The Nigeria Army Headquarters and the Department of Civil Military Affairs are wooing the Media. At a seminar with media personalities, in the mainstream, online media and media experts in Lagos, it tasked participants on the need to use the media to promote peace, unity and tranquility.
It was the 7th edition of such seminar across the six geo-political zones of the country. The Nigeria Army stated the role of the social media in Civil- Military Relations as a Non-Kinetic tool for enhanced peace and security in Nigeria.
Head of the Department of Civil-Military Affairs, Major General US Mohammed spoke on the constitutional responsibilities of the Nigerian Army and its support with other security authorities in combating the security challenges prevalent in the country.
He stressed the efforts of the Nigerian Army in the six geo-political zones, pointing out that the South-South is a unique case because of the security challenges encountered in the course of the protection of oil facilities. In the North-East, the Boko Haram scourge has been a major issue.
Mohammed lamented the wrong use of social media, adding that fake news and hate speeches are destructive and could set the country ablaze if not checked.
“It’s disheartening to see people reporting falsehood, most especially about the Nigeria Army. Many of our men have sacrificed and still sacrificing their lives to protect the nation. It’s however pains one to the Bone marrow when they are not appreciated by their countrymen, who keep on insulting them, saying and writing bad things about them.
“Let’s all imbibe the spirit of love and patriotism for our country, because doing the opposite means undermining our country. The people in the other countries will always believe whatever we say of our own country,” he admonished.
Speaking further, Mohammed explained that the need for the Army headquarters to create the Department of Civil Military Affairs was to interface with the people and create a positive image of the Army, and, thus change the people’s perception about them.
Brigadier General Goni, a member of the DCMA said that the media and what they report and write go a long way. He admonished the media to be factual, objective and just in their reportage to avoid heating up the polity.
“We need to promote peaceful coexistence among us as a people regardless of our beliefs, tribe, languages, ethics, norms and values. Firstly, we are Nigerians before being a Christian, Muslim and any other religion we practice. We must potray our nation in good light because that’s the way outsiders and foreigners will see us. We must abhore fake news that will cause chaos, because our security and unity as a nation are crucial and undebateable”, he concluded.
Every public figure is a gold fish. He or she has no hiding place. His or her actions are scrutinized every minute for various reasons and, for different purposes. This is why I am interested in the case of the former Governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim.
The news is all over that the position of the President General of the apex Igbo Socio-cultural organization, the Ohaneze Ndigbo, has been zoned to Imo state. Ndigbo, from across the globe, will converge once again to choose those who will pilot the affairs of Ohaneze Ndigbo for the next four years. The tenure of the John-Nwodo led team is about to come to an end.
I hear, from the grapevine that Ohakim is eying the position of the President-General. Since he was dethroned as the governor, perhaps, due to his still soaring infamous stubbornness, Ohakim has been doing everything possible to be relevant, especially by being in the news.
He is known for his doggedness and always challenging opinions – state or national – that he perceives are not in line with his views. And that is good, as all are entitled to their opinion. Ohakim is simple, wise, creative and, above all, courageous.
I am not gunning for the man of Burma Estate for the position of President of Ohaneze Ndigbo. But this is my personal opinion. Agreed that every Nigerian is entitled to vote and be voted for in any election, yet, we should be able to draw a clear line between jesting and genuine ambition.
Ohaneze Ndigbo fights for the welfare of Ndigbo. The organization, as part of its objectives of creation is to foster unity among the Igbo in order to better allow them to be representative within the political scenario of Nigeria.
An Ohakim who didn’t focus on development initiatives in his part of Isiala Mbano when he was a governor cannot fight for the welfare of Ndigbo. He also woefully failed to touch the lives of the people of Okigwe zone when he was a governor.
This man is not even concerned about the welfare of his followers. The President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, certainly, is not for a political leader who is not concerned about the welfare of his followers. Leaders depend on the trust and loyalty of their followers. Why would a leader lie to his followers, when he should understand the negative consequences of being caught in that lie? Ohakim severally has lied to his followers of which I was one of them.
He wants to struggle for the welfare of Ndigbo, but he could not rescue his loyalists of so many years, in their trying times. Nobody can point to anyone he has empowered. When it is time for election he will start eating akara by road side, bathing Almajiris on the street, drinking pure water on top of dirty gutters, controlling traffic, pushing trailers, driving Keke, buying Suya and eating corn publicly just to hoodwink the people.
In 2016, I resigned from the company wbere I was an accountant, to dive into business. The business had obstacles and I became stranded. I needed help. I ran to him for help, as one of his loyalists. He promised to help me. Days turned to weeks and, weeks into months, yet no help from the boss.
He forgot his usual Biblical quotation which says: A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed (Proverb 11:25-28). He forgot the Chinese philosophical saying that he always quote which goes thus: “He who obtains has a little, he who scatters has much’’.
He stopped calling me, he stopped picking my calls. It was like: do I think I was so special with my sweet crying face and special bags of problems that people are just going to part like the Red Sea for me?
I was down, wrote several letters and SMS to him. He ignored me. But I was his follower for years. I did several public relations jobs for him. The way he abandoned me in my trying times, is same thing he did to Jones Onwuasoanya and some other followers. To me, such a person is not fit to fight for the welfare of Ndigbo.
The problem with deception is that it is a betrayal of trust. You cannot deceive someone unless they trust you, believing that you’re being truthful with them. When you succeed in deceiving them, you exploit that trust, using that person for your own ends. In every domain of life, such betrayals weaken, or destroy the trust in relationships essential to our vital institutions. Lying to your supporters squanders that trust and diminishes your capacity to lead.
As citizens, we have a responsibility here too. We have to impress upon those who would lead us that we do care about truth and honesty and that losing our trust is an unacceptable cost of deceptive politics. .The health of a democracy depends, in part, on the ability of its leaders to muster popular support for their policies, and that requires widespread trust in those leaders.
In fact, the trust of constituents is one of a political leader’s most valuable assets. But lying to your supporters squanders that trust and diminishes your capacity to lead.
Innoson motors, the foremost indigenous motor manufacturing company, has denied being hounded by the Federal government to relocate the car assembly Plant to either Kaduna or Lagos.
Reports has been rife, particularly in the social media, that there has been undue pressure on the car company to either relocate to Kaduna or Lagos if they want full government support.
The Plant is sited in Nnewi, in Anambra state.
In a press release made available to this Magazine, the Head, Corporate Communications of the company, Cornel Osigwe, dismissed the rumor saying the company has always had support from the federal Government.
Below is an extract from the release.
“RE: Relocate Your Vehicle Manufacturing Company Now To Either Lagos or Kaduna Or Your License Would Be Withdrawn- FG; I am Under Pressure Now To Relocate To lagos or Kaduna- Innoson Breaks Silence.
“We have been constrained to issue this statement in reference to the above statement credited to the person of the Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Chief Dr Innocent Chukwuma OFR.
“Ordinarily we would have ignored the statement and the publication in its entirety which appears to have gone viral in most social media platforms, knowing fully well that this is the handwork of mischief makers, but in a nation where silence may be seen as admission of the truth, we have been constrained to come out to officially ask the public to disregard it and set the record straight.
There has never been any order and there will never be any order either from the Federal Government or its agencies to Innoson Vehicles to relocate his Vehicle Manufacturing Plant which is based in Nnewi to Lagos, Kaduna or any other place.
Innoson Vehicles has continually maintained a robust relationship with the Federal Government specifically under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR. For example, under this present administration, Nnewi Auto-Industrial Park was initiated to support automobile parts manufacturing companies to come together and deliver support services, vehicle components, and raw materials required by the teeming automobile manufacturing companies in Nigeria.
“A major beneficially of this initiative is Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing.
In a recent press briefing to journalist’s, which was widely publicized across many media organizations, the Chairman of Innoson Group stated clearly that Innoson Vehicles “has enjoyed huge patronage and support from the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration”.
“Furthermore, Innoson Vehicles has continually enjoyed patronage from the Federal Government and its agencies; specifically, The Nigerian Military, The Police Force, Federal Road Safety Commission, Fire Service, Immigration and lots more.
Innoson Vehicles is in partnership with the Nigerian Air Force for the development and promotion of joint activities to sustain the maintenance of the Nigerian Air Force Air Assets and other associated Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) to enable the Nigerian Air Force to continuously carry out its constitutional obligations to the Nation.
“Equally it is also in collaboration with the Nigerian Army Authority for the local manufacture and supply of Armoured and Bullet-Proof Vehicles.
We therefore urge the general public to disregard the fallacious publication in its entirety as there is no element of truth therein.
Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan recently made an honest disclosure when he said that overpraising sitting presidents makes them feel like a little god and unthinkable for them to leave the office. Jonathan stated this at the constitutional term limits summit in Niamey, Niger Republic.
The former president, who is one of the speakers at the summit that was organised by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), also said the fear of persecution after office makes it difficult for a sitting president to relinquish power.
“Let’s create an environment where people will believe there’s life after office. That if you leave office you should not be persecuted. The way we manage ourselves as sitting presidents and former presidents matter. The first line is to reduce what will make a sitting president afraid to leave the office. Africans sometimes, we are our problem because we always think our presidents are little gods.
That somebody is president does not mean he is God. We have a tradition of praise-singing. We tend to give our presidents name they don’t deserve”, he added.
At the occasion, some African leaders, led by President of Niger and Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government Mahamadou Issoufou and former Liberian President, Amos Sawyer had paid tribute to Jonathan for leaving office voluntarily and masterminding peaceful power transition after the 2015 general elections that brought the incumbent Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari into office, describing it as an exemplary show of leadership that should motivate those in power.
Warning African leaders to adhere strictly to the constitutional period in office, Issoufou stressed that term limits strengthen democratic institutions and promote peaceful power transfers from one administration to another, the Nigerien President pledged to himself to the two terms stipulated by his country’s constitution.
Similarly, former Liberian President, Amos Sawyer lauded Jonathan for setting what he called a democratic example by peacefully handing over power to his successor. Sawyer described the former president as a remarkable man who did not let his ambition becloud his sense of patriotism, saying “Former President Jonathan is a remarkable gentleman, for what he did for Nigeria; he did not do a second term; he an showed example. He handed over power peacefully”.
However, Jonathan deviated a bit from cheery remarks when he observed that “A former president has to be careful in commenting on national issues; otherwise you become a nuisance to society. Because having been the president of the country for a period of time, there are information available to you; you do not always expect a sitting president to do things exactly the way you do, and sometimes, when you try to comment on national issues, of course, there are people that will defend the president.
Sometimes, they leave the subject-matter and begin to castigate some aspects of your administration they observed weaknesses in, to divert the attention of the general public from the issue”.
“Former presidents should make comments from time-to-time on our national issues, but it should be issues that are quite critical; issues you think, you will not be able to reach out to the president; if you reach the president and have conversations with him, you do not need to go to the media and discuss the issues otherwise you will create more problems in your country.
In Nigeria, we have this platform; the council of state that former presidents belong to, it could be a good platform to discuss issues. I do not advise that a former president should be active in political commentary; it will create more problems than solving the problem’’, Jonathan stressed.
From the summary of the comments made by Jonathan, three things can be pointed out. First, there is a need to stop praise-sing African leaders. Secondly, the media and civil society organisations should continue to serve as watchdogs and uphold accountability in governments.
Thirdly, past presidents should avoid commenting on sensitive state matters after leaving office because it causes distractions for incumbents. Frankly speaking, I both agree and disagree with the position of the former president.
The critical question to ask is what encourages praise-singing? Many leaders themselves promote praise-singing because when they get into office, they detest criticism. They hate to hear anyone speak anything negative about their government. All they want to hear is sweet talk!
“We tend to over-praise sitting presidents and make them think they are little gods. When they begin to make a sitting president think he is God, and he is the only person that can run the affairs of the nation; then the person will be there; nobody removes God. When you make a president feel he is god, don’t expect him to leave.
The media and civil society must continue to admonish characters that make presidents think they are the best thing to happen. That you are president does not mean you are better than others. We citizens of this continent create little gods”, Jonathan had added.
Why people avoid telling truth to power is that no matter how sincere, objective and useful such criticism is, those who hold such are tagged as enemies that should be silenced, hunted and persecuted. In the end, except those that are ready to die for the truth, what African leaders continue to hear are only the things they want to hear and promoting sycophancy, eye-service, and nepotism.
Media outlets and civil society groups that are not on the side of government are labeled as opposition and sponsored by perceived enemies of the government in power.
We recall that under the Jonathan administration too, there were forceful seizures of newspapers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos while distribution vans were stopped and searched in different parts of the country, as wrappers of the tabloids were stripped-off and copy confiscated.
The truth is that good governance can only be established when praise-singing is discouraged and when the media and civil society are alive to their responsibilities.
Leaders and past presidents should not relent in speaking up when things are going wrong. This is where I disagree with Jonathan. Past leaders should speak up when things are falling apart. They should not only exercise their fundamental right to, but they should always be opinion leaders in society. More importantly, the leadership recruitment process should be transparent, seamless and honest enough to breed quality leaders badly needed to speak fearlessly and turn around things for the nation.
That is how to make a difference as leaders. This is an obligation that Jonathan owes our country by telling truth to power.
Folashade Adefisayo, Lagos State commissoner for Education
By Oji Odu
Teachers in Lagos state public schools are living in fear. They are afraid of attacks from their former Senior Secondary (SS 2) students who failed their promotional examinations into SS3 recently. The students who had protested the massive failure in some schools, dropping charms at school gates, have vowed to take it more personal with some of their teachers.
What were the sins of the teachers? Did they not teach the students well enough to pass their examinations? Did they, in other ways, contribute to their failure? Are the students showing the society what it has turned to?
The Source’s visit and findings at Ajegunle Senior Secondary School, along Ikorodu road, Lagos, which was relocated to Mile 12 due to the flood problems in Ajegunle, revealed that for the pro-activeness of the school principal and authority, the students would have been among those that protested and vandalized school properties.
Getting wind of plans by some of the involved SS2/SS3 students not only to disrupt school activities, but to vandalise property and pour ‘water’ in the staff room if they failed, the principal was said to have made haste and reported the plans to Ketu Police Station.
The Police have been at alert ever since to avert any violence. He also called for an emergency meeting with all parents of the students, mandating them to write an undertaking to take responsibility for their children/wards actions.
In a chat with the Magazine, a parent of one of the students known simply as Taiwo, was full of regrets at what the society has turned the students into. “Although I praise the Lagos State government for the free education for the children, I fault the system in the area that does not allow them to be punished for most offences.
“ In this school, I learnt that the said SS2 students are notorious for gross disobedience, and they always go Scott free for most offences committed. Do you know that the other day, I learnt that a female teacher came to teach them and they walked her out, while booing at her, singing and drumming on their desks? What is the world turning into?,” he asked.
Confirming the story, the Magazine further learnt that students from the said notorious stream of SS2 stopped their biology teacher and some others from giving them notes after teaching.
A student who craves anonymity told the magazine: “They said they are tired to copy notes, and would rather make their own notes. Sometimes, they can decide and pretend to be sleeping if they don’t want to learn so as to force the teacher out of their class. Some of them were among those that failed.”
In his reaction, a teacher in the school who also does not want his name in print said they cannot do much about the situation because they are careful not to discipline the students so as not to go against what the state government says.
“I am here to teach, and I try very well to do my best. Any child that wants to learn, it is left for him or her. We teachers are also careful with these children some of whom have allegedly joined one cult group or another. Otherwise, how can they threaten to pour ‘water’ (or acid) in the staff room?,” he asked
He regretted that parents are also heavily to blame for this lapse. Which child fails examinations these days? “Parents are ready to pay some compromising teachers to make sure their children pass exams. That is why they can protest when they fail even to the extent of shamelessly threatening hell and brimstone, even barricading the school entrance with charms,” he added.
Determined to reduce the promotion of ‘incompetent’ pupils from SSS II to SSS III, the Lagos state Ministry of Education implemented a new policy. The policy states that for a student in SSS II to be promoted to SSS III and for the state to pay the West African Examination Council fees, the student must pass the third term examination, especially mathematics and English language.
Besides passing English and Mathematics, the scripts were also taken to different schools for marking and grading, contrary to the previous method where a cumulative of first, second and third term results guaranteed promotion.
The new method, the Magazine learnt, resulted into mass failure in some of the secondary schools, especially schools in Education District III. This led to the statewide protests by the affected students who vandalised the schools and threatened their teachers and principals.
At Alaro Community High School, Epe on Friday, the protesting students locked out the teachers and others. When the teachers and other students got to the school in the morning, they discovered fetish substances at the gate. They included a dog head attached to other animals’ bodies and a red cloth tied to palm fronds. The red cloth was spread on top of the gate while the dog head and other fetish substances were placed under the gate.
It took courage from some of the teachers to remove the charms while praying with their Bibles and Koran. “If anybody wants to protest, let them go to Alausa. Don’t bring it to Alaro. We are not the one that failed them. Go and meet the Commissioner of Education. Why should they come and put ‘juju’ to kill other pupils and staff here?,” a teacher said while removing the charm.
Speaking on the development, the Public Affairs Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Kayode Sutton, regretted the situation he described as rather unfortunate.
He said: “Generally, there is a benchmark for pupils in Lagos public schools that nobody should go below. It now happened that the majority of schools in District 111 fell below the benchmark and most of the affected pupils felt that the benchmark should be reduced to favour them.
“They agitated and did whatever they did contrary to the rules governing the conduct of learning and education in Lagos State. When there is a benchmark, it has to be strictly adhered to.
“If any pupil fails to meet up with the benchmark, the pupil deserves to fail or repeat the class. In that instance, the schools did the necessary thing. The pupils will not dictate to the schools or government. This is not a witch-hunt. It is not that we don’t want any pupil to proceed to the next class, but we want the best for them and the state.”
James Akin, an educationist, expressed sadness on the unfortunate development. He rather queried the reason why the state government had to wait until after the long vacation for the SS2 students to sit for their promotional examinations.
“ Was it a method of purposely making some fail? If it was, it is indeed regrettable. I don’t think it is right. This fracas could have been averted if the exams were taken before the holidays. This is not the right way of training our future leaders.
“These are children and could easily be irrational in their behavior. Remember, these adolescents are passing through a period of storm and stress. They need to be guided properly to adulthood. Let us not dent their life by our actions, and let policy makers stop exposing the teachers to unnecessary problems and dangers,” he said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, policies on bank deposits and loans appears to have inspired a culture of currency hoarding by Nigeria’s big spenders and merchants. Besides, the bank Verification number, BVN, and the Treasury Single Account, TSA, have resulted in currency hoarding. Many large transactions in high-brow areas are conducted in cash, resulting in what is being described in some quarters as raw cash deal.
Investigations by this magazine show that many contracts in highbrow Ikoyi and Lekki are transacted in Cash. In fact, many buildings house unorthodox warehouses of buried cash, the magazine was told. “If you have money, try and buy properties in Lekki”, the Magazine was told. “Chances are that if the owners of some properties die, whoever buys such properties will be sitting on gold mines. It will not be surprising if people dig out oodles of dollars when laying the foundation of buildings in the new properties they just bought. Nobody is interested in banking anymore”.
The EFCC has a standing rule with banks to the effect that any cash lodgment of half a million Naira and above must be reported to the anti-graft Agency. For any sudden amount running into millions, the bank is required to send the customer with a note to EFCC to explain the source of sudden wealth.
It has been found out that many contracts are paid for in cash. “Hilux pick up vans are used to transport cash and the client simply counts the cash and takes for any job being executed. Most of the jobs are construction jobs, and the cost runs into hundreds of millions of Naira- or millions of dollars”, a source had told the magazine over the weekend.
Recently, the CBN has given orders that both deposits and withdrawals above half a million will attract charges, and Banks are being compelled to give loans to Nigerians, with financial penalties for defaulting Banks. “A friend narrated how he could not withdraw from his account because of a financial transaction that deposited thirty five million in his account. Ordinary thirty five million oo! He was referred to the Bank Manager who insists he must go to EFCC to clarify himself”, says a source.
Nigerians, in their hundreds, have accused both the Police Service Commission and the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, of insensitivity to the security problems which have engulfed Nigeria. They accuse them of playing the Roman Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burnt.
They say they are like people pursing rats while their houses are on fire. And those who spoke to this magazine are not only angry; they are also putting the blame for the mess at the feet of the Presidency, as represented by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Their anger stems from the confusion and mess which have become the recruitment of 10,000 Police Constables approved by President Buhari to help take care of the security situation which has gradually progressed from bad to worse.
When Buhari approved of the recruitment, it was in the hope that they would be used for Community Policing.
But since the approval, and since the recruitment started, it has been enmeshed in controversy, in-fighting, ego trip, power play and more, between the Police Service Commission and the Force Headquarters.
The fight is over whose right it is to recruit the Constables – PSC or the NPF.
Constitutionally, the PSC has oversight functions over the Police. The appointment, promotion and discipline of every policeman/officer, except that of the IGP, is under the PSC.
Musiliu Smith, Chairman, Police Service Commission.
The appointment of the IGP rests with the President, and the Police Council which confirms him after the President’s appointment. Meaning that the PSC, through its Chairman, who is a member of the Police Council, also, has a say in the confirmation of who becomes the IGP.
The current problem between the PSC and the Force H/Q which has grounded the recruitment of the 10,000 Constables has no precedence. Usually, every recruitment is done by the PSC , in conjunction with the Police. Indeed, every policeman is an employee of the PSC.
There has never been an argument over recruitment since it’s done by both, until now when IGP Adamu and his management team suddenly insisted that it is the job of the Police to recruit.
The Police are saying that ‘to appoint’, does not mean ‘to recruit’. They say the PSC’s job is to issue letters of appointment after the recruitment. The Police is citing the Police Act. But the PSC is citing the Constitution, which is superior to the Act, and so over-rides it.
The surprising thing is that both did the recent recruitment together, as has always been the case. But thereafter, the PSC accused the Police, of deceiving it by cunningly, taking the list of recruits from it, boycotted the Commission, and on its own, invited successful applicants for medicals.
The PSC protested, and called the Police to order. The Commission’s protest was met by a deafening silence from the Police. The Police worsened the situation by releasing the names of successful candidates, to the shock of the PSC.
In response to the affront, the Commission queried the DIG, Training, Yakubu Jubrin. But the IGP stopped him from answering to the query. Instead, he wrote to the PSC, saying the DIG acted on his instructions.
Things have since been happening in quick succession. The DIG has dragged the Commission to court, challenging its right to query him. The Commission has, also, gone to court, challenging what it calls the Police’s impunity. At a point, angry PSC staff, taken aback by the Police’s action, stopped work, locked their offices, and effectively grounded Police activities as they concerned retirement, promotions and discipline.
And, a few days ago, the PSC Chairman, Musilisu Smith, IGP, rtd, wrote a letter to the President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, protesting the brazen impunity by the Police. He accused them of forcefully taking away the job of the PSC.
The Police, which released the results and asked successful candidates to proceed to training, inspite of a court injunction which restrained them, perhaps, based on Smith’s letter, suddenly asked them to hold on, and wait for the final approval of the list from the IGP, who was out of the country at the time it was released.
But reports say they stopped the candidates because the Presidency may have intervened in the needless mess. Nigerians are not amused.
They say that if, indeed, the Presidency intervened, it took forever to do so. Said a retired police officer who does not want to be identified: “This mess should not have been allowed to last this long. The Presidency should have called both parties to order.
From the beginning, both parties do recruitment together, why should this be different now? We have security challenges. The Police have a shortage of manpower, and these guys are fighting over nothing. The Presidency is to blame. It should put its house in order.
A word from the President, and this nonsense would have long been sorted out. But he was indifferent, as if it doesn’t matter. It matters very much as it would also help take 10,000 youths off the unemployment market. But he kept quiet and allowed them to mess him up. In any other country, heads would have rolled”.
But even the list released by the Police has come under heavy criticism by a number of Nigerians, including States. They are accusing the Police of rubbishing the Federal character, and corrupting the list of candidates.
The PSC insists the list of successful candidates released by the Police is a shame. They say over 300 of those whose names appeared on the list neither applied for recruitment, nor took the examination. Meaning: they are strange names used to substitute the names of those who applied, took the examination, and passed. It’s corruption and one of the reasons the Police should not be allowed to recruit, a PSC staff told this magazine. The PSC, also, revealed that the principle of federal character was not adhered to.
On that, two state governments – Borno and Bauchi – have protested, alleging they were short-changed. Other states are warming up to do the same.
Police recruitment, in recent years, has been on local government basis. Each LGA gets equal number of recruits. Kano state, with 44 LGAs, always got the highest number, while Bayelsa State with only eight LGAs always got the least.
In the released list, that was not case. Nasarawa state, the home state of both the IGP and the DIG Training, with 13 LGAs , only, got the lion’s share of 528 recruits. The question: On what basis?
Not a few people are, therefore, accusing IGP Adamu and DIG Jibrin of brazen nepotism. “How can Nasarawa state have more number of recruits than even Kano state?”, asked an angry Usman Abulraheem from Kano state.
As if that was not enough, the allegation is strong that over 240 recruits from Nasarawa did not apply for recruitment. The questions then are: Who recruited them? If they did not apply, how did their names appear?
The PSC and a number of people are also accusing the IGP of encouraging insubordination. “By asking DIG Jubrin not to reply the query from the PSC, the IGP is clearly encouraging insubordination to constituted authority. The PSC was right to have queried him. He should respond,” advanced a retired DIG.
He was also shocked that IGP Adamu, who was a Superintendent of Police, SP, when the Chairman of the PSC, Musilusi Smith, was the IGP, “could treat Smith with so much disrespect.”
But a number of serving Police officers told this magazine that as soon as Smith was appointed the PSC Chairman, they knew there would be a problem. Said one ASP, “It was during his tenure as the IGP that some Policemen went on strike. Our promotions were affected. Now, as the Chairman of the PSC, there is trouble and, again, our promotions are being delayed. There must be something wrong with his administrative competence”.
Worried by the situation, former IGPs, led by the immediate past Chairman of the PSC, Mike Okiro, are trying very hard to broker peace between the PSC and the Force Headquarters.
Whether that will work is a long shot. For now, it seems that only the court action instituted by the PSC, or a decisive pronouncement by the Presidency, would solve the problem. For now, as the saying goes, the sh.t has already hit the fan.
The Police Service Commission on Monday, announced the appointment of six Deputy Inspectors General of Police. Two of them; however are to proceed on pre-retirement leave. The remaining four are to replace the four retired DIGs and also form part of the IGPs Management team made up of seven DIGs.
The new DIGs, according to a statement by Ikechukwu Ani, the Commission’s spokesperson are: Abdul Dahiru Danwawu, Lawal Shehu, Adeyemi Samuel Ogunjemilusi, Peter Babatunde Ogunyanwo, all former AIGs, and Alex Okpara and Celestine Okoye, former CPs. DIG Ogunjemilusi and DIG Okpara are to proceed on pre-retirement leave.
The Commission also approved the promotion of 14 Commissioners of Police to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police. They are: Yunana Babas, Dan-Malam Mohammed, Mua’zu Zubairu Halilu, Rabiu Yusuf, Sanusi Nma Lemu, Ahmed Iliyasu, Mohammed Uba Kura, Zaki M. Ahmed, and Gwandu Haliru Abubakar.
Others are: Zama Bala Senchi, presently CP, Jigawa State Command, Bello A. Sadiq, Austin Iwero Agbonlaho, Lawan Ado, former CP, Kwara State Command and currently Commandant Police College, Kaduna and Bashir Makama.
The appointments and promotions were the highpoints of the Commission’s 6th Plenary Meeting held in Abuja on Friday, October 18th and chaired by Musiliu Smith, Chairman of the Commission.
The promotions which were also extended to other officers-cadre come as a breather to the officers whose promotions had been delayed over the face-off between the PSC and the Police.
The Imama Amakapabo tutored home based Super Eagles have crashed out from the qualification series of the 2020 African Nations Championship in Cameroon.
The Super Eagles Team B failed to overturn the 4-1 defeat it suffered in the hands of the Squirrels of Benin Republic in Cotonou a forthnight ago.
Goals from Sikiru Alimi in both halves of the encounter couldn’t secure qualification for the Super Eagles
Team B as the match ended 2-0 at the Agege Township Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria, to secure a 4-3 aggregate score for their fellow West African neighbor, Benin Republic.
With this result, the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the CHAN tournament, the first time since inception.
The match started with the Super Eagles Team B opening scoring as early as the ninth minute to give the vociferous Lagos crowd a ray of hope.
Sadly, the team went blank all through the entire half, despite attacking their opponents.
The Benin Republic team remained resolute in defence, foiling every attack by their host.
The Nigerian side had to wait for 61 minutes before increasing their lead to 2-0.
The crucial goal that could have sealed their passage into the next round eluded them till the referee blasted the final whistle to signal an end to the journey of the Super Eagles Team B in the 2020 CHAN qualifiers campaign.
