Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani has described the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari as the worst ruler in the history of Nigeria.

He described President Buhari’s 8-year tenure as a “waste.”

Sani made the claims on Sunday, in Abuja, during the launch of the book, ‘The Nigerian Dream’ written by activist, Moses Paul.

The rights activist said, “[Muhammadu] Buhari wasted Nigeria’s time for eight years. And he appointed people who failed and he kept on extending their period in office. That is very wrong.

“He has accused all [previous] governments of corruption. All the ills of Nigeria, he accused all the previous governments [ of being responsible for them]. Yet, his government has proven the worst in the history of Nigeria.”

The former lawmaker said Nigeria can be a united and prosperous nation if the leaders “lead with the fear of God and a determination and commitment to fulfil your pledges.”

In Sani’s words at the book launch, he said, “It has been 63 years since our political independence and when you go through the manifestos of Nigeria’s first-generation politicians, it’s about light, water, education, bridges, unity. And here we are, over six decades, we are still talking of the same thing. So, I believe that the Nigeria of our dream should be the different one that we inherited; an improved version of it.”

[DailyPost]

Rising cases of cybercrime in the banking industry is becoming a big headache to bankers, customers and law enforcement agencies in the country. With so many people highly skilled in hacking techniques desperate for quick wealth, cybercrime may soon be the biggest danger to banks and their customers. As we all know, cybercrime is a criminal activity that either targets or uses a computer or a computer network. In recent years, cybercriminals have been relentlessly attacking banks’ computer networks in order to steal money from customers’ accounts. As more and more Nigerians are taking to e-transactions – now estimated to be worth N30.2 trillion daily - cybercriminals are working hard to devise new ways to steal from them; and they have been successful.

Many banks and their customers have fallen victim. In June 2022, these hackers stole N1.755 billion from various customers’ account in Globus Bank and fraudulently transferred the money into various accounts in other banks. The bank was quick to recover N817.99 million, but is still fighting to recover N962 million from the fraudsters’ accounts. As a last resort, Globus has filed an action in a Lagos High Court against those banks holding the stolen funds. Resorting to court action is very expensive and underscores the difficulties lenders and their customers face in seeking to recover stolen funds. Why should it be so difficult to retrieve stolen monies from fraudsters’ accounts? Why is it even difficult to apprehend the thieves when all their details are available in the records of their banks? Globus officials are unwilling to speak about this experience. Its Executive Director, Nixon Iwedi, declined to comment when this writer contacted him, understandably so since the fraud was a very embarrassing experience for the young lender.

GT Bank is also in court with some of its big corporate customers from whose accounts hackers stole over N1 billion in foreign currencies. Again, the bank’s officials were tightlipped when I called. Heritage Bank is luckier. A viral story which turned out to be fake news had claimed that N49 billion was stolen from its customers’ accounts. It caused a considerable anxiety on the executive floor and unease among customers, prompting the bank to quickly issue a rebuttal, which described the story as ‘’wrong’’ and ‘’fictitious’’. Part of the statement reads: ‘’Heritage Bank began implementation of its long-term sustainability plans premised on restructuring the bank, ensuring cost efficiency, management of its assets and resources towards restoring the financial institution’’. Obviously, no bank the size of Heritage would lose this much from its balance sheet and still be standing. The bank deserve commendation for stoutly pushing back against the fake news.

Frauds do not only lead to loss of money and erosion of trust in the industry, they also constitute serious PR nightmares for the banks, with many affected institutions feeling too embarrassed to talk about it openly. I often have advised many banks that resorting to stonewalling and gaslighting when faced with crises is a bad strategy. It could exacerbate the problems. When an organization is dealing with uncomfortable situations and ensuing press inquiries, it is advisable for it to promptly issue a statement stating its own side of the story, including efforts being taken to minimize loss, protects its customers and forestall future occurrences.

Hackers are unrelenting in seeking various ways to attack banks. In addition to corporate customers, individual customers are constantly being bombarded with spurious phone calls from fraudsters who claim to be customer care officials of their banks. All they want is to trick unsuspecting individuals into revealing their confidential account details with which they can hack into their accounts. I was amused when I received such a call recently from a hacker on the Eid public holiday. The caller asked if I am a customer of a certain bank, and that he was calling from the bank. Perhaps, it didn’t occur to him that it was a holiday. I told him that all my money is at the World Bank. He couldn’t help laughing.

Although banks’ customers are understandably alarmed by the increasing risks of cybercrime in the industry, their chief executives are less worried. ‘’The problem is not as intense as the noise suggests’’, says the chief executive of one of the biggest banks. He noted that although hackers breach banks’ database often, ‘’it is nothing significant to give anyone significant concern’’. He continues: ‘’The risk is real and it happens quite frequently. Usually breaches occur when there is internal collusion so internal control and monitoring certainly helps to keep the incidents down’’. The chief executive reveals that the CBN is working through the Bankers’ Committee to create an industry Security Operations Centre (SOC) to manage cyber risks. That’s quite assuring.

Apart from the SOC of the Bankers’ Committee, the CBN had June last year rolled out risk-based cybersecurity framework and guidelines to other financial institutions (OFI). OFIs are made up of micro finance banks, insurance and others, apart from deposit money banks. The guidelines are very comprehensive and cover such areas as: Cybersecurity Governance and Oversight; Cybersecurity Risks management System; Cybersecurity Operational Resilience and Metrics, monitoring & Reporting, in addition to Compliance with Statutory and Regulatory Requirements.

All over the world, financial institutions are among the most targeted for cybercrime. With millions of customers and their sensitive data, our banks continue to face serious and persistent threats of cyberattacks every day. Each institution should invest heavily in robust guardrails and defense system while monetary authorities, regulators and the managers in the industry should stay ahead of the criminals. CBN’s recent requirements for customers to provide their social media handle as part of KYC is part of the initiatives to curb cybercrime. The Bankers’ Committee should develop simpler ways for individual customers to recover funds lost to hackers. I am often moved to tears by heartrending stories of small savers being asked to go from police stations to the courts to make reports and swear affidavits. The bank CEO I interviewed for this article had confirmed that internal collusion is also part of the problems. The banks should do more to scrutinize and supervise their staffs, especially the outsourced ones, who are more likely to collude with fraudsters.

The planned commencement of defence by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) was stalled this morning owing to the absence of its first witness.

INEC, the first respondent in the petition by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP), was scheduled to open its defence today.

At the mention of the case around 9:30 am, lawyer to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) , told the court that although his client plans to call three witnesses within three days, the one slated for today is unavailable because of some family issues.

Mahmoud then applied for an adjournment till Tuesday to enable the witness attend court.

Lawyers to other parties in the case – Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) for Obi/LP, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettma, and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) – did not object to the request by Mahmoud.

Ruling, the Presiding Justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned till Tuesday by 9am for hearing.

The court has risen but with a promise to return at 2pm for the petition by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The eight MRS Oil Nigeria Plc employees who were abducted in Lagos last week have been released.

On Sunday night in the Sangotedo region of Lagos State, the victims were freed.

However, it wasn’t apparent if a ransom was paid to secure their release.

On Monday at around 6 p.m., the oil employees were kidnapped while travelling from Lagos Island to Lekki on a private boat.

Their abductors were said to have whisked them into their boat, leaving behind the oil workers’ boat with their personal belongings.

Spokesman for the Lagos Police Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed the release of the oil workers to The Nation on Monday morning.

Asked if any arrest was made, Hundeyin answered in the negative, declining further comments on the issue.

Details Shortly…

More than 50 names of military officers across the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces – army, navy and the air force have been penciled down for promotion following the deadline given to top generals to exit the service, Daily Trust reports.

The officers, who are on the rank of brigadier generals and colonels respectively in the Nigerian Army and its equivalent in the navy and the air force, are expected to fill the vacant positions at various formations of the armed forces in the country.

Although the Military Council Board saddled with the responsibility of promotion approval is yet to sit, it was learnt that those to be considered for the promotion are of Regular Course 43 of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Apart from the CDS who is a member of Regular Course 38, the three service chiefs – Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, the Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar, the Chief of Air Staff are members of 39 RC of the NDA.

Daily Trust reports that the new development on promotion came following the July 3 (today) deadline given to the senior military officers by the Military High Command to voluntarily tender their resignations and exit the service.

The order, which was contained in a memo dated June 26 and signed by Maj.-Gen. Y. Yahaya on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff, was directed to generals, brigadier generals, air vice marshals, and rear admirals in the three services, who are seniors to the new service chiefs.

A memo by the Defence Headquarters with reference number DHQ/I5/PLANS/801/13 explained that it was meant to preserve and uphold the tenets of the military profession which values hierarchy and service discipline.

The memo, copied to the army, navy and air force headquarters, directed all officers with seniority on commission above that of Regular Course 39 of the NDA to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service with immediate effect.

Findings by Daily Trust revealed on Sunday that all members of 38 Regular Course of the NDA had submitted their voluntary retirement applications before the close of work on Friday as directed by the Defence Headquarters.

A senior military officer, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said some members of 39 Regular Course of the NDA submitted their applications except those redeployed newly by the new service chiefs.

The source also explained that recommendations are already being made on those to be considered for the promotion in the three services, adding that the approval will come after the Military Council Board will have interviewed and ratified the names of those recommended.

In the same vein, a member of RC 43 who spoke anonymously also told Daily Trust that some members of RC 40, 41 and 42 have reached the rank of major generals, rear admirals and AVM, and they are currently filling the vacant positions in the latest shake-up.

He said, “Those positions that were left vacant have already been occupied or are in the process of being occupied, and the officers that are occupying those positions are already in the rank cadre. I mean they are already wearing the rank they require to occupy them.”

Tinubu to decorate new service chiefs

Speaking further, he said, “When the service chiefs are promoted, except they want to change the old order, their course mates cannot be promoted because we cannot have two captains in a boat. When the service chiefs are promoted to lieutenant generals, their course mates will remain major generals while they are still in service.”

Several calls to the telephone lines of army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu; the acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau and the NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa, went unanswered.

The trio were yet to reply to separate text messages sent to them.

But the spokesman of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, said, “I don’t know, I’m not aware. The promotion that normally comes at this time, except you’re talking about another one, is the service chiefs that have just resumed.

“Normally, when they resume office like this, and the National Assembly confirms them, then, the Chief of Defence Staff will be promoted to the four-star general (full general) while the Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Lagbaja will be promoted to Lt.-Gen.

“Rear Admiral Ogalla will be promoted to vice admiral, while Air Vice Marshal Abubakar will be promoted to air marshal. That’s the only one we anticipate. I don’t know of any other one because promotion in the services comes at about this time when middle cadre officers are considered by the promotion board.

“Around the last quarter of the year, the senior officers or cadre are considered for 1-star and 2-star generals. That’s the only one I know and the timetable has not changed over the years. It cannot just change now.”

Army chief retains course mates

Meanwhile, the new Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja has retained some of his course mates to work closely with at the headquarters in order to achieve the mandate of containing insecurity challenges.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that Maj.-Gen. Jimmy Akpor, the course mate of COAS, has now been appointed as the Chief of Administration at Army Headquarters, Abuja.

In a statement on Saturday by the army spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, the deployment of Akpor and other officers will take effect today.

President Bola Tinubu is being praised to the high heavens for the alleged giant strides and courageous decisions he had taken in the first four weeks of his government. The international community led by the World Bank have also been full of praises, claiming that the confidence of international investors is being restored.

The triumphant song out there is that President Tinubu hit the ground running. I went back to see where he hit the ground and found some debris. Otherwise, the aircraft appears in perfect condition. So the debris might just be a few loose panels or bolts.

Personally, I would suggest to the Ashiwaju that while continuing his run full steam, he should ask the Accident Investigation Department to examine the site and ascertain if there is really a problem. The most obvious to me is the astronomical hike in the cost of fuel prices which pushed PMS from N189 to N530 per litre with obvious indications, that this will be the first increase in many to come.

Obviously, Tinubu is praised for being a tough and strong man who took an unpalatable decision even when his immediate team did not think it was a wise decision to take on the very day of his inauguration. But our President must calm down; he needs be told from onset that the President Nigerians need is not a strong, tough one, but one with empathy – which I used to know Tinubu for –and a team player which he promised he would be. In his inauguration speech the President made a sacred vow to the people: “Our administration shall govern on your behalf but never rule over you. We shall consult and dialogue but never dictate.” He needs to keep to this.

President Tinubu made a tragic mistake in listening to hawks, including local and international undertakers, and imposing the sharp fuel prices on Nigerians. This has led to what Fela would have called “Sorrow, Tears and Blood”. Tinubu is human and fallible and as a good leader, he needs to listen to the cries of the people in the street and take immediate steps by reviewing the astronomical fuel prices. This will portray him not as a weak leader, but a strong passionate one who listens to the people he leads.

For the compelling reasons why he has to act immediately, I suggest he listens to the viral video of Majeed Dahiru on the subject, and for the scientific analysis, he could cause his aides to summarise for him, the presentations of Professor Izielen Agbon which are available on the net.

On my part, I will tell a true story that buttresses my conviction that a good obstetrician is not necessarily the brilliant, but one that delivers safely.

The Union Bank of Nigeria was one of the three biggest banks in the country. Along with the UBA and the First Bank, they were known as the Solid Three. The bank itself was established in 1917, three years after the country was amalgamated. It was fittingly called the Colonial Bank before it was renamed in 1925 as the Barclays Bank DCO (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas.) The bank was one of those supporting the Apartheid regime in South Africa and was therefore taken over in 1979 and renamed Union Bank.

In 2009, the Central Bank revealed that the bank’s management had been undermining the bank, including giving collateral-free multi-billion dollar loans to “speculators”. To rescue it, a new management under a financial expert and leading banker, Mrs Funke Osibodu was appointed to rescue the bank.

When in trying to reposition the bank, the new management touched the Legacy contributory pension fund of the staff, there was a protest and the management dismissed 13 leaders of the staff union. When the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees protested against the sack, union branch leaders were punitively transferred across the country. The management banned the union, seized its offices and finances.

When labour protested , the management approached the National Industrial Court, NIC, which granted an injunction barring Labour from going on strike or obstructing the services of the bank in any way. The security services, including the police and the States Security Services, perhaps to enforce the NIC injunction, took over security on the bank premises. When the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, approached the Federal Ministry of Labour to get the labour issues sorted out, the bank, apart from getting some labour leaders openly aligned to it, also got the Ministry’s endorsement as the Labour Minister pointed out that a court order already existed and Labour itself was split.

As the triumphant management rose from the meeting with the Minister, I approached the Managing Director to beg her to avoid a collapse of the bank which can result if a labour strike occurs and customers, who were already weary of the viability of the bank, make a run on it. I suggested that she focused on reviving the bank and resuscitating it rather than risk being diverted and sucked into an avoidable, potentially bruising labour crises.

She listened to me, but her lawyers and officials were hailing her and asked her to ignore my appeals.

All the powers of government, including the security services, Labour Ministry and most labour leaders were on her side. In any case, she was the expert. However, her most senior official at our meetings, Mr. Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, the Executive Director, Information Technology and Development thought there should be some caution. We opened back channels trying to end the labour crises.

Eventually, on February 14, 2011, the staff and their labour allies sent Mrs Osibodu a valentine message by shutting down the bank. It was a gruelling struggle. The management did not recover from it, Mrs Osibodu had to leave the following year and the now tottering bank eventually collapsed and was taken over.

Mr. Shonubi, Osibodu’s Executive Director who thought the management should focus on its primary objective of reviving the bank rather than taking on the staff, has now been appointed by Tinubu as the Acting Governor of the Central Bank. The lesson in the Union Bank story is the need to listen to other persons rather than be carried away by accolades.

President Tinubu’s primary focus should be the security of the populace and the welfare of the long suffering people of Nigeria many of whom despite being one of the biggest oil producers in the world live in abject poverty.

I need not tell President Tinubu to beware of those who praise him for engaging in a sprint in the first four weeks of his administration when he is actually in a four-year marathon race.

The death toll of Nigerian pilgrims during the 2023 hajj exercise has risen to 13 just as 41,632 others fell sick in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The head of the Nigerian medical team for the pilgrimage, Dr Usman Galadima, stated this Sunday night in Makkah during post-Arafat review session.

He said his team made consultations for 25,772 pilgrims during the Muna-Arafat period in addition to the 15,680 treated in Madinah and Makkah during the pre-Arafat period.

Galadima recalled that seven pilgrims had died during the pre-Arafat period.

He gave the breakdown of the casualties as: Plateau (1), Kaduna (2), Osun (2), Borno (1), Yobe (1), FCT (1), Benue (1) and Lagos (1); while private tour operators recorded three deaths.

Galadima said during the Muna-Arafat period, four pilgrims died at Arafat and two at Mina.

He recommended thorough pre-hajj medical screening with the issuance of a certificate of medical fitness.

He said elderly pilgrims and those very sick should be discouraged from going to Jamarat (the place where pilgrims performed the symbolic stoning of the devil).

He also said the grouping of pilgrims as recommended by Saudi authorities should be enforced.

He urged states with functional ambulances to place their vehicles in the national medical team’s pool for a more coordinated response to emergency cases.

The commissioner of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in charge of aviation, Goni Sanda, announced that return flights of Nigerian pilgrims would begin on July 4 and end on August 3.

It has been 30 days of the Bola Tinubu administration, and it has been a bustling and eventful one. President Tinubu has rightfully earned the ticket "Baba-go-fast" for the decisiveness, punctiliousness, diligence, and swiftness of his leadership. The past 30 days have been motion, movement, and acceleration. Good things happen when governance runs on the stimulus of hope.

"Hitting the ground running" has a walking and talking example in the President.

Upon assumption of office, he did the derring-do -- axing petrol subsidy; averting a national strike and giving the naira the muscle to find its fortune in the agora of trade.

According to JP Morgan, a US financial services firm, the naira is expected to appreciate, and trade at N600 to the dollar over the coming months.

The firm said: "While it will take a few days for USD/NGN spot to settle, we fully expect an initial overshoot towards the parallel market rate of -750 or higher, after which, we expect USD/NGN to settle in the high 600s over [the] coming months."

Bloomberg, an international news agency, reported that investors were excited about Nigeria owing to the president's swift reforms. It also reported that Nigeria's equity market witnessed a boom -- a corollary of the incipient policies, signalling a return of confidence in the market.

Reuters reported that investors were stunned by the quick reforms of the President. Reuters reports: "Nigeria's new president, in office, for less than a month, is pushing to put Africa's largest economy on a reform track that investors have eyed for decades, fuelling excitement that money could flow to the nation that many had deemed uninvestible."

Governance is not rocket-science after all. It takes courage. Audacity. Diligence. Purpose. And forthrightness. Bold decisions take bold leadership.

The President signed four seminal bills into law. The bill harmonising retirement age for judges and stipulating uniformity in pension rights for judicial officers; The Electricity Act which effectively decentralises power, empowering states, companies, and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute electricity; The Student Loan Act which allows students in tertiary institutions access to interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, and The Data Protection Law which protects the privacy and liberties of citizens.

The President made some critical appointments as well. He appointed service chiefs cognising Nigeria’s diversity and geopolitical balance. He appointed Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser; Maj. Gen. C.G Musa as Chief of Defence Staff; Maj. T. A Lagbaja as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff’; AVM H.B Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff’; DIG Kayode Egbetokun as Acting Inspector-General of Police; Maj. Gen. EPA Undiandeye as Chief of Defence Intelligence.

This clearly manifests sensitivity and attunement to the complexities of Nigeria’s unity.  

In the past month, the President attended the New Global Financing Pact Summit in France where he made firm and bold declarations. He said his ongoing reforms -- removal of fuel subsidy and streamlining of exchange rate -- would be sustained for a more competitive economy that would attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. The President warned that ignoring Nigeria, with its vibrant population and economy, would be perilous for the world.

The President also reaffirmed Africa as the centrepiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy. He said at a meeting with President Patrice Talon of Benin Republic: ‘’We are ready to improve relations. Africa has been the centrepiece of Nigeria's foreign policy. I believe in Africa. We have the necessity to grow the continent. The world's economy is wobbling, and Africa has been left behind. On risk factors, Africa is always placed high, with higher interest rates on borrowing. We are always classified as high risk. We must work together for systematic recovery and growth."

Sustaining the current trajectory is, however, important. It is a fantastic start. ‘’Wailers’’ are becoming ‘’hailers’’; some ‘’Obidients’’ are becoming disobedient to their creed of vicious propaganda and malice, jumping ship, and supporting the government’s reforms. Citizens are buoyed by the clear direction of the government and the speed at which it is beginning to deliver on its promises.

The leadership has earned public trust and goodwill, which are not easy to come by for any government. Goodwill and public trust are sacrosanct and basic for driving plans and programmes; hence the leadership must work to keep it.

The sense of urgency to national matters, the mindfulness, the decisiveness, and the alacrity should be sustained.

The leadership should keep the arteries of communication alive, informing and educating citizens persistently on the essence of the reforms, and should keep dispelling misinformation and disinformation intelligently and aggressively when and where necessary.

It should guard against any form of complacency and should be pre-emptive about the possible exploitation of citizens' concerns by some misanthropes for inordinate political tolls.

The leadership should remain thirsty and hungry for governance.

It is essential that the current steam of hope is sustained.

The Labour Party, in a swift reaction to the federal government’s position on the conclusion of the European Union over the 2023 election, described the Presidency’s comment discrediting the report as medicine after death.

The party in a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Pastor Obiora Ifoh said the report from the EU was one out of many international observers who had submitted that the election was rigged in favour of the ruling party.

The Statement reads: “The leadership of the Labour Party has noted with dismay the statement by the Federal Government discrediting the European Union’s conclusion on the 2023 General Election wherein it faulted the modalities by which the conclusion was reached.

“We see this face-saving measure by the Federal Government which is coming days after the submission of the report as feeble and medicine after death.

“It will interest the government to note that the European Union’s report is only one out of numerous submissions by other international Observers who have described the outcome of the election as a sham and an exercise that did not reflect the will of the majority of Nigerians.

“Labour Party stands by the position of the EU observation mission. We have always said that this election was massively rigged in favour of the APC and their candidate.

“What the FG is saying is just an afterthought and a shameless effort to mask the obvious. Even the blind can see, the deaf can hear and they know this election was manipulated.

“Huge pieces of evidence are abound for even the deaf and the blind to hear and feel. We are only hoping that the judiciary will dispense justice without fear or favour in the interest of the nation and posterity.

“Nigerians already know the true winner of the 2023 presidential election and no amount of slandering, denial, or rebuttal can change the fact that the party in power has no mandate of the electorate.

“We must also note that whatever position the INEC has taken is with active connivance with the Federal Government to deny the electorate and it clearly shows that INEC is not in any way independent.

“The Commission’s action is at the whims and caprices of the government and we know it. But Nigerians looking to the Judiciary for justice. That’s where we stand,” Obiora stated in the statement.

The Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, has vowed to stop the Monday sit-at-home in his constituency with immediate effect. 

Ubah said the adverse effects the exercise has so far inflicted on the commercial, economic, and well-being of the South-East residents have become so devastating that the exercise has to be tackled with every strength it deserves.

He urged the people of his constituency to start opening for business on Mondays, starting today, saying that adequate security measures and equipment have been put in place to ensure water-tight security of lives and properties.

The senator stated these at the Ifeanyi Ubah International Stadium, Nnewi, Anambra State, on Sunday, when he addressed the state vigilante and community security watch operatives from the four quarters of Nnewi, comprising Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and Nnewi-Ichi.

He used the avenue to unveil a number of security gadgets and equipment he procured for security operations in the Nnewi constituency and environs while tasking the vigilante operatives to ensure water-tight security for the people.

He said, “The abrogation of the self-inflicted injury called Monday sit-at-home would start from this Monday, July 3. We are going to march on a road show across various markets and roads tomorrow (Monday) to demonstrate to the people that they are safe and should start coming out for business on Mondays.

“The vigilante operatives have been charged to beef up security around all the major markets in Nnewi and ensure that traders and their goods are given adequate protection from the so-called unknown gunmen this Monday and subsequent Mondays to stamp out the cankerworm called sit-at-home.

“Monday is a serious day for business and economic activities, but the sit-at-home has spoiled businesses, commerce, and economy in the region. It has thrown our youth out of jobs and this cannot continue. The Nnewi community used to be known as an industrial area, but the sit-at-home has dealt with the once-industrial hub of Africa. This cannot continue.

“I have procured a number of security gadgets and equipment such as CCTV cameras, patrol vans, motorcycles, walkie-talkies, wooden ‘osisi agaga’ from Nnewi evil forests and I am handing these equipment over to the vigilante operatives to help them in tackling any resultant security breach that may arise as we resolve to end this cankerworm called ‘sit-at-home’.”

The Indigenous People of Biafra initiated the Monday sit-at-home in 2021 to protest the rendition and detention of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Although the exercise had been suspended, the people have continued to observe it for fear of attack by hoodlums.

Speaking on Kanu’s continuous detention, Ubah said, “I am sure he will come out from detention sooner or later. We in the 10th national assembly are going to give Kanu’s case a new legislative option to facilitate his freedom and I have even personally initiated a move towards that direction.

“It is one Simon Ekpa in Finland who is promoting the sit-at-home and using it to inflict injuries and fear on our people. We cannot allow him to continue to destroy our economic base while he stays in Finland without feeling the pain.

“Ekpa has continued to mention my name during his broadcast in Finland and he has mentioned my name 17 times. He is from Ebonyi State, he should come home and feel the pain we are feeling. He has nationalised in Finland, where he is currently contesting for a councillorship seat, and he has the effrontery to dictate to us how to sit at home on Mondays here in Igbo land.

“We will forgive Ekpa for the injuries he has inflicted on us so far, but if he continues, we will deal with him furiously. He should leave Anambra State alone. We are warning him to steer clear of Nnewi with his sit-at-home order forthwith.”

The senator lamented that for the past two years, Ekpa had been enforcing his sit-at-home order in the South-East, despite the huge misfortune and hardship that came with it.

“Enough is enough and we have resolved in agreement with our constituents that there will be no more observation of sit-at-home orders in Nnewi from Monday, July 3, 2023.

“We have cooperated to obey the sit-at-home order all this while, but we have also found out that we are losing our economic base, jobs, and business opportunities.

“As a representative of the good people of Anambra South senatorial district, Nnewi North is the political capital of Anambra South, I deem it fit to say we will not continue to have sit-at-home on Mondays.

“From this Monday, every business area in Nnewi shall be open for business. We have our men; we have our system. I know saboteurs will try to sabotage our efforts, but we’re resolved to fight any aggressor that will come into this town,” Ubah added.

The senator noted that he had made available between 6,000 and 10,000 street lights at several strategic places in Anambra South, adding that about 300 invisible security cameras, solar systems embedded with CCTV and tracking devices, in addition to wireless security cameras, have been provided for security surveillance across Nnewi to ward off insecurity.

Also speaking, the President-General, Nnewi Town Union, Dr. Maduako Atuenyi, warned that anybody who does not open for business starting Monday will have his or her business premises sealed for six months.

“By Monday, July 3, we will embark on a show of force, it is our economy that is suffering. Anybody that does not open his shop on Monday, the community will lock his or her shop for six months,” he added.