of nations.

    Over the past one week, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has been holding meetings with top political stakeholders, leaders of thought including traditional rulers on how to further cement Nigeria. The steps he took in this direction have amounted to a plebiscite through which Nigerians spoke with one voice and voted to remain one under a united Nigeria.

    So far, the Acting President had held separate consultative meetings with regional leaders including religious and traditional heads from key geo-political zones, capping it up with an enlarged meeting with representatives of each of the regions put together. His message was loud and clear, dropping a hint that the government would not hesitate to wield the stick to suppress the growing influence of promoters of hate and ethnic division in the country.

    From indications, frayed nerves are calm in Nigeria at the moment. It is a testament to the workability of dialogue and consensus in resolution of crises and conflicts. The Acting President, indeed, was able to assuage the rough situation. There is no mistaking his calmness and positive body language in the onerous task of returning normalcy to the country after stiff moments of heckles and storm. Osinbajo counted on wisdom and ability to apply correct and soothing words to attain results. Somehow, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is the ultimate gainer.

     

    • Idowu Samuel,

    Abuja.

  • A gathering storm

    People tend to have taken the uninformed prejudices often expressed by some rogue analysts and ethnic irredentists against the other to conclude that Nigeria is a marriage of inconvenience and an unholy wedlock that would crash someday.  It is a historical fallacy to see Nigeria as an accident of history in spite of the amalgam of tribes and tongues that give meaning to its demographic content.  The ethnic nationalities and peoples of Nigeria have had a long standing filial affinity expressed through the ages in trade, commerce, and the interpenetration of religion.  Nigeria is a geographical reality of true human socio-cultural and political contact within a geographical space that is naturally carved out in a defined territory.  The colonial experience of name was only a manifestation of what was a grand natural and historical design.

    Nigeria is not backward and underdeveloped with mutually suspicious people because the population is not homogenous but because we have leadership that is not intellectually driven with patriotic fervour like the philosopher king. We have a ruling class that have lost every sense of history and endearing value system that could rally the people towards a common course.  We rather have politicians whose greatest assets and qualifications are their tribes and religion which they prefer to promote above human essence and the general good of the nation state.

    Today, history is repeating itself in the self-same manner that brought the misfortune of the Nigerian Civil War which unfortunately, the catastrophic impact had been lost to Nigerian leaders. This was the same discordant rhythm that brought the military to the political scene and hoisted on the nation an iniquitous federalism that we are not able to summon the courage to redefine.  The intemperate irredentists’ declaration of a tribal group as persona non grata and secessionist campaign is certainly not answers to bad governance that has created the fault line.  If Nigeria is fragmented into every tongue as a country, there would still be conflict of economic inequality that will engender crises of different shades.

    While I feel and still convince myself that we are better together, I am not unaware that our unity is not cast in stone.  Things have so changed that it is not possible to forcefully hold this country together through the force of arm as it happened during the Nigerian Civil War in the 1960s. Those beating the drums of divisions and break up are getting all the attention today not because their views reflect the general feeling of the people from their ethnic groups but because we have leaders who are not able to rise above the level of sectarianism and nepotism.

    Creating and carving out the Republic of Biafra from the South-east for instance is not going to suddenly put an end to drop-out of schools of millions of young boys whose parents prefer to apprentice to merchants due to poverty.  It certainly would not erase the differences that are sharp among the Igbo tribal groups who call one another by pejorative names like ‘wawa’ and such like names for their kits and kin across the Niger.  Not too long ago, civil servants in the service of one of the states were sacked because they were not indigenes as the government of the states claimed.  All said and done, the loud scream by IPOB/MASSOB for the Republic of Biafra may not be the magic wand after all.   It is only unfortunate that when the drumbeat echoed, no voice of reason stood up against it in the South-east but rather opportunists seized it as a pun on a political chessboard.

    In the same vein, the call for Arewa Republic may not be the answer to the ravaging inequality and poverty in the North which is sustained by feudal fiefdom of the oligarchy.  Here again, the population is as diverse as other regions of the country.  The combustible army of ‘almajirs’ that have been denied the basic necessities of life are waiting in the wings to carry up arms against those that have deprived them of the opportunity of good life.  No amount of religious brain-washing can stop the anger of the down trodden masses when the time comes; just like the scourge of the Boko Haram insurgency which will not go.

    The South-west may appear better prepared to go it alone when the chips are down but again the cohesion that appears to exist amongst them may as well be ephemeral.  The Ilajes and Akokos have great suspicion of the Ijebus.  The cannibal-like political economy of the region will not erase over night the inequality between the elite and the poor masses.  This is because, the region parades the most conscious and combustible middle class who would demand their fair share of the good of the land.

    Those freebooters in the National Assembly who decree the sanctity of inviolable, indivisibility and corporate entity of Nigeria are just joking because it is not by empty cant that you keep a people together.  However, if it is being contemplated that the force of military arm can wield the country together as in the 1960 during the civil war, I am afraid times have changed and that may as well be a pipe dream as the texture, colour and content of the different ethnic militias of today have shown.

    The ultimatum to the Ibo living in the 19 northern states to move to the South-east credited to the Arewa youths is inflammatory and should not be dismissed as a joke.  It has given reasonable notice to the foot-soldiers in the region comprised of the army of street urchins who are heavily charged on drugs and blood thirsty.  The arguments that after all, the Ibos have said they want their Republic of Biafra as contained in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Right to Self-determination are indeed biting. The call and agitations of youths from the two regions and ethnic groups if allowed to play out may be an evil wind.  So when you blame the hawk for carrying the chick, you must also blame the hen for exposing its chicks.  We should learn good lessons from the former Soviet Union when it broke up.  Most of the countries that broke out have lost their bite and strength as sovereign nations and are still mired in endless crises of unimaginable proportion just the same way the Republic of South Sudan is today, which in every material particular is like Nigeria.  Let us reason together, we can make this country Nigeria truly great in its diversity rather than tear it apart.

     

    • Kebonkwu Esq, an attorney writes from Abuja.
  • Southern Kaduna after the storm

    Southern Kaduna after the storm

    Normalcy has virtually returned to troubled Southern Kaduna region as military action and peace efforts continue. But the scars of the chronic crises remain indelible in the minds and sights of victims, ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports.

    Although tribal and sectarian killings in the southern part of Kaduna State date back to the Kafanchan crisis in 1983, the number of deaths recorded in the area since the 2011 post-election violence has been alarming, leaving scars of destructions and causing deep division among a people that had lived together for centuries.

    Since the end of the post-presidential election violence, several villages in Jema’a, Kaura and Zangon Kataf local government areas have been attacked by gunmen. Scores of people have been killed as villages were razed and property worth millions of naira destroyed. In all this, a lot of accusing fingers are pointing to herdsmen.

    Prominent among the villages attacked is Goska, a settlement in Kaninkon Chiefdom, Jema’a Local Government Area. Gunmen stormed the village on Christmas eve, leaving no fewer than 10 people dead, including the 22-year-old daughter of the former local government council chairman, Hon. Gideon Morik.

    While the various measures put in place by government and other stakeholders to curtail the crises are yielding positive results, memory of previous attacks remains fresh in the minds of survivors and others who lost loved ones.

    Some of them who spoke with our correspondent recalled the ugly attacks, wishing that nothing of such would happen again in their lives.

    Sixty-one-year-old Mrs. Murna Yakubu, a native of Ungwan Mississi in Jema’a Local Government Area, became a widow courtesy of the alleged attacks by killer herdsmen. She later lost her son to the bullets of the attackers in another evil invasion.

    Recalling her ugly experience, she said: “In November 2016, we were at home with the children chatting when we started hearing gunshots. We thought the shooting was taking place in a neighbouring community. I was alone at home, but my husband was at the village square holding one of their ceaseless meetings with the village head.

    “Two of my children were also with him at the village square. When they heard the gunshots, they ran for safety. But from their hiding place, they saw their father and the village head being shot. They rushed back home in tears to tell me that my husband and the village head had been shut dead.

    “They said the assailants wore military uniforms. They told me that the people at the village square thought the gunmen were real soldiers who were assigned to the community to keep the peace.”

    She added amid sobs: “My husband was a man of peace, so I never suspected that the sound of gunshots I heard was meant for him. He would not hurt a fly. And as I was being given the saddest news of my life, I couldn’t wait to mourn him. We ran to Goska, a nearby community, to take refuge.

    “We went there to meet the district head, who is a younger brother to my husband. It was when the dust had settled that they went to our village with security people to bring the corpses. That was how I lost my dear husband. He was a gentleman and a responsible husband and father.”

    Giving an account of how she lost her son, Mrs. Yakubu said: “On December 24, 2016, which was the eve of Christmas, herdsmen invaded Goska where we were taking refuge. Just like they did at Ungwan Mississi, they started shooting sporadically. Unfortunately, my son was gruesomely murdered in the process. His wife had just given birth to a new baby when the incident occurred.

    “Since his father was killed, my son had been the breadwinner of the family. Even before the father died, he had been a successful farmer and had always supported us financially. My son harvested about 60 bags of beans and between 30 to 40 bags of maize.

    “But as I am talking to you now, I don’t have even one bag of beans in the village. This is one of the effects of the crises. Life has been difficult for me. My surviving son brought me to the city from the village. We cannot go to the farm. We cannot feed the family again. The herdsmen are in the bush there, daring us to come closer. Our situation is pathetic.

    “Look at the vibrant youths in the village who were feeding their families before but cannot do so now due to the heavy attacks the herdsmen carried out on us. Our houses were burnt. We want to go back to our ancestral home. The government should rebuild our houses. We want to go back to the farm. They should go into the bush and drive the arms-bearing herdsmen away.”

    Bulus James, another native of Goska, told The Nation that “the herdsmen had earlier informed us that they would launch an attack on our community. We didn’t take the threat seriously until they came at about 5 pm one Saturday evening, which happened to be Christmas Eve. They encircled the village and started shooting anyone at sight.

    “The shooting continued through the night. They killed one of the daughters of a two-term member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly and a former chairman of Jema’a Local Government, Gideon Yakubu Morik. They also burnt his house and several other houses.

    “Only a few houses were spared. It was very pathetic. While that was going on, they released their cattle to feed on the beans that were yet to be harvested. We tried to call the security people who were stationed on the outskirts of the village but we discovered that they had no bullets. So, we were left in the hand of God.

    “When we woke up on Christmas day, instead of going to church to celebrate, we were counting corpses. We counted 10 corpses from the attack. The attackers came in military camouflage.”

    Mrs. Fidelia Paul, a native of Nissi village in Atakad Chiefdom, Kaura Local Government Area, recalled that her village suffered an attack similar to that of Goska in February this year. She said that many people were killed and houses were destroyed.

    Recalling how she escaped the attackers’ bullets and hid inside a river for hours, she said: “On a fateful Monday morning, we were sitting down when some herdsmen attacked our village. They killed our children and our husbands.

    “I actually thought I was going to die on that day because I had never seen that kind of thing except on the television. As I was running, I saw bullets hitting the walls beside me, so I thought I would not escape it. But God in His ultimate power and wisdom saved me.

    “We ran and they ran after us. But because we knew our terrain more than they did, we were able to escape. In fact I never thought I could run until that day. We ran and hid ourselves inside a river near our village.

    “Many of us, especially the women, spent the whole of that day inside the river, because the soldiers did not come throughout that day. So, because we did not know whether they had gone or not, we remained inside the river. Some of our men too went to hide inside the hill close to us.”

    Mr. Denis Musa, another native of Nissi, said he had lost everything he had to the attack, with his documents as the most painful.

    He said: “I lost everything to the attack. My house was burnt, my car, my documents, my children are displaced. They can’t even go to school now.

    “The most disturbing thing to me is how to educate my children. I have two of my children in higher institutions, and my documents, including their own, have been burnt with the house.

    “Now, our children are displaced and scattered. We need government to give us shelter so that we can settle down to educate our children.”

    Mr. K.Y. Ezra, also from Nissi village, lost his elder brother in the attack, while another one remained in the hospital because of the injury he sustained from the February attack.

    He said: “On the 20th of February, 2017, we were just waking up around 6 am when we started hearing gunshots. We thought it was a joke until we saw people coming with AK47 rifles and we started running for our lives.

    “Some people were still sleeping when the attackers stormed our village. Those were the people that really suffered the attack. Five people were killed that morning, while many of us sustained various degrees of injury.

    “Some of us were lucky that we didn’t get seriously injured, but others were not that lucky. In fact, some are still in the hospital, including my elder brother. Unfortunately, I lost another brother in the process. He was shot by the gunmen while he was trying to escape.

    “As I speak with you, we cannot even go back to our village because there are no security personnel there. There are security personnel in some other places, but we don’t have them in our own village. They have burnt our house and we have no place to live, except relatives’ places.

    “We want government to bring soldiers to our village too so that we can go back to farm this season. Because those people still patrol our farms and if one tries to go to the farm, they will kill the person. In fact, they move around our farms shooting every now and then.”

    However, the umbrella association of Fulani herdsmen, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), said Nigeria must follow the Gambian example to address the persistent attacks in the southern part of Kaduna State.

    The Assistant National Secretary of MACBAN, Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, who spoke with newsmen in Kaduna recently, said: The Gambia approach is a situation where the federal government will take stock of every nomad and their animals that are coming into the country as well as ensure adequate security of their lives and the animals in their custody.

    According to him, “we have the ECOWAS protocol on trans-human movement. There is also the ECOWAS protocol on free movement of goods and people within the sub-region. These protocols allow you to take your cattle from Central African Republic coast, Republic of Cameroon, the coastal part of Chad through Nigeria to Benin Republic and back, and Nigeria is a signatory to these.

    “That means that if a Cameroonian nomad comes into Kaduna State, maybe to Igabi for instance, it is the responsibility of the Kaduna State Government to ensure his safety, and I think that is where the issue of compensation comes in.

    “I think the Federal Government should try to adopt the Gambian approach. The Gambian government is also a signatory to these two protocols.

    “Any country within the West African sub-region who wants to send his nomads to Gambia should apply officially, stating the number of nomads and cows expected there, telling them the stalk routes they will ply to Gambia and the duration they will stay in that country.

    ”And, of course, they countersigned that you will not take arms to Gambia. Ensure that all animals are vaccinated against killer diseases as well as your people vaccinated against diseases. This is a government responsibility at a time as this.”

    On the effort made by the state government to address incessant attacks by herdsmen on Southern Kaduna, which he said have foreign undertone, he said: “Through our last visit to Niger Republic, we sat down with the nomads there and said, please, let us sign an agreement that when you are coming to Nigeria (Kaduna State), don’t come with arms; our government will protect you.

    ”That is why this year, in all these northern local government areas, we have not had any incident of encroachment on farmlands. It is important to add that there are several people of Sanga, Jema’a, Kaura and Sango Kataf who killed several Fulani they came in contact with and even their cows. But they were not mostly reported in the media, so people don’t hear about that. But what is important to us now is peace across board”, he added.

    Other stakeholders have equally joined in the peace building efforts. One of such is the recently floated Kafanchan Peace Forum led by Alhaji Samaila Barau Maigoro, a Kafanchan-born business.

    Maigoro said the Kafanchan Peace Forum was formed to complement government’s efforts, especially in the area of reconciliation through reaching out to the youths.

    He added: “We are fully aware that governments at all levels have taken appropriate steps towards securing the zone. We are out to complement government’s efforts by focusing on the youth. We will be engaging the youth by sensitising them on the need to promote peace.

    “Members of this forum are drawn from Kafanchan, Goska, Dangoma, Matsirga, Katsit, Ungwan Masara, Bayan Loco and other affected communities.

    “We are using the youth in these communities to get to others. And we will soon hold a town hall meeting of the youth in the affected areas of Southern Kaduna with a view to putting an end to the cycle of crises.”

  • The letter storm

    The letter storm

    These days letters are going out of date. The post office has moved from the mainstay of communication to a dinosaur. So, we send emails, text messages, or bow to Donald Trump’s ultimate sharp shooter: the tweet.

    The past, as they say, never dies. So, last week, the letter roared back from the dead. It happened in two places. One in Nigeria, the other in the United States. In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari scripted one to the National Assembly. Donald Trump fired his to James Comey, the director of the FBI and the man probing his possible collusion with Putin’s Russia.

    The one letter was a hiring, the other a firing. Each let off a storm. They were written in what many will call simple sentences. Everyone should understand them. But, as it turned out, the phrases spun into a cloud of ambiguity.

    Trump’s letter fired Comey apparently for his handling of the Hilary Clinton email scandal. But the author denied and said it was all about the Russia probe. In the letter, he said he fired Comey on the advice of the attorney general. But when responding to questions, he said the counsels counted for little. His press corps agreed that the bottom line was that he fired the FBI chief.

    Here at home, Buhari’s letter referred to the relevant portion of the constitution that makes Yemi Osinbajo acting president. But fire gutted out of the phrase that the “Vice-President will coordinate the activities of the government.”

    The word coordinate, according to critics, belonged to a lower tier of authority. An acting president leads or heads, not coordinates, they would say. The storm roared into silence after Bukola “Eleyinmi” Saraki intervened. But that did not end the chatter around the country.

    Why did it generate so much brouhaha? Does a leader not coordinate? Of course, a leader does. But coordinate is not usually the term deployed for a leader. A leader leads, heads, is a visionary, orders, etc. Those are muscular words, indicating a man in the arena.

    But the storm came because language is never simple or difficult. It depends on context and sometimes the audience, or the utterer.

    The Buhari letter sparked predators on both sides of a divide. The divide predated the letter. Critics were miffed when he degraded from office to home to sign files. He was absent-in-chief at FEC meetings and became holy-in-chief at Friday prayers. Even that became epileptic.

    Suspicions pervaded certain quarters that his “kitchen cabinet” had corralled him. They wanted him around to do little so long as they wielded power. His absence meant their impotence. So, when the letter was unveiled, critics saw the hands of the cabal. They saw an attempt to cripple Osinbajo, to hem him in as vice-president.

    Were they right? They might and they might not be. If the president did not write it, at least he read it. The letter may have been written with all the best of intention. Maybe the president has seen himself as a sort of coordinator, working with others as peers in which he was first among equals. That is washed away by his martial bearing and feudal background, though. But could it be because he sees the word the way his critics don’t. After all, sections 148 and 149 refer to the word coordinate as the president’s function. That makes him home free. Some would say, well, it was not in the context of a handover from president to acting president.

    As the Senate president has indicated, though, the constitutional requirement sufficiently clears any fog of the intent. As easy as the sentence was, the epistolary flap will haunt Buhari. It will also irritate his supporters who think it is much ado about nothing.

    In the letter, we had the north and south divide, the PDP-APC divide, the cabal and the others divide. A stark wall disrupts understanding. A stark wall of words. Nor is it the first time such a thing would happen. Whether in politics, religion, or even literature, words have always sparked turbulence. It might be simple, it might even be clear in its rhetorical stumble, like Rosa Parks’ “My feet is tired.” Or when Mark Twain wrote that stories of his death were greatly exaggerated.

    The bombing of Hiroshima was attributed to misinterpretation of the Japanese leader’s response to the American threat. The Japanese leader had said he was considering Truman’s terms but it came away in translation as though they were ready for the Americans. When Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal…” it referred to only white men. Now, it’s everyone and gender. Even at that, Orwell’s Animal Farm still haunts, as some are “more equal than others.” Trump will agree. Ditto Marie Le Pen.

    Hence French writer Roland Barthes announces the “death of the author.”  According to him, “to give a text an author is to impose him on that text.” So, the writer is not writing but he or she is unknowingly a messenger of a group, a church, a tribe, a time, or consciousness. So, when a Jukun man writes, the Yoruba does not see it as the man’s views but his Jukun background.

    It eliminates the individual, everyone is in a sort of chain. While Barthes sets off debates, he has been engaged by such writers as Paul De Man, Barbara Johnson, Michel Foucault. Jacques Derrida lashed back with his “the Death of Roland Barthes.” When Soyinka flayed Achebe as guilty of “unrelieved competence,” he might have subliminally fallen into the Barthian spell.

    Sometimes it is a matter of the humble comma. When Jesus was at the stake, he told the repentant thief and fellow victim, “I say unto you today thou shall be with me in paradise.” Those who believe the thief went to heaven, place the comma before today and those who believe he did not put the comma after today. Or in analysing Becket’s play, Waiting For Godot, a critic described it as “nothing happens, twice.” If the comma is removed, it means something else. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, megalomaniac Malvolio misreads the author of a letter and makes himself a public fool for love.

    So, when Buhari wrote that letter, the meaning left his hands. As the author, did he die, or was it the mischief of others who were imposing their own backgrounds on the words? A new book, Do I Make Myself Clear, by Harold Evans has intervened in the capacity of language to mock us. Evans is regarded as the best editor ever, having shown his mettle as editor of the Times of London. He cavils at obfuscations, long introductory sentences, clichés, abused words, etc.

    What we know here is that words are not only not simple, they are never innocent. That is because we are a complicated people with lots of mischief.

  • The storm against Buhari’s men

    With unfolding events in the past weeks, it appeared as if there are underground moves to bring down the powerful men and women around President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Buhari has not only put words into action in the fight against corruption in the country in the past nineteen months, but has recovered some looted funds, quizzed and arrested some key actors in ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    So it is not in doubt that Buhari has stepped on many big toes in the past months.

    The trend now, however is the series of corrupt allegations rising against some of the key people around the President.

    It is not clear whether the allegations are just naturally coming up or part of premeditated grand plan to weaken the men and women around Buhari.

    Besides labeling some of them as cabal, some were said to have hijacked Buhari’s government for their selfish goals.

    One of those being accused of wrongdoing is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal.

    He was alleged by a Senate’s Ad-hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East of breaching Nigeria’s law in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE).

    Lawal was accused by the committee of putting himself in a position of conflict of interests as his firm was said to have been awarded over N200 million contract to clear ‘invasive plant specie’ in Yobe State.

    But a press statement by Hamidu David Lawal, who is the Managing Director of the firm, Rholavision Engineering Ltd., which the SGF was connected to, had last month claimed that Lawal resigned as director of the firm and relinquished his shareholding in the firm as soon as he was appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation in August 2015.

    Noting that the PINE contract came in 2016, a year after Lawal resigned from the company, the statement disagreed with the over N200 million allegedly paid to the firm as it explained that the firm only got N7.01 million contract for Consultancy Services from PINE.

    The statement reads in parts: “It is also very instructive that inspite of the weighty and potentially damaging allegations being peddled about and against us, the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East did not bother to invite us to the Public Hearing to put our case across despite the fact that our Head Office is directly opposite that of the Committee Chairman, Senator Shehu Sani.

    “Hence the Senate has left us with no choice than to put our case across directly to the Nigerian public. In conclusion, we wish to urge the General Public to disregard the information being circulated in both the electronic and print media as being false and malicious.” It stated

    Apart from the statement, those in the SGF’s camp believed that the recommendations in the Committee’s interim report were maliciously hasty as it was released while the committee had not completed its investigations.

    They noted that the over N200 million contracts mentioned in the committee’s interim report were meant for other items apart from what it called grass-cutting. The contracts included purchases of some machinery and tools.

    According to them, the implementation of the contracts in the area has resulted in appreciation letters and delegation visits by royal fathers from the area to the office of the SGF.

    The immediate past Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, had last December urged his colleagues to give Lawal fair hearing, insisting that Lawal had not been indicted by the Senate on the matter.

    But in a twist of events, Ndume was removed as the Senate Leader of the Upper Chamber by his colleagues last Tuesday, which was the first day of plenary sitting after the Christmas and New Year break.

    Another top government official, who has also been accused of corrupt allegations is the President’s Chief of Staff (CoS), Abba Kyari.

    He was first alleged to have collected N500 million bribe from officials of MTN Telecommunications Company to ensure that the government discontinue its heavy stance on the $5 billion fine imposed on the company for failing to disconnect subscribers with unregistered phone lines bought before January 2012.

    The COS has since denied collecting such bribe. But few weeks after that allegation, it was also alleged recently that Kyari abused privileges by allowing the Nigeria High Commission in London to pay his medical bills in London hospital.

    That allegation made two top government officials to rise to Kyari’s defense last week Monday.

    First was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who told State House correspondents that the allegation was false.

    Barely two hours after Onyeama spoke with journalists, the Presidency also issued a similar statement exhonorating Kyari from any wrong doing.

    The statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said: “The Nigeria High Commission in London did not at any time ever settle the medical bills or any other bills for that matter as Abba Kyari personally took responsibility for paying his own bills. This is by the Chief of Staff’s choice.

    “He pays for his medicals, his taxi and accommodation in the U.K in spite of the high office he occupies, even when there is no rule that says he cannot be catered for by government.

    “Hospital records are available for verification to show that the Nigeria High Commission in London didn’t spend a penny on Kyari, as its involvement didn’t go beyond the issuance of the letter of guarantee to the Wellington Hospital.” he added

    Also the case against Buhari’s anti-corruption arrowhead, Ibrahim Magu, who is the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is not better.

    The Senate had rejected confirmation of his appointment, claiming that the Department of State Services (DSS) security report had alleged that Magu has failed the integrity test and that if confirmed as the substantive chairman of the Commission, he could constitute a liability to Buhari’s anti-corruption drive.

    Magu was alleged to be occupying a N20 million per year accommodation, claimed to have been rented for him by someone under EFCC investigation.

    The Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has also not been spared in the allegations.

    She was alleged to have abused privileges at the Nigeria High Commission in London, which she had denied.

    She went further to challenge the online medium championing the report to back up the report with concrete evidence or tender apology.

    Only time will tell who is next on the list to face such allegations.

    While it is very important for those in the executive arm of government, being accused of one corrupt practice or the other, to clear their names as soon as possible, some Nigerians however believed that there is more than meet the eyes concerning the allegations.

    To them, the increasing onslaught against Buhari’s men is corruption fighting back or part of grand scheming towards race for 2019 general elections.

    It is certainly not easy to pinpoint if these allegations are coming now to weaken the men around Buhari towards 2019 elections or just corruption fighting back.

    But one thing that is very certain is that lies and evil can never prevail against truth and good forever.

  • GLO TAKES ‘CAMPUS STORM’ TO UNIPORT

    THE University of Port Harcourt last weekend hosted the first edition of Globacom’s music concert, Glo Campus Storm.

    Described as a spectacular show Glo Campus Storm lit up the Gymnasium Hall of the institution as A-class acts, Timaya, MI, Runtown and popular comedian, Gordons, thrilled the students to no end.

    Runtown was the first major act to perform after up and coming musicians in the school. Rap sensation, MI, was next, as he reeled out his popular tracks. He ended his energetic performance with his monster song, Africa Rapper No 1. Timaya finally brought the roof down with an earthshaking display.

    Gordons laced the show intermittently with humourous jokes, while high-rising female DJ, Lambo, complemented the artistes’ performances with hit songs from her jukebox.

    But the night was not all about music and comedy. It also saw the emergence of 10 students of the institution, five males and five females, as Glo Campus Ambassadors.

    Daniel Osuagwu, a 300 level Management student was crowned Mr. UNIPORT Glo Campus Data Dude and he pocketed a cash prize of N100,000. Four other male students went home with N50,000 cash prizes each. They included Christopher Okonye, Okoye Joseph Obinna, Goodluck Ugo and Peters Emmanuel.

    In the female category, Sarah Nweke of the Department of Linguistics and Communications Studies, won the Miss UNIPORT Glo Campus Data Diva and  N100,000. The remaining four winners, Stephanie Iwabachue, Francesca Adomakahi, Lilian Duru and Angel Oguaghaka went home with N50, 000 each.

    All 10 winners will join 230 others to be selected from the remaining 23 institutions where the show will hold to vie for the star prize of N1million each in the male and female categories at the grand finale.

    Globacom’s Head of Operations, South-South, Enekwachi Aja, explained that it was organised to appreciate the students for their support for Glo.

  • Fayose in eye of storm

    Fayose in eye of storm

    Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose is battling with the allegation of receiving N1.2 billion from the cash meant for the purchase of arms for the Armed Forces. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen his personal account. This has generated mixed reactions by stakeholders. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA examines the controversy and implications for the governor and the state’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    History is about to repeat itself in Ekiti State. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is tightening its noose on Governor Ayo Fayose for allegedly receiving money from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). The amount traced to him and the former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro is N4.7 billion. His Zenith account was frozen by the EFCC.

    Ten years ago, it was almost the same scenario, leading to the governor’s impeachment by 24 out of 26 members of the House of Assembly over alleged N1.4 billion scam.

    The charges against Fayose in 2006 included the illegal operation of foreign accounts, the illegal diversion of local government funds from Ekiti State Joint Local Government Account, the receipt of illegal gift in the sum of 37,000 pounds sterling, the illegal receipt of gifts of houses in Ibadan and Afao Ekiti and the illegal transfer of $100,000 to Citi Bank of the United States of America.

    After his impeachment, which has since been set aside by the Supreme Court, Fayose fled to exile. He was charged to court on his return. The case started at the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, before it was later transferred to Ado Ekiti Division. The case suffered several delay, until Fayose was re-elected as governor in 2014. Since the governor enjoys immunity, the trial was put on hold.

    Lawyers, politicians, youths and other interest groups have reacted to the freezing of Fayose’s account. Those who have hailed the EFCC said the governor deserved the punishment. An indigene of Ekiti State, Dare Awe, described the action as “divine intervention in the affairs of Ekiti,” stressing that the governor is a serial liar. He said the governor’s activities have dented the image of the state locally and internationally. He lamented that the governor kept the huge sum in the bank at a time workers are on strike over the non-payment of their salaries.

    Awe said: “We are suffering in this state, but the guy is only concerned about how he will make money. What have we benefited since he came to power? Our image has been dented within and outside the state because of his action.”

    A stakeholder, Segun Adaralegbe, said Ekiti voted for Fayose in error, adding that the people’s plights have multiplied under his leadership. He stressed: “I mobilized members of my family and neighbours to the nearest polling station to vote for him but we have all realized that electing this man again was a big mistake. People find it difficult to survive; salaries are not paid and he imposed heavy taxes on us.”

    In Gbenga Faleye’s view, the revelation by the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)Secretary, Dr. Tope Aluko, on the deployment of cash to manipulate the 2014 election was true. He said the EFCC now has an “iron cast evidence” against Fayose. He added: “I think the EFCC did its home work well this time around to come out with the facts and figures we are seeing in the newspapers and it is now left for Fayose to defend himself but we are all watching how events will unfold”.

    However, James Arowosafe differed, saying that the governor’s is being witch-hunted. He said:  “We know that the EFCC is acting the script of the APC government. They have been looking for ways to nail him by all means since he came back to power, but I know that they will fail.”

    To Lekan Aborisade, the EFCC crackdown on Ekiti is needless, accusing the Federal Government of turning the agency to an instrument of persecution.

    He added: “Whether they like it or not, Fayose is our governor and will remain our governor till 2018. Enough of this media trial, the man is still innocent until proven otherwise by the court. I believe that as he surmounted other hurdles earlier, he will overcome this one.”

    The House of Assembly has called on the EFCC to de-freeze Fayose’s account. The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Gboyega Aribisogan (Ikole 1), said the freezing of Fayose’s account was a calculated attempt to muzzle the opposition. He reminded the EFCC that Fayose enjoys imunity under Section 308 of the constitution.

    Aribisogan said: “The APC-led Federal Government should concentrate on good governance to reduce poverty and several security challenges in the country rather than embarking on a wild goose chase of perceived opposition as seen in their several attempts to muzzle Governor Ayodele Fayose and many others.”

    Also, the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Samuel Omotoso, argued that the EFCC Act 2002 did not give its Chairman power to freeze the bank account of any individual or corporate organisation without a motion ex-parte in the court of law.

    Omotoso, who represents Oye 1 Constituency, said freezing an account is no longer an investigation, but a punitive action. He said: “A sitting governor cannot be subjected to such an embarrassment”.

    The PDP faction loyal to Fayosem in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Gboyega Oguntuase, described the freezing of the account as “an indecent practice in a democracy.” Former Deputy Governor Paul Alabi, who spoke on behalf of Ekiti PDP Elders’ Forun, said the latest freezing of the account of Fayose was “the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

    The? PDP elders alleged that the agents of the FG had earlier invaded the Ekiti State House of Assembly, abducted a lawmaker, Hon. Afolabi Akanni and detained him for 18 days without being charged to court.

    But, the APC supported the move by the EFCC, saying: “refusing to pay salaries when evidence abound that the state has money to fulfill its obligation to workers amount to wickedness.” Its Publicity Secretary,  Taiwo Olatunbosun, said: “We have said over time that the state has money to pay workers’ salaries after the governor collected 20 months federal and local governments’ allocations, N9.6b bailout cash, N22b refunds on federal roads, N2b Ecological Fund, CBN N2b SME loan, cut-throat taxes on IGR, including taxation of primary school pupils and N5m charge on each of all the banks in the state for their community social responsibility, all that are kept in accounts that are not known to the state’s financial system.”

    Lawyers have expressed divergent views on the freezing of the bank account. Kolade Ilesanmi,  Adeoye Aribasoye and Tajudeen Akingbolu said the commission has the power to freeze the governor’s account provided there is an evidence of money laundering, receipt of slush funds and diversion of arms funds to electoral purposes.

    But, the Chairman of the Ikere Ekiti branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bunmi Olugbade, and another lawyer, Oladele Adedeji, alleged that treatment meted out to Fayose has sent a wrong signal to the international community and portends danger to the nation’s democracy.

    Ilesanmi contended that Section 28 of the EFCC Act 2002 empowers the Commission to freeze the account of any suspect and obtain a court order thereafter. He argued that Section 28 of the EFCC Act gives the Commission the power to go ahead and investigate Fayose, but cannot arraign him as he enjoys immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.

    According to the legal practitioner noted that while the provision in Section 28 carries that word “shall”, that of Section 34 carries the word “may” noting that the latter is not binding on the EFCC while the former is.

    Ilesanmi added: “Where state funds have been stolen are they saying the authorities empowered by law cannot recover the cash? The account frozen is the ‘res’ and where the ‘res’ is destroyed, where is the basis the action.

    “You cannot use immunity as an engine of fraud, immunity is not absolute; it is there to protect the occupant of the office from distraction but they are misusing it in Nigeria.

    Olugbade said: “No law in Nigeria empowers an organization to act with impunity without following due process. Every law that gives power to a particular authority has a limitation.

    A student leader, Sina Awopeju, lamented that thousands of school pupils have been staying at home in the last four weeks while those writing exams before their strike commenced have been stranded their their studies.

    The President of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti Student Union Government, Tope Olajide, said the students in Ekiti state are totally disappointed in the state government and also call on the governor to pay the workers.

    Olajide said: “Governor Fayose has been saying there is no money in Ekiti state, he has been shouting that everyday while N1.4 billion was found in his personal account, and he keeps saying there is no money in the state.”

    The next few weeks and months promise to be interesting in Ekiti State as the latest controversy rages on. But, it remains to be seen whether Fayose will survive the latest storm.

     

  • Calm after herdsmen storm

    Calm after herdsmen storm

    Cautiously, residents of Ukpabi Nimbo, Enugu State, return to their devastated community after suspected herdsmen’s attack. CHRIS OJI reports

    It has drawn blood, tears, anger, panic and exodus but after suspected herdsmen struck last week in Ukpabi Nimbo, Enugu State, a semblance of calm is returning to the community. There was armed police presence as residents who fled the attack cautiously made their way back to their devastated community.

    It was a tragic week. No fewer than 48 people were reported killed in the attack. The state governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi visited the community a day after the attack and was moved to tears at the scale of bloodshed and destruction.

    He also did his best to reassure the residents, even praying that God will protect them.

    Other leaders took their turn condemning the violence, some saying the people may have no choice but defend themselves if their attackers would not forbear while the authorities looked helplessly on.

    Economic activities and social activities have started picking up gradually, but farming, their mainstay of livelihood, was yet to resume as the fear of the herdsmen still hiding in the bushes remained strong.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) dona-ted trailer-loads of relief materials to the community in Uzo-Uwani council area of the state.

    There have been other visitors since the attack.  Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who was accompanied by the senator representing Enugu North zone, Chuka Utazi, as well as members of the House of Representatives including, Dr Chukwuemeka Ujam (Nkanu East/Nkanu West), Dennis Agbo (Igboeze North/Udenu), Pat Asadu (Nsukka/Igboeze South), Toby Okechukwu (Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River) and Dennis Amadi (Udi/Ezeagu) who visited the community at the weekend described the damage done to the community as devastating.

    They also visited the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, where some of the injured are receiving treatment. The lawmakers expressed shock at the casualty figures.

    Ekweremadu announced his donation of a transformer to the community in addition to N2 million by the Enugu lawmakers in the National Assembly.

    “We are going to ensure that roads here are given clear attention,” said Ekweremadu. “After four years, the story of Uzo-Uwani will change. I will also give you a transformer within the next three to four days.”

    Both Hon. Patrick Asadu and Hon. Dennis Agbo representing Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South and Igbo-Eze North/Udenu federal constituencies, said “enough is enough”, maintaining that the attack on Nimbo would not be taken for granted.

    “They have been doing this and going scot-free but this attack on Nimbo will be the last. The people doing this are not just cattle rearers; they are terrorists, Boko Haram elements; we are not going to take it,” said Asadu.

    The Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Nimbo, the Rev. Fr. Okeke Obetta, had told the delegation how some of the herdsmen numbering over 50 descended on the church and vandalised it after several attempts to set it ablaze failed. He said while the carnage was going on, there were 14 parishioners in the chapel praying. One of them out of fear attempted to escape and was felled by the herdsmen’s bullet.

    “There were three generator sets in the church. But they were all empty without fuel. The herdsmen turned them upside down and shot them with their rifles with the intention to set the church ablaze. But the generators miraculously did not catch fire,” the man of God narrated.

    The traditional ruler of Nimbo community, Igwe John Akor, a former senior editor with the rested Concord newspaper,  made a passionate appeal to the federal government to address the security challenge facing his people, noting that the continued loss of lives and property in the hands of the herdsmen would no longer be condoned.

    “There is no single day that passes without one skirmish with the Fulani herdsmen. They are taking too much. A lasting solution to their impunity should be found. Otherwise our people will continue to sleep with one eye open,” Igwe Akor stressed.

    Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammad Sani Sidi  sympathised with the people, saying also that the federal government shared their grief and pain.

    Sidi, represented by the Southeast coordinator of NEMA, Mr. Martin Udeinya, described it as a barbaric act.

    He said, “We are here today to present relief materials to Nimbo community after carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the damage done to the area recently. These items will help to cushion the extent of the damage in the community.”