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Retraction And Apology For False And Unsubstantiated Report Published Against United Bank For Africa (UBA) |The Source

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The Source
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UBA office

In The Source (Magazine) Online  edition of May 5, 2021, we published a story titled “UBA: Fitch, Vetiva Warn Investors To Shun ‘Africa’s Global Bank’, wherein it was reported that the two organisations issued a negative advisory against the bank, as stressed.

Upon interrogation of the story and its source, we have since discovered the claims in the report to be untrue and, therefore, retract the story in its entirety.

We have, also, since pulled the story.

We, hereby, tender an unreserved apology to the Management of the United Bank for Africa, UBA, an institution we hold in high esteem, and others that may have been misled by the report.

Editor.

Prof. Akintoye Alleges Plot To Invade Yorubaland, Writes South West Governors |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Professor Stephen Banji Akintoye

By Akinwale Kasali

National leader of Yoruba Group, Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has raised an alarm over alleged plot by terrorists to attack Yorubaland.

The former Senator of the Second Republic said that terrorists have encircled the South West area, warning that an attack is imminent.

In a letter personally signed by him,  and addressed to South West Governors, Akintoye urged the Governors to be vigilant, and ensure South West is not captured by foreign invaders.

In a statement on Wednesday, Akintoye said the new midnight curfew announced by the Presidential Committee Task Force on Covid-19 and the Nigerian Central Authority under the guise of curtailing Covid-19 spread is suspicious.

He said there are fears the shutdown was an attempt for large-scale importation of illicit weapons to Yorubaland.

He urged the younger generation of Yoruba to wake up and be extra-vigilant as no one should be trusted.

Akintoye said that the previous Covid-19 lockdown from March 2019 to May 2020 was used to import terrorists from the North to the Southern parts of Nigeria, especially, to the South-west.

“People must, therefore, be very careful and observant now” he said.

He advised some top Religion centres in South West such as The Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG) Redemption Camp, Winners Chapel’s Faith Terbanacle, Deeper Life Bible Church’s Camp, Mountain of Fire’s Camp, Synagogue Church of All Nations’s Headquarters and the prestigious Central Mosque buildings in Lagos and Ibadan, to beef-up security around their premises.

“This is an alert from Ilana Omo Oodua to the Yoruba people at home and in the Diaspora. The situation that has developed in Nigeria in recent days calls for the uttermost vigilance of the Yoruba nation, and every Yoruba man, woman, and child.

“There is danger that if we don’t mount that high level of vigilance today, very serious pains can be inflicted upon us as a nation and on countless numbers of citizens of our nation.

“A few days ago, precisely, Saturday, the 8th of May, I sent a very desperate letter to the six Governors of the Yoruba Southwest. The letter reads as follows:

“Your Excellencies, the Governors of the Yoruba Southwest. This is a very desperate message from me to the State Governors of our Yorubaland in the face of the impending escalation of the ongoing invasion of our homeland. A combination of Fulani terrorists, Boko Haram and ISIS have occupied Niger State which is immediately north of Yorubaland, thereby providing for themselves very easy access into Yorubaland through the Yoruba parts of Kwara and Kogi States.

“Then, recently, the US has issued a statement that ISIS has infiltrated Southern Nigeria from the sea– meaning that the coast of Lagos, Ogun and Ondo States have been infiltrated.

“Our situation has thus become desperate and requires desperate actions from our State Governors. I feel obliged to devote much attention to the study of our Yoruba nation’s vicissitudes in these terrible times, and from such studies, I am hereby raising an informed alarm to the Governors of our States. I humbly and passionately urge our Governors to come together to give the needed response to the danger that threatens to engulf our Yorubaland in, most probably, the next few days.

“It is very well known that the signature action of these foreign terrorist organisations is to first destroy prominent assets of the society that they attack. That could mean that major public and private buildings in Lagos and Ibadan, particularly the hugely symbolic Cocoa House in Ibadan, would be their immediate targets.

“By the grace of God, we will ultimately expel them from our homeland, but by then, very many valuable assets of our nation might have been wrecked. This is something that we can and must prevent by preempting them with our own massivedefensive measures.

“I wish our Governors God’s wisdom and strength as they rise together to do the desperately needful now. I trust you all to make the best decision, but I respectfully urge that you also borrow a leaf from what Governor Ortom has done in his Benue State.”

That letter was last Saturday, he said, and continued;

“Now, in the past 24 hrs, that is, since late Monday, May 10, 2021, more troubling developments have occurred. First, the Secretary to the Nigerian Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, went on air and announced a number of Federal Government measures which were said to be made necessary by COVID 19.

“The measures included Nigerian-wide curfews, a limit of the congregation of persons to 50, closing down of bars and night clubs, among others.

“However, while members of the Nigerian public were still pondering the Federal Government’s announcement, another highly placed official of the same Government, Dr Sani Aliyu, Coordinator of the National Presidential Task Force on COVID 19, came out with a statement that the announcement a night before on lockdown, curfew, and public gathering were fake. He concluded that the public should ignore them.

“We urge the Yoruba people to be aware of what may be happening now. We ask Yoruba people to remember that when the Federal Government announced a lockdown in March 2020, the lockdown was converted to a sinister opportunity to truck countless loads of Fulani terrorists and others to the South, especially to the Yoruba Southwest. We Yoruba people must defend our homeland, our towns, cities, villages, farmlands and our people no matter what anybody else may be doing.

“Happily, most Yoruba people are no longer in doubt about the danger that confronts their nation in Nigeria, but we need now is to mobilize ourselves in defence of our homeland .

“The Yoruba people are grateful to the Yoruba youths for the way they have woken up to resist the invasion of Yorubaland by terrorist bandits.

“The Yoruba youths must take particular cognizance of the following facts:

“That terrorists have taken over Niger State: That Niger State is the immediate Northern neighbour of Yorubaland; that terrorists now command easy access into Yoruba land through the Yoruba parts of Kwara and Kogi States; a powerful nation, the United States of America, has issued an alert informing Nigeria and the world that ISIS, probably in alliance with other terrorist groups, has infiltrated the Southern parts of Nigeria from the sea; That the Nigerian Federal Government has not responded in any way to all these dangerous developments, which means that we must not wait for any Federal Government to defend us.

“We Yoruba people must also remember in particular that all past efforts by terrorists in Nigeria have always had special plans for Yorubaland because, as everybody knows, Yorubaland is the home of the richest non-petroleum resources in Nigeria.

“All these call for a new and higher level of response and vigilance by the Yoruba people. Our youths have been holding mega rallies across cities and that is a very welcome development, but our youths must now respond at a much higher level than mega rallies. They must organise themselves urgently to protect our roads, especially the roads that lead into our homeland. They must ensure that the influx of terrorists and arms into our land definitively stops.

“Owners and custodians of significant edifices in Yorubaland are strongly advised now to establish formidable security for their edifices. These include bridges, important public and private buildings, churches and such eminent Church estates as the Redeem, Winners, Deeper Life, Mountain of Fire Church camps and the unique Synagogue building of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, and even our most prestigious Central Mosque buildings in Lagos, Ibadan and our other cities.

“We must remember that when these terrorists broke into Mali Republic some years ago they destroyed the revered mosque of the ancient Sankore University in Timbuktu, the greatest Islamic monument in West Africa. To them, whatever does not qualify as fundamentalist or jihadist deserves to be destroyed.

“The Yoruba people trust their youths because the youths have done a lot of great things in recent times. We know they can do it, and we expect them to do their duty to their nation in these desperate times. Do this for your nation now to secure our nation and carve for yourself an honourable place in history.

“Yoruba youths must also make it clear to the world that NOW is the last and final battle of the Yoruba people against the destructive elements of Nigeria on the Yoruba nation”, the statement concluded.

Reno Omokri Tackles Okeowo, Says South-west Can Bring Down Any Government | |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Reno Omokri

By Akinwale Kasali

The Statement by Billionaire realtor, Olu Okeowo, to the effect that the only people the South West of Nigeria has produced are Area boys and fake Pastors, has been strongly criticised by former Presidential Aide, Pastor Reno Omokri.

Okeowo made the statement while addressing a group of the Clergy.

According to him, this is as a result of wickedness shown by the people tracing the source to the 1970s when they started talking ill of each other and destroying each other.

His words; “I have noticed, electricity is no longer in abundant supply because Shiroro has been surrounded. Gerreru has been surrounded. Electricity is being generated in the North. Those who are saying divide don’t know what they are saying. Even if we divide today, the gas that they would use to run any turbine comes from another area.

“Unfortunately, my people here from the Southwest will be the ones to lose out most because what we have produced mostly are area boys and fake pastors. We need to pray for the unity of Nigeria.”

His comments has generated mixed feelings with a section of Nigerians reprimanding him for making such an unwholesome statement.

Reacting, Omokri said it is very myopic for anyone to say that all that the South-west has produced are mostly are area boys and fake pastors. It is  obviously, untrue, he fumed.

Omokri added that the Southwest has  produced the greatest resources on planet Earth in education. The Zone, has the most educated population in Nigeria  not just the most educated, but the most sophisticated, he submitted.

“Japan and Singapore have perhaps the least natural resources in the world. But they are nevertheless some of the most developed Nations on Earth, because what is between the ears is more important than what is beneath the ground.

“If Nigeria had no quota system, and we employed our workforce strictly on merit, people from the Southwest will dominate almost every sector in Nigeria. It is not because they are more intelligent than other Nigerians. It is because, thanks to a man named Obafemi Awolowo, they are the most educated Nigerians, bar none.

“I am from the South-South, and my people resent the fact that the oil industry is dominated by people of Southwest origin, even when the oil is in our land. Shell, Chevron, Mobil, Total, amongst others, are all dominated by people of Southwest origin. The same is true in banking, media, telecommunications, and advertising.

“If the Southwest want to bring down a Government, they have the infrastructure to use propaganda to tear that Administration down. They have done it before, and they can do it again. That is power. That is influence. The Yoruba understand that the pen is mightier than the sword.

“The only sectors that the Yoruba do not dominate are sectors that they do not want to dominate, either because they look down on such sectors, like the Military or Police, or because dominating it will require them to leave Southern Nigeria, and many people of Southwest origin will rather be poor, than move to Northern Nigeria. That, they leave to people of Southeast origin.

“And it is highly ignorant to say that the Southwest depends on other regions for electricity. Not true. The Southwest has Papalanto, Olorunsogo 1 and 2, Egbin Thermal Power station and Omotosho 1 and 2. It seems that Mr. Okeowo still has a 1960s mindset.

“Today’s Nigerian electricity is not solely hydro based (Kainji Dam, Geregu, etc). Those days are long gone.

“In terms of commodities, the Southwest is Nigeria’s cocoa and cassava heartland, and competes with Benue as the yam centre of Nigeria.

“And last, but not the least, the Southwest has one of the most viable assets in Nigeria – ports. Tin Can Island port, and the Lagos Port Complex, are the gateways to Nigeria’s commerce.

“When you add the fact that the Southwest has the most developed infrastructure in Nigeria, and that her industrial capacity is more than the industrial capacity of the rest of Nigeria combined (it will shock you to note that Ikeja Local Government Area and Agbara Industrial estate alone, consume more electricity than the entire Northwest, or that Alaba International Market generates almost $7 billion annually), you begin to understand that that statement by Mr. Okeowo is fallacious.

“Lagos state has a bigger internal economy than Kenya or Ghana. If Lagos state were a country on its own, she would have the 7th largest economy in Africa with a GDP of over $100 billion (compared to $95 billion for Kenya and $67 billion for Ghana).

“And funny enough, most people do not even know that the Southwest has oil in commercial quantity in both Ondo and Lagos.

“So, it was very flippant and ignorant for Mr. Olu Okeowo to have bad-mouthed his own region so badly. Whose script is he acting? I do not know.

“I am not agitating for the division of Nigeria. However, to say that if Nigeria divides, the Southwest will suffer is utter nonsense. I had previously thought Olu Okeowo was vacuous. But now, I am sure of it.

“But why would a man of Southwest origin misrepresent his own region and people so badly?

“I am a researcher, and one thing I know is that it is more likely to get a person of South’western origin to betray their region’s group interests, than it is to get a Northerner, or an Igbo to do so.

“You see it on social media platforms and the online comment sections of Nigerian newspapers.

“People with Yoruba names will attack their own leaders and undermine them, and others with Southeastern and Northern names would join them.

“However, you will hardly ever see a Northerner attacking a fellow Northerner, and if a person from another region does it, they will forget about their internal differences and unite against the interloper. Why? Why is the Southwest like this?

“Some people say it has to do with the curse of Alaafin Aole, or Epe Alaafin Aole.

“According to the late Reverend Samuel Johnson’s book ‘The History of the Yorubas: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate’, the Yoruba Nation, or more specifically, the Oyo Empire, prodded on by Aare Ona Kakanfo Afonja, betrayed their king, Alaafin Aole, and killed him.

“However, before he was killed, Alaafin Aole placed a curse on his people by firing mystical arrows in three directions, and said that just as those arrows went in various directions, that the Yoruba, (or Olukunmi people, or Edekiri speakers) would never be united.

“The Yoruba are a very ancient and mystical people, and this enchantment by Alaafin Aole is very credible, because a similar incident happened in Scripture in 2 Kings 13:15-19.

“But I do not know if this curse can still be said to hold water, because the Yoruba nation united, more or less, under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, particularly after the death of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola.

“Whether true or not, it may be a good idea for leaders of the Yoruba nation to call Mr. Okeowo to order, lest he becomes yet another modern day Afonja. The Yoruba already have Bola Tinubu. They may not need another quisling”, Omokri stated.

Ramadan, Window For National Healing’ – Dr. Nwankwo

By
Bayo Bernard
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By Orji Daniels

A leading gubernatorial aspirant in the Anambra governorship election, Dr. Chidozie Nwankwo, on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on the disparate groups threatening the Nigerian federation to have a re-think by imbibing the spiritual lessons offered by Ramadan season.

In a Ramadan message, the gubernatorial hopeful felicitated with the country’s Muslim community for faithfully going through the fasting period, in spite of the harsh times.

Nwankwo, who is the Chairman/CEO of Wichtech Group, with over 200 offices and locations across Nigeria, expressed hopes that the country would yet again surmount the current challenges confronting it.

“Given the virtuous acts of piety imbibed during the Ramadan, I urge our kith and kin – currently led astray and operating as either Boko Haram, bandits, kidnappers and the likes – to return to the path of rectitude.

Dr Nwankwo
Dr Nwankwo Calls for National Reconciliation

” Every disagreement, be it in the family unit, business environment, community or country, is better resolved through dialogue. We must, therefore, use the opportunity offered by the Ramadan season to promote national healing, by forgiving ourselves.

” In deed, Allah’s desire for humanity is peaceful and communal living, devoid of undue bickering. As true and faithful followers of God, we must all join hands to ensure a restoration of peace in our land.”

Reflecting on the current challenges confronting the country, Nwankwo prayed for leaders across the land, as they navigate through the tortuous demands of governance, as according to him a peaceful Nigeria will be in the interest of all, as no meaningful development will take place should the insecurity remain unchecked.

 

Southern Senators Laud Governors In The Zone For Measures To Tackle Insecurity |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

The Southern Senators Forum (SSF) has thrown its weight behind moves by Governors in the zone to end insecurity, especially kidnapping and open grazing.

The Forum, made up of National Assembly members in the red chamber, from the South, also, applauded the resolutions of the Southern Governors’ Forum on restructuring, and called for synergy between the Governors and the National Assembly members for optimal results.

Southern Governors Forum (SGF), had, on Tuesday in Asaba, Delta State capital,  at their meeting, unanimously prohibited open grazing in the region to checkmate herders-farmers clashes, kidnapping and killing of Southerners.

A statement jointly signed by the Chairman, Secretary and Publicity Secretary, Senators Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti), Mathew Uroghide (Edo) and Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu), on behalf of the SSF and made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, lauded the governors for the timely measures which members believe would tackle the wanton destruction of farmlands, kidnappings and carnages.

The Lawmakers flayed the loss of millions of Naira to encroachment on farmlands, which could lead to famine,  kidnappings and other crimes.

“At this critical point of our National life when the economy was being bedeviled by galloping inflation, youth unemployment and insecurity, food security is very crucial to mitigate the effects of these diverse evils on the citizens.

“Available records have shown that attaining food security status would remain a mirage in the south owing to ravaging effect of outdated livestock grazing policy being unleashed on farmlands by some unscrupulous herders.

“Most appalling were the seemingly unabated kidnappings, rapings and killing of our people by suspected herdsmen, who have become bandits heating up the system.

“With this uniform resolve by our Governors to initiate no-open grazing policy, the region will return to its peaceful and agriculturally self -sufficient status it had assumed even long before Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914,” the forum said.

The Senators explained further that the call for restructuring by the Governors would “help to remove the venom that had permeated the land on account of alleged neglect of certain sections of the country.”

They called for equality, equity and justice, to wipe out ethnic tension and agitations for secession, adding that the governors must swiftly follow up by approaching the leadership of the National Assembly for speedy constitutional reviews on restructuring, state policing and abolishment of archaic traditional grazing methods.

Okorocha Says 75% Of Nigerians Unhappy With, Buhari’s Government |The Source

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The Source
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Rochas Okorocha

By Charles Igbo

Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has strongly decried the level of injustice, poverty and unhappiness in the Country. He says nothing productive can come out of any country swimming in those.

Okorocha, now the Senator representing Imo West, said a situation where 75 per cent of Nigerians are unhappy cannot make way for any progress in the country.

Okorocha, as Governor, was one of the founding members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. Formerly of APGA, he shocked not a few South-easterners when he joined in founding the APC. He was one of the most high profile APC members of Igbo extraction.

But his relationship with the party is, at the moment, very low. It soured when a combination of many untidy incidents denied his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, the APC Governorship ticket in 2019.

Everything considered, the APC, under the then National Chairmanship of Adams Oshiomhole, preferred the now Governor Hope Uzodinma as its candidate to Nwosu.

Till date, Okorocha feels he was betrayed by the party, and has, in recent months joined the multitude criticising the APC Government, waving injustice, non-performance, poverty and hunger as the Party’s albatross.

Speaking in Abuja, on Tuesday, while hosting less privileged Muslims in celebration of the Eid-el-Fitr, Okorocha submitted that unless the FG addressed the twin cancer of injustice and poverty, calm will be difficult to be restored in Nigeria.

Okorocha: “I can comfortably say that 75 per cent of Nigerians are not happy at this moment.  There is nothing productive that can come from this Nation as long as this alarming number remains unhappy.

“The cause of our Nigerian problem lies in injustice and poverty, and the quicker Government moves to address the issue of injustice, the better it is for our Nation to reduce the level of anger in the country.”

The former Governor is presently at logger-heads with the Imo State Government which is implementing recommendations from various Judicial Panels and Commissions set up by the Government of former Governor Emeka Ihedioha, but sustained by Governor Uzodinma, which stripping Okorocha of assets allegedly belonging to the State Government, or funded by it, which he appropriated to himself,family and cronies.

Recently, he was arrested and detained by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over his activities in Imo as Governor. He is, currently, on an administrative bail.

Many in the State are of the opinion that he is likely to defect to another Party from APC. They say with his sour relationship with the party in the State, he is not likely to get a return ticket to the Senate under the APC.

COVID 19: AfDB To Invest $3bn In Health Sector

By
Bayo Bernard
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Akinwunmi Adesina
Akinwunmi-Adesina

By Fola James

Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector is set to experience a boom following the decision by the African Development Bank, AfDB to invest a whopping $3 billion in the next decade.

The President of the bank, Akinwumi Adesina disclosed this on Tuesday at a virtual Finance in Common Spring Meeting convened in collaboration with the Association of African Development Finance Institutions, AADFI and the International Development Finance Club IDFC.

At the meeting tagged “Africa’s Green and Resilient Recovery: A Common Objective.” the AfDB president also disclosed that the continental financial institution will support the Africa Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC) with $28 million to strengthen its capacity to tackle the issue of vaccines, particularly for the Covid 19.

He said “The bank is also currently working with partners on how to best support the financing of manufacturing of vaccines on the continent.”

The AfDB president further who projected a gradual recovery of African economies from the COVID-19 pandemic, with an expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.4 percent in 2021, said “that recovery is expected to be across the board for oil-exporting countries, tourism-dependent economies, commodity-dependent economies and for non-resource dependent economies.But all these depend on access to vaccines and tackling the issue of Africa’s debt.”

He noted that tackling the issue of Africa’s debt must be of top priority, which he described as critical for the overall financial market stability in the short and medium term.

But “without a resolution of Africa’s $700 billion external debt,” Adesina said “Africa’s economic recovery will be like running up a steep hill with a backpack full of sand.”

Adesina said the issuance of special drawing rights, SDR by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), if well used, would support the recovery process in Africa and address the debt challenge.

He said SDR  should be used to support African development banks with additional resources to support countries to build back better, greener and with climate and environmental resilience, while creating job opportunities for the youths.

“It is clear that if this is not done, when the debt payments become due from 2023/2024 with bunching of payments, many countries will not be able to meet their obligations, which could trigger massive and widespread credit downgrades across Africa,” Adesina said.

Nigerians Abroad To Send $22b Home- Report

By
Bayo Bernard
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Godwin-Emefiele-CBN-Governor

Tosin Olatokunbo

Agusto Consulting Limited, a credit rating agency, says it is optimistic that Nigerians living abroad will send as much as $22.5 billion back home this year. Also known as diaspora remittances the renown rating agency, said the amount is five per cent increase more than the figure recorded in the previous year, 2020.

Nigeria is second to Egypt in Africa in terms of diapora remittances but many Nigerians living abroad could not sent much to their loved ones, last year, due to the corona virus pandemic which hit global economy.

Nigeria received its highest diaspora remittance in 2018 with about $24 billion. In 2019 the figures dipped by two percent to $23.8 billion while in 2020, a double digit drop of 12 percent was recorded as diaspora remittances fell to $21 billion.

The situation, Agusto said will change this year as big economies in Europe, USA and China begin to experience normalcy.

According to Jimi Ogbobine, the remittance which formed Nigeria’s biggest source of foreign exchange will experience boom after the COVID 19 setbacks.

Ogbobine said “By the end of 2021, we are projecting a 5 percent growth from $21 billion to $22 billion this year. And by 2022, we are projecting another small growth of about 2 percent  to $22.5 billion,” Ogbobine said.

The agency said increase in emigration of white-collar workers particularly to Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia will increase diaspora remittances.t

It added that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN will “maintain its current policy all through 2021 and into 2022 which requires International Money Transfer Operators, IMTOs to pay beneficiaries in foreign currency and not in naira”.

The report further said Nigeria recorded the worst dip in remittances among top seven countries with highest diaspora receipts in Africa.

The six other African countries were identified as Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

Southern Governors Meet In Asaba, Demand State Police, New Revenue Sharing Formular |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

President Mohamadu Buhari has again been put on his toes as Governors in 17 states of Southern Nigeria asked him to address Nigerians on the challenges of insecurity and restore the confidence of the people.

The meeting of the Southern Governors also flayed another imposition of lockdown over Covid 19 pandemic, and asked for a restructuring that will lead to State Police and a new revenue formulate.

The Southern Governors Forum which met on Tuesday in Asaba, Delta state, amidst tight security, challenged the President in a 12-point communique read by its Chairman, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, of Ondo State  at the end of its four-hour meeting.

The Governors affirmed that the people of Southern Nigeria remain committed to the unity of Nigeria on the basis of justice, fairness, equity, oneness, and peaceful co-existence between, and among its peoples with a focus on the attainment of shared goals for economic development and prosperity.

The communiqué reads as follows: “Southern Governors expressed very grave concern on the security challenges currently plaguing the Nation and strongly urged that Mr. President should address Nigerians on the challenges of insecurity and restore the confidence of our people.

“We observe that the incursion of armed herders, criminals, and bandits into the Southern part of the country has presented a severe security challenge such that citizens are not able to live their normal lives including pursuing various productive activities leading to a threat to food supply and general security.

“Consequently, the meeting resolved that open grazing of cattle be banned across Southern Nigeria.

“Agreed that the progress of the nation requires that urgent and bold steps be taken to restructure the Nigerian Federation leading to the evolution of state police, review of revenue allocation formula in favour of the sub-national governments and creation of other institutions which legitimately advance our commitment to and practice of true federalism.

“In view of widespread agitations among our various peoples for greater inclusiveness in existing governance arrangements, the Federal Government should convoke a national dialogue as a matter of urgency.”

The Southern Governors spoke on the economic implications of another lockdown on the country and, therefore, suggested greater coordination and cooperation between Federal and State Governments in evolving strategies for dealing with Covid 19 pandemic.

Fifteen governors were in attendance at the meeting.

They are Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Dr Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos).

Others are Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Willie Obiano (Anambra). Imo and Akwa Ibom States were represented by their Deputy Governors, while Osun and Cross Rivers states were absent at the meeting.

Afenifere Chieftain, Adebanjo, Asks Buhari To Quit, Slams Youths |The Source

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

Acting National Leader of Yoruba socio political organization, Afenifere, has described Nigerian youths as failures and a disappointment to older generation.

Pa Adebanjo castigated the youths for failing the Country saying: “The younger generation has failed the Country. The Country was not as bad as this when we were demonstrating for self-governance.

He was speaking during the 95th birthday of the immediate past leader of the group, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, and the dedication of a Church in his honor at Iju/Ita Ogbolu in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Pa Adebanjo, stated that “they want the old men to fight their cause for them. Why should people like me be in the trenches at 93 and Baba Fasoranti at 95. Where are those in their 40s and 30s?

“When we were at their age, we were in the street, at Lagos, London, everywhere and in the University.

“You are PDP in the morning, APC in the afternoon and SDP in the evening, and they say they are young, the youths should be ashamed of themselves.”

He, however, expressed optimism that there is light at the end of the tunnel, saying “as a Christian, I still have hope.

“If Nigerians are conscious of their right, and they know what to do, but where is the demonstration in the country that the Buhari government must go?”

To end carnage, kidnapping and anditry in the country, the Yoruba leader restated the call on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign or step aside.

Chief Ayo Adebanjo, pointed out that the Buhari led Government has incapacitated the Country and has failed to address the increasing wave of insecurity and downturn of the economy.

Adebanjo said that with the series of challenges confronting the country, President Buhari ought to have resigned voluntarily long ago .

According to him, the President has failed the people of the country, saying there is no better time to leave but now.

”I have told them that in a better and civilized country he should have gone long ago. If he has self-respect, he should have gone because everything has  failed.

“What is he presiding over? Is it over corruption, security, education.? Law and order have broken down in the country for the past three years. It is only because Nigerians are over tolerance of despots, that is why he is still there.”

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