As part of the activities lined up for the 50th birthday celebration of Africa’s most consistent filmmaker, Amb Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun’s Multiple award winning movie, Wede, an adaptation of Prof Julie Okoh’s Edewede will be premiered in Uromi, Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo state.
Speaking on the choice of location for the premiere, Imasuen said; “It’s part of his drive to spread quality entertainment to all nooks and crannies of Edo state. No place must be left behind.”
The celebrated culture ambassador also stated that, “The writer of the book is an Esan, from Ubiza and the movie’s setting is Esan’s background, So as such, they must see it first.
“Another important thing is that the issue the movie is treating touches on the obnoxious issue of female genital mutilation which is still being practiced in most remote villages. So, it’s timely and very important that the great leaders and people of Esanland should first see this blockbuster movie and give their blessings.”
Starring great and talented Nollywood’s bests in Oge Okoye, Rita Edochie, Nosa Obaseki, Francis Onwonchi, Isio Joseph, and many more Wede is a feature length film that tells the story about female genital mutilation. The story was set in the 80’s
It would be recalled that Wede won for Lancelot Imasuen the Best Director Award at the just concluded Coal City Film Festival held in Enugu, Nigeria.
Those Nigerians asking President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, are wasting their time. They have another thinking to do. Nor would Minister Pantami honorably resign on his own.
President Buhari has told them that his Minister is going nowhere. And that he stands by him, and is watching his back.
The President had come under immense pressure to fire this Minister whose past record, recently unearthed and published, show he had sympathy for terrorists, especially, Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Evidences, also, abound of his abhorrence of Christians. He had strong radical views, and and delivered inciting preaching in Mosques aimed against Christians.
In his defence, Pantami said he no longer believes in his earlier beliefs, and had become a changed man. But outraged Nigerians had said leaving Pantami as a Cabinet member, especially, in charge of a sensitive Ministry spelt doom. They are not only asking for his sack, they are asking that he be investigated by Security agents.
But none of those would happen. Pantami is standing strong like the Rock of Gibraltar. The Presidency is blaming the opposition, saying Pantami’s ordeal stems from his good works in the past two years. He is working for the masses, the Presidency said, and that the opposition was not happy with it.
In a statement signed by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Monday, April 22, the Presidency said the Minister was being persecuted for nothing. While the statement said the Presidency was not in support of Pantami earlier stand, it agreed with him that he was young and immature at the time he held such extreme views.
It said the pressure to sack the Minister is coming from those who want to distract Minister Pantami from the good job he is doing, and submitted that the Federal Government would investigate the allegation that some Editors turned down the money offered to them to publish materials to rubbish the Minister.
Isa Pantami
The statement reads: “Today, there is an unfortunate fashion in public discourse that makes leaders in politics, religion and civil society liable for every statement they have ever made in the past – no matter how long ago, and even after they have later rejected them.
“This insidious phenomenon seeks to cancel the careers of others on the basis of a thing they have said, regardless of when they said it.
“The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, is currently, subject to a “cancel campaign” instigated by those who seek his removal. They do not really care what he may, or may not have said 20 years ago: that is merely the instrument they are using to attempt to “cancel” him. But they will profit should he be stopped from making decisions that improves the lives of everyday Nigerians.
“The Minister has rightly apologised for what he said in the early 2000s. The views were absolutely unacceptable then, and would be equally unacceptable today, were he to repeat them. But he will not repeat them – for he has publicly and permanently condemned his earlier utterances as wrong.
“In the 2000s, the Minister was a man in his twenties, next year, he will be 50. Time has passed, and people and their opinions – often rightly- change.
“But all discerning Nigerians know this manufactured dispute is nothing to do with the Minister’s prior words, but solely concern his actions in the present.
“This administration is committed to improving the lives of Nigerians – and that includes ensuring that they are not over-charged or over-protected for those services on which modern life depends.
“The Minister has been leading the charge against illegal data deductions and pricing; he has revolutionized the Government’s virtual public engagement to respond to COVID-19 snd save tax-payers money; he has established ICT Start-up Centres to boost youth entrepreneurship and create jobs; he has changed policy to ensure locally ICT content is used by Ministries starting with his own; and he has deregistered some 9.2million SIMS – ending the ability of criminals and terrorists to flagrantly use mobile networks undetected. In two short years, Minister Pantami has driven the contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP to more than 18 per cent, making it one of the top two playing a critical role in the emergence of the economy from the COVID-19- induced recession.
“In putting people first, the Minister and this administration have made enemies. There are those in the opposition who see success and want it halted by all means. And there is now well-reported information that Alleges newspaper editors rebuffed an attempt to financially induce them to run a smear campaign against the Minister by some ICT companies, many of which do indeed stand to lose financially through lower prices and greater consumer protections. The Government is now investigating the veracity behind these claims of attempted indictment and – should they be found to hold credence – police and judicial action must be expected.
“The Administration stands behind Minister Pantami and all Nigerian citizens to ensure they receive fair treatment, fair prices, and fair protection in ICT services.”
Many Nigerians, including Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had foreseen that the Federal Government would protect the Minister instead of giving him a shove over his extreme religious views, and earlier connections with terrorist groups.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has chided the Leadership of his Party, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for not taking a disciplinary action, against the ex-Governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, for publicly saying that he worked against the PDP in 2015.
Aliyu, PDP, a few days ago, said he, and other PDP Northern Governors, worked against the success of the Party’s Presidential candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, in favour of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Major General Muhammadu Buhari.
At the time, Jonathan was the incumbent President, while the now President Buhari was the candidate of the APC.
Buhari defeated Jonathan during that election, and is doing his second term in office as President.
In an unnecessary revelation a few days ago, Aliyu disclosed that the Northern PDP Governors at the time, worked against Jonathan’s victory, because the former President breached an alleged agreement he had with them not to be a contestant in the 2015 Presidential Election, having completed late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s tenure on Yar’Adua’s death. He contested and won in 2011.
Aliyu said a Jonathan victory in 2015 would have been detrimental to the North. Meaning that the PDP Northern Governors collected money for the Presidential campaign, and either pocketed the money, or used it to work for Buhari.
For long, speculations had been rife over the role played by Northern PDP Governors as well as the Leadership of the PDP at the National Level, as represented by the former Governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Muazu. Jonathan lost in all the Northern states considered PDP stronghold.
Babangida Aliyu
So, Ex- Governor Aliyu has just confirmed that speculation.
But Senator Jonah Jang, Governor of Plateau State at the time, has denied Aliyu’s claims, insisting that he never worked against Jonathan. He vehemently denied that. Remarkably, though, the PDP, also, lost Plateau State for the first time in 2015.
In his reaction, Jonathan dismissed Aliyu as a blatant liar who had since lost every political relevance, and was looking for relevance. He challenged Aliyu to bring evidence of any such agreement, and say where and when such an agreement was reached.
On Tuesday, April 21, an angry Wike joined the fray in an interview with the AIT, slamming the PDP Leadership for condoning such sabotage against the Party as exhibited and revealed by Aliyu, without invoking a disciplinary action against him.
He said what Aliyu did was not only unconscionable, but going public with his treachery was the limit.
He said that if he was in the shoes of the National Working Committee of the Party, NWC, he would since have disciplined former Governor Aliyu.
Wike: “If I was the leadership of the party, I would have suspended Aliyu for that comment he made. But, you see nothing will happen. The National Working Committee will not do anything. Why? They need Aliyu to support them.
“I cannot understand why you are a leader, so to speak, you come out and tell the world why you fought your party.
“I have never seen a thing like this in my life. Assuming you did it, you now want to rub it on them that nothing will happen.
“If I was the leadership of the party, I would have suspended Aliyu and heavens will not fall. What does he want to achieve?
“This was 2015. We have done 2019 election. Jonathan had lost in 2015, why do you come out now to say how you fought him?
“Look at where we are today. So, you are telling us you made us to be in this position where we are.
“You are telling Nigerians that you are one of those who have kept Nigeria in this state that we are. And then the National Working Committee will not do anything because Aliyu Babangida is one of the untouchables.”
In same manner, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Jonathan’s Media and Publicity Campaign Director, in a tweet, asked all the other Nothern PDP members who sabotaged Jonathan to come clean just as ex-Governor Aliyu did.
Fani-Kayode, specifically, mentioned former National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, former National Security Adviser to Jonathan, Rtd Col Sambo Dasuki, and former Principal Secretary to President Jonathan, Hassan Tukur, and challenged him to come clean.
Unconfirmed reports reportedly, say Tukur was the one who recommended the immediate past INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, to Jonathan. The then President appointed Jega without knowing him.
The news came as a rude shock to fans of 48-year old man, Olarenwaju James, popularly known as Baba Ijesha. He is under arrest for, allegedly, raping a minor – 14-year old girl.
Baba Ijesha was arrested and detained by Men of the Lagos State Police Command over the allegation.
Confirming his arrest, the Lagos Police spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the case of defilement was reported on 19th April, 2021, by a lady, Princess Adekola Adekanya, at Sabo Police Station and transferred to the Gender Unit of the State CID, Panti, Yaba Lagos for proper investigation.
Based on preliminary findings, it was alleged that the suspect (Baba Ijesha) started sexually assaulting the victim, who is now 14 years, since she was 7 years old.
The suspect was said to have confessed to the crime and was also captured by a CCTV camera in the house of the complainant.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered for proper investigation as he promised to do justice to the matter.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says President Muhammadu Buhari is not likely to sack the embattled Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami from his Cabinet.
The Minister has been under attack over the damning expose of him as a jihadist and a sympathiser and supporter of terrorism. He had unbelievable sympathy for both the Al Qaeda Leadership as represented by the late Osama Bin Laden, and the Taliban Leadership. He praised them each time they successfully carried out terrorist activities, and commended Bin Laden for being a better Muslim than him, Pantami, for successfully killing thousands of people in the World Trade Centre horror, in the US.
Back in Nigeria, his preaching in Mosques were fiery and inciting and had encouraged religious clashes.
He did not deny, but put under pressure, the Minister says he is matured now, and that his understanding of religions has changed since then.
But many Nigerians are of the opinion that Pantami is not remorseful and he remains the same. A leopard does not change its spots, they argue. They have, therefore, put him under pressure to resign, failing which they are asking the President to sack him.
Since the Pantami scandal, President Buhari has said nothing, nor has the Federal Government addressed it.
At the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, April 21, Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed, told State House Correspondents that the Pantami issue was not discussed.
But weighing in, Governor Wike is wondering what Pantami is still doing in Buhari’s cabinet. He calls it an aberration, emphasising that in saner climes, the Minister would have since resigned, or sacked.
Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami
Speaking in an interview with the African Independent Television, AIT, Wike said he knew that Buhari would not sack him because he does not listen adhere security reports.
Exonerating, indirectly, the Security organs that screened Patami, Wike was quoted by his Media Adviser, Kelvin Ebri, as reminding the AIT about the case of the now-sacked Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.
Two times, the then leadership of the Directorate of State Services, DSS, wrote damning reports against Magu’s confirmation by the Senate. The Senate did not. But that did not stop Buhari from keeping Magu in office for five years, in an Acting capacity.
The Governor said that Magu was eventually sacked because of power-play, nothing more.
He accused the APC-led Government, of shielding people with questionable character in its fold, saying that is why Pantami is safe.
Wike: “I don’t understand why a reasonable Government will allow such a person (Pantami) to be in the cabinet,
“But you were here when DSS wrote a report against (Ibrahim) Magu. What happened? Look, I have never seen a country that your secret service wrote a report about the nominee of Mr President, questioning his character and the rest, and that he is not appointable. What happened? So, what are you talking about. What removed Magu is a power play.”
In the midst of the damning revelations against Pantami, no Northern Governor, or Leader, has condemned him, asked for his resignation from office, or his sack by President Buhari.
Nigerians are aghast, or so it seems, that Ali Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, is, indeed, the jihadist in situ.
There is no gain in sugar-coating it. He is the Islamic militant within, well positioned in the corridors of power to deliver for his constituents – radical Islamists. And he has used his being “in place” to deliver handsomely.
Every well-meaning citizen of this country – Muslim, Christian, Northerner and Southerner – should be alarmed that a man who harboured such extremist views, even if it was in the past, made his way to such a high office.
Many questions remain unanswered. How did we get here? Who knew what?
In May 2020, a bitter conflict erupted between the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and Pantami. As the feud got messier on Twitter, Dabiri-Erewa – who had accused Pantami of ordering gunmen to throw NIDCOM staff out of the office given to them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) – made a quirky revelation.
Pantami denied her allegation and called her a liar. “This is a fat lie from her,” he tweeted all caps on May 24, 2020. In the evening of same day, Dabiri-Erewa punched back also calling him a liar.
Ali Isa Pantami
But what raised eyebrows was not the fact of her fighting back but the telling insinuation. “An Islamic scholar should not lie Hon. Minister (PhD). You did that to me cos I am a woman. Your disrespect for women is legendary,” she wrote.
Why would a minister deny an agency of government an office space because the agency is headed by a woman? And why would Dabiri-Erewa consider such allegation an effective punch back in the circumstance?
In the last couple of weeks since Pantami became the issue in Nigeria’s never-ending debacle, one question has concentrated my mind. Was Dabiri-Erewa giving Nigerians a hint? Maybe! But Nigerians, not being prescient enough, failed to take the hint.
Things have since changed dramatically.
If Pantami has been a closet jihadist all along, the lid has been blown wide open with reports alleging that he was enamoured of terrorists and is now on the radar of America’s intelligence community.
His initial reaction was to bluster. But the more he blustered, the more his past was unearthed and brought to the public space. And they are damning.
In the mid-2000s, Pantami was the ideologue of extremist Islamic groups like Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. His preachments were fiery and most times resulted in violence. His fellow feeling for domestic and international terrorists, wholesale endorsement of terrorism and intolerance of non-Muslims, would make Osama bin Laden green with envy.
Pantami was heard on video saying, “We are all happy whenever unbelievers are being killed, but the Sharia does not allow us to kill them without a reason.”
He said bin Laden’s penchant for killing unbelievers makes him a better Muslim than himself.
When President Goodluck Jonathan moved forcefully against Boko Haram terrorists, Pantami said it was genocide against Muslims.
“See what our fellow Muslim brothers’ blood has turned to? Even pig blood has more value than that of a fellow Muslim brother …. You caught someone sleeping and you killed him. If it is not Muslims that undergo such treatments who else?” Pantami lamented.
In the wake of the religious crisis that engulfed Yelwa Shendam, Plateau State in 2004, Pantami volunteered to lead a jihad against Christians and admonished Muslims to shun politicians and religious clerics who preached peace and restraint. “This jihad is an obligation for every single believer, especially in Nigeria,” he exhorted his followers.
When Abū Muṣ‘ab al-Zarqāwī, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in 2006, Pantami offered his public condolences.
His words: “May God have mercy on Aḥmad alFāḍil al-Khalayleh, raḥmatullāh’ alayhi. May God forgive his mistakes. He is a human being. He has certainly some mistakes in front of God, so may God forgive his mistakes. Who am I talking about? He is Abū Muṣ‘ab al-Zarqāwī.”
Commenting on the religious crisis in Bauchi in 2009, U.S. diplomats in Nigeria recorded in an April 15, 2009 diplomatic cable (exposed by WikiLeaks in 2011) that “Imam Pantami Isa, who preached at the Mosque, had been previously thrown out of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University and of a Gombe Mosque for preaching inflammatory rhetoric.”
This is the man President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Minister of Communications and Digital Economy at the inception of his second term after he had served as Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) from 2016 to 2019.
In both capacities, Pantami presided, and still presides over Nigeria’s telecom databases and sensitive national identity and critical biometric data infrastructure. He is in-charge of the mandatory National Identification Number (NIN) programme. A man that harbours affectionate sentiment for terrorist causes is the custodian of the biometric data of every single Nigerian. If this is not scary, then nothing else is.
In this era of social media, the evidence against Pantami is so overwhelming that he has climbed down from his blustering high horse. But without apologising, he has rationalised his extremism by claiming that some of those comments were based on his understanding of religious issues at the time they were made.
“Some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity,” he reportedly said while responding to questions during his daily Ramadan lecture at Anoor Mosque in Abuja on Saturday.
“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.”
Of course, his reasons for extremist escapades are preposterous. He was not the only Islamic cleric of the era he was talking about. So, why didn’t others become radicalised or become agents of global jihadist groups?It is also a “fat lie” for Pantami to claim age as an alibi for his religious zealotry.
He was not a teenager when, as the Chief Imam of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi Mosque, his incendiary preachments resulted in the brutal murder of Sunday Nache Achi, a 400-level student, who was leader of the ECWA Student Ministries (ESM) on the campus on December 9, 2004.
Achi’s crime? Distributing a Christian tract which Pantami said blasphemed Islam and Prophet Mohammed.
In an exclusive interview with TheNiche this week, Nache’s father, Prof. Samuel Achi – CEO of the Federal College of Chemical and Leather Technology at the time his son was strangled in the Mosque where Pantami held sway as an Islamic avatar – said there was absolutely nothing in the tract that should attract a fatwa.
Pantami’s claim of having disclaimed Boko Haram is hollow. Of course the Boko Haram of 10 years ago is still the Boko Haram of today. Why would he support the group yesterday and repudiate it today? The only logical explanation is that he is now in government.
So, what happens when Buhari leaves office? Will Pantami once again remember that “pig blood has more value than that of a fellow Muslim brother?”
Some Nigerians have called on him to resign or for Buhari to fire him. That is what happens in a sane country. But Nigeria under Buhari’s watch has gone too gaga and I dare say none of the two will happen.
Pantami will neither resign nor be sacked by Buhari.
Why would Buhari sack him for the very tendencies that earned him a place of honour on the presidential dinner table? Will Buhari claim that he didn’t know about his extremist escapades before appointing him minister?
What should worry Nigerians most is the fact that Pantami went through both security and legislative screening and was given a pass to become a minister.
Didn’t the Department of State Services (DSS) unearth his entanglements with extreme religious ideologies? Or they found out but thought he was indeed a changed man and, therefore, it didn’t matter again? What did the Senate know?
Pantami is a metaphor for what Nigeria has become under Buhari’s watch. The Pantami metaphor explains why terrorists hold sway in all the nooks and crannies of the country today – kindred spirits are not only in government but also in power.
Amaechi is the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche
Leader of the Pan Yoruba Group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has labelled President Muhammadu Buhari the number one enemy of Nigeria’s Unity.
Adebanjo stated this on ‘The Morning Show,’ a breakfast programme on Channels Television.
He said President Buhari has given wings to the sail of separatist agitators in the country by ignoring the calls of patriotic Nigerians for a new constitution.
Adebanjo stressed that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) was imposed on Nigerians by the military and must be changed.
He blamed the Constitution for creating the conditions for marginalisation and injustice against some parts of the country.
He said only a new Constitution before the 2023 General Election can silence agitators like Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho.
Adebanjo: “Since President Buhari has refused to listen to the masses concerning the call for a change in our Constitution, which has led to the continued agitations from different parts of the county, thus creating disunity among Nigerians who are calling for secession, then it becomes obvious that President Buhari is the number one enemy to the unity of Nigeria.”
Adebanjo accused Buhari of having a hidden agenda by refusing to restructure Nigeria.
He said the youths were too impatient, and could not bear the sufferings inflicted on them by the present constitution.
“If Buhari is patriotic enough, a new constitution and restructuring will silence Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB and Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho, and all others with their secessionist agenda.
“If you don’t, you will continue to give impetus to them. You are encouraging secession. You want to suppress them. We are the people who want restructuring. Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.
“This constitution was imposed on Nigerians in 1966 by the military, and it is the reason for the crisis we have today.
“We must restructure Nigeria and bring it back to true federalism which our founding fathers fought for.
“The refusal of President Buhari and the members of APC to change the constitution is a clear indication that President Buhari and the APC government are the number one enemy of Nigeria’s unity if they continue to refuse the call for the restructuring of Nigeria back to true federalism,” Adebanjo added.
The Nigerian Senate, on Tuesday, further compounded the nation’s debt overhang following its approval of $1.5bn and €995 million foreign loans for the federal and state governments. The Debt Management Office, DMO says the nation’s total foreign debt portfolio is over N33 trillion by end of 2020 and many Nigerians have called for restraints on the part of the President Mohammadu Buhari-led government to borrow more funds.
The administration has borrowed more funds since it assumed power in 2015, much of which came from the Peoples’ Republic of China amidst public outrage that the country could find it difficult to pay back the huge debt which many say has become unsustainable in the face of dwindling revenue from crude oil, Nigeria’s mainstay. But the government says the loans are needed to close the infrastructure gap left by previous administrations.
Both the minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi have recently said the loans are being used to build railways and other social amenities required to leapfrog the country to development. In spite of this argument, critics of the government insist that the situation seriously calls for introspection, considering the remote and future impacts on economy.
The Senate had given its approval, saying the loans were part of the external borrowings requested by President Buhari, in May 2020, to finance various priority projects of the federal government and to support the state governments facing fiscal challenges.
The nation’s upper legislative chamber endorsed the loan sequel to consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Chaired by Senator Clifford Ordia, who while presenting the report said $1.5 billion will be sourced from the World Bank to finance projects of state governments facing fiscal challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the details cited by the magazine projects tied to the World Bank loan are States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability program to provide fiscal support to states, SFTAS and COVID-19 Action recovery and economic stimulus program to support State-Level efforts to protect livelihoods, ensure food security and stimulate economic activity, N-CARES.
The senator further stated that the €995 million to be sourced from the Export-Import Bank of Brazil is to finance the Federal Government Green Imperative Project to enhance mechanization of agriculture and agro process in Nigeria to improve food security, adding that the borrowings were largely concessional loans with low interest rates and a reasonable moratorium and payback period.
He said “the Committee most importantly notes that the indicative terms and conditions under which the loan will be borrowed, there are no unusual or onerous conditions attached and the terms do not in any manner compromise the sustainability of the Nigerian economy or impugn the integrity and independence of Nigeria as a sovereign Nation.
“The Committee finally notes that the Loan is in the immediate best interest of the Nigerian State and its citizens in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that the economy will be positioned for quick recovery and resume growth.
“The Committee notes that while Nigeria’s Total Public Debt Stock is on the increase, it is still relatively low vis-a-vis the country’s GDP and the increased borrowing requirements is needed to sustain the economic recovery.”
Thousands of e-cab drivers spread across Lagos State have embarked on strike action since Monday 19th April 2021, which has inturn affected people’s mobility in getting to their respective places of work and destinations.
The e-cab drivers are lamenting poor conditions of services by their coordinating body, Uber and Bolt Nigeria.
Enumerating their demands, the drivers stated that it want a proper profiling of all drivers patronizing the services, upward review of the fares to meet the current economic reality, review of all accounts blocked unjustifiably, adequate welfare packages for drivers and compensation to the family of those that lost their lives or permanently disabled and cancellation of Individual engagement among others.
In a chat with Akeem Kehinde, Bolt driver and member of Professional E-Hailing Drivers and Private Owners Association, PEDPA, revealed that over 15 drivers have died untimely as a result of the poor welfare condition and 20 were missing as a result of kidnapping and rituals, while some currently suffer permanent disabilities due to non-challant attitude of the coordinating body over the drivers’ welfare.
He said as a result of the unhealthy and inhumane treatment meted out on them by Uber and Bolt Nigeria, drivers cover a minimum of 150 kilometres in 15 hours daily service at N65 per kilometer and N10 per minute fixed by Uber and Bolt Nigeria which amounts to a gross of N15,000 daily.
Analysing how the money is spent, Kehinde said out of the N15,000, 25 per cent goes to Uber and Bolt Nigeria as commission, N4,950 on fuelling and N5,000 as vehicle rental while the drivers are left with a meagre sum of N1,200 out of which feeding, data and airtime will always be taken care off.
PEDPA is said to have over 50,000 registered members across Nigeria, and it is registered under Trade Union Congress (TUC), International Labour Organisation (ILO) and relevant government agencies and parastatals in Nigeria.
Inspite of the ongoing strike by the e-cab drivers, some of them are still working, but the fare have increased astronomically.
For instance, before the commencement of the strike, a ride from Ogba to Magodo-Isheri is between N500-N600, but presently, it is between N1100-N1300.
This development has however raised poser among Nigerians, the moral justification in jacking up the price of fare when there is no increment in price of petrol by the Federal Government and the petrol regulatory Agencies.
Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has hailed the verdict entered against former United States police officer Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd murder trial, stating that it brings a sense of closure and to the floyd family and relief to the larger global society.
Dr. Jonathan who stated this in a statement titled ‘May The Verdict in The George Floyd Trial Be The Healing Balm The World Needs’ also urged leaders “to be inspired by this verdict to take steps to ensure that policing is done with a human face”, adding that it has lessons for the whole world, and not just the United States of America.
The former President said: “I received the verdict in the George Floyd murder trial with a sense of relief. Relief that a family and a community, and indeed the whole world, can now have a sense of closure that allows for healing.
“The guilty verdict entered against Derek Chauvin may not bring George Floyd back to life. However, it does achieve something.”
He added that the verdict had posthumously transformed the late Mr. Floyd from a victim to a victor. “A victor for the cause to make every life matter before the law and officers of the law,”he said.
He said further: “Nations around the world must see this as a turning point. Every country ought to be inspired by this verdict to take steps to ensure that policing is done with a human face.
“Law and order can coexist with respect for the dignity of human life. And to engender this, we must ensure that those who enforce the law, must respect those for whom the law was made.
“My family and I, as well as the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, send our best wishes to the family of George Floyd in America, and to the families of those who have endured similar treatments in Nigeria.
“And I encourage those at leadership levels in all nations, to make use of this holy month of Ramadan, to bring people of all races, religions and regions together, and promote peaceful coexistence between law enforcement agencies and the communities they police.”
