Remarks
By Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal CFR, Speaker, House Of
Representatives, National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
On The Occasion Of The Consideration Of The Report On The House’s Ad Hoc Committee On Petroleum Subsidy
1. My fellow colleagues, You will recall that on Sunday January 8 we
had to cut short our recess in response to a national crisis as a result
of the sudden removal of fuel subsidy by the Executive Arm of Government.
2. The commitment and patriotism shown by members during that period of
emergency finally led to the gradual resolution of that crisis.
3. Today, we are here to consider the product of that sacrifice. Before
you is the report of the Ad-hoc Committee on the monitoring of fuel
subsidy regime which was set up to verify and determine actual subsidy
requirements.
4. And I must commend the Chairman of the
Committee, Hon Farouk Lawan and the rest of his Committee Members, for
their courage, dedication and professionalism. They were given a crucial
assignment and they handled it with the integrity and patriotism it
deserved.
5. The probe of the oil Sector has raised so much
dust from certain segments of the polity such that it became clear that
the intention was to frustrate it. For those who regard the oil sector
as a secret society or sacred cow, I wish to state without equivocation
that it is not. All public agencies in the oil sector are the creation
of Acts of the National Assembly and this Honourable House has no powers
to legislate for the creation of secret societies. Similarly all
private sector corporate bodies operating in the sector are the creation
of the Corporate Affairs Commission and that Commission also is not
vested with any powers to incorporate secret societies. Let it therefore
be known that in our drive to sanitize the polity, there are no sacred
cows and we do not intend to discover any.
6. However, that is
only one part of the job. We now have the more crucial duty of
considering the report and recommendations of the committee. Usually in a
matter such as this, one is accustomed to hearing differing opinions
presented passionately. Or passions presented as opinions.
7.
But we must never forget who we are and where we are, because Nigerians
are watching us very closely and history will judge what we do here
today. I therefore urge each and everyone of you to look at this report
dispassionately.
8. Be fair in your comments and set aside all primordial sentiments so that we can do justice to this important document.
9. Let me reiterate the fact that we are discharging a Constitutional
assignment here and it is therefore incumbent upon us to do our duty
without fear or favour. Let me also remind you that we are fighting
against entrenched interests whose infectious greed has decimated our
people. Therefore, be mindful that they will fight back, and they do
fight dirty.
10. I have heard all kinds of insinuations,
including the one about anti-graft agencies waiting for a ‘harmonise
version’ of this report before taking any action. Let me quickly say
here that this is at best an excuse that can not stand after all the
same agencies accept and investigate petitions from individuals, how
much more resolutions of this House, there will be no such document so
they should just go ahead and do their job and where they find any
person or body culpable, they should proceed in accordance with the law.
11. Our only interest here is to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians by
showing how the subsidy regime has been hijacked for the benefit of a
few. At the end of our deliberations we hope that the executive arm will
act upon the resolutions of this House and bring more transparency to
bear on the system.
12. Together we can do all things
constitutionally required of us but not without sacrificing our personal
comforts, personal aspiration and even personal opportunities that do
not benefit the public good. For as many are prepared and determined to
make these personal sacrifice and to stand on the side of the ordinary
Nigerians whose mandate we hold, I say let’s march on dear colleagues.
13. My fellow colleagues, I wish you God’s guidance.
Thank you.
Being the text of Remarks By Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal CFR,
Speaker, House Of Representatives, National Assembly of The Federal
Republic of Nigeria On The Occasion Of The Consideration Of The Report
On The House’s Ad Hoc Committee On Petroleum Subsidy
Tuesday 9 September 2014
Full Text Of The Speaker's speech at the plenary session June 15, 2012
We are on course
Being text of remarks by the speaker, house of representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (CFR) on the occasion of the special plenary session of the house on Friday 15th June 2012
Protocols
My Dear Honourable Colleagues,
I now formally welcome you to this Special Session of Plenary which has been summoned pursuant to Order 5(18)(2) of the Standing Rules of the House of Representatives. It is the Second Special Session since the 7th House of Representatives was inaugurated on the 6th June 2011.
2.The object of the Session, which you have just accomplished, is to deliberate on grave allegation of bribery brought against a member of this Hallowed Chambers. Hon. Farouk Lawan by Mr. Femi Otedola, an oil marketer, in connection with the work of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime empanelled by the House for that purpose.
3.In accordance with our Legislative Agenda we must continue to be, not only sensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians but also proactive on all matters of urgent National importance, therefore, while I apologize for the inconveniences caused to members by this sudden recall from the recess, I trust, we all appreciate that this is a call to important civic duty for our dear country.
4.Hon. Colleagues, when we elected to pursue the entrenchment of probity, accountability and transparency in the conduct of government business as a cardinal Legislative Agenda we advised ourselves never to expect that it will be an easy task. Accordingly I have had cause to occasionally sound a note of warning and reminder that our constitutional task is inescapably hazardous requiring total commitment, diligence, transparency; determination and sacrifice.
5.The Constitution has given the parliament three broad duties, which include Law Making, Representation and Oversight. It is interesting to note that of these three, it is that last function, which gives legislature the powers to conduct oversight, that has tended to cause conflict between the legislature and the Executive and remains the most controversial. Yet. it would have been impossible to conduct the other two functions successfully if the Constitution had not given the parliament oversight powers: the single most potent weapon that makers of the Constitution put in place to check abuse by those who execute its law.
6.In full compliance with the Constitutional prescription in S 62(1) and (2) the House has always ensured that all Committees empanelled by it, be they Ad-Hoc or Standing, are given a clear mandate. I find it compelling to state for the umpteenth time that the constitutional power of investigation conferred on the Legislature is for the purpose of law reform and for the exposure of corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it. In the exercise of this function there shall be no sacred cows.
7.I have emphasized the constitutionality of the oversight function of the legislature because there lingers among many public officials, the notion that in holding public or investigative hearings, the Legislature is over stepping its bounds and also neglecting its other functions. Nothing can be further from the truth. The records of our performance for the first legislative year, which just ended on 6th June 2012, show that the performance in the area of legislation was equally impressive.
8.I wish at this point to make this pledge that the House of Representatives shall continue to act responsibly by ensuring that all investigations are instituted only when absolutely necessary. Furthermore, we shall insist on probity and fairness on the part of our members conducting such investigations; and we shall not hesitate to sanction anyone who in the course of these investigations overreaches himself or uses the process to intimidate anyone or engages in corruption.
9.The recent investigations into two Sectors, namely Oil Subsidy Regime and Capital Market were conducted in public, evidence and testimonies were freely given and taken and in the case of oil subsidy regime, monumental fraud was disclosed in the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee which has since been passed by the House and referred to the Executive for implementation by relevant agencies.
10.While we consider it preposterous and hasty to dismiss the current bribery allegations, pending the outcome of ongoing investigations, including our in-house investigation just instituted, we reject in totality insinuations being orchestrated in some media to the effect that the allegations have eroded the integrity of the Resolutions of the House on the report and rendered same unworthy of implementation.
11.Let me reiterate that the resolutions of the Hose over the fuel subsidy regime remain valid despite this recent controversy. We must as a country learn to separate institutions from individuals and we must admit that, in the present case, the alleged conduct of an individual cannot negate the conclusions of the whole House. Let me also reaffirm here that we have not been compromised and we shall never compromise our stand against corruption. The credibility of that report therefore remains inviolable and we stand by it.
12.May I, therefore, urge the Executive to match words with action in the implementation of these resolutions. As just resolved by motion, relevant Committees of the House must diligently monitor the implementation of the resolution by agencies under their supervisory jurisdiction and report back to the House within reasonable time.
13.My Dear Colleagues, the scope of our resolve for transparency in the conduct of government business includes all the arms of government; all public functionaries and all persons doing business with government or operating under Acts of the legislature. As members of parliament we enjoy no immunity and we seek none, let us therefore remind ourselves constantly that we must live above board. We offer ourselves for public scrutiny at all times in our effort to build a better Nigeria. As humans where we err and our attention is called we shall be willing to make amends in the overall national interest.
14.I call upon all of us to remain firm, resolute and committed to the execution of our constitutional mandate whatever the hazards. We must NEVER repeat NEVER be cowed or intimidated by any form or colour of antics that may be fashioned with intent to dampen our spirits and or break our resolve. It remains for me to say that, when the army suffers causalities of a few officers and men at the battlefront, it beats no retreat except it does not intend to win the battle. I am confident that men and women of integrity and character are in the overwhelming majority in our fold and we do not lack the numbers to prosecute the battle. We shall be judged not only by our words but more so by our actions.
15.To the good people of Nigeria we appeal for patience and understanding and wish to once more assure you of our sincerity of purpose and the determination to deliver the Nigeria of our dreams. The road may be rough and herculean but victory is sure.
16.Now therefore is the time to double the pace of our performance, including the investigative hearings, given that from the monumental fraud uncovered through these investigations, we know that we are surely on course.
17.The current unfortunate bribery allegation, whatever the outcome of ongoing investigation can only serve as impetus for us to do more, in the quest for the entrenchment of probity in governance.
18.In addition to routine oversight, we shall investigate everything that needs to be investigated in the process of the fashioning of a better Nigeria. In this regard, we shall continue to seek synergy with the other arms of government so as not to work at cross-purposes.
19.May the Almighty God grant us the Courage and Grace to do what is right at all times and in all situations.
Thank you all.
Being text of remarks by the speaker, house of representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (CFR) on the occasion of the special plenary session of the house on Friday 15th June 2012
Protocols
My Dear Honourable Colleagues,
I now formally welcome you to this Special Session of Plenary which has been summoned pursuant to Order 5(18)(2) of the Standing Rules of the House of Representatives. It is the Second Special Session since the 7th House of Representatives was inaugurated on the 6th June 2011.
2.The object of the Session, which you have just accomplished, is to deliberate on grave allegation of bribery brought against a member of this Hallowed Chambers. Hon. Farouk Lawan by Mr. Femi Otedola, an oil marketer, in connection with the work of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Monitoring of Fuel Subsidy Regime empanelled by the House for that purpose.
3.In accordance with our Legislative Agenda we must continue to be, not only sensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians but also proactive on all matters of urgent National importance, therefore, while I apologize for the inconveniences caused to members by this sudden recall from the recess, I trust, we all appreciate that this is a call to important civic duty for our dear country.
4.Hon. Colleagues, when we elected to pursue the entrenchment of probity, accountability and transparency in the conduct of government business as a cardinal Legislative Agenda we advised ourselves never to expect that it will be an easy task. Accordingly I have had cause to occasionally sound a note of warning and reminder that our constitutional task is inescapably hazardous requiring total commitment, diligence, transparency; determination and sacrifice.
5.The Constitution has given the parliament three broad duties, which include Law Making, Representation and Oversight. It is interesting to note that of these three, it is that last function, which gives legislature the powers to conduct oversight, that has tended to cause conflict between the legislature and the Executive and remains the most controversial. Yet. it would have been impossible to conduct the other two functions successfully if the Constitution had not given the parliament oversight powers: the single most potent weapon that makers of the Constitution put in place to check abuse by those who execute its law.
6.In full compliance with the Constitutional prescription in S 62(1) and (2) the House has always ensured that all Committees empanelled by it, be they Ad-Hoc or Standing, are given a clear mandate. I find it compelling to state for the umpteenth time that the constitutional power of investigation conferred on the Legislature is for the purpose of law reform and for the exposure of corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it. In the exercise of this function there shall be no sacred cows.
7.I have emphasized the constitutionality of the oversight function of the legislature because there lingers among many public officials, the notion that in holding public or investigative hearings, the Legislature is over stepping its bounds and also neglecting its other functions. Nothing can be further from the truth. The records of our performance for the first legislative year, which just ended on 6th June 2012, show that the performance in the area of legislation was equally impressive.
8.I wish at this point to make this pledge that the House of Representatives shall continue to act responsibly by ensuring that all investigations are instituted only when absolutely necessary. Furthermore, we shall insist on probity and fairness on the part of our members conducting such investigations; and we shall not hesitate to sanction anyone who in the course of these investigations overreaches himself or uses the process to intimidate anyone or engages in corruption.
9.The recent investigations into two Sectors, namely Oil Subsidy Regime and Capital Market were conducted in public, evidence and testimonies were freely given and taken and in the case of oil subsidy regime, monumental fraud was disclosed in the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee which has since been passed by the House and referred to the Executive for implementation by relevant agencies.
10.While we consider it preposterous and hasty to dismiss the current bribery allegations, pending the outcome of ongoing investigations, including our in-house investigation just instituted, we reject in totality insinuations being orchestrated in some media to the effect that the allegations have eroded the integrity of the Resolutions of the House on the report and rendered same unworthy of implementation.
11.Let me reiterate that the resolutions of the Hose over the fuel subsidy regime remain valid despite this recent controversy. We must as a country learn to separate institutions from individuals and we must admit that, in the present case, the alleged conduct of an individual cannot negate the conclusions of the whole House. Let me also reaffirm here that we have not been compromised and we shall never compromise our stand against corruption. The credibility of that report therefore remains inviolable and we stand by it.
12.May I, therefore, urge the Executive to match words with action in the implementation of these resolutions. As just resolved by motion, relevant Committees of the House must diligently monitor the implementation of the resolution by agencies under their supervisory jurisdiction and report back to the House within reasonable time.
13.My Dear Colleagues, the scope of our resolve for transparency in the conduct of government business includes all the arms of government; all public functionaries and all persons doing business with government or operating under Acts of the legislature. As members of parliament we enjoy no immunity and we seek none, let us therefore remind ourselves constantly that we must live above board. We offer ourselves for public scrutiny at all times in our effort to build a better Nigeria. As humans where we err and our attention is called we shall be willing to make amends in the overall national interest.
14.I call upon all of us to remain firm, resolute and committed to the execution of our constitutional mandate whatever the hazards. We must NEVER repeat NEVER be cowed or intimidated by any form or colour of antics that may be fashioned with intent to dampen our spirits and or break our resolve. It remains for me to say that, when the army suffers causalities of a few officers and men at the battlefront, it beats no retreat except it does not intend to win the battle. I am confident that men and women of integrity and character are in the overwhelming majority in our fold and we do not lack the numbers to prosecute the battle. We shall be judged not only by our words but more so by our actions.
15.To the good people of Nigeria we appeal for patience and understanding and wish to once more assure you of our sincerity of purpose and the determination to deliver the Nigeria of our dreams. The road may be rough and herculean but victory is sure.
16.Now therefore is the time to double the pace of our performance, including the investigative hearings, given that from the monumental fraud uncovered through these investigations, we know that we are surely on course.
17.The current unfortunate bribery allegation, whatever the outcome of ongoing investigation can only serve as impetus for us to do more, in the quest for the entrenchment of probity in governance.
18.In addition to routine oversight, we shall investigate everything that needs to be investigated in the process of the fashioning of a better Nigeria. In this regard, we shall continue to seek synergy with the other arms of government so as not to work at cross-purposes.
19.May the Almighty God grant us the Courage and Grace to do what is right at all times and in all situations.
Thank you all.
Tuesday 2 September 2014
Gov. Sule Lamido speaks and I quote
The PDP government of Jigawa had, in 2011, supported President
Jonathan’s bid which caused the people to castigate us by way of calling
us names; however, the president and federal government have not in any
way redeemed their campaign promises to the people of the state, for
which we see no reason whatsoever to support him again - Gov.Sule Lamido
Monday 1 September 2014
The Speaker speaks and I quote
I have made my position known at the NBA conference about a week ago.
And I said that it is not the best of fashion in a democracy that you
militarize a process to the extent that voters get intimidated and
scared and they rather withdraw and remain indoors
Tuesday 26 August 2014
The Speaker speaks and I quote
When the complexion of election conducted by a civilian regime assumes
the semblance of that conducted by a military junta, it is obvious that
the nation needs help
Monday 25 August 2014
OBJ Speaks and I quote
We all have contributions to make and should not leave our
responsibility to others.If we fail to participate in things that are
meaningfully positive for this country, you will be a victim and we all become victims
Monday 18 August 2014
The Speaker Speaks and I quote
If nations like Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq can conduct peaceful and
credible elections under its challenging atmosphere. We have no reason
not to as well - Tambuwal
Thursday 26 June 2014
The speaker Speaks and I quote
No one out there should have any impression that any of us here in the
House of Representatives or in the National Assembly is above the law;
that is not the message we are sending. What we are talking about is the
institution of the legislature and not the individuals that are
constituted in the Nigerian legislature - Tambuwal
Wednesday 28 May 2014
Chibok girls: Obasanjo ‘in talks with Boko Haram’
- Cameroon sends 1,000 troops to Nigeria border
By Lawrence Olaoye, with agency reports
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
begun talks with people perceived to be close to the Boko Haram with a
view to negotiating the release of the over 200 girls abducted in
Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state.
This is coming even as reports indicate
that President Goodluck Jonathan has received a video wherein the
kidnapped girls were begging him to accept the insurgents’ offer of
prisoner swap for their release.
A source close to Obasanjo’s negotiation
effort told Agence France Presse (AFP) that the meeting took place last
weekend at Obasanjo’s farm, Ogun state and included relatives of some
senior Boko Haram fighters as well as intermediaries.
According to the report, “The meeting was focused on how to free the girls through negotiation”.
Obasanjo, according to a related report,
is deeply worried by the negative image that the abduction and the
federal government’s glaring failure to free the girls was giving
Nigeria.
“Mr. Obasanjo is very worried that this
kidnapping is casting Nigeria in a bad light, and is also uncomfortable
with Nigeria inviting other outside nations to assist,” another source
told The Telegraph, a British newspaper.
Obasanjo, had previously sought to
negotiate with the insurgents in September 2011, after Boko Haram bombed
the United Nations (UN) office in Abuja.
That time, he flew to Maiduguri, then a
stronghold of the Boko Haram to meet relatives of former leader of the
sect, Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in police custody in 2009.
The 2011 talks did not help stem the
violence and some at the time doubted if Obasanjo was dealing with
people who were legitimately capable of negotiating a ceasefire.
Spokesmen for the former head of state,
who remains an influential figure in Nigerian politics, could not be
reached to comment on the latest reported Boko Haram talks.
But a source told AFP that Obasanjo had
voiced concern about Nigeria’s acceptance of foreign military personnel
to help rescue the girls.
Meanwhile, a source close to the
insurgents told The Telegraph that a video clip of the schoolgirls
kidnapped by Boko Haram in which they beg Jonathan to spare their lives
through a prisoner swap has been sent to the president.
The video was said to have been handed
to the president’s office by an intermediary who started a dialogue with
the group two weeks ago. The intermediary, a Nigerian journalist,
allegedly obtained the video as a way of proving to the president that
he had authentic lines of communication with Boko Haram’s leaders.
In a related development, Cameroon has
announced deployment of some 1,000 troops and armoured vehicles to its
border region with Nigeria as it steps up its military presence to
counter a rising threat from Boko Haram, a spokesman for that country’s
defence ministry said yesterday.
Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badjeck said
about 1,000 Special Forces of Cameroon’s rapid intervention brigade
(BIR) left the capital on Monday. Several new generation armoured
vehicles were deployed three days earlier, he said.
“Their mission will be to carry out
reconnaissance and be ready to respond with enough fire power,” Badjeck
told Reuters by telephone from Yaounde. “They are patrolling in northern
region at the moment”, he added.
Badjeck said the deployment was part of
Cameroon’s effort to increase its military presence in the border
region. It had already deployed an additional 700 troops under a joint
regional effort to fight Boko Haram, announced in March.
Nigeria has in the past complained that
Cameroon was not doing enough to secure its Far North region which it
said is being used by Boko Haram militants to shelter from a Nigerian
military offensive and to transport weapons.
Leaders of Nigeria and neighbouring
Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin met in Paris on May 17 with Western
officials to flesh out a plan to coordinate their actions against the
militant group, which they said threatens the security of the whole
region.
Boko Haram is suspected of attacking a
Chinese workers camp in northern Cameroon this month. Ten Chinese
workers are still missing following the attack.
REF http://www.peoplesdailyng.com/chibok-girls-obasanjo-in-talks-with-boko-haram/
Tuesday 27 May 2014
The Speaker Speaks
It should be obvious to everyone that what sustains a
country is not the few who have but the many who lack; not the comfort
of the elite, but the frame of mind of the rest of the people; not the
desires of those who hold public offices but the aggregate hope of the
people in the viability of the federation.
“Over the years, successive governments have failed to prosecute programmes and policies that would deliberately bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Instead, the country has been run in such a way that the rich have all the advantages and the poor suffer the full brunt of living in a society where your welfare is based almost entirely on your bank balance.- Tambuwal
REF http://leadership.ng/news/369321/nda-isaiah-annual-lecture-must-change-way-governance-tambuwal
“Over the years, successive governments have failed to prosecute programmes and policies that would deliberately bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Instead, the country has been run in such a way that the rich have all the advantages and the poor suffer the full brunt of living in a society where your welfare is based almost entirely on your bank balance.- Tambuwal
REF http://leadership.ng/news/369321/nda-isaiah-annual-lecture-must-change-way-governance-tambuwal
2015 And The Many Options Before Tambuwal
For the speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, interests are sacred, ego is sacrosanct but compromise, its nature in particular is fluid.
Therefore, drawing conclusions about Tmabuwal and his next line of action, as far as the 2015 calculations are concerned are almost certainly not just preposterous but presumptuous.
He has been linked to many of such innocuous calculations but none has been specifically confirmed to be true.
From President in 2015, Sokoto governorship in 2015, Senate in 2015, crossing to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), sticking to his PDP, etc, Tambuwal remains the only politician in the country whose next move is most unpredictable.
It is true that Tambuwal has attracted an enviable elixir of trust and followership; he has also been branded as one of the country’s best as far as presiding over the lower legislative chamber is concerned.
Regardless, with just a few months to the all-important election year, 2015, Tambuwal’s stance on many national issues juxtaposed side by side with which political platform he finds more comfortable deserves a deeper insight.
Will Tambuwal remain in the ruling PDP or cross over to the APC which he has associated with more than the PDP since the merger? Is he running as governor in Sokoto state? If yes, on the platform of which party, PDP or APC?
Lucky Aminu. There is no argument that he remains the most sought after as 2015 beckons.
REF http://leadership.ng/news/372290/2015-many-options-tambuwal
Monday 26 May 2014
The making of Boko Haram
“The first violent uprising associated with the sect that has come to be known as Boko Haram, took place in December 2003.”
How the failings of the Nigerian state, over the years, have conspired to create the conditions for the transformation of Boko Haram from just one of several fundamentalist sects in Northern Nigeria, into the irredeemably violent organization it is today; one that now appears to lie well beyond the capacity of the country to confront and defeat.
A culture of corruption
The turning point in the drawn-out evolution of Boko Haram was the 2009 killing, by Nigerian police, of Boko Haram founder Yusuf Mohammed, hours after soldiers arrested and handed him over. His capture followed five days of clashes between sect members and the military, ordered in by the President when it became clear that the police could not contain it.
If the authorities got any warnings – and there are suggestions they did – nothing pre-emptive was done, until the sect struck. Five years after the events of July 2009 not much seems to have changed; regarding the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok Amnesty International says: “Nigerian security forces knew about Boko Haram’s impending raid, but failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it.”
In February the Governor of Nigeria’s Borno State told journalists that “Boko Haram are better armed and are better motivated than our own troops.” The recent mutiny by soldiers on the frontlines against Boko Haram provides strong evidence of the levels of frustration within the military. A culture of corruption deprives fighting personnel of weapons, equipment and welfare, resulting in a demoralized force. Rumours abound of Nigerian soldiers stealing and selling arms to criminals.
There have also been suggestions that Nigeria’s military bosses are interested in preserving the stalemate with Boko Haram to justify the continued allocation of billions of dollars to security in the Federal budget.
Police and military excesses
The first violent uprising associated with the sect that has come to be known as Boko Haram, took place in December 2003. About 200 armed youth who styled themselves Al Sunna Wal Jamma (“Followers of the Prophet”) attacked police stations in two border towns in Yobe State, near Nigeria’s border with Yobe. The attack on the police stations is now believed to have been in retaliation for what the group perceived as mistreatment of its members by the police.
For six years there were no other attacks on the scale of the 2003 uprisings. And then the events of July 2009 took place, in which the sect launched a series of brazen, coordinated attacks on police stations and government buildings in four states, in retaliation for an encounter weeks earlier with a team of ‘Operation Flush’, a special security unit under the control of then Governor Ali Modu Sherriff.
That earlier incident, in which sect members were reportedly challenged by ‘Operation Flush’ operatives for defying a state law and riding motorcycles without helmets, took place in June 2009, and resulted in gunshot injuries to several sect members. After that incident, Yusuf reportedly wrote and circulated an “open letter” to President Yar’Adua, threatening violence (a vow that was fulfilled weeks later).
The deaths of Yusuf, his father-in-law (who provided the land on which his mosque in Maiduguri was built), and alleged financier, Buji Foi, all in controversial circumstances at the hands of the police, and after the violence had already subsided, marked the beginning of a new phase of the campaign waged by Boko Haram. (Also at that time local media reported that Muslim men in Maiduguri were shaving their beards to avoid being rounded up for summary execution by the military).
In an audio message released to the media in April 2013, following reports that the government was planning to extend amnesty to repentant militants, sect leader, Abu Shekau, is reported as saying: “We are the one to grant them pardon. Have you forgotten their atrocities against us?”
Human rights groups have continued to document accounts of abuses perpetrated by the Nigerian military, which end up alienating local communities and further radicalizing Boko Haram sympathizers.
Playing politics
Yusuf’s charismatic preaching and his philanthropy quickly ensured that he was in control of a large and deeply devoted youth population, drawn to his attacks on secular Western education and on a decadent political system whose legacy was corruption and poverty. Multitudes left their families or quit education to follow him. And these were not always poor youth, it has been reported that many of his followers were from wealthy families.
With this youth army, it is easy to see the attraction it held for politicians on a desperate quest to gain or retain political office. It is a pattern across Nigeria that politicians cultivate, for the purposes of winning elections, armies of youth whose job it is to intimidate opponents, and create the kind of chaos that makes rigging easy on election days. These political links may explain the initial reluctance to decisively deal with the issue of Boko Haram in its early days.
Today, Nigeria’s main political parties continue to exploit Boko Haram for their own ends, by using it as basis for trading accusations aimed at undermining opponents. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the President’s advisers have long struggled to portray the opposition All Progressives Congress as a ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ or ‘Janjaweed’ look-alike bent on “Islamising” Nigeria, while the APC suspects that the reluctance of the Federal Government to clamp down decisively on the insurgency is connected to its plan to keep the region – an APC stronghold – unstable and undermine chances of elections holding there in 2015.
Amid the frenzy of baseless accusations and counter-accusations, the protection of hapless citizens, like the students in Chibok, is not a priority.
Foreign connections
One noticeable trend in Nigeria from the early 2000s was the proliferation of arms in the country, smuggled in across Nigeria’s porous four-thousand-mile-stretch of borders with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
In response, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005 set up a Presidential Action Committee on Control of Violent Crimes and Illegal Weapons, which reportedly raised fears that extremist sects were gaining ground in the country. There is no evidence any actions were taken at that time, to address what were very credible threats.
It is now also known that funds have flowed into Northern Nigeria from abroad, to support an array of disruptive Muslim sects, since the turn of the century. Writing in 2011, Mai Yamani, author of Cradle of Islam noted that “despite the decade of the West’s war on terror, and Saudi Arabia’s longer-term alliance with the US, the Kingdom’s Wahhabi religious establishment has continued to bankroll Islamic extremist ideologies around the world.”
In 2002, a Nigerian associate of Osama Bin Laden reportedly received 300m naira (US$3m at that time) from him to donate to several Islamist sects across Northern Nigeria, including Boko Haram. Osama had himself broadcast a message around that time in which he cited Nigeria as one of six countries “ready for liberation.”
This is a condensed version of a piece that will appear in full shortly.
Follow me on Twitter @toluogunlesi
REF http://www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/161456-making-boko-haram-tolu-ogunlesi.html
Okonjo-Iweala Vs The Military
I have always known it will eventually come to this. The
military last week accused finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of
starving them of funds badly needed to discharge their duties. I know
that every other unit of the nation’s security superstructure may soon
join the fray and demand the minister’s head. It is something waiting to
happen because the Nigerian military, historically known and
acknowledged as among the best and most accomplished in the world, given
their achievements in the numerous international peacekeeping
engagements, are now ridiculed and pilloried as incompetent and
cowardly. Their collective pride has been hurt and, understandably, they
may choose to fight back to restore their image.
To be sure, I have not met a single serving Nigerian minister or head of any government agency who has not complained about the finance minister. And a few of them are extremely frustrated by Goodluck Jonathan’s total abdication of his responsibility as the president: he refuses to call her to order. Okonjo-Iweala’s response has been that the military received N130 billion in the last four months. Maybe we should start by asking how much was appropriated by the National Assembly to the military last year and how much was actually disbursed to them that year by the minister. This is a very serious question that the National Assembly must follow up because the souls of the more than 3,000 innocent people who have been murdered in cold blood by insurgents will haunt all those responsible for this if they don’t do their jobs. But let’s go back to the minister’s alibi.
Okonjo-Iweala said she has disbursed N130 billion to the military, which consists of the army, navy and air force. The payments, I assume, should cover their salaries, logistics, uniforms, equipment, allowances, accommodation and mobilisation in the war against insurgents. Is she really serious? This N130 billion or less than $1 billion is what she has disbursed in four months and yet expects any meaningful results? What is the total amount that she is supposed to have disbursed and when did she disburse the funds? Was it disbursed as at when due or after the fact? These are the queries that are germane at this point. Besides, there are doubts in respectable quarters that this amount has actually been disbursed. The Sultan of Sokoto, who himself retired as a general in the army, virtually echoed that doubt at the weekend.
The disbursement to the police is even much worse. Since Jonathan came to power, there have been years that the police received less than 10 per cent of their appropriated budgets. The situation is now so bad that even state governments that used to supplement the shortfall in funding from the federal government, out of their own enlightened self interests, now receive only about 50 per cent of what they are supposed to receive from the Jonathan government. State governors, including those from the ruling party, have talked and talked; they have complained and complained, and are now tired. Even Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State that once threatened the federal government with court action is tired and just watching, probably because he would not want anyone to ask him, “Na only you waka come?”
That Okonjo-Iweala can proudly say she has disbursed N130 billion to the military and expect Nigerians to clap for her shows that those who run this government do not really care about the safety and security of Nigerians. As I have said, let her also tell us what she is supposed to have disbursed. The theft that is going on in this government – epitomised by the $49 billion not remitted by the NNPC – has grounded the Nigerian state. No nation can continue like this and time is obviously ticking for Nigeria.
Okonjo-Iweala wants our military of today to operate like the military of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The minister and her boss must be told that the nature of crime and the threats that nations now face are totally different from what they used to be. Today’s threats are defined by terrorism and the internet, and nations must respond accordingly. Nations must now respond with technology, new methods and new ideas. These require new investments and retraining. Jonathan’s government seems totally unaware of this. Even the way our soldiers are kitted, compared to what happens in other nations, shows we just don’t get it. The modern soldier is kitted with new modular combat uniforms, sunglasses (some with magnification capabilities), smoke grenades, modular helmets, modern combat tents, night vision goggles and other 21st century accessories. I am not totally excusing the military high command or in any way suggesting that they may not themselves be corrupt, but let’s start diagnosing the problem from the stratosphere of the government. Even the Ministry of Defence has absolved itself from any acts of corruption as Okonjo-Iweala deals with the military directly.
Any leader who intends to become the commander-in-chief but does not know that the threats to nations have changed and that the old knowledge and received wisdom are no longer adequate for today’s world should look for another job. And if you add corruption, the type that has defined this government, to the mix, then you will end up with precisely what we have in Nigeria today.
REF http://leadership.ng/columns/372267/okonjo-iweala-vs-military
To be sure, I have not met a single serving Nigerian minister or head of any government agency who has not complained about the finance minister. And a few of them are extremely frustrated by Goodluck Jonathan’s total abdication of his responsibility as the president: he refuses to call her to order. Okonjo-Iweala’s response has been that the military received N130 billion in the last four months. Maybe we should start by asking how much was appropriated by the National Assembly to the military last year and how much was actually disbursed to them that year by the minister. This is a very serious question that the National Assembly must follow up because the souls of the more than 3,000 innocent people who have been murdered in cold blood by insurgents will haunt all those responsible for this if they don’t do their jobs. But let’s go back to the minister’s alibi.
Okonjo-Iweala said she has disbursed N130 billion to the military, which consists of the army, navy and air force. The payments, I assume, should cover their salaries, logistics, uniforms, equipment, allowances, accommodation and mobilisation in the war against insurgents. Is she really serious? This N130 billion or less than $1 billion is what she has disbursed in four months and yet expects any meaningful results? What is the total amount that she is supposed to have disbursed and when did she disburse the funds? Was it disbursed as at when due or after the fact? These are the queries that are germane at this point. Besides, there are doubts in respectable quarters that this amount has actually been disbursed. The Sultan of Sokoto, who himself retired as a general in the army, virtually echoed that doubt at the weekend.
The disbursement to the police is even much worse. Since Jonathan came to power, there have been years that the police received less than 10 per cent of their appropriated budgets. The situation is now so bad that even state governments that used to supplement the shortfall in funding from the federal government, out of their own enlightened self interests, now receive only about 50 per cent of what they are supposed to receive from the Jonathan government. State governors, including those from the ruling party, have talked and talked; they have complained and complained, and are now tired. Even Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State that once threatened the federal government with court action is tired and just watching, probably because he would not want anyone to ask him, “Na only you waka come?”
That Okonjo-Iweala can proudly say she has disbursed N130 billion to the military and expect Nigerians to clap for her shows that those who run this government do not really care about the safety and security of Nigerians. As I have said, let her also tell us what she is supposed to have disbursed. The theft that is going on in this government – epitomised by the $49 billion not remitted by the NNPC – has grounded the Nigerian state. No nation can continue like this and time is obviously ticking for Nigeria.
Okonjo-Iweala wants our military of today to operate like the military of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. The minister and her boss must be told that the nature of crime and the threats that nations now face are totally different from what they used to be. Today’s threats are defined by terrorism and the internet, and nations must respond accordingly. Nations must now respond with technology, new methods and new ideas. These require new investments and retraining. Jonathan’s government seems totally unaware of this. Even the way our soldiers are kitted, compared to what happens in other nations, shows we just don’t get it. The modern soldier is kitted with new modular combat uniforms, sunglasses (some with magnification capabilities), smoke grenades, modular helmets, modern combat tents, night vision goggles and other 21st century accessories. I am not totally excusing the military high command or in any way suggesting that they may not themselves be corrupt, but let’s start diagnosing the problem from the stratosphere of the government. Even the Ministry of Defence has absolved itself from any acts of corruption as Okonjo-Iweala deals with the military directly.
Any leader who intends to become the commander-in-chief but does not know that the threats to nations have changed and that the old knowledge and received wisdom are no longer adequate for today’s world should look for another job. And if you add corruption, the type that has defined this government, to the mix, then you will end up with precisely what we have in Nigeria today.
EARSHOT
Now The Americans Know
In a very embarrassing response to a question relating to the stolen
$20 billion during the last “Presidential Media Chat”, President
Jonathan said if indeed $20 billion was missing, Americans would know.
The president spoke as if he reports to America. It was a pedestrian and
scandalous response. Well, from the feelers coming out of the United
States government, the president would be disappointed to know that the
Americans indeed know much more than he credits them for. Last
Wednesday, Sarah Sewall, who is the United States undersecretary of
state for civilian security, democracy and human rights, asserted that
it was massive corruption that was hindering Nigeria’s efforts at ending
insurgency. Sewall appeared before the influential House Foreign
Affairs Committee and she said several things which should be
discomfiting to any Nigerian.Now The Americans Know
But the one that should pain all of us the most is that
she said, “Corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and
transport vehicles from reaching the frontlines of the struggle against
Boko Haram.” So, as the president can see quite clearly, the Americans
now know.
REF http://leadership.ng/columns/372267/okonjo-iweala-vs-military
Sambo, Tambuwal, Sultan Lead National Prayers for Peace, Progress
Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Sunday in Abuja led other prominent
Nigerians in a national prayers session for peace, progress and the
total eradication of terrorism and social vices in Nigeria.Speaking at the event tagged "National Prayers for Peace and Security’’, Sambo challenged the Muslim Ummah on the need to pray fervently for continued peace and tranquility in the country.
The Vice-President, at the event held at the National Mosque, said the call had become imperative in view of the fact that prayers were a strong weapon against any adversity.
"Let me reiterate that when any adverse situation befell the Ummah during the time of Prophet Muhammad and the Sahabah, their greatest weapon was resorting to prayers to seek for Allah’s intercession.
"We shall continue to organise prayers as frequently as possible and Allah in his infinite mercy will answer our prayers in removing in totality the act of terrorism by the Boko Haram and all other vices in Nigeria. Let me at this juncture urge all Nigerians to continue to pray for lasting peace and unity of our dear country,’’ he said.
Sambo called on the Muslim Ummah to promote the ideals of Islam by living according to the tenets of the religion, saying "Islam promotes peace, good neighbourliness and kindness".
The Vice-President further enjoined Muslims not to allow "the few disgruntled elements among us to portray Islam and Muslims in bad light’’.
He, therefore, appealed to Muslim clerics to always apply modesty in their sermons and preaching, while calling for adherence to the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammed.
Sambo reiterated the commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to providing adequate security and ensuring the stability and unity of Nigeria.
On ongoing efforts to ensure the safe return of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, the Vice-President assured that government was doing its best in that regard.
"The government is working assiduously to support the efforts of the military by increasing its capacity in the search for our missing girls and to further secure the territorial integrity of the nation".
He expressed appreciation for the support from Nigeria’s neighbours and other African countries in the fight against the scourge of terrorism in the country.
Sambo also commended the UK, France, the U.S., China and other countries across the world for partnering with Nigeria to address the menace of Boko Haram in the country.
While speaking, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal said the National Assembly would do everything within its constitutional powers to support government’s efforts in the ongoing fight against terrorism.
He cited the recent approval granted by the legislature for the renewal of the emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
"This is a clear example of National Assembly’s support and co-operation in the fight against terrorism in the North East zone of the country,’’ the Speaker said.
He, however, called on the Federal Government to look into the possibility of relaxing the emergency rule in the affected states during the forthcoming Ramadan period.
"This is to enable the Muslims perform the fasting ritual hitch-free,’’ Tambuwal said.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, who also spoke at the occasion, stressed the importance of justice, equity and fairness to the maintenance of peace in every society.
He urged Muslims, especially those in leadership positions, to shun corruption and any act which would affect the development of the country.
REF http://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/sambo-tambuwal-sultan-lead-national-prayers-for-peace-progress.77334/
Friday 23 May 2014
Northern Governors To FG: Expose Sponsors Of Boko Haram
Aliyu, who spoke yesterday in Minna at a federal and state security administrators’ meeting, said the statement credited to the minister of information, Labaran Maku, that the northern governors were not doing enough to curb the insurgency was unfair.
“If Maku is speaking for himself, it is very unfortunate and uncalled for, but if he is speaking on behalf of the federal government, it is uncharitable to northern states’ governors,” he stated.
The chairman of NSGF said it was a mark of hypocrisy for people to blame another person for their shortcomings, adding that “no governor in the north can be accused of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism”. “Labaran Maku is probably playing politics because of what is happening in Nassarrawa and Plateau states,” he said. “I am not aware of any governor in the north that has been invited by the national security adviser on what to do and he failed to do it.”
The governor said that “for any minister to wake up and be castigating people, it will not solve the problem; we should stop this blame game; it will not solve the problem. If anything, it will further exacerbate the delicate security situation”.
The problem of insecurity and Boko Haram, he said, could have ben reduced and many arrested if government had exposed the sponsors of Boko Haram. He therefore wondered why the federal government was developing cold feet over exposing the sponsors and their collaborators.
“Why can’t we know their sponsors and collaborators, or is it that security agents are benefiting from the crisis?” he asked. “How can we do enough when people like Labaran Maku would play politics with a serious matter?”
REF http://leadership.ng/news/371991/northern-governors-fg-expose-sponsors-boko-haram
2015 Presidency: Anxiety In Jonathan’s Camp Over Delayed Declaration
There appears to be palpable anxiety among the political
associates of President Goodluck Jonathan due to the deferment of his
declaration for the 2015 presidential race.
He was initially billed to formally declare this month. The zonal rallies organised by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were arranged as a prelude to the formal presidential declaration in May.
But the latest development is coming amid reports that last-minute efforts by the president to elicit the support of former president Olusegun Obasanjo ahead of the race suffered another set-back as the former leader insisted that President Jonathan should stay out of the presidential contest.
LEADERSHIP Friday reliably gathered that, in a subtly controlled manner, the presidency has also directed all pseudo-campaign organisations to carry on their activities with less fanfare and visibility for obvious reasons.
But the umbrella body of all such campaign outfits, the Goodluck Jonathan Support Group (GJSG) hitherto led by the sacked political adviser, Ahmed Ali Gulak, has denied receiving such a directive.
This is even as the PDP has dismissed the report. The party said it was deliberate on its part to whittle down political activities in the face of the incessant insurgents’ attacks in the northern region.
The development, understandably interpreted in some quarters within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to mean a tactical withdrawal from the 2015 race by President Jonathan, has raised fresh fears as well as new permutations.
According to a chieftain of the ruling party, the president told a delegation of some of his field men that visited him to fix a date for the declaration to “hold on”.
“From all indications, issues keep on coming up every day as we march ahead of 2015; the unfortunate thing is that insurgency has taken the shine off political activities.
“As it is now, no one can tell whether the president will run or not because he has continued to tell field men to hold on even when the earlier May date fixed for his formal declaration has lapsed.”
Asked whether he was convinced that the president would run in 2015, the source said the situation was uncertain. He said: “The situation is still unclear; it’s fluid, I can tell you; because, from all indications, party men are already engrossed with a series of calculations as if the situation has finally dissected itself.”
According to him, even though it has not been formally discussed in official circles, there are fears over the insistence of Obasanjo that President Jonathan should not run in 2015.
LEADERSHIP Friday learnt that, at the meeting which took place in Lagos on Sunday at the instance of President Jonathan while he was returning from Paris, France, after attending a security summit on Africa, the two leaders were said to have discussed the insecurity situation in the country as well as President Jonathan’s alleged second-term ambition.
On the latter issue, Obasanjo, our source said, insisted that Jonathan should rather “build national consensus” by first reconciling all leaders of the ruling PDP just as he stood his ground that the president should make sacrifice to save the party by not running in 2015.
As a result, some party stalwarts are said to be mulling fresh permutations in case the president heeded the advice of Obasanjo not to run.
Fresh on the cards, according to a source, was to draft either of the governors of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, or his Katsina counterpart, Shehu Shema, into the race with a south-western running mate for the presidential contest in 2015.
As the GJSG denied being stopped from heightening campaigns, the PDP admitted that it scaled down political activities to respect the feelings of those who have lost dear ones in the series of attacks.
Acting national coordinator of the GJSP Dr Eddy Eniola Olafeso said it was a mere rumour. “It is untrue that we have been stopped; all I can tell you is that we have identified with the achievements of the president and we are disseminating the gospel to those who need to know.”
For his part, national publicity secretary of the PDP Chief Olisa Metuh, while admitting that the party had decided to maintain low-range activities, said it was untrue that the party was not thinking about 2015.
“We respect human life in our party and we have no regrets that we decided to scale down our political activities in view of the inhumanity that has been visited on our country.
“We need to ask ourselves, why is it that it is when the insurgents heightened their onslaught that the opposition suddenly became boisterous? We will do what Nigerians need to return to power in 2015 and continue to provide leadership for the country,” Metuh said.
Boko Haram: NUT Holds Nationwide Protest Over Mass Killing Of Teachers
Academic activities in most government schools across the country were grounded yesterday when teachers, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, embarked on an industrial action over the killing of over 150 of their colleagues by the Boko Haram insurgents and the abduction of the schoolgirls in Government Secondary School, Chibok.
Reports from Oyo, Adamawa, Rivers, Imo, Katsina, Kwara, among others, showed that the teachers heeded the call of the NUT national executive for all teachers in public schools to down tools for one day and protest the wanton killing of teachers in the states under the state of emergency.
The teachers also came out to protest the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls who have remained captives to their abductors for over 38 days.
In Oyo State, the protest paralyzed all public schools as pupils of primary and post-primary schools were sent back to their various homes following the protest.
The NUT president, Michael Olukoya, who spoke on the protest, said the union would not view the kidnap from a religious or ethnic angle but an assault on education.
He said the Boko Haram was a terrorist organisation and that its attacks had been religiously indiscriminate. He said the school system — primary, secondary, and tertiary — had suffered the worst attacks from the Boko Haram sect.
Thousands of Imo State teachers stormed the streets of Owerri to protest the protracted abduction of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State.
Addressing the teachers at the Government House, Owerri, the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, said: “I hate to say but apologize to Nigerians that, indeed, we have failed.”
Teachers in Ondo State also took the Boko Haram protest to the streets of Akure, the capital city, as part of solidarity for the quick rescue of the children.
The protesting teachers in their thousands chanted solidarity songs and armed with placards bearing inscriptions such as “Boko Haram is evil,” “Bring an end to Boko Haram insurgence,” “Western Education is a means to civilization”.
School pupils in public schools in Kwara State were turned back home as their teachers joined in the protest march in Ilorin, the state capital.
School pupils who were caught unawares by their teachers’ protest had to return home when they could not meet any of the teachers in all the schools across the state.
In the Yola procession, the protesters who took to the major streets of Yola, the capital, and were at the Government House, Yola, to express their grievances to the state governor, Murtala Nyako, called on him to use his office to appeal to the federal government to expedite action for the release of the abducted girls.
In his response, Governor Murtala Nyako expressed concern and promised that their plight would be adequately communicated to the federal government.
In Rivers State, the teachers took to the streets of Port Harcourt to participate in the nationwide protest.
The protesting teachers who finally marched to the Government House, Port Harcourt, to register their anger, condemned the abduction of the schoolgirls and other acts of destruction of lives and property, describing the sect’s act as both barbaric and unreligious.
In Katsina, a prayer session and demonstration for the release of abducted girls was organised by the Katsina State chapter of the union. The members, who came out in their hundreds, offered special prayers for the release of the abducted girls, even as they led peaceful protest with placards bearing different inscriptions calling for an end to the insurgency.
Thousands of school teachers yesterday in Uyo trooped out to protest the abduction of Chibok secondary schoolgirls.
The protest which started about 9am saw the teachers moving along the major streets of Uyo, causing a minor traffic hold-up, chanting solidarity songs and calling on President Jonathan to take drastic measures against the Boko Haram menace.
The Bauchi State wing of the NUT demanded compensation for the families of the 173 teachers murdered by insurgents in Borno and Yobe states.
Malam Danjuma Sale, the state’s chairman of the union, made the demand on behalf of his colleagues when he led teachers to the Government House, Bauchi, to protest the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok by insurgents.
“We demand that both federal and the respective state governments should exhibit genuine concern for the families of the affected teachers and pay them adequate compensation,” he said.
In Borno State, teachers protesting the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls and the inability of the government to rescue them said they could no longer tolerate government’s insensitivity to the plight of the education sector, even as they disclosed that over 173 teachers had been killed so far by the Boko Haram insurgents.
All the teachers, putting on black jackets over their normal attires, marched into the Borno State government house at 11am chanting both anti-government and bring-back-our-girls solidarity songs.
Northern Governors To FG: Expose Sponsors Of Boko Haram
The chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has said that it was uncharitable to blame northern governors for the insurgence, even as he asked why the government was reluctant to reveal the sponsors of Boko Haram.
Aliyu, who spoke yesterday in Minna at a federal and state security administrators’ meeting, said the statement credited to the minister of information, Labaran Maku, that the northern governors were not doing enough to curb the insurgency was unfair.
“If Maku is speaking for himself, it is very unfortunate and uncalled for, but if he is speaking on behalf of the federal government, it is uncharitable to northern states’ governors,” he stated.
The chairman of NSGF said it was a mark of hypocrisy for people to blame another person for their shortcomings, adding that “no governor in the north can be accused of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism”. “Labaran Maku is probably playing politics because of what is happening in Nassarrawa and Plateau states,” he said. “I am not aware of any governor in the north that has been invited by the national security adviser on what to do and he failed to do it.”
The governor said that “for any minister to wake up and be castigating people, it will not solve the problem; we should stop this blame game; it will not solve the problem. If anything, it will further exacerbate the delicate security situation”.
The problem of insecurity and Boko Haram, he said, could have ben reduced and many arrested if government had exposed the sponsors of Boko Haram. He therefore wondered why the federal government was developing cold feet over exposing the sponsors and their collaborators.
“Why can’t we know their sponsors and collaborators, or is it that security agents are benefiting from the crisis?” he asked. “How can we do enough when people like Labaran Maku would play politics with a serious matter?”
REF http://leadership.ng/news/371996/2015-presidency-anxiety-jonathans-camp-delayed-declaration
He was initially billed to formally declare this month. The zonal rallies organised by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were arranged as a prelude to the formal presidential declaration in May.
But the latest development is coming amid reports that last-minute efforts by the president to elicit the support of former president Olusegun Obasanjo ahead of the race suffered another set-back as the former leader insisted that President Jonathan should stay out of the presidential contest.
LEADERSHIP Friday reliably gathered that, in a subtly controlled manner, the presidency has also directed all pseudo-campaign organisations to carry on their activities with less fanfare and visibility for obvious reasons.
But the umbrella body of all such campaign outfits, the Goodluck Jonathan Support Group (GJSG) hitherto led by the sacked political adviser, Ahmed Ali Gulak, has denied receiving such a directive.
This is even as the PDP has dismissed the report. The party said it was deliberate on its part to whittle down political activities in the face of the incessant insurgents’ attacks in the northern region.
The development, understandably interpreted in some quarters within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to mean a tactical withdrawal from the 2015 race by President Jonathan, has raised fresh fears as well as new permutations.
According to a chieftain of the ruling party, the president told a delegation of some of his field men that visited him to fix a date for the declaration to “hold on”.
“From all indications, issues keep on coming up every day as we march ahead of 2015; the unfortunate thing is that insurgency has taken the shine off political activities.
“As it is now, no one can tell whether the president will run or not because he has continued to tell field men to hold on even when the earlier May date fixed for his formal declaration has lapsed.”
Asked whether he was convinced that the president would run in 2015, the source said the situation was uncertain. He said: “The situation is still unclear; it’s fluid, I can tell you; because, from all indications, party men are already engrossed with a series of calculations as if the situation has finally dissected itself.”
According to him, even though it has not been formally discussed in official circles, there are fears over the insistence of Obasanjo that President Jonathan should not run in 2015.
LEADERSHIP Friday learnt that, at the meeting which took place in Lagos on Sunday at the instance of President Jonathan while he was returning from Paris, France, after attending a security summit on Africa, the two leaders were said to have discussed the insecurity situation in the country as well as President Jonathan’s alleged second-term ambition.
On the latter issue, Obasanjo, our source said, insisted that Jonathan should rather “build national consensus” by first reconciling all leaders of the ruling PDP just as he stood his ground that the president should make sacrifice to save the party by not running in 2015.
As a result, some party stalwarts are said to be mulling fresh permutations in case the president heeded the advice of Obasanjo not to run.
Fresh on the cards, according to a source, was to draft either of the governors of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, or his Katsina counterpart, Shehu Shema, into the race with a south-western running mate for the presidential contest in 2015.
As the GJSG denied being stopped from heightening campaigns, the PDP admitted that it scaled down political activities to respect the feelings of those who have lost dear ones in the series of attacks.
Acting national coordinator of the GJSP Dr Eddy Eniola Olafeso said it was a mere rumour. “It is untrue that we have been stopped; all I can tell you is that we have identified with the achievements of the president and we are disseminating the gospel to those who need to know.”
For his part, national publicity secretary of the PDP Chief Olisa Metuh, while admitting that the party had decided to maintain low-range activities, said it was untrue that the party was not thinking about 2015.
“We respect human life in our party and we have no regrets that we decided to scale down our political activities in view of the inhumanity that has been visited on our country.
“We need to ask ourselves, why is it that it is when the insurgents heightened their onslaught that the opposition suddenly became boisterous? We will do what Nigerians need to return to power in 2015 and continue to provide leadership for the country,” Metuh said.
Boko Haram: NUT Holds Nationwide Protest Over Mass Killing Of Teachers
Academic activities in most government schools across the country were grounded yesterday when teachers, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, embarked on an industrial action over the killing of over 150 of their colleagues by the Boko Haram insurgents and the abduction of the schoolgirls in Government Secondary School, Chibok.
Reports from Oyo, Adamawa, Rivers, Imo, Katsina, Kwara, among others, showed that the teachers heeded the call of the NUT national executive for all teachers in public schools to down tools for one day and protest the wanton killing of teachers in the states under the state of emergency.
The teachers also came out to protest the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls who have remained captives to their abductors for over 38 days.
In Oyo State, the protest paralyzed all public schools as pupils of primary and post-primary schools were sent back to their various homes following the protest.
The NUT president, Michael Olukoya, who spoke on the protest, said the union would not view the kidnap from a religious or ethnic angle but an assault on education.
He said the Boko Haram was a terrorist organisation and that its attacks had been religiously indiscriminate. He said the school system — primary, secondary, and tertiary — had suffered the worst attacks from the Boko Haram sect.
Thousands of Imo State teachers stormed the streets of Owerri to protest the protracted abduction of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State.
Addressing the teachers at the Government House, Owerri, the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, said: “I hate to say but apologize to Nigerians that, indeed, we have failed.”
Teachers in Ondo State also took the Boko Haram protest to the streets of Akure, the capital city, as part of solidarity for the quick rescue of the children.
The protesting teachers in their thousands chanted solidarity songs and armed with placards bearing inscriptions such as “Boko Haram is evil,” “Bring an end to Boko Haram insurgence,” “Western Education is a means to civilization”.
School pupils in public schools in Kwara State were turned back home as their teachers joined in the protest march in Ilorin, the state capital.
School pupils who were caught unawares by their teachers’ protest had to return home when they could not meet any of the teachers in all the schools across the state.
In the Yola procession, the protesters who took to the major streets of Yola, the capital, and were at the Government House, Yola, to express their grievances to the state governor, Murtala Nyako, called on him to use his office to appeal to the federal government to expedite action for the release of the abducted girls.
In his response, Governor Murtala Nyako expressed concern and promised that their plight would be adequately communicated to the federal government.
In Rivers State, the teachers took to the streets of Port Harcourt to participate in the nationwide protest.
The protesting teachers who finally marched to the Government House, Port Harcourt, to register their anger, condemned the abduction of the schoolgirls and other acts of destruction of lives and property, describing the sect’s act as both barbaric and unreligious.
In Katsina, a prayer session and demonstration for the release of abducted girls was organised by the Katsina State chapter of the union. The members, who came out in their hundreds, offered special prayers for the release of the abducted girls, even as they led peaceful protest with placards bearing different inscriptions calling for an end to the insurgency.
Thousands of school teachers yesterday in Uyo trooped out to protest the abduction of Chibok secondary schoolgirls.
The protest which started about 9am saw the teachers moving along the major streets of Uyo, causing a minor traffic hold-up, chanting solidarity songs and calling on President Jonathan to take drastic measures against the Boko Haram menace.
The Bauchi State wing of the NUT demanded compensation for the families of the 173 teachers murdered by insurgents in Borno and Yobe states.
Malam Danjuma Sale, the state’s chairman of the union, made the demand on behalf of his colleagues when he led teachers to the Government House, Bauchi, to protest the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok by insurgents.
“We demand that both federal and the respective state governments should exhibit genuine concern for the families of the affected teachers and pay them adequate compensation,” he said.
In Borno State, teachers protesting the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls and the inability of the government to rescue them said they could no longer tolerate government’s insensitivity to the plight of the education sector, even as they disclosed that over 173 teachers had been killed so far by the Boko Haram insurgents.
All the teachers, putting on black jackets over their normal attires, marched into the Borno State government house at 11am chanting both anti-government and bring-back-our-girls solidarity songs.
Northern Governors To FG: Expose Sponsors Of Boko Haram
The chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) and governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has said that it was uncharitable to blame northern governors for the insurgence, even as he asked why the government was reluctant to reveal the sponsors of Boko Haram.
Aliyu, who spoke yesterday in Minna at a federal and state security administrators’ meeting, said the statement credited to the minister of information, Labaran Maku, that the northern governors were not doing enough to curb the insurgency was unfair.
“If Maku is speaking for himself, it is very unfortunate and uncalled for, but if he is speaking on behalf of the federal government, it is uncharitable to northern states’ governors,” he stated.
The chairman of NSGF said it was a mark of hypocrisy for people to blame another person for their shortcomings, adding that “no governor in the north can be accused of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism”. “Labaran Maku is probably playing politics because of what is happening in Nassarrawa and Plateau states,” he said. “I am not aware of any governor in the north that has been invited by the national security adviser on what to do and he failed to do it.”
The governor said that “for any minister to wake up and be castigating people, it will not solve the problem; we should stop this blame game; it will not solve the problem. If anything, it will further exacerbate the delicate security situation”.
The problem of insecurity and Boko Haram, he said, could have ben reduced and many arrested if government had exposed the sponsors of Boko Haram. He therefore wondered why the federal government was developing cold feet over exposing the sponsors and their collaborators.
“Why can’t we know their sponsors and collaborators, or is it that security agents are benefiting from the crisis?” he asked. “How can we do enough when people like Labaran Maku would play politics with a serious matter?”
REF http://leadership.ng/news/371996/2015-presidency-anxiety-jonathans-camp-delayed-declaration
Chibok: Understanding The Doubters By Aisha Osori
They say the first casualty in war is truth. So it is easy to empathize with those who find it hard to believe that over 200 girls were taken from GSS Chibok on April 14, 2014.
Blame for the doubt cannot be laid entirely at the feet of politics. The doubt does not arise strictly as a result of Kema Chikwe’s request for lists and pictures or Dame Jonathan’s robust interrogation of the matter. Neither does it rest solely on the ample
shoulders of Niger Delta jihadist Asari Dokubo and his scraggly, sympathy-evoking crew of anti-#BringBackOurGirls protesters.
The doubts arise from the messiness that is Nigeria, which stains the way we think and everything that we try to do. However, situating the story firmly in the inescapable context of Nigeria provides clarity.
First, the numbers. The fact that it is difficult to determine if 234 or 276 were initially abducted and how many escaped is not peculiar – we have a strange relationship with numbers in Nigeria. We do not know how much money we make from oil or how much we lose to corruption, our census is contentious and, for every situation involving dead bodies, there
N10bJet scandal: Diezani, NNPC ask court to stop Reps probe
The
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have filed a fresh suit before a
Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to restrain the National Assembly
from probing her over the alleged N10bn chartered jet scandal.
Through the suit,
marked FHC/ABJ/CS/346/2014, the plaintiffs are praying the court to
declare that both the Senate and the House of Representatives lacked the
power to conduct any investigation into allegation of fraud, corruption
or criminal activities.
The Senate and
the House of Representatives are the only respondents in the suit. The
suit followed an order given by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, directing Diezani to appear before
the lawmakers for further probe of the jet scandal.
Meanwhile, the applicants are
praying the court to restrain both the Senate and the House of
Representatives from further “conducting direct personal or physical
probe, inquiry and/or investigation into any alleged fraud, corruption
or other criminal activities in the agencies under the applicant’s
supervision or control.”
They
also seek an order of perpetual injunction, restraining the National
Assembly from summoning them “or any agencies under the applicants’
supervision or control, to appear before them for the purpose of giving
evidence and/or producing any papers, books, records or other documents,
which relate to the unpublished official records of the applicants
without the consent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
first and obtained by the Respondents or their Committees.”
Diezani has a
similar suit pending before Justice Ahmed Mohammed. The matter has been
adjourned till Monday for further proceedings.
The fresh suit by the minister and the NNPC was filed through their counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN).
REF http://www.punchng.com/news/jet-scandal-diezani-nnpc-ask-court-to-stop-probe/
Thursday 22 May 2014
Why we went ahead with Ekiti mega rally —APC •Akande, Tinubu, Buhari, APC govs grace event
Leaders
of All Progressives Congress (APC) from all over the country were in
Ado-Ekiti, on Wednesday, to endorse the party’s candidate in the June 21
governorship election in Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and hand the
party’s flag to him to contest the election.
Before
the official commencement of the grand rally attended by the national
chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, its national leaders, General
Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Bola Tinubu, governors from the
APC-controlled states and national leaders of the party, its publicity
secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced that the rally would be scaled
down owing to the killings in Jos.
He
said the party had to go ahead with the rally because it had already
been scheduled, saying “we are constrained to be here because we cannot
change the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) time table,”
and added that “we will cut down the fanfare because of the mood in the
country.”
Among
those who spoke at the event held at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado
Ekiti, were General Buhari, Tinubu, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu while Governor
Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, spoke on behalf of the governors on the
eagis of Progressives Governors Forum, while Chief Akande, presented the
flag to Governor Fayemi.
Buhari,
who spoke against the rising wave of killings in Nigeria, disclosed
that the APC had competent hands to turn around the fortunes of the
country, particularly at this critical period when the nation is at
crossroad.
“APC
has competent hands to steer the ship of the nation . It is a party I
believe and have conviction that can bring Nigeria out of its present
situation,” Buhari said.
Tinubu,
who spoke on the same national issue, said “APC is the cure to
Nigeria’s headache in the areas of unemployment, killings, ineptitude
and in Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi is the Doctor.
“I
don’t have to sell Fayemi to you again because his landmark
achievements in all facets has shown his values. I commend you for
standing by our party, but this can only manifest if you refuse to sell
your votes or be bought over by the PDP on the day of election.
“You
have nothing to fear on the day of election. No police or soldier can
intimidate you because it is we Nigerians that pay their salaries. The
June 21 election is an opportunity for you to show to the PDP that it
has been rejected by Nigerians.
Speaking
on behalf of the Progressive Governors’ Forum , Governor Okorocha,
his counterparts in Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Governor Adams
Oshiomole of Edo State, said their supports for Fayemi was borne out of
the solid and enduring legacies he has laid in Ekiti in the last four
years.
Okorocha,
who particularly rued the level of carnage in the Northern part of the
country, said “Nigerians must reject the PDP in all elections. When the
wicked are in power, the people will suffer but when the righteous are
there, the people rejoice.
“If
not for the fact that Fayemi has identified interest to be Governor of
Ekiti State, he is qualified to be Governor anywhere in the country,” he
said.
Governor
Fayemi, who commended the people for their supports, said Ekiti cannot
afford to impose mediocrity on itself in the name of politics,
expressing confidence that he will triumph over his challengers in the
June 21 poll.
He
said he has been able to run a government that has impacted positively
on the lives of the people in the last three and half years rather than
what was obtainable in the past when government are being run to the
benefit of a few individuals.
Fayemi
said, “What we have been able to achieve in this first term are not my
achievements alone; they are yours as well. In the past close to four
years, what we have seen are the first fruits of what can happen when we
pull together and work together. By the grace of God and with your
invaluable help, we are once again lifting the flag of our great party
to run in the gubernatorial race, and we are confident you will give us
your vote.
“Elections
are choices and as we prepare for the polls to be held on Saturday,
June 21, 2014, it is important that we understand that the elections
will go beyond merely choosing between people or parties.
They
are about choosing the principles that we want to define us and what
sort of Ekiti State we want to build. Consequently, the governorship
elections will confront us with an ideological and a moral choice.
“Our
opponents believe in a society of laissez faire individualism in which
every man is for himself or on his own and only the richest can survive.
They
are seeking a society based on caballocracy and godfatherism, where the
rich get richer and the poor are made poorer; where our commonwealth is
used to serve the interests and appetites of a minority; where crumbs
are thrown at the hapless majority; and the future of our children is
mortgaged to pay for the illicit luxuries of a few people today.
“We,
on the other hand, believe that Ekiti is the test case for what we call
a compassionate society – a society defined by covenatal relationships
between the government and the governed, the state and civil society and
between fellow citizens”.
REF http://tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/5838-why-we-went-ahead-with-ekiti-mega-rally-apc-akande-tinubu-buhari-apc-govs-grace-event
Kala-Balge And The Verdicts
The weakness of Nigeria and the government of Nigeria is now an open secret. The Nigerian soldiers may be some of the best in the world but the Nigerian military is now universally acknowledged as very ineffective. The current army chief, Gen. Minimah is a fine officer and a gentleman but he has taken over a weak army and has come at a most trying time. President Jonathan is a nice person who has been hijacked by some of the most terrible aides and officials. This is the cul de sac we are in as a nation.
These terrible officials and hangers-on have misled the president into believing that the insurgency is a politically motivated attempt by some northern elite to undermine his government so that he doesn’t see it for what it is: a criminal attack on Nigeria and Nigerians by evil-minded people camouflaging under a pseudo-religious platform. Many traditional and political leaders from the northern states have been attacked and killed; many religious leaders have been killed by the insurgents. How could they initiate what is consuming them? In any case, how could killing people and destroying communities in the north be a strategy of weakening the president?
There are fringe groups in every society who hate modern life. There have been extremist groups who have been fighting the Nigerian government for over 30 years now. Boko Haram did not start with the Jonathan administration. If, as being speculated, this group is an offshoot of the Maitatsine movement, then, it started since independence, got violent during the Shagari administration in the early 1980s, and metamorphosed into a monstrous fighting machine during the Yar’Adua regime. The very reason that it got radicalized is because of the extrajudicial killing of its leader Mohammed Yusuf and equally the reason that is fuelling it further since then.
Some government officials keep talking to international media that the insurgency is now confined to the northeast as an achievement. Is the northeast not part of Nigeria? Are the people being killed by these insurgents not citizens? What is known to all is that government and its agents have not shown enough seriousness as exemplified by the setting up of a fact-finding mission three weeks after the abduction of school girls in Chibok. No wonder US Senator John McCain said, “We shouldn’t have waited for a practically non-existing government to give us the go-ahead before mounting a humanitarian effort to rescue those girls”.
It is a wake-up call for the president to act presidential. He doesn’t need to announce but just take a surprise visit to Chibok to sympathise with the parents and the community of the abducted girls. He should visit the soldiers to boost their morale and listen to their grievances and see those wounded in action. That is how to show that the government cares. Mrs. Patience Jonathan should give relief materials to victims of the Nyanya bomb blasts and give kind words to the mothers of those daughters of ours who were abducted from school by heartless criminals. This is better than sending relief materials to Bangui in Central Africa, since charity begins at home.
The testimony of US government officials at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Nigeria is enough to make any patriotic Nigerian bleed. “The Nigerian military has the same challenges with corruption that every other institution in Nigeria does. Much of the funding that goes to the Nigerian military is skimmed off the top, if you will”, said Alice Friend, Pentagon principal director for african Affairs. This is a very serious indictment which is difficult to contradict.
“From our own difficult experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq we know that turning the tide of an insurgency requires more than force. The state must demonstrate to its citizens that it can protect them and offer them opportunity. When soldiers destroy towns, kill civilians and detain innocent people with impunity; mistrust takes root”, said Robert P. Jackson, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Even though very damning, these are very frank assessments of the Nigerian situation by the American officials. It is true we need international assistance but only in so far as it is to build the capacity and technical capability of our armed forces and not to bring foreign troops here since that will be a magnet for attracting all sorts of terrorists which will compound our problems.
The verdict both within and outside Nigeria is that government is not doing enough. It is high time this fixation with politics and politicization of critical national security issue was stopped. In any case, if government has information about any person, however big, who is supporting or fuelling this terrorism that is threatening Nigeria like no other thing, what is the government waiting for that the person is not immediately arrested and charged to court? It is not about 2015 or anybody’s ambition but how to even survive to 2015 is the issue now.
Nigeria is undergoing a very trying period. Like poverty, the terror that is confronting us is confronting us as Nigerians. Like poverty, it does not distinguish between north or south, Christian or Muslim, minority or majority. Terrorism is confronting us as human beings, as Africans and as Nigerians. We have to come together to defeat it before it consumes all of us. We have to thank the Kala-Bulge community in Borno, for showing us what we can do and what can be achieved when we are united and determined to defeat terrorism. It has no basis in our culture, repugnant to our social conscience and it is antithetical to our religious beliefs. It is bound to collapse, very soon, because Kala-Balge has shown the way. History is on the side of the oppressed.
REF http://leadership.ng/columns/371796/kala-balge-verdicts
Chartered jets: Diezani must face probe – Tambuwal
By Umar Muhammad PumaSpeaker of the House of Representatives yesterday insisted that the House should proceed with the probe of the alleged personal use of a private jet charter by Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and maintained at the cost of N10 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
There were reports at the weekend that the speaker had directed that the investigation into the matter be put on hold.
But at plenary yesterday, Tambuwal reacted to the publications, saying the lower chamber will still scrutinize the matter, which has been taken before an Abuja high court by the minister.
“It was widely reported that I ordered that the investigation should be stopped. It was my position that we should hold on until I receive a legal briefing on the matter, but we should go ahead now that even the judge himself had said he didn’t issue an injunction to halt the probe”, he said.
The speaker further hinged his insistence for the continuation of the probe on the fact that the House had consulted with the Justice Mahmud Mohammed of the High Court that supposedly granted a restraining order stopping the probe. According to him, other stakeholders were also reached.
REF http://www.peoplesdailyng.com/chartered-jets-diezani-must-face-probe-tambuwal/
Tambuwal: Why House Fails to Probe, Oversee Security Votes
Insists Alison-Madueke’s investigation will continue
By Muhammad Bello
The executive arm of government and the media were yesterday fingered
for the inability of the federal lawmakers to effectively probe
appropriation accruing to security agencies and also conduct oversight
on those agencies of government.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal,
stated this while responding to the call by the Federation of Muslim
Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) on the House to prevail on the
executive arm of government to tackle the reign of terror in the
country and bring back the schoolgirls abducted from Government
Secondary School, Chibok.
This was as Tambuwal insisted that the House, which resolved yesterday
to urge security agencies to provide monthly briefings on the progress
they were making in states under emergency rule, would proceed with the
probe of the alleged personal use of a private jet charter and
maintained at the cost of N10billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC).
The speaker said it was the responsibility of the parliament to
appropriate funds to the security agencies and give them legal backing
to conduct their operations, with reference to the extension of
emergency rule in the North-east states.
He said the House had been unable to follow up on how monies appropriated had been spent and on what.
“As a parliament, we are expected to oversee the implementation of laws. We have not been able to do much for certain reasons.
“As a parliament, we are expected to oversee the implementation of laws. We have not been able to do much for certain reasons.
“Any day a committee of the National Assembly goes on oversight, we
meet a lot of resistance from some of these agencies of government,” he
noted.
He blamed the media for its campaign against the National Assembly in its quest to probe and perform its oversight functions.
“There has been the tendency to slant stories against the Legislature,
in favour of the executive arm of government. You can’t seat somewhere
and say that public officers shouldn’t appear before the National
Assembly,” he offered.
The speaker also took a swipe at public officers who promote stories
that they are being persecuted when they are invited to grace public
hearings trying to get to the root of allegations made against them.
“We are often misunderstood. But we will continue to do our best,” the
Tambuwal assured Nigerians, just as he condemned the belligerent Boko
Haram insurgents for being anti-Islam in their positions.
He also expressed “concern with the level of corruption going on in the
country,” pointing out that the House was privileged to know much about
this “because we are the ones working hand- in-hand with the executive
and we see more of these things.”
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the reports last weekend that
Tambuwal had directed that the investigation of the Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, be swept under the
carpet, he on Wednesday, reacted saying the lower chamber will still
scrutinise the matter, which was dragged before an Abuja High Court by
the minister.
The Speaker premised his insistence for the continuation of the probe on the fact that the House had consulted with Justice Mahmud Mohammed who supposedly granted a restraining order stopping the probe.
The Speaker premised his insistence for the continuation of the probe on the fact that the House had consulted with Justice Mahmud Mohammed who supposedly granted a restraining order stopping the probe.
According to him, other stakeholders were also reached.
He noted: “It was widely reported that I ordered that the investigation should be stopped. But it was my position that we should hold on until I receive a legal briefing on the matter, as even the judge himself had said he didn’t grant an injunction to halt the probe.
He noted: “It was widely reported that I ordered that the investigation should be stopped. But it was my position that we should hold on until I receive a legal briefing on the matter, as even the judge himself had said he didn’t grant an injunction to halt the probe.
“You should continue with your investigation and turn up your report
accordingly,” the speaker challenged the Public Accounts Committee
probing the private jet issue.
In her speech, FOMWAN’s
In her speech, FOMWAN’s
Deputy National President, Hajiya Farida Sada Yusuf, said it was with a
bleeding heart and agonising pain that the organisation view the
wanton violence being unleashed in some states in the country.
Expressing its sadness and trepidation over the issue, FOMWAN lamented
the inability of security agents to explain the situation and apprehend
the perpetrators.
It urged the House to stand up and be counted by exploring “all avenues to find solution to this crime against humanity.”
She called on the legislators to resist the easy path of blame, adding
that instead, it suggested that they should seek and identify the
perpetrators of terror, “rise to the occasion and give responsible
leadership.”
The group urged the House to prevail on the presidency to release white
papers on all reports submitted to it on Boko Haram insurgency.
In a related development, the House adopted a motion on the need for
monthly briefing on the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe
States sponsored by Hon. Aishatu Ahmed (PDP, Adamawa).Noting that economic development can only be sustained in an environment of peace, the House posited that “a periodic briefing on the measures undertaken by the security agencies to combat the insurgency since the declaration of the state of emergency will go a long way in reassuring Nigerians of adequate guarantee of security of lives and property.”
REF http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/tambuwal-why-house-fails-to-probe-oversee-security-votes/179137/
Wednesday 21 May 2014
Bitter Lessons From Chibok
Though the abducted girls of Girls’ Secondary School, Chikbo,
Borno State, are yet to regain their freedom, there are already some
useful lessons to be learnt by every Nigerian person organization from
the dreadful and unfortunate incident. What started like a tale from
moonlight on the night of April 14, 2014 has now snowballed into a huge
international, news-making affair- attracting personalities from across
the world to roundly condemn it.Never in the history of our country has an incident attracted as much umbrage and outrage as the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls. And the reason is obvious – the integrity of Nigeria and lives of these young and impressionable girls are at stake. The barrage of criticisms of the abduction began when the President of the United States, Barack Obama, offered to send security personnel to assist Nigeria in facilitating the release of the girls. As if woken from their slumber other world leaders responded with equal precision, angst and solidarity.
Today there appears some light at the end of the tunnel. I lay claim to this assertion for two reasons. First, sufficient awareness has been created about the sad incident, causing the whole world to stand up to condemn it and offer assistance to get the girls released. Second, the recent video released on Monday by the AFP on the abducted girls showed, at least, they are still alive. According to the analysis of the video by AFP the girls had been converted to Islam as they were seen reciting some verses from the Koran and making some declarations about their new ‘religious’ belief.
Having given this little background, it is then important at this juncture to ask: How did we get into this mess and how is it going to affect the future of Nigeria in the eyes of the world? I have asked these questions in relation to the alleged claim by Amnesty International that Nigeria’s Military were sufficiently aware of the threat by Boko Haram to attack Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok and still did nothing to stop it. Though I am still in quandary why the Military, if aware of the plans of the dreaded sect to attack the school, would keep quiet. This is totally strange. If it is the same military I know: it would not fold its arms and watch innocent schoolgirls attacked. Have we forgotten that the main reason for drafting troops to the three states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa is to restore law and order and protect lives and properties? Again, is anybody in doubt that the Military have lost quite a number of their own personnel since the operations started? So, what do they stand to gain by choosing to allow the people they were sent to protect attacked?
To me, the whole thing is steeped in complexity, because of some revealing facts that have emerged since the allegation was made by Amnesty. Probably, Amnesty International is mixing up the docile and helpless people of the affected communities with the military. I reliably learnt that some local people in Chibok got wind of the impending attack, but were too terrified to inform the security agencies. The same situation might have obtained in other communities where Boko Haram had carried out similar attacks.
One indubitable fact remains: the attack was totally unexpected. It caught everybody unawares. The timing made it almost impossible for anybody to do anything to forestall it. What reasonable thing could anybody have done in four hours to prevent the sect from unleashing the terror on the innocent and hapless girls? Indeed, the attack was like a bomb-trap waiting for somebody to step on it to explode. This is where our security agents have one useful lesson to learn: they should be at the alert at all times – whether in times of peace or war.
I had imagined that the attack would not have succeeded if security had been mounted at every school in the north! Is this not wishful thinking? It would have been beautiful to see this happen, but do we (as a nation) have the capacity for it? I can bet you: all the soldiers in Nigeria at present will not be enough to police all the schools in the north. What is the ratio of one soldier to a percentage of the population of Nigeria? Is it one soldier to every 1000 persons or more or less? Let us assume we have one million soldiers. This gives us one soldier to every 200 persons, i.e. assuming Nigeria’s population is 200 million. Can one soldier protect 200 persons within a demographic area in Nigeria given the peculiarity of our social environment? If we can tell one another the truth: the figure is grossly inadequate.
Looking at the operational style of Boko Haram, even 100 soldiers would not have been adequate to ward off the attack on Chibok. The complex terrain of Chibok would have made it foolhardy for any security agent to prevent the invaders in such a short time. This is where intelligence gathering comes to play. It is always better and more commonsensical to nip an attack in the bud than allow it to occur and then repel it.
As I wrote in this column two weeks ago, attacking children, women, the disabled and the aged is a heinous crime against the United Nations’ Conventions on Wars and Conflicts. If I were Boko Haram Commanders I would have advised against the abduction of the girls, because of its capacity to work permanently against the group. I recall giving the sect a benefit of the doubt in the article in question when I tried to call for dialogue between it and the government. By the latest attack the sect has convinced the whole world it is not ready for amicable settlement of whatever must have led to their actions.
The United Nations has already threatened to drag the leaders of the sect to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague. To me, the threat by the UN will only make sense if those concerned are alive to face justice. The way things are going there is nothing to show members of Boko Haram have any regard for the life of others or theirs. All they want is to achieve their preposterous goals and set this nation on the precipice.
If we want to drag anybody to the ICJ we must first ensure the person is alive. Will UN drag dead persons to court? Who will bear witness against them if all their victims are killed in attacks? This is one worry I have always had about the threat of going to ICJ. What needed to be done is seek peace first, take adequate measures to protect lives and properties in the affected states, and then sensitize the people sufficiently about how to protect themselves in the event of a sudden attack.
What I feel about the people of Chibok and, indeed, the entire north is they do not deserve what is coming to them at this time. It is painful and heart-rending that the once-peaceful north has been turned into a theatre of absurdities. I recall with nostalgia my days in Maiduguri, when life was safe and pleasurable. I never fathomed that such a beautiful place would one day turn into a national killing-field. Jesus wept! I spent four years at the University of Maiduguri and a few more years after as a businessman, but never did I witness madness of this magnitude. The whole thing is pissing me off.
Even the world has a lesson to learn here: it should not wait until the 11th Hour before offering assistance to any nation in distress. In the case of the incessant attacks in the north, the whole world waited for too long before intervening. We have on record that over 3000 persons have been killed so far since the attacks started. What will happen to those kind and beautiful souls wasted in the various operations carried out by both Boko Haram and the security agencies before the offer of assistance? Nobody will convince me innocent civilians have not been killed in large numbers in those operations.
Terrorism thrives across the globe, because the leaders of the world have chosen not to cooperate with one another in tackling it. After all, the terrorists do not operate in isolation of the environment in which they reside. In fact, many of them are our fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, mothers, aunties, nieces and nephews. So, they succeed because all of us have decided not to speak up for lack of courage or fear of been found out and killed. Though some of these fears and apprehensions are justified, we can still do something quietly to protect ourselves. We can convince these rebellious relations not to continue in their evil ways, but to repent and embrace dialogue.
Book Haram will undoubtedly attract more respect and sympathy if it stops wasting innocent lives and accepts the offer of dialogue. It is possible they no longer have any value for their lives – nonetheless – they should bear in mind their lives belong to their Maker, not them.
REF http://leadership.ng/blogposts/371434/bitter-lessons-chibok
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