Perhaps the greatest indication that things are returning back to normal, albeit gradually, is the reaction of the oil sector to the Pandemic. The world is gradually beginning to open for business and the Brent Crude has risen again to about $34 per barrel-four dollars more than the revised budget benchmark which was tagged at $30 per barrel. The Pandemic had forced the downward review from $57 per barrel.
In Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwolu is poised to review the compliance to the phased lockdown release. It is likely that more relaxations will be advocated.
According to industry watchers, for three weeks now, there has been a gradual increase in the use of automobiles all around the world, thereby upping the sale of Premium Motor spirits, generally known as petrol. There is also an increase in the sales of Aviation fuels, or Jet A1. Many airlines, while counting losses and pruning down staff strength, are revving up their aircraft. Brent has gained 30% in May alone, and there are indications that this will rise in June. It was $60 per barrel at the beginning of 2020 before crashing to less than $12 per barrel.
Indications are also that sales of crude by the Nigerian government is picking up, and the replacement of the late Chief of staff, Abba Kyari, with an international diplomat, Ibrahim Gambari, is boosting investor confidence in a market that has lost trillions in the advent of the pandemic. Experts, however, warn that this is a fragile recovery, which may collapse with any resurgence of COVID 19.
Nigerians, however, have given several knocks on government handling of the pandemic
China, being the first to suffer the Pandemic and the first to overcome it, is poised to lead the recovery of other nations, though recent reports of a resurgence of the disease in China may mar that projection. In the US. The major task of President Trump is the handling of the millions that lost their jobs due to COVID 19, which is an uphill task in an election year.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese, His Grace, Anthony Obinna, has banned the lying in state of the dead. He said the dead should be carried from the mortuary straight to the Church for the funeral service.
He also banned funeral orations, the blaring of siren by the ambulance carrying the dead, the accompanying of the body by dancers, and condolence collection at the Service. However, not more than three minutes are allowed one member of the family to thank people in the Church.
Obinna, also, reduced the number of Priests at funeral services to a maximum of five, and the number of people at the Service to no more than 50. The Service should last for a maximum of 70 minutes only, and everybody must wear a face mask.
Obinna issued these guidelines to stem the spread of COVID-19. But some of the guidelines have not gone down well with Parishioners. “He has reduced the death of human beings to that of a fowl”, some fume.
“Why stop lying in state, and why stop funeral orations”, they ask. They also ask what the use of sirens by ambulances while carrying the dead has to do with the spread of COVID-19? They say the siren is not for show, but to clear the traffic, which, more often than not, is heavy. They do that to meet funeral time.
One angry Parishioner quipped ” He stopped condolence collection which goes to the family of the dead, but not collection at funeral services which goes to the Church.”
It is not known when the guidelines will be lifted, but they came at a time when the Imo State Government lifted the ban on funerals and weddings, but with limited number of people and with all COVID-19 protocols in place.
In another development, President Muhammadu Buhari will, this evening, address the Nation for the fourth time on COVID-19.
The decision was reached after he met, on Sunday, with members of the Presidential Task Force, PTF, for briefing. Speculations are that he may relax, a little more, the lock down placed across the country, especially, the ban placed on inter-state movements.
In what has shaken the, ordinarily, unshakeable Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to his bone marrows, his Special Assistant, Electronic Media,
Simeon Nwakaudu, has passed on.
The cause of his death remain shrouded in mystery, but he died on Sunday, at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, the Rivers State Government announced.
A release by the Commissioner for Information, Paulinus Nsirim, said that Mr Nwakaudu suddenly fell ill, and was rushed to the UPTH. He was pronounced dead by 2.00pm, Saturday.
A native of Abia State, Mr Nwakaudu had been with Wike from when he became Governor, and reportedly, beyond. He was easily one of Wike’s most dedicated aides, defending him every inch of the way.
Even though he was designated as being in charge of the Electronic Media, Nwakaudu, also, handled the Print Media for the Governor. If there was anybody else, the person was spectacularly anonymous and/or overshadowed.
A prolific writer, he fought all Wike’s battles in the Media.
Penultimate week, when the Governor demolished two hotels for falling foul of his Executive Order 6 on COVID-19, Nwakudu was on duty, churning out one write -up after another in his Principal’s defence.
A devasted Wike, this magazine was told, has condoled with his family, and would sorely miss him.
#Bringbackourgirls Convener and former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has alleged a gang up against her for speaking the truth, and fighting for the liberty of the oppressed in the country.
The activist also expressed optimism that sooner than later, more Nigerians will rise up to speak up against ‘those who poorly govern our country’.
In a series of tweets she shared on Sunday afternoon on her verified Twitter handle, Ezekwesili said ‘no society can have Good Governance without “paying a price for Liberty”.
She went on to reveal that members of the administrations of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari quickly find a common ground to attack and malign her person because of her belief in the fight for liberty from the bad leadership the nation is facing.
Ezekwesili, who was recently appointed into the Board of Trustees of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation, IBFD, stressed further to disclose that her sin is demanding for ‘Public Accountability from those that govern‘ has been a major issue and wars she has been fighting over the years.
She also made it known that she feels no offence towards them.
She wrote:
“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. Acts24v16.
“I have an amazing life. Two consecutive administrations and their numerous allies ever finding a common ground against one woman because she demands Public Accountability from those that govern.
Couldn’t wish for a more Purposeful Life!
Will never stop praising God for this!
‘There shall come a time in this Land, when many more Citizens will rise up and stare down at those that poorly govern our country. When that time comes, all we bear today would be so well-worth it, because no society can have Good Governance without “paying a price for Liberty”.
‘This One Thing I Know concerning this Land:
Nigeria shall be a re-enactment of the miracle of the Valley of the Dry Bones in the Biblical book of Ezekiel Chapter 37.
Let not your heart be troubled. It shall surely come to pass!
Remember to #TakeResponsibility today and always.’
The Federal Government has recorded a landmark achievement by wielding the big stick. It has impounded an aircraft owned by a British company for illegally operating passenger flights into Nigeria.
The disclosure was made by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Sunday via his Twitter handle, @hadisirika.
He said the company, Flair Aviation, was authorised to conduct humanitarian flights but was caught operating commercial flights.
Sirika explained that in addition to the confiscated aircraft, a fine would be imposed on the company for the contravention of FG’s ban on commercial flights as part of measures to curb the importation of coronavirus.
“COVID-19. Flair Aviation, a UK company, was given approval for humanitarian operations, but regrettably, we caught them conducting commercial flights. This is callous! The craft is impounded, the crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty. Wrong time to try our resolve,” the Minister tweeted.
President Muhammadu Buhari has renewed the appointment of Benjamin Akabueze as Director-General, of the Budget Office of the Federation, this giving him a second term in office.
The renewal was announced by Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, in a statement.
Akabueze was first appointed as a Special Adviser Planning to President Muhammadu Buhari on February 15th, 2016 and later re-deployed and appointed as Director General, Budget, on June 10th, 2016 by the President.
Upon his appointment on June 10, 2016, he was saddled with the responsibility to handle the nagging issues in the Budget office at that time.
The Budget Office is currently undergoing several reforms under the leadership of Akabueze towards improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Budget office of the Federation.
Akabueze has a track record of sterling performance in the Finance department, leading to his elevation, which was, immediately approved by the President. It is believed that the renewal of Akabueze’s tenure will institutionalise the achievements for a sustainable improvement in the Budget Office of the Federation.
….. Accuses WHO Of Plot To Bribe Madagascar With $20 Million
By Akinwale Kasali
Madagascar President, Andry Raojelina, has exposed the plot by the World Health Organization, WHO, to discredit the Herbal Remedy made by Madagascarn medical researchers as cure for the deadly Pandemic, Coronavirus.
The Herbal remedy called COVID-19 Organics made from Artemisia was said to cure COVID-19 patients within ten days, during the launch by the President and was confirmed by victims of the Covid-19 who were cured after taking the Herbal Remedy drink.
The revelation by the President on the move by WHO has, however, raised questions. If an European country had discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt?
President Rajoelina also accused the WHO of plot to have its COVID-19 Organics, the local African ‘cure’ for the virus, poisoned.
Rajoelina also claimed that the WHO offered a sum of $20 million bribe to poison their medicine.
The allegations by President Raojelina was carried on the front page of Tanzania Perspective on its 14th May edition.
Raojelina however believes the only reason the rest of the world has refused to treat Madagascar’s cure for the coronavirus with urgency and respect is that the remedy comes from Africa.
In an interview with French media, Rajoelina reportedly said he has noticed what he believes stems from usual condescension toward Africans.
“I think the problem is that (the drink) comes from Africa and they can’t admit… that a country like Madagascar… has come up with this formula to save the world.
“What is the problem with Covid-Organics, really? Could it be that this product comes from Africa? Could it be that it’s not OK for a country like Madagascar, which is the 63rd poorest country in the world… to have come up with (this formula) that can help save the world?”
“If it wasn’t Madagascar, and if it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt? I don’t think so,” said Africa’s youngest head of state.
The remedy, COVID Organics, is made from Artemisia, a plant imported into Madagascar in the 1970s from China to treat malaria. Artemisia has had proven success against malaria and according to President Rajoelina, it can cure COVID-19 patients within ten days.
However, the WHO has criticized such natural therapeutic measures against the coronavirus as blind faith. In response to the skepticism with which the WHO is treating the COVID Organics, Rajoelina said, “No country or organisation will keep us from going forward.”
A host of other African countries including, Nigeria, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, DR Congo and Niger, have imported the Madagascan-made recipe.
The Madagascar controversy erupted days after Tanzania kicked out WHO when Goat and Papaya samples came back COVID-19 Positive.
With the rise in false Coronavirus cases, the Tanzanian President John Magufuli growing suspicious of the World Health Organization (WHO), decided to investigate the claims himself. He sent the WHO samples of a goat, a papaya and a quail for testing. After all three samples came back COVID-19 positive, the Tanzanian President is reportedly kicked out WHO from the country.
Following the Tanzanian example, Burundi also, allegedly, kicked out the entire WHO Coronavirus Team from the country for interference in internal matters. In a letter addressed to WHO’s Africa headquarters, the foreign ministry says the four officials must leave by Friday.
This is an unprecedented request. Nobody could have imagined it. But it is real. Many Nigerians are asking President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy the Personnel of the Directorate of State Services, DSS, popular as SSS, to interstate borders to arrest the madness and abuse on the highways, and the borders. In doing that, the spread of the deadly Coronavirus, they say, will be stemmed considerably.
Otherwise, they warn, a tragedy worse than Coronavirus may consume the country. For instance, they fear that the influx of youths, from even Nigeria’s neighbouring countries, into the country, especially to the Southern part of the country, in the name of Almajiris could spell doom.
All kinds of interpretations are already being given to the influx. Some people say it is a deliberate, well-planned invasion of the South.
“I have seen some of them, I have interacted with them. I used an interpreter. Many of them are not Nigerians. They are from Niger Republic and Chad. They have no handiwork. They have no skills. Why are they in Nigeria? What are they flocking to the South to do, in disobedience of a Presidential order, shutting down interstate travels and movements,” a worried Anambra state first class traditional ruler told this magazine”
What worries him most is how they come in, their mode of travelling. “They come in droves in trucks and buses. More often than not, they pass Police and Military-manned check-points without any hassles. There is a large dose of connivance between them and the security men”, he said. And, he gives a verdict: “They have not only compromised the security of the country, helped to flout the President’s order, they have enriched themselves, while breaking the laws”
The reason for which many people are asking that the DSS be deployed, Mr John Mgbedi, a lawyer, told the magazine is: “they seem to be the only security service , aside from the Navy and the Airforce, whose personnel are not deployed along the road, that have not been compromised at the inter-state borders.The others are making a kill by encouraging inter-state movements.”
President Muhammadu Buhari
Their deployment is important, he said, in order to urgently curtail the spread of Coronavirus.
But Garba, a retired Senior Police officer differ. He said: “They do not need to be deployed to the borders. They should be deployed to the motor parks. Ordinarily, there is a branch of the Police – Criminal Investigation Department – whose job is such discreet investigations, but nothing seems the same again.”
The consensus is that the Personnel of the DSS have comported themselves in a manner that had not been associated with them for a long time.
Before now, not many members of the public wanted to have anythIng to do with them. They were known to be in the habit of harrassing people and flaunting their powers at them.
But, they seem to have changed. They make no noise. They insult nobody. They harrass nobody. They are keeping to the rules. When they go wrong, they quietly retrace their steps.
One no longer sees them all over the place introducing themselves, and where they work to people. That time seems to have gone forever.
A retired DSS officer who attributed the change in attitude to leadership, but who pleaded anonymity “so it doesn’t seem like I’m currying favour, said: “Mr Yusuf Bichi, the DG, is not power-drunk. I knew him when I was still in Service He retired before me. He is quiet and level-headed . He does not talk much. He is not in your face. But he is very sharp. You under-estimate him at your peril. He is a competent, quiet operator.”
On Bichi’s appointment, he revealed, he told the us: “My vision is to create a friendly work environment, enhance staff capacity through training and welfare, as well as ensure that the DSS remains a democratically compliant intelligence agency in Nigeria.”
The retired officer says the Agency has stuck to that vision. The welfare of Staff has remained a priority.
“When staff welfare is a priority they give their all, and desist from anything that would embarrass the Service. They have enough training, and the DSS National Institute for Security Studies, Bwari, Abuja, headed by A.S. Adeleke, has been so put together that it has become the bedrock for Security Training and researches not only in Nigeria, but in West Africa.
But the retired officer disagreed with those who want the Personnel deployed to inter-state borders.
“No way. They will do a good job. But that is not their beat. They should be left to do what they do best: gather intelligence that will help secure our country. The boys have their hands full. They are also involved in providing intelligence information on Boko Haram, for example. Many of the successes recorded in the fight are attributable to the intelligence they provided. They are also doing a lot to check the deliberate vandalization of oil pipelines and theft, plus their normal duties. They have their hands full. We need them more in these areas than deploying them to inter state borders because of COVID-19”.
A top shot at the NNPC confirms the role the Service is playing in stemming even pipeline vandalisation.
Speaking to Journalists in confidence after the recent oil pipeline explosion in Lagos, he said: “It is a cartel. From some unscrupulous NNPC staff to corrupt security personnel, they are involved. The only security agency not involved is the SSS”.
But Nigerians want them to come out, and discreetly help stem the tide of movements in between States. They are afraid of the obvious.
They say the movements would worsen the spread of the Virus, and elongate the period of the lockdown.
Here is why.
A number of the security personnel who , like medical personnel, have also put their lives on the line to protect us are distressed.
In our disobedience to lawful orders, they have whipped many into line by either cajoling them, or beating them, and atimes, killing some.
Many of them, especially, the Police, have been killed. At the last count, according to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, over 20 of his officers and men have been killed. A couple of days ago, after the IGP spoke, an Inspector was killed.
Nobody can forget easily, the video which went viral, of a woman, who slapped a senior police officer, at least, 10 times, all because the officer tried to enforce the lockdown.
But with the Army, the Police and the NSCDC, there is also the downside of their activities during this difficult period. Aside from the number of civilians they have killed, over 25, while trying to enforce the lockdown, they claim, the conduct of a good number of them has not been salutary. They have misrepresented their services, and painted them in unbefitting colours.
The allegations are too many.
They have made nonsense of the order by the President, their Commader-in-Chief, on movements between States. The order was that there should be no movement from one state to the other. The order was for a complete shut-down at the State borders.
Not affected are those on essential duties, and food transporters.
The borders were left for the NSCDC, the Police and the Military to man. But, many times, it has been a failure. Those asked to man the borders are those sabotaging it, most Nigerians allege.
“The borders have become porous and have been reduced to ATM and POS points for those who man them. In exchange for money, they allow movements in- between States” not a few people accuse.
The movements have come at a high price to the country. And has made nonsense of any gains recorded so far to stem the spread of the Virus.
Now, the people think that with the borders porous, especially, at night, there will be no end to the COVID-19 Virus.
But according to sources, the call by some Nigerians for the deployment of DSS personnel to help stem movements across States will be a hard sell. For, indeed, their hands, like that of other Security Agencies, are full.
It’s often said that a lie told so many times, if unchallenged, may – in course of time – begin to pass for the truth. One of such is the terrible lie, institutionally purveyed since the end of the Civil War, to the effect that Igboland is landlocked or has no access to the sea. The purpose of this essay, therefore, is to debunk this lie with some simple historical and topographical evidence that are even in plain view, if you care to dig or do some physical explorations of your own.
Suffice it to say that it is a profound tragedy that entire generations of the immediate post-War Igbos never bordered to check but seemingly accepted this brazen institutional falsehood, largely intended to taunt the Igbo and put them down. A few that knew it to be false just didn’t care anymore. And that History was banned since the end of the Civil War made it worse, plus the fact that most people don’t take physical Geography that serious anymore, otherwise they would have known that Abia, Imo and Anambra States have varying short-distance paths to the Atlantic through Imo, Azumiri and Niger Rivers. It’s not really rocket science, as you can easily confirm this if you know how to read Google Earth; or conquer your fear of swamp snakes and walk through these areas on foot.
There are also many other hardly explored waterways and slithering tributaries, including the remote reaches of Oguta Lake and Oseakwa River in Ihiala (Imo State) that meandered through Igbo-delta wetlands to the Southeastern ends of the Atlantic waterfront. These rivers have varying lengths of short navigational paths to the Atlantic, and in some cases, are far shorter nautically (and even on footpath) than the Portharcourt, Calabar and Ibaka seaports are to their side of the Atlantic.
Many of these pathways, including particularly the ones from the outer reaches of Imo and Azumiri Rivers terminate at the Atlantic at no more than 15 to 30 Nautical miles to the beachhead. To put it in lay language, one nautical mile equals 1.8 kilometers. Thus, the contiguity of Southeast (not even the greater Igboland) to the Atlantic is less nautical miles than the Atlantic is to the seaports in Calabar, Onne, Ibaka, Lagos and Portharcourt. If you discount the territories excised from Igboland during State creations and the damnable boundary adjustments, it will be far less.
To be sure, Ikwerre land or Igweocha which bears the greater portions of the Portharcourt seaport was dredged up to 50 miles to the Atlantic front through the Bonny River. Onne seaport was dredged up to 60 miles to the Atlantic and Calabar seaport was dredged some 45 nautical miles to the Atlantic. Ibaka seaport is about 30 nautical miles to the Atlantic and the Lagos seaports dredged up to about 50 nautical miles to the Atlantic.
Compare all these to Obuaku in Abia State, which is only 25 nautical miles to the Atlantic from the confluence of Imo and Azumiri Rivers, of which Azumiri, on its own merits, lies not more than 30 nautical miles to the Atlantic beachfront. The less obvious one is the little-known Oseakwa River in Ihiala (Imo State) which is mere 18 nauticals to the Atlantic, all with its 65 feet of natural depth, unarguably comparable to no other River in Nigeria.
Additionally, what is geopolitically known as Igboland today is far smaller than what it was and legally supposed to be. As far back as 1856, Baikie – one of the earliest and credible Geographers of ancient Nigeria, had this to say – “Igbo homeland, extends east and west, from the Old Kalabar river to the banks of the Kwora, Niger River, and possesses also some territory at Aboh, an Igbo clan, to the west-ward of the latter stream. On the north it borders on Igara, Igala and A’kpoto, and it is separated from the sea only by petty tribes, all of which trace their origin to this great race” (Baikie, William Balfour, published with a sanction of Her Majesty’s Government in 1856).
But with that infamous post-War abandoned property policy and the egregious institutional injustices in boundary adjustments and the widespread anti-Igbo gerrymandering, Igbos physically and psychologically lost hold of their vested ancestral lands, all to the point of not caring anymore about their historical contiguity to the Atlantic, which their ancestors beheld and called ‘Oshimiri’ (The Great Sea). The psychological beat-down and gang-up got so bad that some of the descendants of these Igbo ancestors (nearest to the Atlantic and now lying outside Southeast) are no longer sure whether they are Igbo or not.
The worst injustice was in 1976 when the Justice Nasir Boundary Adjustment Commission made a serious and targeted agenda of carving out core Igboland territories into some neighboring States of the South-South. But they didn’t quite make an absolute success of it. They missed the southernmost Southeast lands that possess Rivers that meandered through slices of Igbo-friendly South-South territories and ended up at the Atlantic, thus unwittingly placing Igboland and its right of access to the sea under the canons of customary international law.
As it stands, international law of the sea guarantees Igboland (whether it remains Nigerian territory or not) unhindered access to the nearest sea (in this case: the Atlantic) peacefully by the many short-distance rivers, waterways and tributaries that originated from Igboland but ultimately washed into the Atlantic through contiguous South-South territories. For avoidance of doubt, there’s particularly the Obuaku confluence in Ukwa West (Abia State) that flows through Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State before expanding out and washing into the near-reaches of the Atlantic. And the River Niger which ultimately joined the Atlantic through a vast network of hardly explored creeks and mangrove swamps that abut the Bight of Bonny in the South-South.
Nigeria is subject to the International Law of the Sea and is therefore bound to abide by its provisions, should the need arise in a scenario of persistent sovereign oppression of an identifiable indigenous group within Nigeria. The others are the United Nations Treaty of the Sea and the African Union Treaties and Conventions on the Sea, including particularly the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which Nigeria ratified and domesticated in 1983. The pertinent provisions are mostly embedded in the copious provisions relating to the collective economic and commercial rights of indigenous peoples lying within the Treaty nations. Ndigbo are undoubtedly an indigenous people presently lying within Nigeria. So, international law will surely come into play if a conflict arises out of Nigeria’s persistent institutional resistance to granting a seaport to Igboland.
Out of the COVID-19 patients in Imo, three have been discharged.
The Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma gave the cheering news on Saturday in Owerri.
Addressing newsmen at the Government House Governor Uzodimma informed that of the six cases undergoing treatment in the Isolation Centre in Imo State, two were discharged at the weekend while the index case was discharged earlier, bringing the total to three.
According to his Chief Press Secretary, and Media Adviiser, Oguwike Nwachuku, the Governor explained that all the three already discharged tested negative twice, as directed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control protocols.
The governor further explained that the number of cases currently under treatment in Imo State, as at Saturday, is only four.
“So far, there are no new cases of COVID-19 patients recorded in Imo State according to the NCDC.”, Uzodinma said.
On Friday, the Governor had appealed to the people to abide by the directives already given by the government and the Covid-19 Task force in Imo on how to be safe and reiterated his resolve to do all within his constitutional powers to protect the lives of Imo people.
