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The Darkest Sunday In My Life

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The Source
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Anyim Pius Anyim

By Anyim Pius Anyim

“Loosing Gulak, like other innocent Nigerians to unknown assailants, is the darkest point in the senseless and mindless violence growing in the South-east”

30th of May, 2021, is no doubt the darkest Sunday of my life.

The news of the gruesome murder of my friend and colleague, Hon. Ahmed Gulak knocked me down into distress, and it took me till this morning of 31st May, 2021, to regain my senses from the shock.

Hon. Ahmed Gulak was my colleague in President Goodluck’s Administration. He was a man of conviction and courage. He was endowed with great intellectual prowess that enabled him to have unusual clarity of thought and expression: a dedicated nationalist and a faithful friend.

Losing Gulak, like other innocent, Nigerians to unknown assailants is the darkest point in the senseless and mindless violence growing in the country and South East. This death is one too many.

The security agencies owe humanity the duty to unravel and bring to book those behind this dastardly act.

My heart goes to the family of Hon. Gulak. I pray for God to grant his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss and grant his soul eternal repose.

Adieu, my brother.

Anyim Pius Anyim, GCON, is a former Senate President, and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation

Naira, Economy Strong- Buhari’s Aide

By
Bayo Bernard
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Garba Shehu

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari says the nation’s currency Naira is still strong, despite its free fall against the American dollar.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has devalued the naira at least three times, against the green back as the US dollar is widely known, fuelling more fears of further slide before the end of the year.

The currency was exchange for over N490 to the Dollar by the end of last week.

But speaking on a popular television program on Sunday, Shehu said both the naira and economy are doing well, considering that the nation is just recovering from the COVID 19 hit.

According   to him “if you ask me this question, I will tell you that whoever questions the capacity of the government to manage the economy probably also need to have themselves re-examined,” he said.

“Because look at all of the things that have happened with COVID over the last year or more.

According to him ” if you see that in the entire Africa continent, this is the only country that is recording positive growth in its economy?”

He said the Buhari administration is working seriously to set the country on the path of recovery, adding that some unpatriotic Nigerians are sabotaging government’s efforts.

Speaking on insecurity, the presidential aide said the administration has performed creditably well.
He said “ as far as Boko Haram terrorism is concerned, Nigeria is a safer place today than it was in 2015 when he took power.”

“New challenges have come up, farmers-herders clashes, and killings in certain sections of the country, much of those have been subdued.

“We have been confronted with sabotage of oil installations in the south-south that have been managed effectively up to this point,” Shehu said.

Insecurity: Buhari Group Blame Ex-President, Says Buhari Won’t Resign

By
Bayo Bernard
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President Muhammadu Buhari

By James Orji

The Buhari Media Organisation, BMO says plot to force President Muhammadu Buhari to resign will fail, blaming an unnamed former head of state for being behind sinister move to end the administration.

The BMO made the statement on the crest of killing of Ahmed Gulak, former Presidential Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan in Imo state on Sunday, amidst calls by many Nigerians to rein in insecurity across the country or resign.

The group did not mention the name of the former head of state, but said he’s a member of group of eminent Nigerians, who pursue the sustainance of democracy in the country. Former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar is a member of the Eminent Persons, which also includes, Hasan Kukah, Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese,a others.

Gen. Abubakar’s helicopter was recently arrested for allegedly supplying weapons to terrorists in the northern part of the country.

He has denied any complicity.

But BMO warned the unnamed former president and his co-travellers to quickly perish the thought and save the country from avoidable constitutional crisis and civil unrest.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the pro-Buhari group lampooned the conspirators for their recourse to unconstitutional means to force the resignation of President Buhari, describing the move as reckless and anti-Nigeria.

“Our highly reliable security sources have informed us of the determination of the former President to go ahead with a plan to cause disaffection in the country through a planned conference of so-called eminent Nigerians.

W”the Conference ostensibly aims to review the state of the nation, we can authoritatively confirm that it is actually a premeditated plan to create confusion in the polity by calling President Buhari to resign after a supposed vote of no confidence.

“Our Security sources said the worries over this latest move by the former leader is not so much about the illegality of the planned declaration but the anarchical mindset behind it, especially given the growing resurgence of military putsch in the West African sub-region. Any appearance of national confusion, even if scripted without any basis, could fuel unreasoned confusion.

“We, therefore, call on Nigerians to be wary of manoeuvres by people who are desperate to erode the foundation of our hard-fought democracy to further the agenda of a desperate, bumptious and self-serving group of elites besotted with power to the point that they are ready to throw the country into a contrived pandemonium to remain relevant,” BMO said

Brutish Life: How Do APC Leaders Sleep At Night? – PDP

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being responsible for the escalated tension, indignation, violence, mass killing, kidnapping, terrorism and banditry ravaging various parts of our country.

A statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbodiyan, “wonders how APC leaders sleep at night with all the blood in  their hands, as their lust for power, body language, divisiveness as well as vindictive policies of their administration have brought acrimony and resentment among citizens while also encouraging and emboldening acts of terrorists against Nigerians.

The statement added that “Nigerians can recall that the PDP had earlier alerted that the APC had come to power with a Janjaweed agenda; to foist a reign of terror, balkanize, destabilize and raze down our beloved country for their selfish gains.

“Since APC assumed office in 2015, our Nation has not known peace. At every turn, and on daily basis, one is confronted with gory tales of killings, bloodbath, misery and destitution, with thousands of compatriots killed and many more injured and displaced in various parts of the country.

“From Kano to Cross River, Lagos to Borno, Kaduna to Imo, Kogi to Ebonyi and indeed all parts of the Nation, the APC is erecting altars of violence and pushing life to Hobbes state of nature; short and brutish.

“The APC has practically balkanized our Nation along all faultlines with their hateful, ruthless and vengeful actions, resulting in dissonances and pushing compatriots to take actions in anger, in some cases, leading to deaths and devastations.

“More distressing is that the APC leaders, as terrorism apologists, have been patronizing terrorists and opening up our Nation to bandits, kidnappers and vandals, who are having a field day marauding our communities, killing and maiming our citizens on daily basis.

“It is not surprising that the APC has never forcefully condemned the activities of these marauders.

“Instead, they have continued to patronize terrorists and blame our slain compatriots, rather than going after their assailants, as in the case of the 43 rice farmers killed in Borno state by terrorists.

“This is even as it is now common knowledge that many of these terrorists and bandits were political mercenaries which the APC imported from neighbouring countries as thugs to unleash violence against Nigerians during elections.

“The sudden appearance of such hoodlums to attack Nigerians during any protest against misrule, as witnessed in the EndSARS protest as well as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) protest in Kaduna, is quite revealing in this direction.

“There are even allegations that the APC has compromised the registration of our citizens to open the system for the inclusion of these aliens, as citizens, for heinous political reasons.

“This is why APC’s political activities are always characterized by violence, bloodbath and killings, like their recent local government primaries in Lagos.

“Our party cautions the APC to stop wasting the lives of Nigerians because of their lust for power in the face of rejection.

“Let APC leaders know that even as their party fizzles out in 2023, they must answer for the violence and bloodletting that have enveloped our nation under their rule.”

Again, Bandits Kidnap Over 200 Students In Niger State

By
The Source
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Kidnappers
Kidnappers

By Adesina Soyooye

Twenty four hours after the students of Greenfield University, Kaduna, were released by their abductors who kept them for 40 days, over 200 students of an Islamiyya School located at Tegina, in Rafi Local Government Area  of Niger State have been abducted.

During the operation which happened in the early evening of Sunday, March 30, there was one fatality, and a critically injured person.

According to a resident of the area, Zayyad Mohammed, the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya school where the students were abducted, was built by a retired Immigration Officer.

The school is not a conventional  boarding school, but parents, usually, took their children to the  Islamiyya school, daily, to study Islamic education.

Neither the State Government nor the Police Command has confirmed the abduction, but this will be the second time, in recent months, that students will be abducted in Niger State.

It is not known if the State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, will pay the ransome money if, and when, demanded, but he lamented, recently, that bandits deceived his Government, took money  from it, and used the money to buy more arms.

Parents of the recently released Greenfield students   revealed they bought their children’s freedom with N160m and ten motorcycles – without any help from either the State Government or the Federal Government.

Gulak: Jonathan Appeals, Asks For Prompt Investigation

By
The Source
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Former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has appealed for calm over the death of his former Political Adviser, Barrister Ahmed Gulak. He, asked for an investigation into the dastardly act.

Jonathan expressed shock over the death of Gulak, who was killed by unknown assailants in Owerri, Imo State.

The former President described his death as a painful loss, noting that the deceased was a loyal public servant and dedicated patriot.

In a statement  by Ikechukwu, his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Jonathan prayed God to comfort his family and grant his soul eternal rest.

The former President said: “I received with shock the death of Alh  Ahmed Gulak who died on Sunday, 30th May 2021, in Owerri,  Imo State.

“Gulak was a loyal public servant and dedicated patriot who gave his all in service to his country. His death is a painful loss to me and many others who worked and interacted with him.

“He will be remembered for his modest contributions to the growth of our nation’s democracy, especially his memorable days both as a skillful speaker of Adamawa State House of Assembly and political adviser in our  administration.

“My deepest condolences to his family,  the government and the people of Adamawa state, who are bound to feel the loss of this eminent and patriotic Nigerian.

“May God grant his family, friends and supporters solace, even as I appeal for calm while law enforcement bodies carry out their investigations.”

ASUU Elects New Officers

By
The Source
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Prof. Victor Emmanuel Osodeke

By Ayodele Oni

Prof. Victor Emmanuel Osodeke of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia State has been elected President, of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU).

A Consultant Psychiatrist and Associate Professor in the College of Medicine, University of Jos Chris Piwuna, was elected Vice President.

Others elected at the just concluded conference are Prof. Siji Sowande (Treasurer); Prof. Ade Adejumo (Financial Secretary); Dr. Austen Sado (Investment Secretary); Dr. Adamu Babayo (Internal Auditor) and Dr. Stella-Maris Okey (Welfare Secretary).

The new President was former Vice President to Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the immediate past President. Piwuna, before his election, was the Internal Auditor of ASUU and its former Chairman in UNIJOS.

They were elected at the National Delegates Conference of ASUU held in Awka, Anambra State, at the weekend.

Ex-Militant, Tompolo, Urges Constitution Of NDDC Board, Gives 7-Days Ultimatum, Promises Fire

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Government Ekpemupolo, foremost ex-Niger Delta Militant, popularly known as Tompolo, has expressed his disgust over the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a substantive Board for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

For months, there have been series of agitations in the Niger Delta region over the failure to have a substansive Board for the Commission.

In the instant case, Tompolo has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to constitute the Board of the NDDC.

The former Militant said that he would no longer watch the Niger Delta region being deprived of its rights under the guise of a forensic audit that has been used by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio to strangle the Commission.

The Rivers State born militant said that the delay in setting up a substantive Board for the NDDC was a grand conspiracy against the Niger Delta by persons from the Presidency, National Assembly as well as the Security Agencies.

He stressed that the failure of the Presidency to inaugurate a substantive board was “an act of corruption as the people of the region have lost so much resources in the process of the so called forensic audit” ordered by President Buhari since 2019.

Tompolo warned that an unimaginable thing, greater than the mass protest by Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) may happen in the coming days in the Niger Delta region if the presidency fails to constitute the NDDC Board within seven days.

Tompolo also known as the “Ibe-Ebidouwei of Ijaw Nation” issued the warning in a statement he personally signed and released to newsmen in Warri, Delta State on Sunday.

He urged President Buhari, members of the National Assembly and Security Agencies to work towards the constitution of the substantive Board of the NDDC within a few days to avert a total breakdown of law and order that will equally affect crude oil exploration and exploitation activities in the region

The statement reads: “I have watched and observed with keen interest, the circumstances surrounding the constitution of the NDDC board for some time now. I would have continued to keep watching and observing, but for love of the region and the country.

“The continuous running of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by a sole administrator at the instance of the minister of Niger Delta Affairs Senator Akpabio, is undemocratic and anti-development, hence unacceptable to the people of the region. The people of the region are averse to a one man show in a Commission that is supposed to attend to the developmental needs of nine states, namely, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers. It will likely set the region on fire, sooner than later.

“The act establishing the Commission provided among other things that it will be administered by a board comprising of a Chairman, Managing Director, Executive Directors and Commissioners who will be drawn from the nine states that made up the region.

“However, this provision has been blatantly undermined by Senator Godswill Akpabio and his co-travellers in the Presidency. There is no provision for either interim management committee or sole administration in the act that establishes the NDDC. Commonsense will tell you that the so-called forensic audit that has been used by Senator Akpabio to strangle the Commission could be best conducted with a substantive Board that brings all representatives from the nine States and other parts of the country. As one from the region, Senator Akpabio’s initial mission to audit past activities of the commission was seen as welcome development, but later the people realised that it was a personal mission to feather the nest of his 2023 political ambition. Clearly, the present state of the commission is abnormal and could throw the relatively peaceful region in the country into chaos and acrimony.

“Undermining the very clear provisions in the establishing act under the guise of an endless forensic audit is evil, and should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

“It is in itself an act of corruption as the people of the region have lost so much resources in the process of the so called forensic audit. No one can tell the amount of money that has been spent by

“Senator Akpabio in pursuing this divisive agenda. It is obvious that there will be another forensic audit to investigate the activities of Senator Akpabio by the time he let grip off the commission. This is disheartening and worrisome.

“Senator Akpabio has refused to pay contractors even after evaluation of work done. He has selectively paid his cronies and those in the list of political patronage. It is an open secret that some contractors have been made to part with up to between 30% and 50% of the contract sum. I ask, where is the equity and probity of this sole administration?

“There is no way things will continue in this manner. I am surprised at the recent silence of highly placed persons from the region on this matter. Perhaps, Senator Akpabio is not alone on this NDDC ‘abduction’. This must be a product of high wired conspiracy among persons from the Presidency, National Assembly and Security Agencies to perpetually silence all well-meaning Nigerians in this strange deal.

“Senator Akpabio should know that it is time to end this barbaric act as it will be concertedly resisted in the days ahead. Senator Akpabio’s temporal reprieve from the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) protest is a child’s play compare to what is to come in a few days. He is about to be awakened to the rage of the Niger Delta region.

“It is against this background that I wish to call on Mr President, members of the National Assembly and Security Agencies to work towards the constitution of the substantive board of the NDDC within a few days to avert a total breakdown of law and order that will equally affect crude oil exploration and exploitation activities in the region. I hereby proclaim a seven days ultimatum starting the date of this publication to inaugurate the substantive board of the commission”, the statement reads.

“Gulak’s Murder Premeditated; Will Deploy Every Resouce To Get His Killers” – Buhari

By
The Source
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President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

By Charles Igbo

A furious and  outraged President Muhammadu Buhari says the murder of Ahmed Gulak,  in Imo State, was a well laid-out plan. The President said it was premeditated.  But he assured that he will do anything, everything, to get his killers arrested so as to face the full weight of the law. “I will deploy every resource”, the President promised.

The shocked President was reacting to the gruesome murder of Gulak in the morning of Sunday, May 30, by gunmen on his way to the Sam Mbakwe Airport to board a flight back to Abuja.

In a statement on his behalf by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, entitled: President Buhari expressed outrage  sadness Gulak’s murder, President Buhari expressed his outrage and disgust at what he  called:”The heinous murder of the Adamawa State-born politician, in Owerri, Imo State by yet-to-be identified gunmen.”

Said the statement, quoting Mr President: “I am repulsed by such premeditated and gruesome murder of Gulak by evil people who are determined to undermine the peace, unity and integrity of our country.

“Let me warn that nobody or group of people who engages in such despicable acts should expect to go free.

“We will deploy all resources at our disposal to ensure that such callous and criminal elements are brought to book.”

In another development, the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi  Akeredolu, described the murder of Gulak as a deliberate act meant to cause a serious problem between the North and the South-east.

Why Gulak Used Cab, No Security, To Airport

By
The Source
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Ahmed Gulak

By Charles Igbo

Ahmed Gulak, a Northern elite, and APC Chieftain, who was murdered  Sunday morning on his way to Imo Airport, perhaps had a premonition of death.

He did everything to avoid it.

From the way he dressed, to his choice of using a Cab, instead of a Government vehicle,  to choosing to travel without any security protection, it is obvious Gulak did not want to draw any attention to himself.

A source close to Gulak said he rarely dressed in jeans and T- shirt unless he was relaxing at home. But that was how he dressed on his way to the Airport. “He deliberately dressed-down,” the source told this magazine. “He was a babariga man, or Kaftan”, he added.

Gulak also could have used any car of his choice from Government House Owerri, and a horde of security agents and a security driver. But he did neither.

Security sources say that was a big mistake on his part.

The sources say it was obvious those who killed him trailed him from the hotel, and that if he had a trained security driver with him, and security details, they would have noticed that they were being trailed. “Trained security drivers are important in such circumstances”, they noted.

Another source close to the late Gulak said he chose to dress-down and go to the Airport in a low profile manner because of the security situation in the State.

“Using a Government vehicle was dangerous for him, and using security men, he felt, was worse considering the incessant attacks on Security personnel in Imo. He felt safer going to the Airport the way he did. If he had known, but that is now a big if. It was a catch 22 situation for him. Finally, it was his choice.”

Another source attributed the incident to the sit-at-home order by the Leader of the Indigenous  Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. But not a few people dismissed that, pointing out that “IPOB allowed movement of people on Sunday to allow people go to Church, significant as May 30 is. IPOB shifted the no-movement order to Monday, May 31, 2021. So, there was no restriction of movement to flout.”

The insecurity in Imo State has been unprecedented, with so many killings, torching and destruction of Government facilities by the now familiar and notoriously called “unknown gunmen.”

Gulak’s murder is the most high profile since the killings began.

A former Speaker of the Adamawa House of Assembly, former Senior Special Adviser to former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, and a former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, the Northern Youths Council of Nigeria, NYCN, is threatening revenge.

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