Directors in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Civil Service, who were to proceed on compulsory retirement since July 27 having spent eight years at their positions, have stayed put, in contravention to a new rule.

Checks by LEADERSHIP reveal that the no fewer than 500 directors affected by the new rule are yet to comply.

The new stipulation that such affected directors should give way followed the revised Public Service Rule (PSR) and circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, last month to heads of MDAs, directing them to ensure compliance with the new rule and the revised PSR.

The revised PSR was unveiled last month at a public service lecture held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. According to the Head of Service, its implementation kicked off immediately with the launch.

“Following the approval of the revised Public Service Rules by the Federal Executive Council on the 27th of September, 2021 and its subsequent unveiling during the public service lecture during the commemoration of the 2023 Civil Service Week, the PSR has become operational with effect from 27 July, 2023. You are, therefore, to ensure full compliance with all provisions of the Public Service Rules, 2021. Please, ensure strict compliance with the contents of this circular,” the Head of Service stated.

The circular noted that the new rule, which seeks to give room for deputy directors within the Federal Civil Service some of whom have been stagnated on Grade Level 16 for about a decade, to rise to the cadre of director, would see over 500 directors across the civil service on Grade Level 17 who have spent more than eight years in their positions proceed on compulsory retirement.

For instance, following the circular from the Head of Service, the director of Administration, Federal Ministry of Finance, Maria Rufai had in an internal memo, dated August 3, directed affected directors in the ministry to hand over all government official property to the next most senior officer in their respective departments and proceed on immediate retirement.

Consequently, all affected directors were advised to begin the process of documentation with the Administration Department for compulsory retirement by virtue of the section under reference and to formally hand over to the most senior officers in their respective departments as well as surrender all official documents, including Identification Cards as well as official vehicles (if any) before exiting.

Another stipulation contained in the revised PSR is that Permanent Secretaries shall now hold the office for a term of four years which can be renewed upon satisfactory evaluation of performance on the job.

While there seem to be commitments to the directive in the ministries, the required compliance has been in gross deficit in the departments and agencies.

Three directors in the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) have since retired in tandem with the new rule.

Further checks however show that many of the affected directors, especially those in departments and agencies of government have only observed the new rule in the breach.

In one of the anti-graft agencies, it was gathered that all of its five directors affected by this federal government directive are still clinging onto their offices.

Similarly, following a failure to comply with the new policy in the ministry of Information and Culture, a fresh directive was issued on the need for compliance on August 17.

LEADERSHIP recalls that moves to revise the PSR began in August 18, 2011 when the government of President Goodluck Jonathan constituted a Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, headed by former Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye.

The committee submitted its report on April 16, 2012, recommending the reduction in the number of federal agencies from 263 to 161; 38 agencies to be abolished; 52 agencies to be merged, and 14 to revert to departments in ministries, all to reduce cost of governance in the country.

In April 2014, President Jonathan ordered the establishment of a White Paper implementation committee on the report of the committee.

Though a White Paper on the report was issued and published in March, 2014 and was followed by the White Paper Implementation Committee, inaugurated in May, 2014, the succeeding Muhammadu Buhari government, in a curious twist, outrightly suspended all action on the implementation for over six years until it lately began moves in November 2021 towards the implementation of the White Paper with the inauguration of two sub-committees to review the main report and the document proper.

The two sub-committees which were given six weeks to conclude their work and submit reports, came up with the revised PSR which would reset the tenure of federal permanent secretaries and a new retirement directive for directors in MDAs with an implementation date that commenced on July 27, 2023.

Speaking at the inauguration of the two sub-committees in Abuja on November 4, 2021, Boss Mustapha, the immediate past Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), said the non-implementation of the White Paper on the Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies was hugely bleeding the federal government of its scarce resources, adding that one of the areas of concern to successive federal governments “has always been the increasing cost of governance without seeming concurrent productivity in the quality of service delivery.”

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan, had in a circular addressed to all Permanent Secretaries, Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-General for the Federation and Heads of Extra Ministerial Departments to start implementation of the revised public service rule from July 27, 2023.

The revised PSR 020909 stated that “A director or its equivalent by whatever nomenclature it is described in MDAs shall compulsorily retire upon serving eight years on Tenure Policy on the post; and a Permanent Secretary shall hold office for a term of four years and renewable for a further term of four years, subject to satisfactory performance and no more.”

The director of information for the head of the service of the federation, Mohammed Ahmed, who could not give figures on the number of affected directors, said that the rule cuts across all the public services in Nigeria.

Ahmed said as far as a civil servant is up to eight years in any MDA as a director, or whatever nomenclature it is called, he or she must retire and go.

Already, the Ministry of Information and Culture has issued a fresh circular directing directors affected by the new Public Service Rule (PSR) 2021 to immediately exit the service.

In a circular addressed to “All Directors/Heads of Unit” of the Ministry of Information on behalf of the Permanent Secretary by Ms. Equere E (HRM), the affected directors were instructed to hand over to their next in line following the revised PSR.

A nation’s national power comes in both tangible and intangible components. A strong and virile military force is a credible and tangible addition to a nation’s power and when combined with intangible components like strong economy and national will, a nation’s national power becomes effective. The place of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) as a key instrument of national power is cast in stone and cannot be overemphasized. At the international and regional level, it stands tall through its numerous award-winning escapades in the enforcement of peace and security. In the past 60 years, the AFN has committed well-over 200,000 troops to various peacekeeping commitments around the world.

Back home in Nigeria, it continues to confront the threats posed by terrorists operating in the North as well as other non-state actors operating in other parts of the country. Through its efforts, several terrorists have been neutralized with over 130,000 surrendering en masse alongside their families. No wonder then that Global Firepower, a statistics-based website tracking defence-related information of countries worldwide, rated the AFN as the 4th most powerful military in Africa and 35th in the world.

Despite these efforts and recognition, its abysmal treatment back home by some Nigerians can aptly be described as sad and unfortunate. The support and encouragement it deserves from the Nigerian public after successful operations or whenever it faces fatalities or mishaps is well below expectation unlike what obtains in other climes.  In other countries, public support is a key factor considered before committing troops to combat. Ample evidence also exists to buttress the fact that the public opinion environment shapes the way military operations are justified and, in some cases, the way they are conducted. This is because the support of the public vis-à-vis the stakes involved as well as the prospects of operational success peaches the ends against the means. The United States of America learnt this the hard way during the Vietnam War as well as in Lebanon and Somalia after unfavourable public support constrained the range of politically acceptable policies for successfully concluding the military operations in these countries. Similarly, In a report by RAND titled, ‘American Public Support for U.S. Military Operations from Mogadishu to Baghdad,’ written for The Arroyo Centre by Eric V. Larson and Bogdan Savych, it was observed that following the change of United States’ objectives in Somalia in May 1993 (from providing a secure environment for humanitarian relief operations to engaging in nation building) and the subsequent deterioration in the situation, the importance of the objectives and the prospects for success declined for most, even as the costs increased. The result was very high sensitivity to costs in Somalia, and a general desire by the American public to abandon the mission and return home. At the end, it was one of America’s worst expeditionary escapades.

The lack of empathy and support for the AFN is further compounded by the enemy’s skilled utilization of the social media to its advantage, with unsuspecting Nigeria’s social media buffs serving as willing tools for the spread of their ideologies. A case in point is the recent video uploaded and circulated on social media platforms which depicted the wreckage of the crashed MI-171 Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter and bodies of the victims at Chukuba Village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. Sadly, the video has so far received nearly a million views and over 50,000 shares on both X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube combined, after social media buffs aided and abetted the uncontrolled sharing and spreading of the propaganda orchestrated by the terrorists.

Indeed, the social media, once a medium of personal connection, commerce and trade, has since morphed into a battlefield where information has become weaponized. Gone were the days when winning wars was a matter of finding and neutralizing an adversary’s centre of gravity through aerial bombardments of critical infrastructures and propagandas using radios and leaflets drops. The social media has since changed that narrative and all it takes is a smart phone and some idle seconds, and anybody can do it. In their book, LikeWar: The Weaponization of the Social Media, Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking aptly captured the existential threat that social media poses to national security when they noted thus, “Social media has created a new environment for conflict. It has transformed the speed, spread, and accessibility of information, changing the very nature of secrecy. Yet, while the truth is more widely available than ever before, it can be buried in a sea of “likes” and lies.” This is why its influence over the Nigerian internet space has become a matter of national concern. As ragtag as they may appear, the ability of terrorist groups operating in Northeast and Northwest Nigeria to weaponize the social media to their advantage calls for concern by all Nigerians. Even more disturbing is the unfortunate enabling attitude of some Nigerians who swallow the bait of propagating their propagandist strategies, knowingly and unknowingly, without recourse to Nigeria’s overall national security imperatives.  

But why is public support such a big deal to the AFN? Here are a few crucial reasons:

In their everyday lives, members of the AFN make sacrifices that can often go unnoticed by the public–be it the challenges of routine duties; the struggles of their spouses looking for another job after relocating to a new unit; or even a child adjusting to a new school and new friends. Members of the AFN and their families selflessly do whatever it takes to serve and protect the nation, including months or years spent apart from loved ones, families divided by distance and deployment to conflict zones; spouses giving birth alone in a hospital room, with no spouse there to support them; and most importantly, making the ultimate sacrifice like laying down their lives on the frontlines for the safety of all Nigerians.

Members of the AFN are also ordinary people doing extraordinary things. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, NAF aircraft were used to ferry drugs and relief materials within Nigeria and to other West African Countries. NAF aircraft also came in handy in transporting relief materials to flooded areas in Enugu and Bayelsa States in 2022. Military doctors were also on hand as recent as last week to fill the void left by striking health workers. Additionally, members of the AFN are often the first to respond to conflicts overseas, leaving behind their loved ones at a moment’s notice to head into harm’s way. So, it’s only right to be there for them as well.

Members of the AFN are a force for good in the world, which is why it is crucial for all Nigerians to stand behind them. From the battlefields of the Congo and Burma (now Myanmar) to the front lines of Liberia and Sierra Leone, members of the AFN have been contributing to world peace for decades. In recent memory, they have been at the forefront of ensuring regional stability in The Gambia as well as the fight against terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria.

Military life can take its toll on members of the AFN and their families. For example, their spouses can often struggle to find their place in a new unit because they have moved so frequently and are isolated from their support networks-in addition to perhaps having difficulty finding a new job. And if a soldier or an airman is weighed down by stress at the front lines or concerned about their struggling family back home, it can be more difficult for them to concentrate on the assigned task. With mental health being a serious issue among troops these days, addressing these morale and mental wellness issues  through the show of love and care by others is imperative. 

Something as easy as thanking members of the AFN for their services or acknowledging the immense challenges of life as a military spouse can have a positive impact on the military community. By bridging that divide between civilians and the AFN, Nigerians can show members of the AFN that the sacrifices they make on their behalf is valued and appreciated, thus boosting their morale and preparing them for yet another day in the battle front.

In the USA, an organization known as the United Service Organization (USO) stands at the forefront of strengthening America’s military service members by keeping them connected to their families, home and Country. The USO is a private organization established in 1941 and funded through the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations and powered by volunteers to accomplish its mission of connecting military families. Till date, the USO continuously adapts to the needs of U.S military personnel, while enabling them to focus on their assigned roles. A similar organization in Nigeria with comparable functions would no doubt go a long way in enhancing the support to the AFN as they face, frontally, the task of keeping Nigerians safe. Imagine such an organization reaching out to the families of the 23 soldiers and airmen that died in the ill-fated MI-171E aircraft at Chukuba in Niger State. Imagine such an organization offering educational scholarships to the widows and children of the deceased soldiers and airmen. Just imagine. It is however heartwarming to see State Governors like Professor Babagana Zulum of Borno State donating the sum of N10 Million Naira to troops of Operation Hadin Kai recently injured during an operation. At the presentation of the Cheque, Professor Zulum expressed his commitment towards supporting and complementing the efforts of the Federal Government in providing logistics support and improving the welfare of soldiers.  That is the way to go.

Gabkwet, an air commodore, is the director of public relations and information of the Nigerian Air Force.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Femi Fani-Kayode has warned that Nigerian border states might be vulnerable to terrorists’ attacks.

Fani-Kayode said Sokoto and Lagos States might be vulnerable to ISIS and ISWAP terrorists’ attacks if Niger Republic and its allies opened up their corridors to the terrorists.

He warned that some of these terrorists have infiltrated Niger State and some States in the Southwest.

Tweeting, Fani-Kayode wrote: “If Niger Republic and her allies deliberately open a corridor for the elements of ISIS, AQIM, ISWAP etc to move into Benin and Togo, ECOWAS’ weakest link, then the whole of Nigeria’s western borders, from Sokoto to Lagos, would be vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

“Already some of the elements have penetrated into Niger State, around Borgu and Shiriro, very close to Benin Republic and some states in the South West of Nigeria.”

It is political and self-incriminating to destroy billboards for reading “All eyes on the judiciary”. This is a message of patriotism dressed up for the general good, which all honourable people should identify with. Therefore, it is shocking that top officials of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) have been suspended and their unit disbanded following the “All eyes on the judiciary” billboards that surfaced in Abuja and a few other states.

The statement is targeted at no one and solely calls on the judiciary to exercise caution and extreme diligence in carrying out its duties because the issues at hand, particularly the presidential election petitions, are among the most divisive in the country’s electoral history.

Nobody wants to see Nigeria burn for the simple reason that the judiciary appeared callous and rendered decisions that most Nigerians could not comprehend. A judgement must not only serve justice but must also appear to have done so to be considered just.

Normally, ARCON should convey such a message as part of its social corporate responsibility. Such messages are provided by tobacco companies: “Smokers are liable to die young”; “Drink responsibly” is yet another common message of CSR, this time from alcohol production companies.

Some patriotic Nigerians hosted the all-eyes on judiciary message, which was something that ARCON should have done as CSR. But rather than praising these Nigerians, ARCON denounced the initiative as though it’s urging the judiciary to act against someone. This is untrue. The message is merely calling for judgment with justice.

Now that I think about it, Nigerians easily recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) moved accountability from itself to the judiciary. The renowned advice to “go to court” was given by Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the head of the commission. Out of the 18 political parties that presented candidates in the 2023 presidential election, five urged their supporters to follow the INEC’s directive and headed to court.

Mahmood Yakubu intentionally shifted Nigerians’ focus away from INEC and towards the courts when he advised political parties and their candidates to file lawsuits. In other words, it was INEC and its chairman who originally offered that phrase—”all eyes on the judiciary”—and Nigerians have since followed suit by focusing their attention there.

Some patriotic Nigerians had put up a few billboards here and there, repeating the same advice: “All eyes on the judiciary,” to underscore the need to trust the country’s judicial system and for the bench not to let down their guard.

We must permit the judiciary to carry out its duties and this has been the case. Aside from the lament of Her Lordship Ngozi Azinge of the Kano state tribunal, who alerted Nigerians that she was being pursued with a sack of bribe money, the Nigerian judiciary has not complained of being tormented, let alone bothered by the unprecedented interest being displayed by some patriotic Nigerians who are urging Nigerians look up to the PEPT and supreme court.

I also believe that Nigerians have a right to remind the judiciary of the significance of this election. They want to remind the judiciary that this election cannot be decided by technicalities, such as making a candidate who finished fourth in a gubernatorial race the first and victor.

An obvious breach of various regulations governing political parties in Nigeria is when some persons who did not participate in party primaries are currently sitting in the national assembly. Or lucid legal issues are obscured by a fog of technicalities. Thus, after navigating dubious smokescreens, a man gets identified as a lady.

There is a saying: “Expressio unius est exclusio alterius“, which means, “expressly mentioning one thing is explicitly excluding another”. When an existing law specifies what should be done, such as when the constitution requires that a winning candidate secure 25% of the vote in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), when the law specifies that forgery and indictment disqualify a candidate, etc., when statistics demonstrate wilful falsification of numbers recorded as votes, etc. The literary meanings of these legal and constitutional clauses as understood by ordinary Nigerians are what they are looking out for, and hoping and fervently praying there should be no judicial abracadabra to obfuscate simple issues in the so-called national interest.

The men who work in the legal profession consider themselves the only learned people. The rest of us are experts in learning. Fair enough! Bench as the pinnacle of the judiciary needs to educate Nigerians, who are willing to learn and have been patiently waiting and admiring the two apex courts – the Presidential Election Petitions Court and the Supreme Court – where the presidential election will ultimately be dispensed with and concluded.

If INEC and Mahmood Yakubu had sought clear interpretations of the points of law from the Supreme Court even before the election, such problems wouldn’t be included in the current petitions and litigations by candidates and political parties For instance, INEC could have asked the Supreme Court for its opinion and legal position on the 25% in the FCT issue, especially after being alerted to it by a renowned Nigerian attorney, Olisa Agbakoba.

The country reached this deadlock as a result of the abdication of statutory duties by INEC. The problems relating to substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and the computation of results at various levels should be the only issues before the tribunals. But INEC’s failure to resolve critical points of law before the election result declaration has now given the tribunals, particularly the PEPT and Supreme Court, additional work to do and created anxiety heating up the polity.

Normally, the judiciary shouldn’t have any direct role in determining election outcomes. Wherever that occurs, the judiciary replaces the electorates, and it could get worse if the courts return candidates on technicalities rather than relying on the electorate’s votes. In the 2019 governorship elections, it occurred in the cases of Hope Uzodinma in Imo state and Ademola Adeleke in Osun state. Adeleke’s case was extremely pitiful. He lost simply because one of the judges hearing the case failed to act within time as required. The main factor in Hope Uzodinma’s victory was that INEC (the same INEC) failed to provide copies of annulled results in roughly 360 polling units.

This strange muddle was caused by what INEC did, which was either to upload 18,000 unreadable or blank results; to fail to upload election results in real-time from the polling units as required by Electoral Act 2022 section 64 (Procedures at Election) sub-section 4, which expressly states: “A collation officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election, subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the – (a) number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted directly from polling units under section 47 (2) of this Act; (b) the votes stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from polling units…”

Going by such extensive provisions of the aforementioned Electoral Act, the 2023 general election should rank among the best in the country’s history. Prof Yakubu and INEC were confident and prepared to deliver, inspiring much confidence until monkey hands that appeared to be human hands intervened at the last minute.

By violating its own guidelines and ignoring the electoral act’s explicit prescriptions, INEC acted in a manner comparable to one making the best soup possible and then adding a plate full of salt to it so that no one could taste it. That is what turned the 2023 general election —which ought to have been the best—into the worst one ever.

Since INEC failed both itself and Nigerians, the judiciary should be the centre of attention so that it does not also fail. There is no other option or place for Nigerians to go. The judiciary is, after all, the common man’s last resort. Why, then, do some individuals get nervous when Nigerians look at the PEPT and supreme court in the hope of obtaining justice? Would they rather Nigerians seek out self-help?

It appears that Nigerians are fairly attuned to the new sing-song that the country needs to move from consumption to production. However, discussions at a conference on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 once again brought to the fore the belief in some government and employers circles that the wilful and conscious deprivation of workers constitutional and human rights would not affect production. In fact, in some cases, they believe that the abridgement of such rights is good for business and governance.

The setting was the 45th Anniversary of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, FOBTOB, held in Lagos, and the immediate trigger was the paper: “Enforcing Workers’ Right In Nigeria” by Mr Andrew Egboh, Director in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Now, the United Nations, UN, states that: “Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.”

Mr Egboh, while not seeming to disagree with the UN, told Nigerian workers: “Fight for your Rice before your Rights.” So, how are workers to allow themselves to be dehumanised just for food? How are they to accept servitude and loss of the right to association, socio-political rights and safety at work just to hold on to their jobs?

The discussions dovetailed into the Export Processing Zone, EPZ, a geographic Customs area of import and export of goods without payment of duty. The issue is that the EPZ areas are treated as independent territories where the Nigerian Constitution and laws such as the right to unionise are observed more in the breach. The basic question was: why is the Labour Ministry virtually absent in the EPZs and workers can be treated like slaves?

In trying to explain its role, the Ministry claimed it granted employers in the EPZ only five years ‘freedom’ from unionism. First is the mindset that workers exercising their fundamental human rights to assembly is injurious to production, so the employers in the EPZs need to be shielded from unions.

Secondly, how can any institution, government or agency ban Nigerian workers right to freely assemble when the Constitution is very clear on such matters?

Section 40 of the Constitution states unambiguously that: “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests.”

So, if the Constitution is the supreme law in the country, any abridgement is unlawful and illegal. This precisely is what some employers, including those in the food and beverage sector, are doing. Such employers hold that while newly employed junior workers can belong to the in-house union, their senior staff counterparts cannot. Some ask workers who want to belong to the union to apply or fill forms, while some employers make it known that unionism is not encouraged.

Despite these illegal and unconstitutional practices being rampant, the Labour Ministry which has the duty to enforce the Constitution and labour laws, stands aloof. Ironically, the employers freely belong to their employer unions.

The Labour Director also advocated that Labour should be de-regulated and removed from the Exclusive List in the Constitution. This is an old quest from colonial times when the British colonialists rejected minimum labour standards in favour of every employer treating workers anyhow they deem fit with no minimum wage, annual leave or health and safety standards.

To deregulate labour would mean that while one state can pay the Minimum Wage of N30,000, another would have the powers to pay N5,000 monthly. Ironically, the same labour officials peddling this, would not accept lower salaries were they posted, say from Abuja or Lagos with a high cost of living to states with low cost of living. In a country where all National Assembly members earn equal pay irrespective of where they come from, and all governors earn equal pay irrespective of their state income or cost of living, it is illogical to campaign that workers have differing wages depending whether they are federal, state of local government employees.

In taking a broader look at issues, FOBTOB President, Jimoh Oyibo, who is also a Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC declared: “We are all Nigerians, and all we desire and demand is good governance. When the nation’s President made the first gaffe, in his inaugural speech, by declaring that subsidy was gone, he did not realise the domino effect of his statement, no longer as an aspirant, but as an elected President. We all agree that the subsidy scheme as practised in our country is a scam, but we expected a responsible government that cared for the people to understand that some things needed to be put in place first before the sudden removal.”

Comrade Oyibo added: “The fact that the Naira was allowed to float alongside the subsidy removal is like double jeopardy for the citizens and FOBTOB supports the call of the labour centres to shut down the country if any further increase in the price of petroleum products is implemented.”

My basic submission at the conference was that the difference between the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and TUC is primarily one of nomenclature. I argued that both are labour centres in the same country representing the same workforce and faced with the same socio-economic and political challenges.

I also posited that the classification of workers into parallel ‘Junior’ and ‘Senior’ categories is a colonial inheritance reinforced by military regimes.

I argued that a worker is a worker irrespective of categorisation; the bottom line is that he is a wage earner. Secondly, that the Working Class is a single entity struggling for better life for all. Thirdly, that there are unions like Amalgamated which unionises workers from Grade Levels 1-17. There are also unions in the NLC from its inception such as the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, which are outright senior staff.

There is also fact that while the NLC was designated a labour centre for “Junior Staff”, no President of the NLC in its 45 years of existence has been a junior staff. Its founding President, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu was an engineer in the Federal Ministry of Works when he was elected in 1978. His successor, Alhaji Ali Chiroma was the Principal of the School of Health, Borno State when he was elected in 1984.

Based on these, I moved that the NLC and TUC should merge into a single central labour organisation.

…Junta warns against foreign intervention
…Talks between ECOWAS, Niger’s junta yield little result —Official
..Says deep divisions exist within the presidential guard
…Notes majority of soldiers at presidential complex’ll flee if ECOWAS attacks
…Pope calls for peace in coup-hit Niger

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has rejected the three-year transition plan proposed by Niger Republic’s military junta.

It will be recalled that the coup leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, had at a meeting with ECOWAS delegation, led by General Abadulsalami Abubakar, retd, in Niamey on Saturday, promised the military government would return Niger Republic to democracy in three years.

Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, told BBC in an interview, yesterday, that the proposal was unacceptable to ECOWAS, setting the ground for a military operation.

Meanwhile, thousands of Nigeriens flooded the streets yesterday declaring support for the military junta.

Their demonstration came against the backdrop of ECOWAS’ insistence on invading the country to rout out coupists should diplomacy fail to restore ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to power.

The rally came on a day an official of the government in Niger said talks between the ECOWAS delegation, led by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, retd and the junta achieved very little result.

The official also noted that already, there are deep divisions within the presidential guard, which ousted President Bazoum, saying should ECOWAS launch an attack on Niger Republic, the majority of soldiers in the presidential complex would flee.

This is even as Pope Francis yesterday canvassed a diplomatic solution to the political crisis.

The demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to former colonial power, France and especially ECOWAS, which is considering a potential military operation to reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.

The Sahel state’s new military leaders have officially banned demonstrations but in practice, those in support of the coup are allowed to go ahead.

The demonstrators waved placards, saying “stop the military intervention” and “No, to sanctions”, in reference to the financial and trade restrictions imposed by ECOWAS, four days after the coup on July 26.

Yesterday’s pro-coup rally was accompanied by musicians praising the new military regime, according to AFP.

The latest in a string of pro-coup rallies came a day after the new military ruler in Niamey warned that an attack on Niger would not be a “walk in the park.”

‘No wish to confiscate power’

General Abdourahamane Tchiani also said in a televised address at the weekend that he did not wish to “confiscate” power and that a transition of power back to civilian rule will not go beyond three years.

Niger’s new leaders have accused France, a close Bazoum ally, of being behind the anti-coup stance taken by ECOWAS, which again at the weekend made a fresh push for a diplomatic solution.

According to AFP, after ECOWAS chiefs of staff met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Friday, the 17-nation bloc said it had agreed on a date for a potential intervention but nonetheless sent a diplomatic delegation to Niamey at the weekend, led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Niger television showed delegation members shaking hands with Bazoum, who remains in detention.
It also broadcast footage of Abubakar speaking to Tchiani but the content of the exchange had not been made public.

In his televised address on Saturday, Tchiani alleged that ECOWAS was “getting ready to attack Niger by setting up an occupying army in collaboration with a foreign army”, without saying which country he meant.

The coup leader, Tchiani, however, warned that the military and people of Niger would defend the country should ECOWAS go ahead with its invasion plan.

Talks between ECOWAS, Niger’s junta yield little, official tells Associated Press

However, an official in Niamey, Niger Republic’s capital, said on condition of anonymity yesterday that weekend’s two-hour meeting between Niger’s new military regime and a delegation from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, yielded very little result.

It was the first time head of the junta, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, met with ECOWAS delegation after rebuffing previous attempts.

Saturday’s meeting was a last-ditch diplomacy scramble by ECOWAS to resolve the crisis peacefully and followed last week’s announcement that 11 of its 15 member states had agreed to intervene militarily if democratically-elected President Bazoum was not released from house arrest and reinstated.

The bloc’s three other countries under military rule following coups, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso, were not included.

The latter two had previously warned they would consider intervention in Niger an act of war.
The official noted that during the weekend talks, Tchiani pushed for the lifting of economic and travel sanctions imposed by ECOWAS after the coup, saying Niger’s population was suffering because of them.

‘’The junta said they were under pressure, at times striking a conciliatory tone and apologizing for past disrespect towards the bloc, while also defiantly standing by its decision to overthrow Bazoum and unequivocal about him not returning to power.

“Tchiani also repeatedly expressed concerns that its former colonial ruler France, which has some 1,500 troops in the country and had been providing training and conducting joint operations with Niger’s military, was actively planning an attack,” said the official.

According to the official, Niger was seen by many Western countries as the last democratic partner in the region they could work with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency by militant groups linked with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

He noted that France, the United States and other European nations had poured hundreds of millions of dollars into shoring up Niger’s army, adding that the coup had been seen as a major setback.

He quoted Sahel experts as saying it was not surprising that nothing came from Saturday’s meeting as each party was trying to show they were open to discussions when chances of an agreement were slim.

“ECOWAS and the rest of the international community want to restore President Bazoum and the junta is not on this agenda.

“The next step will be military confrontation … What we don’t know is when this confrontation will take place, how it will go, and what the consequences will be,” the official quoted Seidik Abba, a Nigerien researcher and Sahel specialist and president of the International Centre for Reflection for Studies On the Sahel, a think tank based in Paris, as saying.

Shortly after the meetings Saturday, Tchiani went on state television and laid out a roadmap for the country, saying it would return to civilian rule within three years and that details for the plan would be decided within 30 days through a national dialogue set for immediate launch.

“I am convinced that we will find solutions to all the challenges we face and that we will work together to find a way out of the crisis, in the interests of all,” the official said.

However, Aneliese Bernard, former U.S. State Department official who specializes in African affairs and is now director of Strategic Stabilization Advisors, a risk advisory group, said the transitions for Niger’s multiple previous coups were shorter, stressing that a three-year timeline was unprecedented said .

“What we’re seeing in the region is the emergence of trends just to military rule,” she said.

But some Nigerien soldiers don’t think Tchiani will last three months, let alone several years.

A soldier, who worked directly with Bazoum before the coup, and did not want to be named for fear of his safety, told the AP on Saturday that there were deep divisions within the presidential guard, the unit that overthrew Bazoum.

The soldier noted that of the nearly 1,000 soldiers at the base on the presidential complex, majority of them would flee if ECOWAS attacked, adding that Tchiani would be overthrown in a few months.

According to Andrew Lebovich, a research fellow with the Clingendael Institute, Tchiani is widely unpopular in security circles within Niger and is seen as having reached his current post because of former President Mahamadou Issoufou’s patronage, rather than through his own connections and battlefield achievements,

“While the (junta) has presented a unified public face, it is a partnership of branches of the armed forces that have competed for status and resources in the recent past,” he said.

Pope calls for peace in coup-hit Niger

Meanwhile, Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis 11, yesterday made case for a diplomatic solution to the political crisis in Niger Republic.

“I am following with concern what is happening in Niger, and join the bishops’ call in favour of peace in the country and stability in the Sahel.

“I join with prayer the efforts of the international community to find a peaceful solution as soon as possible for the good of everyone,” said said Pope Francis while addressing the faithful in St Peter’s Square after his Angelus prayer.

Recall that the coup leader in Niger Republic, General Tchiani, had said on Saturday in a televised address any attack on his country would not be a walk in the park, promising that any transition of power to democratic rule would not go beyond three years.

This is against the demand of ECOWAS which wants immediate restoration of democratic rule in the country, coupled with the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to power.

[Vanguard]

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN at the weekend demanded for the release of former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa, having spent 67 days in the detention of DSS without any charges and trial.

According to Falana, Bawa’s remand order has since expired.

He said Bawa’s detention is against the provisions of section 493 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act(ACJA) 2015, or section 35 of the Constitution of Nigeria to authorise the detention of a criminal suspect for 67 days without trial. Under the Act, the cumulative lifespan of a remand order is 56 days.

He said, ” Sometime last month, I had cause to demand the immediate release of Mr Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from the custody of the State Security Service.

In the alternative, I requested the Federal Government to charge the two detained suspects before a court of competent jurisdiction, if there was evidence that they had committed criminal offences.”

[DailyPost]

Following the success of a 2022 U.S. Consulate Public Diplomacy grant, a first-year student of Marine Sciences at the University of Lagos, Ms. Oluwadamilola Sansadeen, travelled to the United States this summer for a training program on permaculture and sustainable food systems.

Sansadeen, a volunteer project manager at an agriculture nonprofit –– ProtectOzone Sustainable Livelihood Initiative –– received two months of mentorship from Dr. Jeremy Cowan, an assistant professor of sustainable food production systems at Kansas State University.

In addition to gaining practical skills and knowledge on creating sustainable and resilient agricultural systems, she completed the Permaculture Design Certificate Course at the College of Agriculture, Kansas State University and interned at the Willow Lake Student Farm of the university.

Sansadeen described her experience at the university as valuable, as it provided her with the unique opportunity to collaborate with multiple agricultural stakeholders in Kansas’ thriving permaculture community.

“Embracing sustainable agriculture paves the path ahead on creating a food secure Nigeria,” Sansadeen said. “During my time at Kansas State University, I learned how to operate farm implements. I do not even know how to drive a car yet, but I can operate a tractor.”

U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Joe Kruzich noted that the collaboration between the U.S. university professor and the Nigerian undergraduate underscores the U.S. government’s enduring commitment to fostering academic exchange.

“By connecting a bright young mind from Nigeria with a prestigious U.S. university, we are not only fostering academic and cultural exchange but also promoting innovative solutions to shared global challenges,” Kruzich added.

Dr. Cowan, Sansadeen’s mentor and assistant professor of sustainable food production systems at Kansas State University, said he was proud to support her aspirations to make a difference in the field of permaculture.

“Sansadeen was an asset and a joy to have in our permaculture design certificate course and in her volunteer efforts at Kansas State University’s Willow Lake Student Farm. She brought a completely new perspective to both programs, introducing Kansans to her Nigerian culture. Her presence and impact here are already missed,” Dr. Cowan added.

[Guardian]

Immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai on Sunday shared lyrics from one of Bob Marley’s songs in a cryptic message on his official X (Twitter) account.

El-Rufai stated that the late musician Bob Marley is one of the most talented musicians of all time and inspired his love for reggae music.

The lyrics partly reads: “Man to man is so unjust, children/ Ya don’t know who to trust/ Your worst enemy could be your best friend/ And your best friend, your worse enemy/ Some will eat and drink with you,” the former governor wrote on X.

“Thank God, we’re past the worse/ Hypocrites and parasites (hypocrites and parasites)/ Will come up and take a bite (will come up and take a bite)/ And if your night should turn to day/ A lot of people would run away/ And who the cap fit let them wear it!/ Who the cap fits let them wear it!”

The now-viral tweet has continued to generate reactions on social media.

In a veiled response to El-rufai’s tweet, a former senator representing Kaduna Central Shehu Sani posted, “I have turned him into a Rastafarian and Reggae artist…yeah man.”

Recall that El-rufai was among the 48 ministerial nominees forwarded by President Bola Tinubu to the Senate. 

However, the former Kaduna state governor and two other nominees were not confirmed by the senate; the senate stated there were “adverse” security reports against el-Rufai, and he must wait for clearance.

[Vanguard]

• According to new estimates, Nigeria is expected to nearly double its population in the next 27 years.
• Nigeria's stunning growth is also indicative of the growth of the African continent.
• The rise is in contrast to a growing number of countries that will experience population declines.

An outline of Texas overlaying a map of Nigeria.Google Maps

 

Nigeria's stunning growth is also indicative of the African continent. According to the UN estimates, five of the eight countries expected to make up half of the world's population growth over the next 27 years are in Africa. In an interview with Africa News, Tighisti Amare, the Deputy Director of the Africa Programme Chatham House in London, pointed out that Africa is the fastest-growing continent and the youngest, noting that 70% of the population is under 30.