Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, FFK, lost a chunk of respect from not a few people and the international community when he exhibited a surprising ignorance about the COVID-19 Vaccine. He called the Vaccine a killer, meant to kill millions of Nigerians.And warned Nigerians not to take the Vaccine. He was speaking against a bill which he said was before the National Assembly meant to make the taking of COVID-19 Vaccine compulsory.
It has not been confirmed whether his sad ill-informed and misleading statement was out of his own conviction, whether he was playing to the gallery, or he spoke just because, at least, two people he admires have the same opinion.
FFK admires former American President, Donald Trump, to death. Trump, until he was dumped out of office never quite believed in the Vaccine. It was one of the reasons Americans denied him a second term in office.
In Nigeria, the man FFK calls his brother and friend, Governor Yayahaya Bello of Kogi State, neither believes in the existence of COVID-19, or the Vaccine. He warned his people to be vigilant not to be used as guinea pigs, and swore he would never take the Vaccine. Yet, this man wants to be Nigeria’s President in 2023.
Yet, FFK’s outright description of the Vaccine as a killer put off not a few people from him. He called the administration of the Vaccine evil, and a ploy to de-populate the world.
In a strongly worded tweet, he had said: “I’ve warned about the dangers of the Vaccine that will be proposed as the answer to #COVID-19. This will result in millions of deaths. Nig. is trying to pass a law that will make it compulsory to take that Vaccine as part of the world depopulation agenda. This is EVIL!.”
But in a 360 degrees about-turn, FFK swallowed his own vomit and, thankfully, admitted his inexplicable ignorance about the Vaccine. He has just taken the Vaccine against COVID-19.
Announcing to the world, on Tuesday, March 30, with a splash of photographs, that he had just taken the Vaccine, he disclosed that it was Senator Grace Bent who convinced him to take the Vaccine as a mark of leadership.
FFK: “Inspite of my strong reservations, I bowed to sound logic and superior reasoning and took my COVID-19 vaccine today.
“This is thanks to my sister, distinguished Senator Bent, who convinced me to take it, and who emphasised that we must set an example to others.”
Many people are laughing at this about-turn. His friends are also shifting ground. The other day, Trump advised his supporters to take the Vaccine. And on Tuesday, the Kogi State Commissioner for Health said his State was ready to receive the COVID-19 Vaccine and administer to Kogites ready to take it.
The Joint Admission Matriculation Board, JAMB, has warned financial institutions, sternly, that forms must not be sold beyond N3,500
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, issued the note of warning.
Prospective Candidates are expected to pay financial institutions N3, 500 for ePin and N500 for the books they will use for the examination, totaling N4,000, but the Board also asked the institutions to ensure that all ePins are transferred electronically to the candidates to avoid hardship on them.
The Board said it will not accept handwritten ePins from any financial institutions in order to avoid mistakes during the process of writing it.
Banks are expected to get 30,000 ePins from the Board while microfinance banks and other payment platforms will receive 10,000 ePins through the Board.
Prof Oloyede made this disclosure during a meeting with representatives of financial institutions ahead of the sale of ePins next month.
He however warned that any financial institution caught selling the ePin above the stipulated price will be de-listed and prosecuted with immediate effect.
The crisis rocking the Cross River state chapter of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has come to a head with the factionalization of the body and the scrapping of the title and the office of Eze Ndigbo, Cross River State held by Sir E.A. Ezenwenyi.
The President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the state, Barrister Ugoji Nwabueze, who issued a press statement, stripping Ezenwenyi of the title said the body was withdrawing the Eze Ndigbo title because it was not only a source of friction between the Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council which has, on different occasions, frowned at its usage, and the Igbo community, but also breeds bad blood among the Igbo themselves, regretting that he was actually coarced into issuing certificate of recognition to Ezenwenyi as “EzeNdigbo”.
Barrister Nwabueze, also, stated that the withdrawal was in consonant with the 2018 and 2020 resolutions of the National body of Ohanaeze Ndigbo abolishing the Eze Ndigbo title paraded by self styled “monarchs” in Diaspora.
The statement released by the Cross River state Ohanaeze boss who is, also, the Senior Special Assistant on Non Indigene Affairs ( Igbo) reads:
“The South East Traditional Rulers Council, after their meeting in early October, 2018 re-stated that the “Eze Ndigbo” title had become a contentious issue among Ndigbo in diaspora.
“Through well circulated newspaper advertorials, particularly Sun Newspapers, the South East Traditional Rulers Council had banned the use of the title of ‘Eze Ndi Igbo’ in diaspora by any one.”
It described the said title as “impositotry, malicious, vexatious , offensive and Insulting to the Traditional rulers in South East and the host traditional instutions in the communities where such exist”.
“The South-East Monarchs wondered how any sane man will want to become Eze (king) in another man’s kingdom. The Council then advised those desiring to be coronated as EZE or IGWE to go back to their respective communities in the South-east and aspire to such office and get coronated there.
The decision was reaffirned at the last meeting of South East Traditional Rulers Council held at Enugu in November, 2020. According to Vanguard newspapers of November, 25, page 26, titled ” Igbo Monarchs battle Eze Igbo in diaspora”, it quoted the chairman of Abia State Traditional Rulers Council as saying that the EZE IGBO title in diaspora is against Igbo tradition and should be abolished.
“Also, a prominent monarch in Enugu State and the Traditional ruler of Obimo Autonomous Community, Igwe Spencer Ugwueke, condemned in strong terms the conferment of Eze Igbo in diaspora on Igbo indegenes. He asked if any one had ever heard of an Hausa man crowned Emir in Igbo land or any Yoruba man answering Oba in any Igbo state.
The said-newspaper report noted with dismay that in spite of the ban on the title, some persons were still parading themselves as such and asked such persons to stop forth with as such conduct and title were embarrassing to South East Traditional Rulers Council.
And Cross River state is not an exception as the controversy over the title has created frosty relationship among Ndi Igbo and the traditional institution in Cross River for decades now.
It is on record that the Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council over the years have been consistent in the rejection of the title.
1n 2004, when the idea of the said-title was muted, the then Obong of Calabar was so angry that those who ever thought of the idea were punished as he stripped two of them the title of, “Ada Ida ke” confered on both some years back. The Obong’s Council described such title as grossly disrespectful to the traditional Institutions in the State.
Sir Ezenwenyi: Stripped of EzeNdigbo title
‘”On October 20, 2018 during the OHANAEZE IGBO DAY, CROSS RIVER STATE, the coronation of Eze Ndi Igbo ( KING OF THE IGBO) came up again .
The Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council upon hearing about the coming event issued a Press Statement reiterating it’s earlier opposition to the title and coronation as it were over the years. In protest, all stayed away from the event. It was on the ground of the opposition that the coronation of the said- Eze Igbo was cancelled.
“However, a group of self-serving cartel among Ndigbo in the state insisted I must proceed with issuance of certificate of coronation in my capacity as President of OHANAEZE CROSS RIVER STATE even when I drew their attention to the earlier ban on the title by the South East Traditional Rulers Council.
The certificate was subsquently issued by me at Boki under duress, outside the eagle eyes of the State Traditional Rulers Council.
The South East Traditional Rulers Council has now mandated me to officially withdraw the said-Certificate I had issued in error. It is obvious I don’t have the capacity to install any one as such since my root did not draw strenght from royalty.
Since I can’t give what I don’t have, the Certificate signed by me is hereby withdrawn accordingly as its issuance has continued to jeorpadise the smooth relationship among Ndi Igbo in Cross River and the State Traditional Rulers Council.
It is regrettable that one man’s interest has continued to militate against the majority and general interest of Ndi Igbo in Cross River.
“As an appointee of the Governor, I have the mandate to do what is right and what will promote the interest and well being of Ndi Igbo in the state and restore the our confidence among our history communities.
“The error of issuance of the Certificate of the title of Eze Ndi Igbo by me is accordingly regretted and any one parading himself as such remains an impostor and should be treated so by relevant authorities, especially security agents.
The arrogance of the claimant to the office has got to crescendo as it grossly showed disrespect to Ndi Igbo and the host communities, as depicted in a COMMUNIQUE issued and dated March 20, 2021
The illegal meeting was allegedly held at ‘Obi EzeIgbo, (private home of Chief Emmanuel Ezenwenyi), the so-called EZEIGBO. Perhaps, “king” of the Igbo in Cross River is above the law and a non- respecter of instructions, lawful orders and constituted authority.
“We, therefore, enjoin the general public to take note of the recent development within the Igbo Community while urging all our people to remain calm and go about their normal business and legally”
The state was copied to the Chairman , South East Traditional Council, Chairman, Cross River State Traditional Rulers Council,the Permanent Secretary/ SSO
Calabar the Obong of Calabar,
The Ndidem of Oquas,Muri Munene, the Cross River state Commissioner of Police an Director, DSS, Calabar.
Notedly brewing crisis in Ohanaeze in Cross blew open recently following a meeting held by a faction of the body led by Sir Ezenwenyi in his residence in Calabar where Barrister Nwabueze was purportedly suspended and an interim administration led by one Prince Agwu Nwokedi constituted.
The meeting which the Nwabueze faction described as illegal since it was not authorized by him in his capacity as the President, held despite a warming from the state government against such gathering which it feared was capable of “breaching public peace”.
A statement signded by Dr. A.A Mboto, an aide to Governor Ben Ayade on Special Services, warning against the meeting reads: “The attention of the office of Special Services, Governor’s office, Calabar has been drawn to a purported unauthorised meeting of some Igbo scheduled secretly to hold in Calabar on 20th of March, 2021.
The said meeting has failed to hold in Obubra and Ugep respectively because of the obvious intention capable of creating breach of public peace.
The CRSG uses this chance to inform the conveners that the current security situation on ground do not permit such meetings now and subsequently, please.
The conveners are hereby notified accordingly to stand down the meeting.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Non Indegene Affairs ( Igbo) is according put on Notice to monitor and report any flouting of this directive”
Meanwhile, Nwabueze has dismissed his alleged suspension and institution of interim Ohanaeze leadership in the state, describing the development as an illegality that cannot stand.
His words: “Note that I am still the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Cross River State branch and still enjoy the respect and good will of my people, home and in diaspora.
“Recently, in February, I was mandated to lead a delegation on behalf of Ohanaeze Worldwide to the funeral of former governor of Akwa Ibom State, late Idongest Nkanga.
“It follows therefore that any meeting called and not authorised by me to the extent of not having my approval is illegal, null and void.
“Ohanaeze constitution has no provision for Interim or caretaker committee, so any one or persons parading themselves as such remains a product of illegality.”
Following protests by staff and footballers of Ondo State Government owned Sunshine football club, over non- payment of salary for close to 16 months, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has constituted a committee to see to the affairs of the State Football Agency.
A statement on Tuesday by the Chief Press secretary to the Governor, Mr Richard Olabode, explained that the move would facilitate the repositioning of the Football Agency for optimum performance and result-oriented.
The three-member Management Committee is expected to take over the affairs of the Football Agency (OSFA), and by extension, the Sunshine Football Club and the Sunshine Queens.
The Committee is headed by the Deputy Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Sir. Charles Titiloye are both members of the committee.
The Committee will be in place for 60 days from Tuesday, March 30, 2021 during it is expected to find a suitable investor to take over the Sunshine Star Football Club on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
Consequently, the former Board and Management of OSFA stand dissolved.
The statement added that Governor Akeredolu reiterated his commitment to promoting sports in the state as a platform for providing jobs for the youths and promoting talents.
It took the Super Eagles of Nigeria just 23 minutes to open scores against the Crocodiles of Lesotho at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria, courtesy of Napoli Football Club of Italy Striker, Victor Osimhen.
Earlier, before kick-off, Captain of the team, Ahmed Musa and Coach Gernot Rohr had promised their host, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of victory. And this was brought to fulfilment.
From the blast of the whistle, the Super Eagles attacked their visitors, not giving them any breathing space.
Having introduced new players to the starting line- up as against the team that started in Benin Republic. Francis Uzoho replaced Maduka Okoye in the goal post.
Tyronne Ebuehi started ahead of Olaoluwa Aina, with Etebo Oghenekaro and Alex Iwobi in the heart of the midfield, while Joe Aribo and Wilfried Ndidi were left on the bench.
The national team was a thorn in the flesh of the Lesotho Players, bit couldn’t add a second goal in the first 45 minutes.
Less than five minutes into the the second half, Etebo added a second, before substitute, Paul Onuachu who scored Nigeria’s solitary goal against the Squirrels of Benin Republic added the third goal.
With this victory, Super Eagles top the log with 14 points from six games. Winning four matches and drawing two, and have qualified for the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon next year. In deed, they played the Lesotho match for fun, as they had already qualified before the kick-off.
The next match for the Super Eagles will be the qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where the National team will face Cape Verde, Liberia and, on Tuesday, Central African Republic.
The speech delivered by Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos State, and APC National Leader, at a colloquim to mark his 69th birthday in Kano was beautiful and cerebral. But it was overshadowed by three things:
The controversy in the Social Media over his age, his near fall when he stumbled as he entered the venue, and the stir he caused when he asked the Federal Government to recruit 50 million youths into the Military to fight insurgency.
Tinubu had said that the Government was competing with insurgents for the recruitment of youths. Without employment from Government, he said, the youths are easily lured and recruited by the insurgents.
Not a few media houses fed on that, casting headlines which suggested and gave the impression that Tinubu was challenging and/or criticising President Muhammadu Buhari.
That must have worried him, because the last thing the birthday boy wanted was to confront the President who had paid him.a beautiful tribute to congratulate him on his birthday.
But worse was to come for Tinubu. He came under severe criticism for asking for the recruitment of 50million youths into the Military. They said he spoke ignorantly. They said he did not speak like one who had any knowledge of Government, administration, economics, or the implications of such a large recruitment of youths into the Military.
Human rights activist and former Senator, Shehu Sani, was the first to chide Tinubu, asking how possible it is for the Government to sustain that.
Femi Fani-Kayode, in a series of tweets, criticised Tinubu’s 50 million youth- recruitment. Where is the wherewithal?, FFK asked. He wondered if Tinubu considered the implications of his suggestion.
He asked: Where will the funding for salaries, allowances, cars guns come from?
It took Tinubu 24 hours to realise what a terrible mistake he had made. It took him that long to realise that he had badly mis-spoke. He realized the implications of what he said. So, he recanted; said it was an honest mistake. And, asked for forgiveness.
He said he meant to say five million. Not 50 million.
Some people said it was late for him to do so.
Others agreed it was a slip of the tongue.
But in a statement which sought to clarify what Tinubu meant to say, his Spokesman, Tunde Rahman, said of Tinubu :”He believes that the more job opportunities are presented to our youths, the less some of them will be tempted into illegal and dangerous activities.
“As part of this overall approach, he believes that eligible youths should be recruited into the armed forces, police and other security agencies to augment the functional capacity of our security apparatus thus ensuring the better security and safety of our people.
“Asiwaju seeks the expansion of security personnel by five million for the armed forces, not the 50 million that was mentioned in error. It was an accidental verbal mistake of which we all commit from time to time…
“Please forgive any confusion due to this innocent error.”
Even with the clarification, the question remains: Which country recruits five million youths into the military and the police and other security agencies in one fell swoop?
The Imo State Returning Officer during the 2019 Governorship election, Prof Francis Otunta is dead. He died on Monday, March 29, 2021, in a vehicle accident.
An academic of repute, it was Otunta who declared the Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha the duly elected Governor of Imo State after the election.
Ihedioha was in office for seven months before he was removed by the Supreme Court, which then declared Senator Hope Uzodinma as the rightful duly elected Governor of the State.
Prof Otunta was appointed as the fifth Vice Chancellor of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umuahia, in December, 2015. And retired about a month ago before his unfortunate death.
Born on April 29, 1958, in Afikpo, Ebonyi State, he attended both the Universities of Illorin and Benin. He was aged 62 years.
President Muhammadu Buhari lavished encomiums on Tony Elumelu, former managing director, United Bank for Africa and the chairman Heirs Holdings, as part of the celebrations to mark the banking mogul’s 58th birthday, not knowing that the banker holds him in low esteem.
In the very warmth message released by Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, President Buhari said he respected the UBA former Managing Director because of his keen interests in creating opportunities for growth and development in the country.
“President Buhari commends the economist for his foresight and large-heartedness in setting up the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), which has consistently inspired highly talented African youths into entrepreneurship, helped many to acquire business skills, enhanced positive social networks and provided start-up funds, within the larger goal of reducing poverty.
“The President believes Elumelu, who is the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, United Bank for Africa and Transcorp, demonstrates resilience and relentlessness in dream realization, following his antecedents as a young banker who saw opportunities in the economy and worked hard to climb the ladder of success, receiving Nigeria’s National Productivity Order of Merit in 2019,” Adesina said.
Buhari said he will support Elumelu his quest for more investments in the country to create jobs. “As Elumelu spreads investments into energy, real estate, agribusiness, health care and hospitality, creating more opportunities in the real sector, the President prays for more wisdom, good health and longer life for the investor,” Adesina, Special Adviser to the President On Media and Publicity said.
As a businessman Elumelu has benefitted immensely since Buhari came to power in 2015, including his recent acquisition of major stake in SPDC which made the banker cum economist owner of one of the biggest oil blocs in the continent. Those versed in oil blocs business said the deal would have been impossible without the federal government’s nod.
TNOG Oil and Gas, owned by Elemulu recently acquired 45 per cent interest in Oil Mining Lease 17 and related assets in the Eastern Niger Delta. Buhari supporters insist that the president was in the know and did not object, as doing so would have created bottlenecks for the bureaucracy.
Whether Elumelu is prepared to reciprocate the gesture is another matter entirely, close watchers of what is going on the business sector said. They cited Elumelu’s refusal to add President Buhari as one of those he follows on social media, particularly on Twitter, as a critical point, despite the fact that former President Brackm Obama of the United States of America, USA and Paul Kegame of Rwanda are among those he follows in the American social networking service.
What could have determined the decision of Elumelu to leave Buhari out of his twitter list which also include former Minister of Education Obby Ezekwesili and Aliko Dangote, relationship experts are still left wondering considering that the banker has always harped on mentoring and role modeling as critical element for growth in Africa and globally. Could it be that Elumelu considers the president as an ordinary person that feels that Buhari does not have qualities to be emulated? Leaving out Buhari on the list that has Kegame and Obama does not actually make sense. What criteria did he use in choosing those he follows on the micro-blogging network is still in the realm of imagination,” Tife Adetola, a relationship expert in Lagos said.
President Muhammadu Buhari
The analyst said since the Delta state born banker is dedicated to mentoring others, one can conveniently say he also has mentors he looked up to.
Twitter, the American microblogging and social networking service which recently took down former President Donald Trump account for violating its rules is commonly used by global leaders and who is who in politics and business who have made it their chosen endeavors.
Social media experts say top business men use the platform to showcase personalities they admire, as part of their efforts to advance their interests. The experts say those that celebrities don’t follow on twitter are people they may have personal or business dealings with, but don’t necessarily look up to them as respected persons.
According to Elumelu’s twitter account @TonyOElumelu, President Kegame and Obama are the respected persons for him.
The fact that Buhari is missing out on the banker’s admirers on twitter, relationship experts insist, is an indication that the UBA chairman either begrudges the leader of the world’s most populous black nation or does not want to associate his business with Buhari.
“There are many reasons to explain why Elumelu shunned President Buhari on twitter; it’s either he does not support his economic blueprint or the banker does not believe that the Katsina-born soldier turned politician is qualified to be president. Either way, Elumelu is saying the leader of his country is not one of his role models.
“Elumelu is sending a strong message to other Nigerians, particularly youths that Buhari is not worthy to be their role model. This is because many of those following him on social media, particularly young people will like to take a cue from him to choose their own role models too,” Adetola said.
Speaking recently on role models, the Heirs Holdings boss said on his official twitter handle that “The world is filled with many brilliant ideas-but what we need right now is people who act to implement the many big ideas that can sustainably lift our people out of poverty and create prosperity.”
Obviously, President Buhari is not one of those that Elumelu believes can transform the world, said Frank Eke, another relationship expert, who noted that the UBA chairman has made more money since Buhari became president despite the economic problem plaguing the nation.
The billionaire is unarguably one of the richest Nigerians those privy to his enormous wealth, told the magazine.
Governor Samuel Orthom of Benue state would have been shot and killed on March 20 by, according to him, alleged Miyetti Allah killer squad. He said they laid ambush for him with the intention of snuffing life out of him over his rigid stand on open cattle grazing. But the attack was repelled by the governor’s brave security guards who whisked him into safety.
The yet to be identified assassins had attacked the governor on his farm at Tyo-mu village, along Makurdi – Gboko road. But Ortom and his security aides were lucky to escape the bullets of the suspected killers, as the governor claimed he ran about 1.5 kilometres on foot to escape the attempt on his life.
Narrating his escape Governor Ortom said “You know today is Saturday and as a farmer, I usually go to my farm, so I went to my farm along Gboko road and on our way back, we started hearing gunshots and we discovered people who were dressed in black and from experience we now discovered that these are Fulani militias.”
He said those after his life mean business. “I didn’t want to take things for granted because few days ago the media were awash with a statement from MACBAN who met in Yola, the same place they met in 2016 where they decided that they will take Nigeria and that every other person is a slave. That was when they started infiltrating the entire country.
“They came out with a statement, I was alarmed that they singled me out as the only person who is creating problems for the entire Fulani race and behind the scenes I also heard that in the meeting, I was targeted for elimination; this was the information I got that they will go after me either in my home, farm or wherever they get me,” Ortom said.
In the wake of the attack which has been widely condemned by all and sundry, there are suggestions in some quarters that the governor orchestrated his own attack in order to further drive home the point that a vested interest in the country is trying to silence him over his campaign against Fulani herders.
Governor Ortom has denied this suggestion.
“Unashamedly though, the spin masters have again followed up with their relentless efforts at tarnishing the Governor’s image. They now claim the attack was stage managed with motive at land grabbing! This latest funny claim is coming on the heels of unsuccessful attempts at denying there was an attack. In furtherance of the lie, a non-existing group (Tyo Mu Concerned Youths Vanguard) with a faceless individual named Vershima Tsebee as the group’s leader, has been credited with advancing this latest ridiculous assertion. The individual claims that the Government has done nothing about the crisis between the Kparev and Ihyarev people at Tyo Mu. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Raymond Bemseer Magen, Principal Special Assistant on New Media to the governor said.
This possibility, however, is one of the difficult knots the IGP Intelligence Response Squad, IR led by Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, will try to untie as his team tries to unmask those that are actually behind the attack on Governor Ortom, even as the magazine learnt that the Presidency is poised to get to the bottom after the state’s helmsman met President Muhammau Buhari in Aso Rock, Presidential Villa, Abuja few days after the deadly attack.
According to sources in the Villa, the President’s aides have been divided on how to handle the matter, particularly as they failed to agree on whether the governor’s claim that he was being targeted over the Fulani herdsmen issue is true or not. While some aides believe that the governor life’s may actually be in danger due to his unrelenting campaign against open grazing, others are skeptical, because they feel that the vexed problem of farmers/ herders in the state has been over dramatized by the Governor, bearing in mind that Benue is not the only state in the country where clashes have been recurring in recent times.
“That is why the President told Governor Ortom during the meeting with Ibrahim Gambari, his Chief of Staff and other top aides in the Presidency that he will keep an open mind on the matter until security agencies are able to come up with their findings. You must have also read what the President said during the meeting that the attack must not be politicized, even though he did not rule out the fact that the Governor’s life may be at risk due to the tension between farmers and herders in the state.
“The president has also directed security agencies to look on the possibility that some fifth columnist in the state may be trying to cause violence in the state by targeting some top political actors, which could lead to bloodshed and finally set the state on fire,” a top presidential aide said.
According to another Presidential aide who did not want his name to be mentioned because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, Benue state has been a flash point due to the rivalry between the major political parties, the PDP and APC, adding that the farmers/ herders issue only added fuel to fierce contest for power among the major state and non-state actors.
He said “this is not the first time that a governor of the state had been attacked. Former Governor George Akume was attacked a few years ago that led to the death of a popular person in the country. At that time, the problem of cattle grazing had not become this contested, even though there were few clashes here and there, but the government was able to put it under control because there was a consensus between the government at both the state and federal level, on how to peacefully handle the matter, without generating the furore that it has now received, partly due to the fact that the same party controlled power at both levels of government.”
He further explained that the problem continued during the tenure of Governor Gabriel Suswam but that the PDP which controlled the levers of power had made sure it did not become an altercation between the state government and the federal government.
He said this has changed since Governor Ortom came to power, particularly after he defected to the PDP from the ruling APC before contesting for a second term in office. “You will understand that Governor Ortom has become even more critical of President Buhari and his government over his belief that the Presidency has failed to rein in the deadly herders because of his Fulani ancestry. But that is not actually true if you consider, critically, the steps the president has taken in trying to bring peace to the troubled state,” he said.
President Buhari, in his reaction to the attack on Ortom, said the string of brutal attacks on individuals and communities in the state, with the latest one targeting the governor, was unacceptable to his administration. According to a statement released by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, the President has directed the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to unmask those behind the attack on Ortom, as well as individuals and communities in the state. “Let there be an open and transparent investigation and whoever is linked to it should be caught and be made to face the law,” the president said.
President Buhari who spoke on the heel of the IGP dispatchement of a team of crack investigators to the state from the Police headquarters in Abuja to unmask the attackers, has also ordered the police boss to beef up Governor Ortom’s personal security to prevent any future attacks, presidency source said.
“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has ordered full-scale investigations into the circumstances surrounding the attack and reported attempt on the life of the Executive Governor of Benue State, His Excellency, Chief Samuel Loraer Ortom, at his farm in the outskirts of Makurdi, the State Capital, on Saturday, 20th March, 2021. The IGP who condemned the incident, has equally directed the Commissioner of Police (CP), Benue State Command to take adequate measures towards strengthening and improving security in the State, particularly around the Governor,” Frank Mba, FPPRO said in a statement.
He added that “The IGP has also specifically directed the CP to carry out painstaking investigations into the incident and ensure the arrest and prosecution of persons indicted in the course of the investigations. Meanwhile, in order to ensure a speedy, thorough and conclusive investigation into the matter, the IGP has ordered the immediate deployment of a team of specialized investigators from the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Abuja to Benue State to provide additional investigative support to the Benue State Police Command.
“While calling for calm, the IGP has assured the people of Benue State and the country at large that the Force will continue to do its best in stabilizing the security situation in the country. The IGP further reiterates that the Force will continue to work with relevant stakeholders to advance the fight against violent crimes and other criminal activities across the country,” Mba said.
The magazine learnt that the state Police Command had launched an investigation in the wake of the IGP’s order, but worried that the investigations could be slowed unnecessarily due to limited resources and personnel. Adamu was forced to dispatch the Abba Kyari, Deputy Commissioner of Police, team to the state to take over the investigation.
Fulani Herdsmen
The new team, Mbah said, “led by DCP Abba Kyari – a no-nonsense investigator – consists of operatives from the Tactical Investigation Units of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and other experienced, crack detectives with specialized competencies in crime scene investigation and reconstruction, ballistics, fingerprint analysis and other core areas of forensics,” he said.
“The Team is expected to take over and consolidate all on-going investigation into the incident. The Team is also expected to investigate all angles of the reported attack with a view to ensuring that all persons empirically linked to the incident are apprehended and brought to book.”
According to Mba, the IGP has also directed the Kyari-led team to be professional and thorough in their investigations. Adding that “They are expected to liaise and work with the Benue State Police Command and other relevant members of the law enforcement community to ensure that they deliver on their mandate.”
Considering the outrage that has greeted the matter, many Nigerians expect the investigators to get to the bottom of the attack bearing in mind that this is the third time that Governor Ortom has escaped the bullets of suspected assassins.
Speaking on the latest attack, Governor Ortom said his narrow escape from those that wanted to take his life was purely by the grace of God. “I thank God for my fitness to have run for more than one and a half kilometres without stopping. It means that God has given me strength and I am grateful to God.”
At a point during the attack, the governor said, he had to run for his dear life when his personal security details engaged the suspected assassins in a gun duel, adding that his fitness really helped him in running a long distance to escape the attackers. “I appreciate the security men attached to me. They were able to repel them and they could not have access to me. And I thank God for my fitness to have run for more than one and a half kilometres without stopping. It means that God has given me strength and I am grateful to God.
In spite of the attack, Governor Ortom said he will not back down on his campaign against Fulani pastoralists as long as they continued on the destructive path. He, however, debunked suggestions that he’s against the Fulani as a people, noting that the criminals who are the subjects of his campaign must be fished out by security agencies.
DCP Abba Kyari
Ortom said “I don’t have problems with any Fulani man or Fulani race. But I have a problem with Fulani bandits who have vowed to take over Nigeria as their ancestral home. And I say no. Not when I am here and when I am governor leading my state.
“If I can’t go to farm as a governor with the entire security around me, then who else can go to farm? You can imagine the pains that we have here in Benue State.Thank God for Mr President who responded to my letter that anyone with an AK-47 rifle should be shot on sight. I’m yet to see that. Let me see it happen in Benue State. I have reported this to the security agencies and I hope that this will be done so that the land will be safe for our people to go back to farm and do their work and survive and live their lives.
“I want to call on Mr President, on the security agencies to fish these people out. They are in the forest between Makurdi and Abinse. They are living there and they are coming out to commit atrocities – rape women, kill our people, maim them, destroy our farmlands. And anytime the security agencies go after them, they run across the river and back to the forest, the governor said when he met the president on March 23 in Abuja.
Governor Ortom’s admonition comes on the heels of a statement by a shadowy group, Fulani National Movement, FUNAM that it was responsible for the attempted assassination. According to a statement released by the group on March 22, FUNAM said its aim was to kill Ortom.
FUNAM said “Our courageous fighters carried out this historic attack to send a great message to Ortum and his collaborators”, the group claimed in a statement signed by Umar Amir Shehu.
“Where ever you are, once you are against Fulani long term interest, we shall get you down. This is a clear warning. We hope those who take us for granted will get the indisputable message. Our intention is unequivocal: TO KILL HIM. That mission will one day be fulfilled and very soon too”.
It further warned that the attack on Governor Ortom is a strong warning to other persons and groups in the country working against Fulani interest that such will not be tolerated as the group will hunt them down. “We warn collaborators working against Fulani people across Nigeria: WE SHALL GET YOU irrespective of your hidden place.We state clearly, any state or individual that opposes RUGA will be confronted. Any State or individial(Sic) that opposes ranching, we shall get you. Speak against ranching and RUGA even on the internet: Our Noiseless fighters shall find and fix you.In the next few months, FUNAM will carry out attacks on strategic human and material assets of States and Non State groups or individuals known for their anti-Fulani campaigns.We shall hunt you down in your houses, in your work places, in your car, in your streets. It’s a matter of time,” the group said.
Meanwhile, the centrist Fulani social, political Miyetti Allah association has distanced itself from the attack on Governor Ortom, insisting that its members had nothing to do with the assassination attempt on the Benue helmsman. Governor Ortom is not convinced.
Reacting, the Governor had linked the assassination attempt to Miyetti Allah (Kauta Hore) Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN.
Governor Ortom claimed that MACBAN had concluded plans to assassinate him over his position on open grazing, alleging that the Myetti Allah took the decision to eliminate him during a meeting they organised recently in Yola.
The State has been on edge following the passage of the open grazing law by the state government which has been rejected by major Fulani groups in the country who consider the legislation to be against the general interests of their people, adn have vowed to resist it at all cost, including seeking legal remedy to stop the state government from implementing the law passed by the Benue State House of Assembly and signed by Governor Ortom in 2017.
The Fulani groups are particularly angry that Governor Ortom’s campaign against herders has sparked violence attacks against pastoralists of Fulani stocks across the country, including Oyo, Ondo, Ogun where Yoruba activists, led by Sunday Igboho have given Fulani herders quick notice to leave the South West. The campaign to stop open cattle grazing has also been stepped up by separatist groups in the South East, where the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of BiafraI, POB’s security arm Estern Security Network, for instance, has been attacking Fulani cattle herders who graze on farmlands of late.
Despite ongoing plan by the Federal Government in conjunction with some State Governments to establish ranches or grazing reserves, as a lasting solution to the incessant farmers/ herders clashes, analysts insist that the leadership of Fulani in the country is not happy that their people are no longer safe across the country while performing their legitimate duties. They, therefore, hold Governor Ortom responsible for being the harbinger and orchestrators of the hate attack on the Fulani ethnic group.
But analysts disgaree. According to this line of thought, Governor Ortom is not the first to speak against open grazing. Former Governors Lam Adesina and Ayodele Fayose of Oyo and Ekiti states, respectively, had at one point spoken against open cattle grazing and the need to put an end to the menace. The issue had become a big problem in Ekiti State where then Governor Fayose’s Government enacted a similar law to regulate the activities of Fulani cattle rearers, some say.
In 2001, Governor Adesina was said to have lashed out at Buhari after the latter tried to take sides following bloody clashes between herders and farmers in Oke Ogun area which led to death on both sides, when Buhari visited the State Governor in Agodi Government House.
The attack on Governor Ortom has further enlisted the herders’ menace on the frontline of national discourse as prominent Nigerians have generally criticised the incident, calling on the Buhari administration to take the security of life and property more seriously across the country.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State said if the attackers had succeeded in killing Ortom, there will be “no more Nigeria.” Wike who recently settled the Benue Governor and his counterpart in Bauchi, Bala Mohammed, after the latter said fulani herders must be allowed to carry AK-47 said “If you kill Ortom, then be prepared to bury Nigeria. If anything happens to Governor Ortom, the Federal Government will be held responsible and they should be prepared that there will be no more Nigeria.”
The PDP, Governor Ortom’s party said it was shocked at the attack, urging the federal government to step up its responsibility to protect lives and property.
On its part, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF also condemned those after the Governor’s life, however, noting that most of the attacks and killings in Benue State are purely as a result of politics.
“We should not always blame what is going on in Benue State on Fulani herdsmen alone. In most cases, the Tivs also have the share of the blame of attacks and other crimes committed in the state,” ACF said.
For Governor Ortom, there is no going back on his war against Fulani herders as it is a matter of life and death for his people. “We are winning,” he said “because Miyetti Allah and MACABAN have accepted that ranching remains the best option to rear cattle.
Former Governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa says the unprecedented insecurity bedevilling Nigeria is a product of the importation of Fulanis from neighbouring West African Countries during General Elections. Having flooded the country, Udenwa said, they and the Fulani in Nigeria now to re-colonise Nigeria. Meaning that the Buhari Government is responsible for the insecurity associated with some rogue Fulani herdsmen.
Udenwa, who spoke in an in an interview with The Sun, laughed at the idea that an Islamic Scholar, Dr Abubakar Gumi, would have easy access to the bandits in the forest, while the Nigerian Military finds it very difficult to locate them.
Taking at a hard look at the worsening insecurity in the country, Udenwa said it was confusing, and had loopholes.
He said:
“The official explanations of why this is happening are not adding up. First and foremost, we learnt that a lot of people were brought into the country during the last elections and after the election, whatever that was promised to them was not fulfilled. That is part of the reason we have these herdsmen; among them are many foreigners from Niger, Mali, Chad, Senegal and the rest of them. But we know that before that, Boko Haram has been there.
I believe that this is part of the entire plan to re-colonise Nigeria; to overtake Nigeria and this is coming mainly from the Fulani. The Fulani are a big minority in Nigeria, but unfortunately they have been able to get other people to join them who are not real Fulani to tolerate them and they bring in religion into it. The issue now is not religion; I don’t know of any religion that says you must kill people. It is just part of Fulani intention to conquer Nigeria. This is the major issue. We are seeing a lot of these people coming from the Arab countries and Fulani settlements in West Africa. This means that if we don’t take time, before we know it, Nigeria will be overrun.
We have also seen that these people are aided by the security agencies. How would you explain to me that a herdsman is carrying AK-47rifle and I don’t hear of people being arrested? How did they get the guns? Who licensed them? Or are they not licensed? If they are not which means they are illegal arms. How did they get them? The whole situation is becoming more terrible every day; it is deteriorating every day. They are now everywhere in this country, which means if time is not taken, one day something very drastic will erupt in this country and we will have no answer to it.”
He also accused the Federal Government of insincerity in dealing with the situation.
Udenwa: “The government right now is not honest with us. If the government doesn’t want these people to come into the country; if the government doesn’t want these people to carry arms and move around unchecked (I don’t even hear them being arrested), then we are deceiving ourselves. It is not a question of what do we do; it is a question of, do we have the will to do what should be done? However, the government doesn’t have the will to do what should be done. What are all the security people there for?
Fulani Herdsmen
We even hear of Sheikh Gumi having meetings with the bandits; if he could know where they are and have meetings with them, why is it that our security agencies don’t know where they are? You can’t convince any right thinking person that these people are just there on their own. That is where the situation calls for more in-depth appraisal and quick action. Otherwise if action is not taken quickly, Nigeria is gone.”
He also blamed the South East Governors for not setting up a Security outfit as did their South- west counterparts. He said at a meeting of the highest Igbo Cultural Organisation, Ime- Obi – Ohaneze, with the Governors, it was decided that the South- east Governors should form the outfit, but is shocked that they discarded it in favour of Community Police.
Udenwa: “I remember last year, I was part of the Ime Obi delegation of Ohanaeze sent to relay to the governors that the South-East should have a regional security outfit. Fortunately, the governors were in a meeting the same day in Enugu. After the Imo Obi meeting, the delegation moved to the Government House in Enugu and met with them. We told them point blank what the Ohanaeze has decided and said we should inform them to carry out the action because they hold the executive powers.
“We had a very useful meeting, almost all the prominent Igbo men were there. We left and a few days after that we were surprised to hear that what they were talking about now was Community Policing, after the visit of the IGP to Enugu.
“The governors are in a better position to know what the security situation in our region looks like. If in their own wisdom they accepted community policing, but today it is not even working and cannot be compared with a regional policing outfit just like you have in the Southwest.
“You can see what the Amotekun is doing in that region. Beside the Amotekun, maybe the herdsmen would have taken over the South-West by now. I don’t know what informed their rejecting the regional security outfit to accepting community policing.”
Even though he described the Eastern Security Network, ESN, set-up by IPOB as illegal, he agreed with his interviewer that nature abhors vacuum.
“It is correct to say that nature abhors a vacuum. Whatever we say, the setting up of ESN is as a result of that vacuum, but that will not in anywhere legalise it. If the governors had set up ESN that would have been legal enough; it would have been able to carry on just like Amotekun is doing in the South-West. But this one set up by IPOB is still regarded as illegal and that is why the security agencies are fighting them. Yes, nature abhors a vacuum.
“Nobody will stay, fold his hands and watch his people being killed. After all, a man as high as General T. Y Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff and former Defence Minister told his people to arm themselves, that these herdsmen were being aided by security agencies and nobody has denied what he said. Yes, nature abhors a vacuum.
“I don’t know why our governors have insisted on not having a regional security system. As a result of that, IPOB set up theirs. I will say, nature abhors a vacuum and anybody who is doing anything in Nigeria today to secure himself, you will not blame him because the official security is not protecting him.
Udenwa, also, chided the Federal Government for branding IPOB a Terrorist organisation. The real terrorist Organisations, he said are the bandits and Fulani herdsmen, and wondered why they have not been so declared.
“We all know that the Fulani herdsmen are classified as the fourth most dangerous group in the world. We all know that the real terrorist groups are the Fulani herdsmen – call them bandits or anything.
“These are the real terrorist groups. IPOB in the real sense should not be classified as terrorist group because you haven’t heard them going to attack any innocent people and they were not carrying arms. That is the irony; how could you declare them a terrorist group when you have not declared the ones that are carrying arms terrorist groups?”
