Customs Gives Relief To IDP Camps

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May 10, 2018

By Stephen Ubanna

Until last Friday, May 4, 2018, there was no sign that the Nigeria Army Corps of Supply and Transport, NACST, saddled with the responsibility of transporting relief materials from Customs Formations across the country would be coming to the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos.

This is because of the news making the rounds that Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, had given the nod to the NACST to get its trucks ready to resume operation of transporting relief materials from the Customs warehouses to the Camps.

Ali, the Comptroller General may have been encouraged to invite the NACST to resume operation of transporting the relief materials from Customs warehouses across the country based on reports of what is found in the warehouse and reports of some of the Area Comptrollers intimating the Comptroller general of the quantities of rice, Vegetable Oil and second hand clothing and shoes in their warehouses ready for evacuation because of their limited lifespan.

Insiders told the Magazine that the Customs boss has a record of all the items seized by the various Customs Formations which are in a position to do so . This is because the Comptroller of every Customs Command which made seizures was expected to forward the details within 24 hours to the Comptroller General for.’ necessary action”.

A source at Customs Headquarters told the Magazine that Muhammmed Uba Garba, Comptroller, FOU, Zone A, and the arrowhead of anti-smuggling in the south west geo-political zone has kept to the policy of ensuring that seizures made by the Command were communicated to the Headquarters without defaulting.

A source at the Customs Headquarters confirmed that Muhammed, the FOU, Zone A, Comptroller had set the ball rolling when he informed the Comptroller general of the large quantities of seized perishable items in the Customs Warehouse at Ikeja , ready for evacuation.

the Comptroller may have taken the initiative to invite the Comptroller General because of the speed at which the various patrol and Surveillance teams of the Commands and at those at the approved Checkpoints in the south west which is under the Command jurisdiction were churning in intercepted goods from smugglers.

Smuggled rice donated to IDP camps by customs

The Source learnt the FOU, Zone Customs hardly waste time in mobilizing the Command legal Unit to prepare the necessary legal document to file a case at the Ikeja High Court to obtain judgement over the seized items. It was gathered that sometimes , the judgments had been in favour of the Command as evident in the Court Condemnation of the impounded goods and subsequent seizure and forfeiture to government.

It is not surprising why he has made more seizures of prohibited items banned from coming into the country from the land border areas such as rice, Vegetable Oil and Vehicles that any past Comptroller of the Command. A source confirmed that the items that had been prepared for evacuation by the NACST were items seized between July and September, 2017.

An insider account give the figure as 25,318 bags of ”50” bags of foreign parboiled rice, 3,366 of 25 litres jerrry Cans of Vegetable Oil and an additional 175 gallons of five litres variation.

With the approval said to have been given to the NACST to resume carrying of relief materials from Customs warehouses across the country to the established IDP Camps in the north east and Edo, in the south- south geo-political zone, by the Customs Comptroller General, Azarema. A., an Assistant Comptroller General, Customs Headquarters was said to have been mandated to write the Customs Area Comptrollers of Sokoto, Ogun, Seme, Kaduna/Katsina, Kano/Jigawa, Oyo/Osun, FOU, Zone A , Zone B, Zone C and Zone D, among others to gather their materials ready for the NACST to carry on arrival to their Commands .

Insiders told the Magazine that the Comptrollers did not hesitate in tidying up their records and waited for the final directive from the Headquarters to act. source confirmed that the FOU, Zone A, Command got its notification letter of evacuation of the seized goods in the Customs Warehouse, Ikeja by the NACST to the IDP cAMP in Borno state.

the Comptroller General may have allocated the FOU, Zone A, seizures to the north eastern state of Borno, which is where the government has the largest concentration of IDPs by the Islamic Fundamentalist group, BokoHaram.

The Source learnt that the Command got its letter on April 16, 2018, to prepare to receive the NACST soldiers and their trucks coming to take delivery of the Condemned items from the Customs WareHouse to the IDP Camp in Borno.

It was gathered that the Command had provision for seizures made between July and September comprising of 25,000 ”50kg bags of foreign rice, vegetable Oil, secondhand clothing and shoes. The Magazine cited some of the heavy duty trucks on Wednesday, May 11, 2018, at the Ware House axis, Ikeja waiting to load. The seized items in other Customs warehouses across the country were said to have been allocated to other IDP Camps in Adamawa and Edo states.

the decision to deliver relief materials to the IDPs Camps was not a Customs initiative. It was said to have been informed, according to a source to a Presidential directive to Ali, the Customs boss to supply all the seized rice and other items in its warehouses across the country that had been condemned and now government property to the IDPs in January 2016.

Joseph Attah, a Deputy Comptroller and Customs Spokesman had confirmed that between 2016 and 2017, 22 months to be precise, the Customs alone had supplied 252,666 bags of 50kg bags of foreign parboiled , which was loaded into 421 trucks and transported by the NACST to the IDPs Camps. This is inaddition to Vegetable Oil, second hand clothing and shoes. The supplied relief materials to the IDPs Camps was valued at about NN3.8 billion. The FOU, Zone was said to have made a significant contribution to supplies to the IDP s Camp within the period.

Many believe that the contribution of relief material that would be made to the IDPs would far greater this year. this is evident by the seizures that had been made by the Command comprising of rice, Vegetable and secondhand clothing and shoes within the last four moths which stockpiled in the Ikeja Customs warehouse.

Tramadol: A killer Drug

By

Steve Ubana

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May 10, 2018

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By Stephen Ubanna

When Aminu Dahiru, an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs and Coordinator of Nigeria Customs Service, Zone A, Lagos cried out loud last April that tramadol, one of the pain relief drugs allegedly processed with Codeine by an India Pharmaceutical Company and pushed to the Nigeria market was having a negative effect on youths in the north many people did not believe him. They dismissed his claim, insisting that it is like every other pain relief drug manufactured by Pharmaceutical companies in the country.

But Dahiru knew what he was talking about. He knew that tramadol has severe adverse reactions on users which include seizures and potentially fatal reaction called serotonin syndrome. This is in addition to the dangerous side effect of a fast heart beat, difficulty breathing, convulsions, lightheadedness, unusual drowsiness, confusion and coma.. . Youths in in the northern states of Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Adamawa and Yobe who take tramadol are said to experience these problems .

Insiders told the Magazine that Muhammed Uba Garba, a one- time Comptroller of Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone C, Owerri, Imo state, and now Comptroller of FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, may have created much of the awareness about the dangers of tramdol to those who use it. He was said to have appealed to youths in Imo state and other states in the south east and south- south geo-political zones to keep away from tramadol because of what may come out of it after usage.He was said to have cited depression,, agitation, diarrhea, numbness in the extremities, ringing in the ears, hallucinations and paranoia among other effects.

A close source confirmed that he made a seizure of 903 cartons of tramadol which was said to have been loaded into trucks between March and May 2017. It could not be ascertained whether the drugs were released from Onne sea port in Port Harcourt, Rivers or the ports of Apapa or Lagos and trans-loaded from the Container into trucks to the east. The good news , however,was that the Command operational team never allowed the importers to push it into the market which may have fallen into the hands of young men and women who use drugs in order to be aggressive at all times..

The Magazine learnt that the tramadol importers did not find it funny as they came after the officer that was said to have laid the operation to intercept their trucks. Fully armed, they were said to have invaded their hotel premises at Owerri and shot sporadically at the team leader’s window but luck ran out of them as three of the hoodlums were said to have been gunned down.

The action of the drug barons may have forced the officer, who led the team to call for reinforcement from the Federal anti-robbery Rapid Response Squad, FARRS, to step in to calmthe situation.

The attack by the drug barons on the officers may have opened Muhammed’s eye that there is more to it. It is not surprising when he was deployed to FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, May, 2017, his attention was focused much more on tramadol imports.

Having known that some Nigerian Pharmaceutical importers may have shifted base to the Asian country of India to import tramadol which are shipped to Nigeria through any of the country’s seaporthe kept a close tab at cargoes released at the ports.

Between July and December, 2017, the FOU, Zone A Command made a seizure of 3 449 cartons of tramadol at the first instance. The drugs were said to have been loaded into four Containers and trucks as well.

The repeated seizure of the tramadol drugs may have opened the eyes of other Comptrollers, particularApapa and Tincan Island port to tighten up the irnoose on cargoes imported through their ports to ensure that tramadol was not released mistakenly from the seaport. It is not surprising why both Apapa and Tincan Island had made seizures of tramadol in the recent time. Last January Apapa Command made seizures of tramadol whileon Tuesday May 8, Tincan can Island Command made a seizure of a ”40” and ”20” Containers load of tramadol Hydrochloride.

indeed, the seizure of tramadol in the country may have opened the eyes of officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, NAFDAC, to go after Pharmaceutical Companies which produce drugs including cough syrups with codeine. Emzor Pharmaceuticals limited and two other firms became a victim. The Companies were forcefully closed down.

Giving reasons to justify the closure of the Pharmaceutical firms , NAFDAC officials had claimed that the Companies: Emzor , Peace Standard Pharmaceuticals ltd and OBIORAJ, were closed due to their due to their inability to provide required documents on their use of codeine during a recent. inspection of their facilities.

The repeated instances of tramadol seizures in the country may have forced the government to finally ban the use of codeine in the production of cough syrup by pharmaceutical companies in the country.This is in addition to the ban on the importation of cough syrups, containing codeine from foreign Pharmaceutical Companies. many see the ban as a big blow to tramadiol importers who may have placed order for the item from their oversea suppliers.

The three Companies that were closed down by NAFDAC, were said to have been indicted by a british Broadcasting Corporation, BBC documentary on the abuse of codeine -based cough syrups, especially in the northern part of the country. Already, the Customs has been given the nod to impound cough syrups suspect to contain codeine in the country.

Also, Isaac Adewale, a Professor and minister for Health was said to have given NAFDAC and other agencies of the ministry to be on the alert to forestal the banned drugs from coming into the country through the land border station or the seaport. They have one option, analyst suggest to regularly raid the Phharmaceutical outlets to assess what is in their drug shelves. .

Ebola: Eventual land fall in Nigeria may spiral out of control

By

Uche Mbah

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May 10, 2018

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For the ninth time, Ebola epidemics strike the Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing trepidation to the numbed psyches of Congolese. As at last count, seventeen people are said to have died in the outbreak as health officials battle a disease that conspiracy theorists insist are part of depopulation globalist agenda aimed at black Africa. The last time it was in Liberia, a Liberian American, Patrick Sawyer, brought it to Nigeria by registering as a participant in a health conference in Calabar, but was quarantined in a private hospital. He died of Ebola, taking with him the lives of senior medical personnel in the hospital.

The last time it was in DRC was in 2017.

“Our country is facing another epidemic of the Ebola virus, which constitutes an international public health emergency. We still dispose of the well trained human resources that were able to rapidly control previous epidemics,” their Health ministry said in a statement.

The narrative is that Ebola, which is characterized by hemorrhagic fever, is spread by baths which are healthy carriers, and monkeys. It is said to also be spread through bush meat, but it is silent on whether it originates from them.

With the current spread, fears of it spilling over to Nigeria heightened, with the Federal Airports Authority, FAAN, assured of safety through the Airports. According to the General Manager, Corporate Affairs of the Authority, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, said that since the first recorded case of the virus in Nigeria, through an American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, the Authority has not relaxed its surveillance at the airports to forestall any re-occurrence.

“We have always had thermal scanners in our airports that monitor temperature of passengers and capture their pictures. We still have hand sanitizers in our restrooms too. When passengers walk pass the scanners, it registers their temperature. If yours is high, you are pulled aside for observation,” she said. According to her, all relevant agencies, including the Port Health Services have been mobilized and are collaborating effectively to ensure the safety of passengers and airport users at all time.

Easier said than done. The Federal government said it has directed security to be beefed up at Airports. But with the level this alleged disorganized blame-prone government appears less concerned about health issues, it is not clear what measures have been put in place to secure land borders.

Recently, the treat of cerebrospinal meningitis that is known to be a seasonal disease was difficult for the government to handle, with the usual excuses flying about while patients were dying. Analysts believe that if Ebola breaks out today, it will be a very bad case as all health workers are on strike. Health workers were also on strike in 2014 when it broke, but with the determination of the health ministry, in collaboration with World Health Organization, WHO, it was easily contained. “This time, many in the ministry are hoping for the epidemic for them to make maximum financial leverage from international donor organizations”, a source from the ministry told this magazine. Private hospitals maybe used again, but that can only work if the disease did not enter through the Northern part of the country, where the borders are porous and private facilities are few and far between.

Infinix Signs Davido

By

Akinwale Kasali

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May 10, 2018

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By Akinwale Kasali

Few days after acquiring a Bombadier Challenge private Jet worth over N9.7 billion, David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly known as Davido has been signed on by Infinix Mobility Limited as their brand ambassador.

The unveiling of Davido as the brand ambassador was held at at the illustrious Radisson Blu Hotel.

One of the leading smartphone makers, INFINIX Mobility Limited, has distinguished itself from its competitors with its tech, bold, stylish brand persona which is a perfect mixture of technology and art. This has appealed to its target audience immensely and its “The future is now” mantra has also encouraged its young fans to be creative and be productively efficient in their various fields of specialisation.

Davido’s musical career has been nothing short of amazing. From chart topping singles, awards, groundbreaking records, worldwide tours to global recognition, this was yet another major milestone attained for the singer as he was all smiles today while putting pen to paper to be the new face of INFINIX Mobility Limited.

Speaking at the media unveiling, Infinix Marketing Communications Manager, Mr. Adetayo Odunowo, re-echoed the brand’s innovative culture from its formative years till date.

He spoke about the unveiling and Infinix commitment to continually give their budding fans what they want and when they want it.

“Apart from consistently dishing out world-class gadgets, we at INFINIX Mobility Limited, understands that our fans are young trend setters and so is Davido’s fans and since we are a brand that is known over the years as bold and stylish, bringing Davido in as part of the team was a welcome development from all of us at INFINIX Mobility Limited,” Odunowo reiterated.

Infinix being one of the leading smartphone makers and Davido as one of the biggest music artistes to emanate from Africa in recent times. It’s no coincidence that they have come together to form a cohesive partnership

They are both trendsetters who possess a similar fan base that are built to challenge the norm with their ideas and line of work. They are both tech savvy entities that have built their reputation on the emphasis for top-notch delivery, Infinix through their smartphones and Davido through his music.

While both entities also possess an International reach that is continually expanding, this news is poised to set off a ripple effect of excitement through the minds of smartphone and music lovers.

It would also lead to an expansion in the sales of Infinix smartphones within the marketplace and an increase in demand for Davido’s craft.

Davido took to his twitter handle to announce the arrival of his private jet.

Disclosing the news via @his Twitter account the singer, who emerged as the Artiste of the Year at the Headies award was held last weekend noted, “Air OBO soon land…youngest Nigga with a jet.”

The worth of the jet is value at over N9 billion. But it would be recalled that the singer just last week bought a N45m Porsche car with a customised plate number, ASSURANCE for his girlfriend, Chioma.

Over 2000 Pregnant Women HIV Positive In Lagos

By

Akinwale Kasali

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May 10, 2018

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By Akinwale Kasali

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, revealed that at least 2,131 pregnant women have tested positive to Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV.

Idris gave the statistics while briefing pressmen on activities of the ministry, at Alausa, Ikeja, explained that the $9.6 million grant from donor agencies further assisted in conduct of AIDS indicator survey, implementation and provision of technical support in Epe, Ikorodu and OshodI-Isolo councils.

Idris, added that the number was discovered after conducting test for the pregnant women during their visit to the State-owned medical facilities, while 3,876 children were placed under antiretroviral therapy within the last one year.

According to him, “At least 38,791 pregnant women know their HIV status out of which about 2,131 (HIV positive pregnant women) were enrolled for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission program.

“By the end of 2017, the support provided through Global Fund was able to avail a minimum of 226,768 persons, who were 15-year and above, with free test.” After the test, the commissioner said that 10, 623 persons were discovered living with HIV and placed on treatments in the three councils.

He however, stated that plans had been concluded to establish a Bio-containment and Bio-Safety Laboratory, BSL, in Lagos State, saying, “This will aid accurate and prompt diagnose of highly pathogenic infectious diseases and incidents of environmental toxicity in the state.”

Idris stressed that the Bio-containment and Bio-Safety Laboratory would be sited within the premises of the Lagos Mainland Hospital, Yaba Lagos, with the task to prevent Ebola and other dreaded diseases. He stated that the facility which was being funded with support from the Global Partnership Programme (GPP) Canada, was a fall-out of successful containment of Ebola outbreak in 2004.

According to Idris, bio-samples would be stored in the bio-bank of the Laboratory for medical research and international collaboration on research and discovery.

He said already, the Ministry had partnered the Global Emerging Diseases Treatment Consortium to train identified officers in the State Civil Service on Biosafety, Bio-banking, Biosecurity and Biocontainment, while the design and construction of the Laboratory has been completed and would be installed before the end of June this year for possible take off in July.

2018 World Cup: Rohr’s Headache

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Akinwale Kasali

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May 10, 2018

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By Akinwale Kasali

With less than 35 days to the commencement of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, is having serious nightmare over the injury list of his players that soar to eight, with Las Palmas Football Club midfielder, Oghenekaro Peter Etebo joining the list of injured players.

Before Etebo joining the fray, Rohr has been battling for the recovery of Joel Obi (Torino FC), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Tyronne Ebuehi (ADO Den Haag), Henry Onyekuru (Anderlecht FC), Leon Balogun (Mainz FC), Elderson Echiejile (AS Monaco loanee) and Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor FC).

With these injury list, Rohr is hoping that the players recuperate before the camp of the Super Eagles open for the preparation of the world fiesta.

Rohr had stated that the 35-man list for camping will be released in a few weeks in which some of the players will be dropped after the friendly match against DR Congo later in the month, before the friendlies against England and another country.

The injury worries of the players is a major concern for Rohr, because some of his regulars are also in he treatment room, which could spell doom for the Super Eagles performance at the mundial.

Etebo: His injury, huge concern for Rohr

Etebo will no longer take part in Las Palmas remaining matches in the Spanish league as the Club Desportivo Feirense of Portugal loanee has been sidelined due to the injury worries. Though, Las Palmas has been relegated from the Spanish football top-flight to the second division, but Etebo still plays an important role in the team.

Arsenal FC midfielder, Alex Iwobi has put the injury scare he had against Manchester United and Burnley aside, as he filed out for the Gunners in their 3-1 loss to Leicester City, with his national teammate, Kelechi Iheanacho scored the opener for the foxes to record his third premier league goal for Leicester.

Customs: Tin can command Clears Goods in Six Hours

By

Bayo Bernard

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May 9, 2018

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Generates N104bn

Bayo Bernard

In line with the President Muhammadu Buhari government’s Directive on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, the Tin Can Island command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS has ensure that goods are now cleared from the Tin can ports in less than six hours.

Comptroller Abdullahi Musa, the controller of the command had promised that his officers will ensure a seamless clearance of goods when he assumed duty in the command early this year.

Goods can now be cleared easily without encountering the usual encumbrances at the Tin Can ports, the Controller Musa said while addressing select newsmen in Lagos.

Musa: Ensures seamless clearance of goods. — Cmpt. Baba Musa, Area Controller, NCS, Tin can command

Comptroller Musa also used the opportunity to commend the federal government initiative on export especially agricultural commodities, insisting that the agro policy has started yielding positive results as 45,462 metric tonnes of goods were exported through the port between January to March this year.

The Tin can customs’ boss said, agricultural produce topped the list of exports with 38,517MT of cashew nut, rubber, hibiscus flower, cocoa butter, sesame seed, processed wood, frozen shrimps and processed leather exported within the period.

The Free On Board, FOB value, according to Musa stood at N22.435 billion while 6,945MT of processed and manufactured goods exported during the has FOB value of N6.711 billion.

Empty bottles, biscuit, cigarette, polyethylene, billets, soap, hair cream and tissue paper were among the finished goods exported through the port within this period.

Musa said there was an appreciable improvement of 558.46% in terms of volume and 402.24% in terms of FOB value over 8,140.6MT with FOB of N7.246 billion processed compared to the same period in 2017.

Also, under the same period, the command generated N104.5 billion as against a projection of N116 billion, with a performance rate of 90.09%. The command generated N82.154 billion within the same period in 2017.

The revenue performance, Musa stated is bolstered as a result of establishment of standard operating procedure, blocking of areas of revenue leakages and transformation of revenue collection and reporting system.

‘Tin Can Island Command is committed to the transformation of our revenue collection and reporting system with the implementation of NICIS II with additional functionality which is an upgrade of the NICIS I,’ he said, adding ‘as part of the specific gains with the implementation we have the biometric access system and introduction of a ‘one-stop shop’ which will enable treatment of declarations with valuations, classification and other related clearance issues/queries.’

He said the automation of the cargo examination in the port is designed to ensure transparency in the inspection and there is a further improvement on the vehicle valuation system with the attachment of the Valuation Note issued to the SGD in the system.

‘This will enable a quick verification of assessment and duty payment. Ultimately the full automation of the vehicle valuation will soon be achieved,’ said he.

Comptroller Musa further disclosed that the command seized two containers (1by40 and 1by20) of Tramadol Hydrochloride (225mg) which were declared as electrical static converters and Ciprofloxacin. These were handed over to NAFDAC.

Other seizures include 3by40 containers of e-waste handed over to NESREA; 5by40 containers of second hand clothing and 1by40 container of used tyres. These seized items are prohibited. Musa said N124 million is the total duty paid value of the seized items.

2019: Buhari may dump ambition

By

Uche Mbah

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May 9, 2018

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The second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari may have run into troubled waters due to massive opposition and a health challenge that has become a recurring decimal in his three year sojourn as a democratic president of Nigeria. Currently, Buhari is in London for a “Working” medical checkup-if the Special Adviser to the President, Eta Enang is to be believed-after attending ward congresses in Daura, his home town. It was rumored that during his last visit to the United States, due to rigorous drilling by his handlers to prevent another presidential goof, his sick aged system could not take stress and there was alleged to be a system collapse. He was said to have been adversely affected, and they had to rush him back to London for treatment. Sources indicate that he was advised to stay back for proper treatment but he insisted on coming back for the party congress in Daura. This was said to have sparked outrage within his kitchen cabinet as some believed he is being over stretched and may not survive the rigors of Presidential campaign. But others, whose political survival depend on his re election are said to be adamant.

Buhari’s travel back to the United Kingdom has sparked controversies within the polity. While the Presidency insists that he does not need to transmit any letter to the National Assembly before going, critics are saying otherwise. Particularly critical of the trip is Kola Ologbondiyan, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, spokesperson. “We have nothing against Mr. President’s decision to take care of his ailing health as we are all subject to human frailties, (but) Nigerians detest the deception, lies and beguiling that had trailed the handling of his unabating health issue.”, he said. “Moreover, it is unfortunate that President Buhari would always embark on medical tourism abroad when his administration has completely refused to address the poor state of the health sector in Nigeria, for which medical personnel are currently on strike across the nation.”

Resident doctors have been on strike due to poor conditions of service, which appears t be ignored by the presidency while Buhari jets out to take care of his own health. And despite enormous budgetary allocations, the Aso Rock clinic is bereft of basic medical equipment and drugs, raising questions on what the authorities have done with the allocations. It appears that nobody has even been queried raising doubts about the much touted anti corruption fight of the presidency.

Like the previous trip to London for the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meetings, CHOGM, this trip has a departure date but only a tentative arrival date. Even then, he was also rumored to have gone to London ahead of the meeting to see his doctors.

Despite all these, killings continue unabated in the North east of the country where government seems helpless to tackle the security situation, one of their cardinal campaign promises. The government has been having a running battle with International Organizations that tend not to align with the propaganda being dished out by the presidency. Only recently, the World Bank has faulted the country, saying that Boko Haram is far from defeated.

It appears that most of the current defenders of the Buhari presidency are those who are making a living out of it or those who are part of the government.

With the level of opposition currently faced by the Presidency, Buhari seem to link his confidence with the fact that, contrary to federal character, he surrounded himself with nuclear family members and close associates, who never were part of those that brought him to power. All security Agencies are occupied by one acolyte or the order. Even the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Director of Operations is said to be his niece.

With all these criticisms, Buhari health issues tops the political discourse, with many believing he should go and take care of his health and forget about Presidency. Ologbondiyan appears to have put it succinctly: “We urge the Presidency to note that shrouding the issue of President Buhari’s illness in secrecy, just for political gains, is neither in the interest of the President nor that of our nation at large. Sordidly, the handlers of Mr. President appear to be more concerned about the next election instead of the consequences of a failing health and the blatant breaches of our constitution. The PDP therefore counsels President Buhari to be well guided and take charge of his health challenges. It is however very unfortunate that the President and his handlers had chosen to shroud the issue of his persistent illness in secrecy under a government that prides itself on claims of transparency and integrity”.

UN Verdict: Boko Haram Not Yet Defeated

By

Steve Ubana

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May 9, 2018

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By Stephen Ubanna

In spite of President Muhammadu Buhari’s claim since December, 2015, that the Islamic Fundamentalist , Boko Haram, had been technically defeated, Mohammed Ibn Chambers, a Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Gutrres, for West Africa and the Sahel region said the terrorist group remain a grave threat to the ”stability and survival of people in the Lake Chad region”.

Chambers who spoke at a two-day Lake Chad , governors forum ” for regional Cooperation on Stabilisation,peace-building and sustainable development”, confirmed that the group remain a major threat to the people of Nigeria, Niger and Chad.

Appealing to Buhari and his counterparts in Niger and Chad not to relent in their military Cooperation to rout the insurgents, he advised that the ”fight against the insurgents must be pursued to its logical conclusion.

Given his understanding of terrorist mode of operations in countries affected by terrorists attacks in Asia and the Middle Eaast, he agreed to claims by Lucky Irabor, a Nigerian Major General and Commander of the Multinational Task FoskForce that the BokoHaram insurgents have been weakened militarily. The Multinational Joint Task Force comprise of troops donated by the member countries of the lake Chad region including Cameroun and Republic of Chad.

He is optimistic that with the support of the international Community to the regional Army to ensure that the terrorist group activities in the Lake Chad region are defeated, their activities in the region would soon be a thing of the past.

On the part of Nigeria, former president Goodluck Jonathan and his successor Buhari had several efforts committing huge financial resources to rout the terrorist group in the north east since 1999 and now. Their efforts may not have translated to complete defeat of the Boko Haram fighters because of the repeated penetration of the flash point states to launch attacks and leaving scores of people killed.

The attacks was said too bad in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states , forcing Buhari to give a matching order to the Service Chiefs to relocate their Headquarters to Maiduguri, Capital of Borno state to keep abreast of what is happening in the Boko Haram infested states.

Many believe that without the creation of a new battalion in Borno state and the deployment of more police personnel to the states, the insurgents could have taken a foothold in the region. This is evident going by their near total control of almost half of Borno until Buhari had to rejig the security network that brought in Tukur Buratai and an indigene of Buratai Community in Borno state as the Chief of Army Staff and other Service Chiefs in 2015.

The appointment of Buratai as the Chief of Army Staff, may have given a bite to the war against the insurgents as most of the local government Areas occupied by the insurgents in the north east geo-political zone were recaptured and normalcy restored.. This may have forced the insurgents to resort to guerilla ware fare or what security experts call” operation strike and go”.

The frequent bomb blasts in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states since late 2015, speaks volume about the level of insecurity in the country now. It would be recalled that on May2, 2018, the group suicide bombers detonated bombs in an open market and a Mosque in Mubi town in Adama state, leaving scores of innocent people and Worshippers killed as well as several others wounded .

The bombings in Mubi was said to have occurred just days after Buhari met with President Donald Trump met with his Nigeria counterpart, Buhari, in Washington DC, United States . The promise extracted from the United States President during their meeting about the sale of a dozenA-29 Super Tucano war planes may have given hope of defeating the insurgents.

The US president was said to have reassured him, Buhari, during a bilateral talks while on an official visits to the country recently that the $600 million arms deal has been sealed and could not be reversed. The $600 million warplanes sale, was said to have been held up by Obama, on the allegations of Human Rights violation and extra-judicial killing in the north east by the Army.

The US President, according to security sources, may have been encouraged to take a second look on the reasons why his predecessor took the hard decision not to sale the war planes to Nigeria because of the incessant killing of Christians and other innocent citizens by armed bandits in parts of the country.

Only recently, armed bandits suspected to be BokoHaram fighters who had infiltrated the ranks of the herdsmen in parts of the country, attacked a Catholic Church at Ukpor village in Gwer East local government Area of Benue state killing tens of Worshippers and two Reverend Fathers, which may have irked the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria, NAN, to plan a nation-wide protest, which could not hold because pressure from official quarters.

The Benue s killings by armed herdsmen , appear o have become regular occurrence which had been extended to Niger, Taraba, Nasarawa and Zamfara states. The most recent of the attacks was in Gwaska village in Birnin Gwari local government Area of Kaduna state leaving on its throes over 50 people dead. the armed bandits were said to have come from Dansadu village, in Zamfara state.

Given the spate of attacks in parts of the country by Boko Haram insurgents and armed bandits, there are fears in both official and unofficial circles that the level of insecurity may degenerate which may hamper the 2019 general election in some states of the federation if urgent security measure are not quickly put in place to arrest the trend.

Security sources confirmed that Buhari has ordered Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff and Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector General of police to deploy more of their officers and men to the troubled states to tighten up security.

Moreso, he has directed the Mike Okiro led Police Service Commission , PSC, to recruit 6000 police men , ahead of the 2019 general elections. The police officers source confirmed are to be recruited from the 779 Local government Areas across the country.

Okorocha Dumps APC After Losing Party Structure

By

Chidiebere Onyemaizu

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May 9, 2018

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Uche Nwosu, okorocha's son inlaw and Chief of Staff — Nwosu: Okorocha wants him as Imo next governor

By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
Following last Saturday’s All Progressives Congress, APC’s coup-like ward congresses in Imo state which saw Governor Rochas Okorocha outsmarted by his former political allies in the party, the governor is now reportedly fighting three –pronged battles for political survival.
Governor Okorocha rejected the outcome of the congress which stripped him bare, rendered him a king without kingdom leaving the APC structure in Imo in the hands of his opponents. Except the governor succeeds in getting President Muhammadu Buhari whom he had rushed to Daura to complain to hours after the congress, and the outgoing National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun to order cancellation of the Imo congress results, he may no longer be able to successfully install as governor next year, his anointed successor and son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, at least using the APC platform.
However, irrevocably primed at having Nwosu take over from him, the Imo state governor who is also Chairman of APC Governors Forum, while pulling the strings at the APC National Secretariat and at the presidency to ensure he retrieves back Imo APC, is also shopping for an alternative political platform on which Nwosu could run in the event his loss of APC structure in the state becomes fait accompli. Sources told this Magazine that the governor may fall back on Action Alliance which he funded and supported as a member before his dramatic return to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and subsequent defection to the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA on which platform he won the Imo guber election in 2011 before berthing in APC in 2013.
It is not however clear whether Okorocha will stay back in the APC while his son –in law flies another party’s flag.An ardent supporter of Nwosu who spoke to The source neither denied nor confirmed the alleged moves by the governor to procure alternative platform for him (Nwosu) if it becomes clear that of APC is no longer within reach. “Nothing is impossible in politics but I can assure of one thing; Uche Nwosu is the next governor of Imo state”, he told the Magazine.
Apart from getting Nwosu to run on an existing political platform other than the APC, it has also been learnt that remnant of APC Imo Exco still loyal to the governor, some of his die-hard loyalists and majority of Nwosu’s supporters want Okorocha to immediately form a new party and adopt his son –in law as the Imo guber candidate of party while himself contest the Imo West (Orlu) senatorial election. According to them, this is to demonstrate to the governor’s opponents that he remains the main issue in Imo politics.