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Insecurity: Ogun Invites Igboho To Tackle Rogue Fulani Herdsmen |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, the new face of Yoruba warriors, is set to make a kill. He may be up for grabs by other States, outside his home State of Oyo.

The Governor Dapo Abiodun-led Ogun State Government has called on him for help in dealing with security challenges in the State.

Remmy Hazzan, Special Adviser on Public Communications to Ogun State Governor, said that the Yoruba Rights Activist, is welcome in the State to curb insecurity,  most especially in curtailing the invasion by Fulani Herdsmen of some Local Communities of the State.

Hazzan said, “Anybody who is hoping to help us with the security situation is welcome. Not only Sunday Igboho, whoever has what it takes to help us get security right is welcome in Ogun State.”

Monarchs and residents of villages in Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State had lamented that they were brutalised by soldiers who escorted herdsmen to graze in their communities, and have been terrorising them for months.

Igboho had earlier issued a seven-day quit notice  to herdsmen accused of similar crimes in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State and enforced same. He had said he and his supporters would storm Ogun and other South-West States if permitted. Ogun seem to have given him that permission.

When asked if the state  Government  was ready for the ‘visit’ by Igboho, Hazzan said any stakeholders who would help the security architecture of the state was welcome.

Hazzan, however, stressed that Igboho “would be welcome for consultation”.

He also added that though Igboho is  not constitutionally empowered to issue quit notices, but the helpless security situation of Ibarapaland warranted the move by the activist.

The Governor’s aide said there was the need for restructuring so that State  Governments  can take full control of the security situation in their respective states.

Hazzan refuted claims that his principal —the Governor— is  not doing enough to secure lives and property in the state.

According to him, Governor Abiodun is engaging widely with stakeholders including the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, traditional rulers and other persons to ensure peace and tranquility in the state.

Imo: Court Slams Plaintiff Over Appointment of CJ |The Source

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The Source
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Hon. Justice Ijeoma Agugua

By Charles Igbo

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has described a suit instituted against the confirmation of the Hon. Justice Ijeoma Agugua, as the substantive Chief Judge of the State as one borne out of mischief and malice.

One Mr Brown Amadi, who says he is an Imo State tax payer,  had joined the Imo State Judicial Commission, Imo State Governor, Attorney General, House of Assembly and Hon. Justice Agugua in a suit he instituted against  the National Judicial Council, NJC, challenging the suitability of Agugua as Imo State’s substantive Chief Judge.

Amadi based his opposition to Agugua’s appointment on the fact he wrote a petition against her to the NJC which has not been considered. He asked the court to establish if the NJC  can recommend Agugua as a suitable person for appointment as Imo CJ, in view of the provision of section 158 of the 1999 constitution.

Amadi, therefore, asked the Court to restrain the NJC from recommending Agugua as the CJ, arguing that his fundamental right to fair hearing will be breached  if Agugua is made  the substantive CJ without first hearing his petition.

But the defendants, in their preliminary objections queried the legal right of the plaintiff in the appointment of a CJ. They argued that being a tax payer does not, and cannot confer on Amadi the legal right to hold the Governor and institutions to ransom in the discharge of their official,constitutional duties.

Delivering judgement, the Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo agreed with the defendants. He said Amadi, absolutely, lacked every legal right to maintain such a suit before a court of record.

Ekwo: “The plaintiff failed to show how  his personal right override those of the entire people of Imo State as being a tax payer is not enough to institute such an action.

“In a suit of this nature, plaintiff must establish that his personal interest and legal right are real and tangible in law and not personal aggrandizement as done in this matter.

“From the totality of the case of the plaintiff, he acted in bad faith with utter malice. He embarked on adventures without a cause.

His case is simply mischievous.

“I disagree with the plaintiff that his right to fair hearing will be breached unless his petition against Justice Agugua is treated first by the NJC.

“To allow the plaintiff to go ahead with this kind of suit will amount to an individual  holding a statutory body into ransom.

“This case is liable to be struck out, and I, hereby, accordingly strike it out for lacking in merit and substance.”

The now decided suit has delayed the confirmation of Justice Agugua as the Imo CJ. But most stakeholders stood behind her, describing the plot to deny her of the position as injustice and mischief of the worst order.

Not a few people in the State, even in the Judiciary, allege that the Plaintiff, Amadi, is a front for a clique in the Imo Judiciary which wants to, always, have a stranglehold on the State’s Judiciary. The clique has, allegedly, gone to every extent to torpedo the confirmation of Agugua as the substantive Chief Judge of the State, flaunting all kinds of reasons, most of them frivolous.

When, finally,  confirmed, Justice Agugua will be the first female to be appointed the Chief Judge of Imo State.

Why Buhari Changed His ADC |The Source

By
Adesina Soyooye
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President Buhari of Nigeria

By Adesina Soyooye

President Muhammadu Buhari has dropped his Aide-De-Camp, ADC, Col. ML Abubakar.

Abubakar has been with the President since his first term in office, 2015. Described as extremely loyal and dedicated, Abubakar has been with the President through tick and thin, the good and bad times.

But the President had to let go of him because he is billed for a promotion course with his Course mates.

In Abubakar’s place is Lt. Col. YM Dodo.

Until his appointment, Dodo was the Academy Adjutant at the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, Kaduna.

Abubakar is not likely to go back to his former position after his course, as he is expected to be promoted to a new rank of Brigadier-General.

In that rank, he would have gone beyond being anybody’s ADC – not even that of the President of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria.

Population: How The North Cheats The Igbo – Ned Nwoko |The Source

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The Source
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Ned Nwodo

By Charles Igbo

A former member of the House of Representatives, Prince Ned Nwoko, has blamed Religion for the population gap between the North and the Igbo.

While the Islamic religion encourages polygamy, the Christian religion abhors it, and preaches monogamy. The South-east is, predominantly, a Christian zone.

Nwoko, a polygamist, whose youngest wife is Nollywood Actress, Regina Daniels, spoke on the BBC Igbo service. He also said polygamy curbs prostitution.

Bemoaning the bad side of monogamy, and the population gap between the Igbo and the North, he said:

“You see the average Northerner marrying two, three, four women. They are helping the society because it is the economic downturn that has affected so many women who you see doing prostitution and all that. But the fallacy of it all is that Christianity does not allow that in the South and, yet, the average Southern man has 10 girlfriends.

“But even looking at that, looking at your population in Nigeria and what I will call economy of marriage,

as an Igbo man, with one wife, four children, a Northerner has four wives wives, with five children each. In the next 10 years, 20 years, imagine the population of the North.

“With you, an Igbo person, the population will be like one to five because of this disparity. The gap is getting bigger, and the Igbo will never catch up because of this self-imposed restriction.”

With Nigeria’s poor economy, population is still a big deal. It is the yardstick used for the distribution of many things, including the creation of Local Government Areas, States, and recruitment to Federal job.

For now, according to the last Census, the South-east has the least population in Nigeria.

This, however, could be attributable to two things.

One: Many South-easteners live outside their zones, and unlike the Northerners who usually go home to be counted during Census, the Igbo hardly do so. They are counted where they live.

Secondly, during the last Census, MASSOB ignorantly prevailed on a number of people in the South-east not to come out to be counted.

For the records, the South-east, also, has the least number of States – five – a situation that has, rightly, been described as gross injustice.

Airtel to Request for Extension of Time Over NIN Registration |The Source

By
Uche Mbah
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Airtel

By Uche Mbah

Airtel Africa Plc says it will request more time to link the National Identity Number, NIN, with the phone numbers of subscribers.

Nigeria  asked telecom operators to link up their subscribers  national identity number, NIN, with their phone numbers, putting the deadline for February 19.

Airtel Chief Executive Officer, Raghunath Mandava reportedly said the company has collected more than half of its subscribers to beat the deadline for linking, noting that the Nigerian unit “is working” to verify customers’ data.

“This could require a little bit more time and we will not be able to complete the full exercise, in which case, after all, efforts if we don’t manage by Feb. 9 then we will, I am sure discuss with the government and request for some extension,” he said in a regulatory filing with the Nigeria stock exchange Friday.

According to him, Nigeria’s operations’ revenue grew by 21.6% in the three quarters ending December 31, 2020. east Africa grew by 23.4%.

The consumer base of the company rose 11% to 118.9 million in the third quarter of 2020, with a remarkably increased penetration. it added 2.5 million customers in the three months to December 31, 2020.

“Our nine-month performance reflects both the resilience of our business model through the Covid-19 pandemic and, for the last six months, a continued improvement in our execution and performance as lockdown restrictions have eased
across our countries of operation.
“I am particularly pleased with our performance in the latest third quarter, which has demonstrated accelerated growth
in both revenue and underlying EBITDA in constant currency to 22.8 percent and 28.3 percent respectively.

“The opportunities for sustainable profitable growth from our underpenetrated markets for both mobile and mobile money services remain hugely attractive, and we are confident of continuing to deliver on our growth strategy,” Mandava said.

Meanwhile, Airtel Nigeria has designated eight different centers for the National Identity Number registration to augment the registrations at the office of the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC.

Aitel has been selected as one of the companies allowed to register for NIN outside the NIMC.

The NIMC has been inundated by Nigerians struggling to beat the deadline for the registration, which has been shifted to February 19. The government has been criticized by Nigerians for putting the lives of Nigerians in danger due to exposure to the COVID19 pandemic. Social distancing and wearing of masks are hardly observed at these stations that witness daily crowds estimated in their thousands.

CAS Reinstate Ahmad As CAF President |The Source

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Ahmad Ahmad

By Akinwale Kasali

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, has ordered the reinstatement of Ahmad Ahmad as the President of Confederation of African Football, CAF.

Madagascar’s Ahmad was reinstated as CAF President following a ruling by the CAS on Friday 29th January, 2021, in Switzerland.

Ahmad was banned by FIFA, in November, for five years, after football’s world governing body found him in breach of a number of its  code of ethics.

He appealed this decision at CAS, which issued a preliminary ruling on Friday.

Ahmad is still ineligible to contest CAF’s Presidential elections in March, however, since the CAS decision came after both the CAF’s Governance Committee and FIFA ‘s Review Committee met earlier this week to discuss the eligibility of candidates.

CAF says it will hear Ahmad’s appeal in full on March 2, with a decision issued before the CAF presidential elections on 12 March.

“Due to a risk of irreparable harm for Mr Ahmad if the disciplinary sanction is maintained during the period prior to the CAF elections, the CAS panel has upheld the request to temporarily stay the effects of the (FIFA ban),” CAS, sport’s highest legal body, said in a statement.

This effective suspension of the FIFA ruling will be in place ‘until the day that the final CAS award is issued.’

Since he was banned when FIFA met on Tuesday and CAF on Thursday, Ahmad was deemed ineligible to run.

He will now need to overturn the decision ruling him ineligible to run, since his appeal at CAS was not against the decision barring him from contesting the elections but against his FIFA ban.

As of this week, four candidates were cleared to run for the CAF presidential elections on 12 March. They are Jacques Anouma (Ivory Coast), Patrice Motsepe (South Africa), Augustin Senghor (Senegal), Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania).

OPINION: Anger, Anxiety & Incoherence in The Land |The Source

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The Source
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Olu Agunloye

By Olu Agunloye

I have seen the trending video produced by Professor Femi Olufunmilade. Femi, the professor by career and a simple man by nature appeared to be angry or anxious. He called out Yoruba leaders to Orita Gbagede, the public square. He is not alone. Several others have called out leaders and followers. Some even abused them or cursed them.

Incidentally, recent attacks, invasions, atrocities and crimes in the West caused by some Fulani herdsmen, bandits, foreign or local hoodlums have already forced out different shades of Yoruba leaders, scholars and rulers.

In fact, Leaders and great men in Yorubaland are already out in Orita Gbagede. The Obas including HRM Alaafin who was first to speak out and HRM Ooni who went to President Buhari, the serving Governors, former governors & former president, the warriors and retired military Generals including Alani Akinrinade, Kunle Togun, our own Aare Onakankanfo, the courageous Sunday Igboho and others have already taken visible positions. Scholars including Prof Wole Soyinka, Prof Banji Akintoye, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi; learned ones including Afe Babalola and Femi Falana, our fathers & leaders including Chiefs Fashoranti, Ayo Adebanjo, Olu Falae, Dr. Kunle Olajide and our younger leaders like Yinka Odumakin, Kole Omololu, Femi Olufunmilade, Deji Osibogun, Awa Bamiji, Owolabi Oladepo etc are in the public square already and so are our cerebral writers including Dare Babarinsa, Ruben Abati and others.

The list is long. You have seen them. You have heard them. You know them.

But What Next

What is paramount now is for the Yoruba nation to eschew politics, self interests, procrastination and bickering; deploy all resources within the land to galvanise a meticulous Defensive Action Plan complete with strategies, schedules and schemes to be driven by select leaders (including the governors) and subgroups to protect the commonwealth and future of Yorubaland.

We simply have had and heard enough of shakara and passing the bucks. It is time for a well articulated and focused action plan to save the future.

*Dr.  Agunloye, Academic, Politician, was a former Corp Marshal

Nnamdi Kanu To Ban Open Grazing In SE, Gives Governors Ultimatum |The Source

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The Source
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By Gideon Njoku

Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has given Governors of the South-east, 14 days to ban open grazing in the Zone.

The warning comes amidst strong resistance to open grazing of Cattle in the South West zone.

Outraged over the incessant kidnapping, muder of innocent citizens, and the  destruction of farmlands by rogue Herdsmen of Fulani Origin, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, banned open grazing in the state, as well as ordered them out of Ondo Forest Reserves. He also said that only registered herders would be allowed to operate in the state.

The Governor’s order was greeted by condemnation from the Presidency but he got a strong backing from Yoruba groups, including Afenifere.

In Oyo State, the new rave in Yoruba land, Sunday Igboho had ordered them out of Ibarapa and Igangan areas within seven days. When they refused to leave, mayhem reigned in the  area, and the Seriki Fulani in the area, whose house and properties were razed, is on the run to Ilorin, Kwara state.

Praising the Governors of the South-west for banning open grazing, Kanu asked their South-east counterparts to do the same within 14 days.

Failing, he warned that the already controversial Eastern Security Network, ESN, a security outfit he and IPOB established, will do so on behalf of the Governors.

Already, not a few people in the Zone are panicking over Kanu’s threat, as they feel it could end in a blood bath.

Just days ago, a clash between the ESN operatives, and soldiers/police in Orlu, Imo State, brought with it deaths and destruction.

Inside PMB’s First Meeting With New Service Chiefs |The Source

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The Source
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By Femi Adesina

Whenever you see them file in, it is always in this order: Chief of Defence Staff first, followed by Chief of Army Staff, then Chief of Naval Staff, and finally, Chief of Air Staff.

It is an institution that scrupulously respects hierarchy, and that is how the Service Chiefs turn out.

It was not different on Wednesday afternoon when the new leadership of the military visited the State House to have their first meeting with the President/ Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, himself a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army.

Another Comrade-at-Arms was there also. In fact, he led the Service Chiefs in. He is Major General Bashir Magashi (Retd ), Minister of Defence. Call it an all military affair, and you won’t be wrong.

Gen Magashi fired the first shot, addressing the President: “These are officers poised to serve in the overall interest of the country. They will put the security of the country in proper setting. They won’t disappoint you and the nation.”

They were introduced, with each standing ramrod straight, and saluting the Commander-in-Chief. Major General LEO Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff. Major General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff. Rear Admiral AZ Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff, and Air Vice-Marshal IO Amao, Chief of Air Staff.

The President welcomed them, saying the meeting was to congratulate them “for heading your arm of the Service.” He added that there was nothing he could tell them about the military, since they were in it, “and I was in it, too.”

President Buhari assured that whatever he could do as C-in-C would be done, “so that people will appreciate your efforts.”

He then delved into the recent past, saying; “You know the stage we were in 2015, and you know the stage we are now, and the undertakings we made.

“We promised to secure the country, revive the economy, and kill the culture of corruption. None has been easy, but we have certainly made progress. We have done well in the Northeast, and the people themselves can testify. We are working on Northwest, and other challenging parts of the country.

“We encouraged the people to go back to the land, they obeyed, and we have virtually attained food security. If that hadn’t happened, we would have been in great trouble, as there would have been no money to import food, with the crash in oil prices in the international market.”

As a retired, tested Army General, the President then gave the Service Chiefs the benefit of experience, asking them to look into the welfare of their officers and men.

“Ensure they feel professionally and physically secure. In terms of equipment and other logistics, we are doing our best, and will do more. Give officers you can trust command, and support them. Respect seniority and intellectualism, but also use people who can deliver, those who show courage and leadership qualities. I trained in the United Kingdom, India, and United States of America. It was not because my superiors liked my face. They know what they saw in me.

“During the 30 months of our Civil War, I was virtually sentenced to the frontlines. Thank God nothing happened to me, not even a scratch. Competence, loyalty, courage, leadership must be rewarded with promotions.”

President Buhari reminded the new Chiefs that the country was literally in a state of emergency, stressing: “This is the highest you can go in the Service. Be patriotic, serve the country well, because your loyalty is to the country.”

American Presidents would usually end their speeches with prayers for their country, and for the military. “God bless our troops, “ Joe Biden had declared during his inauguration last week.

And President Buhari equality told the new Service Chiefs: “I will be praying for you. I assure you of that.”

Yes, the arm of flesh alone will not do it. It is through God that we do valiantly. Victory comes from the divine powers.

May our military make conquests, till halcyon days return to every part of our country. And for we the citizens, may we remember to pray for them daily. And also make positive invocations: God bless our troops.

Let the Amen roarrrrrrrrrr.

Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity

PDP Plans Conference To Save Nigeria; British Political Counsellor, Visits Party Chair |The Source

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The Source
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Uche Secondus

Security, economy, electoral reforms and other essentials of national stability are on the front burner as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) intensifies arrangements for its planned conference on how to salvage our nation and return her to the path of peace, national cohesiveness and economic prosperity.

A statement signed by the Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan said the party has already commenced consultations with critical stakeholders across board on ways to rescue  Nigeria from “misrule through institutional reforms ahead of the 2023 general elections.”

National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, disclosed the position of the party while receiving the British High Commission’s Political Counsellor on Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Jonathan Bacon, at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.

Prince Secondus lamented that Nigeria is in its present sorry situation because all the electoral reforms achieved by the PDP to deepen our democracy prior to 2015 general election have been destroyed by the current All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration.

“For five and half years now that the APC held sway, our democracy has been under severe stress. All critical institutions of democracy have been brutalized. The judiciary, legislature and the media have been under siege while human rights and rule of law; the necessary ingredients of democracy, have all been flagrantly abused.

“Though the APC administration came into power as beneficiary of a transparent and credible election conducted under the PDP, it has not been able to conduct any free and fair election but had rather continued to abuse our electoral process and frustrate the desires and efforts of Nigerians to further amend our Electoral Act to guarantee acceptable elections in our country”, Prince Secondus stated.

The National Chairman, also, bewailed the escalated insecurity in the country under the APC and the lack of commitment on the path of the current administration to decisively tackle the outlaws and end the mindless killings, bloodletting, kidnaping, banditry and other acts of terrorism in our country.

He lamented that the security situation has reached a despondent curve where critical stakeholders, out of frustration, are now calling on the people to defend themselves in the face of government’s failure to defend them.

On the economy, Prince Secondus, noted that the present administration has plunged our nation into the worst economic hardship, which has been exacerbated by the incompetence and lack of clear-cut policy direction, insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians and unprecedented corruption of the APC administration.

“Indeed, this is not the way our nation should be. We must come together to rescue our nation by commencing critical conversations within the ambit of the law and democratic practice to salvage the situation” he said.

The National Chairman however commended the international community and development partners for their support especially in strengthening our electoral system and urged them to show more interest in Nigeria democracy ahead of 2023 general elections.

Bacon had earlier told Prince Secondus that he was in the Wadata Plaza to meet with the leadership of the PDP and discuss the United Kingdom/Nigeria bilateral relations.

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