The end to wobbling efforts in checkmating security challenges in the country was manifested this Monday when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sacked former security chiefs and replaced them with persons believed to possess the capacity and determination to tackle the monsters of insurgency that have turned life into a nightmare for many ordinary citizens.

The replacements of the service chiefs came on the heels of the appointment of Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as the Chief of Staff to the President, and Sen George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). To demonstrate how low the psyche of many Nigerians has become, many citizens, on hearing the names of the new service chiefs, quickly asked: ‘Where do they hail from?’

That is how low the past eight years have dealt with Nigerians in building mutual distrust among citizens of a nation that witnessed the killing of 63,000 citizens under the watch of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Not only were hundreds of communities decimated in the inferno ignited by these monstrous elements, insecurity turned many into terrified people, awaiting the tormentors who have become the dread of the night.

The appointment of Major-General Christopher Gwabin Musa (Chief of Defence Staff); Major-General Taoreed A. Lagbaja (Chief of Army Staff) Rear Admiral Emmanuel A. Ogalla (Chief of Naval Staff) and Air Vice Marshal Hassan B. Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff) was seen by many Nigerians as a departure from the norm where many insisted was not reflective of federal character.

From the applause that have trailed the appointments of these new service Chiefs, there is no doubt that their appointment is a clear departure from the past and representative of the new dawn where every section of the country is given a new direction. More assuring is the footprints anchored on capacity and courage in the discharge of their duties. A look at the profiles of the new service chiefs gives hope that the nation’s security is now in firm hands under the coordination of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who was named as the new National Security Adviser (NSA).

Born in Sokoto on December 25, 1967, Major General Christopher Gwabin Musa, who hails from Kaduna State was this Monday appointed the 18th Chief of Defense Staff (CDS). He commenced his primary education in 1974 when he was enrolled at the Marafa Danbaba Primary School, Sokoto. Thereafter, he left for the Model Primary School Dorowa Road, Sokoto, in 1978. 

The new CDS got admitted into the Federal Government College, Sokoto, in 1981. After successful completion of his secondary education in 1985, he proceeded to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria. In the same year, he was enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) where he obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.

The newly appointed CDS, who before his elevation was the Commander of the Infantry Corps,  attended the Young Officers Course in Infantry (1993), the Regimental Signal Officers Course (1998-2000); Junior Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji  (2004-2005); Senior Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji (2007 – 2008). General Musa would later obtain an Advanced Diploma in Security Management from the University of Lagos.

From 2012 and 2013, the infantry officer acquired an Advanced Diploma in Defence and Strategies Course, and Masters of Science (Military Science) from the International College of Defence Studies, National Defence University (ICDS-NDU) in Changping, China. He would in 2017 go through Combined Joint Land Component Commander’s Course on Leadership at the US Army War College.

Among some of the positions he has held in the Nigerian Army include the General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer 73 Battalion, Assistant Director Operational Requirements at Department of Army Policy and Plans; Deputy Chief, Staff Training/Operations, headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Theatre Commander, ‘Operation Hadin Kai’.

For the new COAS, Major General Lagbaja, he was born on February 28, 1968 in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State. He attended St. Charles Grammar School and Local Authority Teachers College The new army chief was admitted into the NDA in 1987 as a member of the 39th Regular Course, and later commissioned as a second lieutenant on 19th September 1992.

He was Platoon Commander of the 93 Battalion (1992-1995), and 72 Special Forces Battalion (19995-2001) Lagbaja acquired a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from the NDA, and later studied Strategic Studies at the US Army War College at the Master’s level. In 2009, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff G1 at Headquarters 81 Division and rose to become the Commanding Officer at 72 Special Forces Battalion Makurdi (2012 – 2015).

Some of the top command position he held included the Chief of Staff at Headquarters 8 Task Force Division, Monguno (2016);  Director of Operations at the Army Headquarters Department of Army Training and Operations (2018); Commander of Headquarters 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos State, and Headquarters 2 Brigade, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Before his appointment as the new COAS on June on Monday, General  Lagbaja served as General Officer Commanding Headquarters 82 Division  (March 2021 – August 2022) and  Headquarters 1 Division (August 2022 – June 2023).

From 2008 to 2010, the new COAS attended several courses that include the Military Observers Course on Peacekeeping Wing at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry Jaji and ECOWAS Standby Force Battalion Command Post Course-Peacekeeping Centre, Bamako, Mali  (June-August 2010).

General Lagbaja also participated in Operation HARMONY IV in Bakassi Peninsula; United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC); Operation ZAKI Internal Security Operation in Benue State; Operation LAFIYA DOLE; Operation MESA/Operation UDO KA – March 2021-August 2022 , among several military operations.

 The new army boss is reputed to have performed creditably well when he spearheaded the Internal Security Operation in South-east Nigeria (Anambra/Abia/Ebonyi/Enugu and Imo States); Operation FOREST SANITY (August 2022-2023) and Internal Security Operation in Kaduna/Niger states where he degraded banditry leading to the reduction of abductions along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar was born in Shanono, Kano State, on 11th September 1970. He was enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) as a member of NDA regular course 39, when he was commissioned Pilot Officer in September 1992. He appointed the Chief of Standards and Operations, at the NAF headquarter, before his eventual elevation to the position of Chief of Air Staff.

Some of the training courses AVM Abubakar attended included the Basic Flying Training Courses at the 301 Flying Training School Kaduna; Basic and Advance Airborne Courses at Nigerian Army Infantry Center and School Jaji; Company Amphibious Operations Course at Nigerian Army Infantry Center and School in Calabar; Junior and Senior Command and Staff Courses at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji. He attended the National Defence Course at the Nasser Higher Military Academy in Cairo, Egypt, and also acquired a Master’s Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was also  at Air Force Military School, Jos where he served as Officer Commanding Yellow Squadron and Admin Officer Primary Flying Training Wing – 301 FTS NAF Kaduna; Aviation Planning Officer, MONUC Air Operations Kinshasa, DRC; Commanding Officer Base Services Wing 81 Air Maritime Group Nigerian Air Force Benin; Operations Officer Operational Conversion Unit, 88 Military Airlift Group, Nigerian Air Force, Lagos; Operations Officer, 88 Military Airlift Group, Ikeja, Lagos; Commanding Officer, 21 Wing 88 Military Airlift Group, Lagos; Group Safety Officer, 88 Military Airlift Group, Ikeja, Lagos; Fleet operation officer, 011 Presidential Air Fleet, and Commander 011 Presidential Air Fleet, among other positions.

Rear Admiral Ogalla, the 55-year new Chief of Naval Staff hails from Ezike in Igbo Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State. He obtained the West African School Certificate from Nigerian Military School ,Zaria, in 1987 where he was the best performing best male science student. He obtained B.Sc in Maths, and was named best naval cadet in his 39th Regular Course. Ogalla was at the Basic Hydrography National Hydrographic School in India (November 2001), and later attended the Junior and Senior Staff Courses at Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, (July 2006). He participated at the National Defence Course (NDC) Course 22 and obtained an M. Sc. Strategic Studies at the University of Ibadan (2014 – 2015). He was on board NNS EKUN, to monitor the ceasefire monitoring exercise embarked by ECOMOG. The new Chief of Naval Staff was also in charge of coordinating anti-illegal bunkering operations and also policing the entire area under the watch of the base. During the period he served, there was reduction in illegal activities in the maritime area within the area of his command.

With President Tinubu appointing Nigeria’s most competent officers to spearhead the fight against insecurity threatening the corporate existence of our nation, many are hoping that criminal activities perpetrated by these murderers are set to be something of the past. President Tinubu has shown clearly through these appointments that insecurity under his watch won’t be given oxygen.

The headline question is usually not my style of writing. The reason for it is that it leaves the readers with some unresolved puzzles. As a matter of rule, a good write-up should provide answers to all probing questions. But in this piece, I take an exception to that rule.

Other than fuel subsidy which is at the heart of the nation’s economy and its impact on every single individual, household, corporate body, and business concern, another issue that excites the populace is the outcome of the deluge of election petitions before the various tribunals sitting at different levels. In Ogun State, it is more like a boxing bout between Governor Dapo Abiodun and the governorship candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Oladipupo Adebutu, who is fighting a proxy war.

Since the declaration of Prince Abiodun as the winner of the last gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), heaven has been let loose. Adebutu and his cohorts have seized Ogun State by the scruff of the neck, literally turning the State into a hotbed of politics. They are the forces allegedly fingered behind the commotion recorded at a recent sitting of the tribunal held within the Magistrate Court premises, Isabo, Abeokuta and the continued threats to lives which have always put the state in the spotlight for the wrong reason.

Months after the elections, their sponsored supporters are still roaming about in the streets waiting for the last-minute order to unleash mayhem at the slightest opportunity just simply because they lost out of power contest.

Recently, they took their restiveness to a ridiculous level, beating up Segun Sowunmi, a recalcitrant member of their party, at the premises of the tribunal. The state has yet to recover from that embarrassing scenario. At home and abroad, people have condemned the culture of violence being foisted on the peace-loving people of the state. Unfortunately, they have refused to heed the wise counsel of the elders to give peace a chance and allow the course of justice to run its natural course while pursuing their legitimate case at the tribunal. They refused because of the fear of defeat that is already staring them in the face.

So, the strategy to ward off the looming disgrace now is to make the state ungovernable by constituting themselves into a huge distraction to the Abiodun administration. Yes, politics, sometimes, is a bully game. But a good player doesn’t get distracted, he keeps his eyes on the ball. In spite of all distractions, Governor Abiodun is keeping his eyes on the development agenda he promised the people in his electioneering for his second term. And he would live by them.

Most regrettably, the petitioner (Adebutu) is cooling off in an undisclosed location in the United Kingdom (UK) from where he has been fanning the ember of disunity all in the name of power acquisition. This leadership style is both uninspiring and unpatriotic. A patriot is one who places the collective interest of the state above personal ambition. Adebutu’s quest for power has become an obsession. And the problem with obsession is this recurring urge to repeat the same behaviour over and over again which smacks of desperation.

Beneath the desperation we have seen is the challenge of striking a delicate balance between what constitutes the collective interest of the state and his personal inclination to lead. An inspiring leader leads in the front. Lado has remained largely at large since the legal fireworks on his petition started. And understandably so because of the shadow of his past. But no matter how fast he can run, it will continue to dog his footsteps.

While we wish him a quick recovery from his lingering illness, it is rather shocking and pretentious to hear that he recently attended a party in London. If that is the case, we can hazard a guess that all is now well. We are anxiously waiting for his homecoming to answer the charges of vote-buying, money laundering, bribery, and criminal conspiracy for which he is being tried because that was the primary reason he went into hiding in the first place, claiming to be on medical treatment.

While his alleged medical treatment lasted, the governorship election tribunal hearing his case challenging the victory of Governor Abiodun had made considerable progress. Unfortunately, it has been a harvest of losses for him and the PDP.

What’s more? The tribunal in its Thursday ruling dismissed the application by Adebutu seeking to strike out Governor Abiodun’s prayers establishing vote-buying allegations against him. This followed strong evidence of electoral fraud allegedly perpetrated during the March 18 governorship election in the state which Governor Abiodun had proved against them.

Accordingly, acting on what it termed as a plethora of evidence at its disposal through discreet investigation and the confessions of some members of PDP who were caught in the act in the alleged money laundering along with Zenith Bank, the police accused them of gross criminal conspiracy during the polls consequent upon which Adebutu took to his heels and hurriedly sneaked out of the country.

With the weight of evidence before it and the portion of Governor Abiodun’s response which specifically indicated the degree and effects of electoral fraud committed by Adebutu and the PDP, the tribunal unanimously ruled against the application seeking to strike it out, giving the governor another victory in the ongoing legal proceedings. This was in spite of Adebutu’s argument that the petition did not include allegations of vote buying and that the governor’s defence should not also have included such allegations.

However, in its ruling, which was delivered by a member, Hon. Justice J.B. Egele, and supported by the Chairman Hon Justice H N Kunaza, and the other member Hon. Justice Sannusi Shehu, the Tribunal held that Governor Abiodun was not restricted to the same issues that Adebutu and PDP raised in their petition. The Tribunal further held that in any event, vote buying is in the same family as corrupt practices, which is the ground on which Adebutu and PDP filed their petition, and accordingly dismissed the application.

By this ruling, the allegation of vote-buying, money laundering, and criminal conspiracy has become an albatross on the PDP and its candidate. And the earlier he (Adebutu) comes out of his hiding to face the trial, the better for his party. This development and without prejudice to the outcome of the tribunal proceedings, Governor Abiodun may be well on his way to the final victory, while working hard to deliver on his electoral promise

.Ezekiel wrote from Imeko, Ogun State

After an unexpectedly sluggish start (it took him longer than usual to appoint his spokesperson, which conduced to the luxuriant flowering of avoidable rumors and disinformation), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is finally decisively stamping his authority on the Nigerian political space with a frenetic blizzard of appointments and disengagements of the personnel of government. 

Both supporters and opponents of the president appear flushed with fervor by the ongoing whirlwind of firing and hiring. It has even infused a new leash of life to the notoriously lethargic Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which has emerged as one of the most reliable sources of news on social media, particularly on Twitter, for Tinubu’s announcements of personnel changes.

But why are people exuberating over routine changes that herald—or should herald—every change of administration? I think there are at least three reasons for this.

The first is the enduring human thirst for novelty for its own sake, which is particularly noticeable among Nigerians who have had the misfortune of being habituated to stagnancy. You can put Nigerians in a perpetual state of suspended animation and rob them silly without their realizing it if you can sustain a never-ending parade of entry and exit of people in and out of the corridors of power. I don’t know why most previous Nigerian leaders, except IBB, haven’t discovered this. 

The second reason is that appointments to government positions are the symbolic conduits through which most Nigerians vicariously connect with governance. They feel connected with, and feel a sensation of having a stake in, an administration if someone from their hometown, local government, state, region, religion, or other forms of collective and emotional identification is appointed to an important position.

The demographic profiles of new government appointees also help people to situate a new government’s direction and to get a sense of the identity categories it seeks to privilege or demote. So far, although Tinubu’s appointments cumulatively favor the Southwest, they have shown sensitivity to Nigeria’s many intricate emotional maps.

Tinubu’s appointment of Sokoto-born, Southern Kaduna native Major General Christopher Gwabin Musa as Chief of Defence Staff not only honors merit but also provides a source of indescribable elation and emotional connection for the people of Southern Kaduna and northern Christians who had been some of the firmest foes of Tinubu and APC. I’ve read many northern Christians say the appointment has caused them to reassess their opinions of the new government.

The appointment of Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff has also helped to call attention to the Igala-speaking people of Enugu and Anambra states whom most Nigerians didn’t know existed. I imagine, however, that Tinubu probably thought he was appointing an Igbo man when he considered Ogalla for his position. 

With a hometown called Enugu Ezike, a local government called Igbo Eze North, and a middle name called Ikechukwu, who would have guessed that Ogalla was an Igala (never mind that Ogalla and Igala kind of rhyme)? It was thanks to some Igbo people on social media that this bit about the man was revealed. 

Whatever it is, Tinubu can’t be accused of excluding the Southeast in the Security Council. Ogalla represents the Southeast. He probably speaks Igbo and is also probably culturally Igbo. In any case, many self-identified Igbos in Anambra and Enugu states have Igala or Benin provenance. Most people from Onitsha, for example, have either Bini or Igala ancestral roots, which they are still acutely aware of, even proud of, yet they identify as Igbo.

 As the late Professor Harry Garuba pointed out in his chapter contribution to a 2001 book titled Shifting African Identities edited by Martine Dodds, Meshack M. Khosa, and S. B. Bekker, “At the height of the Nigerian Civil War, Nnamdi Azikiwe declared that the Onitsha people really came from Benin, and were thus also descended from the Edos. A wave of public outcry from the Igbos greeted this declaration” (p. 17).

The truth is that our identities aren’t always neat, discrete, self-contained categories; they are often messy, complex, and overlapping in more ways than we care to admit.

Anyway, Tinubu’s 7 National Security Council appointments have 4 southerners and 3 northerners and 5 Christians and 2 Muslims. Given that the president and the vice president (who are also members of the Council) are Muslims, I think this is a reasonably fair and inclusive council, especially in light of Nigeria’s immediate prior experience where no more than two southerners or Christians served on the council at any point during an 8-year rule.

As is now obvious from the preceding point, the third and most important reason Tinubu appears to be exciting Nigerians is attributable to the style of outgone President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari started his administration in 2015 by precipitously lowering the bar of governance. Before his second term was over, he threw away the bar outright. By his second term, he wasn’t gratified with just throwing away the bar; he broke it to smithereens. Then he buried the smithereens and exited the stage. That was why I invented the term “ungovernance” to describe his style of ruling.

Tinubu has merely brought a new bar. But for people who have become accustomed to not seeing a bar at all for 8 years, the mere sight of one seems exciting, even revolutionary. I agree that Tinubu deserves plaudits for bringing the bar and for not dithering about taking decisions. But he needs to do more than that. He needs to raise the bar, assess the impact of his decisions, and be humble enough to change course if his decisions inflict material violence on the vast majority of the people.

His government’s sustained assault on subsidies that benefit the poor (such as petrol, electricity, and tuition at higher education institutions) while leaving untouched the extortionate subsidies that fund the epicurean pleasures of Nigeria’s overpampered political class won’t raise the bar of governance. He is being feted by Western financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank and applauded by Western financial media outfits such as Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, but everyday folks in Nigeria are squirming in excruciating existential torment.

I don’t see how this will end well. What shall it profit a country when it pursues policies that cause the economy to “grow” but causes the people to growl? After the economy has “grown” but the people still groan, where is the growth? The most important growth isn't the rise in abstract, disembodied, World Bank/IMF-created metrics but in the improvement of the quality of life of everyday folks.

Governance is the other side of a social contract. Social contract rests on the idea that everyday members of a society have agreed formally or informally to give up some of their natural rights and to recognize the authority of people in power in exchange for security and basic economic liberties. 

Social cohesion and the sustenance of social order are guaranteed when both parties keep their side of the bargain. Anomie results when either side fails to live up to the terms of the contract. That is why citizens get thrown into jails or fined for offenses ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. 

When those who control the levers of the power structure, who enjoy the privilege of being rulers, provide neither security nor basic economic liberties for everyday citizens who give up their natural rights for the sake a common social order that works for everybody, you get rebellion, insurrection, revolt, or even revolutions.

I hope people who love Tinubu cause him to be aware that after the excitement of the welcome motions he has been making peters out, people’s material realities will push them to ask him for movement, movement in the quality of their lives. 

The IMF/World Bank-inspired neoliberal nirvana he seems intent on building in Nigeria may create a fertile environment for “foreign investment” and invite the commendations of the financial buccaneers of the West but, like elsewhere in the developing world where this is tried, it will create hell for the poor and wipe out the middle class. It’s already starting.

 I also hope that Tinubu’s supporters and inner circle learn from Buhari who was shielded from even the mildest, best-intentioned, and most innocuous criticism. Being in the field of play creates multiple blind spots for players but onlookers, as the saying goes, see most of the game.

To satisfy politicians, as well as use experts to drive development

President Bola Tinubu has plotted a strategy of managing the political interest groups that helped him achieve his life ambition of becoming president but not without compromising his aspiration of ushering Nigeria into a new era of development.

Tinubu who is widely hailed rightly or wrongly as the founder of the modern Lagos according to sources is determined to etch his name in history by leading Nigeria towards a new era of development using some of the best brains in the country.

Tinubu who also has a reputation as one of the country’s most accomplished political godfathers has plotted a twin strategy of “giving to politicians what belongs to them and giving to develop what is required” a highly placed presidency source revealed.

In that direction, it was gathered that Tinubu hopes to build on his well-known knack for tapping brains to fetch Nigerians within and outside the country to help drive his aspiration. While doing that the president would not disappoint his political base by giving them jobs that would not ordinarily distract from the core objectives of governance.

“The president will satisfy the political base and I can assure you they will be happy, but the key facilitators of governance and development will be some key advisers who the president will keep close to him to drive his key developmental goals.

“It is a twin strategy that will leave everyone happy,” the source revealed.

It was gathered that it was part of that reason for satisfying the political base that the president dissolved the boards of government parastatals and agencies just before he travelled to Paris, France.

Saturday Vanguard reports that the dissolution is expected to open up at least 2,000 job openings that will immediately satisfy the needs of the political base although there are indications that he may collapse some agencies. Besides, there are pressures on the president to also recall ambassadors appointed by the immediate past Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Saturday Vanguard reports that a desperate scheme by some of the diplomats to sustain themselves until next year when most of them are due has already commenced.

However, the pressure on the new administration to appoint trusted allies for such strategic diplomatic posts in Paris, London and Washington D.C. is being considered especially given the importance of those posts.

Meanwhile, serious lobbying for boards and ministerial positions is ongoing in several states with loyalty to Tinubu or otherwise being canvassed by several interest groups.

The best-graduating student for the 2021/2022 set in Lagos State University (LASU), Aminat Yusuf, says she settled for garri and groundnuts for a larger part of her undergraduate days.

Yusuf said the right mentoring by lecturers, hard work, and God’s guidance were major factors for her success.

Yusuf, an Edo indigene, finished with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 5.00 (First Class Honours).

She said the factors helped her to be the best-graduating student of her set and in LASU’s 40 years of existence.

Yusuf said the financial situation of her parents, coupled with the fact that she is the first child put a lot of burden on her. “I called for financial support only under compelling circumstances, after I have exhausted all options.

“As a result, I experienced some serious financial constraints during my two plus four years stay at LASU.

“In 200 Level, second semester, just because I needed to get a browsing phone and get trained in computer skills, I saved up about 90 per cent of my feeding allowance.

“For the most part of my days as an undergraduate, I lived in the university premises, because I had no hostel, and going home every day would have been absolutely inconvenient

“The school had a stand-by security and standard lighting system, so, it was safe for me; my major challenge was having to attend lectures every day in a neatly ironed white and black dress, acting like everything was perfect,” Yusuf told NAN on Wednesday.

Speaking on her first day in LASU for the physical screening, towards admission into a diploma in law programme, the best-graduating student said: “I remember fantasising about achieving a remarkable feat in this prestigious university.

“I first did Diploma in Law programme, which runs for two years, in which students are taught compulsory law courses, with a view to offering direct entry admission to top class students.

“I studied really hard and prayed so fervently towards achieving excellence; I graduated from the programme with a CGPA of 4.98 and this was the best in my set.

“The possibility of graduating with such a grade motivated the yearning to graduate with a perfect CGPA at the undergraduate level.”

She called on well-meaning Nigerians to invest in the education sector and lauded the passing into law of the Student Loan Act in the country.

She added: “I believe this will no doubt be of immeasurable value to our education system.

“While I struggled financially through my education, I don’t desire such hardship for students coming behind us, especially the female students.”

Yusuf, however, appreciated the LASU management for sustaining the congenial and conducive environment that contributed to her excellent performance.

She said: “I am deeply grateful to my parents for their sacrifice, unwavering support towards my education.

“My parents really motivated me from their different careers; my father is a journalist while my mother is a businesswoman.

“Thanks to my faculty lecturers for their reflex of excellence, commitment and dedication in teaching us to be the best.

“I will like to use this opportunity to launch a YouTube channel tagged, ‘Learning Law with Aminat’, with a goal of giving back to society through my immediate community.”

Former militant leader and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ebikabowei Victor-Ben popularly known as Boyloaf, has promised to support Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the National Security Adviser (NSA) to end oil theft in the Niger Delta region.

He said Ribadu’s appointment will help the federal government in addressing the security challenges in Nigeria.

The ex-militants’ leader, who commended President Bola Tinubu over the appointment of Ribadu, said the new NSA will help revamp the security architecture of the nation.

Victor-Ben, who was the Secretary of the Special Duties Committee, South-South for the Tinubu – Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, described Tinubu as a visionary leader for choosing Ribadu as NSA, having witnessed his capacity during his days as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured that palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal were being worked out.

He spoke during an interactive session with Nigerians resident in France and neighbouring European countries on the sidelines of the New Global Financing Pact Summit in the French capital, Paris.

The President in his inaugural speech said the subsidy era was gone because there was no budgetary allocation for it.

On how he convinced Organised Labour to shelve the planned protest over removal of subsidy, he said: “You want money increase in palliative, transportation what are you protesting about? Are you sharing part of the subsidy? if you protest, I will join you and protest and they stopped. No protest.

“Palliative we will get but we have to save the money in order to embark on palliatives,” he said.

Following a downpour in the Federal Capital Territory on Friday, no fewer than 116 buildings have been submerged by flood in the affected areas.

Residents of Trademore Estate along the Lugbe-Airport axis lamented their losses as the floods left a trail of destruction in its wake.

What began as light showers around 8am turned into a relentless downpour, catching residents off guard.

The sudden deluge of water overwhelmed the drainage systems, which were ill-equipped to handle such a volume of water, leading to a rapid rise in floodwaters that engulfed the entrance of the estate.

One of the victims, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said he narrowly escaped being carried away by the waves, adding that his car and a batch of bread meant for delivery that morning, could not be salvaged.

“Thank God I can swim. I nearly drowned. There was also someone in front of me who was struggling but I do not know what happened to him. It was after I got to that point that people were able to help me,” he added.

Some residents, however, blamed the government for the perennial flooding in the area.

A resident, Segun Akin, said, “I am a major stakeholder here. I have been here for 10 to 11 years. The volume of water that came into Trademore five years ago is not the same volume that is coming into Trademore this year. We tried to talk to the government about looking at the volume of water that comes into Trademore from the Galadimawa axis. My house is just at the back of the canal. I have never seen such a volume of water before coming into Trademore. As long as that water from the Galadimawa axis is not controlled, there is no way it can be contained here.’’

Responding to the allegation, the Director General of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dr Abass Idriss, said the government should instead be blamed for not clearing and demolishing the estate earlier, adding that the entire estate sat on a waterway.

Meanwhile, FEMA, in a statement signed by its Head of Public Affairs, Nkechi Isa, said no life was lost to the flood.

Isa, however, said a total of 116 houses were submerged.

The statement also dismissed reports on social media that a resident on the estate went missing in the floods.

Barely one week to Sallah, ram sellers at the Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday lamented low sales, blaming the low patronage on the prevailing economic situation and the sudden increase in the cost of transporting the animals from the northern part of the country.

Similarly, some buyers told our correspondents that ram prices had gone up, lamenting that it might deny them the privilege of killing rams for the celebration.

Our correspondents spoke with some of them at the popular Kara market along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, where many Muslim faithful lamented that as the festive day drew near, the possibility of them getting rams to kill was becoming slimmer.

A seller, Abdulrazaq Ibrahim said, “I get my rams from Adamawa State. Last year, I transported them with N600,000 but this year it is N1.6m. That is why the one of N90,000 last year has increased to N170,000 this year. The amount we spend bringing these rams here from the North is the reason they are so expensive this year and not many people can afford them.”

Another seller, Awwal Abdullahi, said, “I do not believe the removal of subsidy led to this increment. I sold over 1,500 rams to top government officials last year, but this year I have been selling two or three per day which I’m not happy with.

“I get my ram from Yobe State and I pay N500 on each ram for carrying them but it has increased to N950 this year. The size of the rams also is a factor. Last year, I carried them for N1m but this year it has increased to N1.8m. The least of my ram is N300,000.”

For Kunle Moshood, he said the high cost of fuel affected the business as transporters demanded more per ram.

He added, “Payment for transportation per ram last year was cheaper but this year is higher. The increment amounted to pay N1.5m compared to the N800, 000 we paid last year. I have not calculated the increase in price tags of their feeds such as: Soya beans, Kowa and Jusa which are exorbitant.”

The sellers said the increase in the price was responsible for the low sales.

Meanwhile, buyers lamented the increase cost of the rams.

One of the buyers, who preferred to be called Oluwagbenga for personal reasons, stated that the prices of rams were currently twice the amount they were sold last year.

He said, “It’s surprising that last year I bought two rams and each cost N80,000. Today, I came to the market to buy just one as I have heard the outrageous prices of ram. On getting to Kara, it has really increased as the seller told me he could only sell what I bought for N80,000 last year for N300,000 after haggling from N350,000.”

He added that the spike in the prices was as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu which had also worsened inflation.

“I don’t believe the subsidy has affected the prices, is it a ram subsidy? Even if it’s getting high it shouldn’t be more than N100,000,” he added.

Another buyer, Sade Adelowo, corroborated Oluwagbenga’s position, saying, “I came from Ikotun and I encountered gridlocks. On getting here, I was shocked to hear the prices of rams. Surprisingly, the size of ram I bought for N60,000 last year, I begged to get it for N100,000 this year.”

Many of the buyers and sellers called on the Federal Government to quickly look into the hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured that palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal were being worked out.

He spoke during an interactive session with Nigerians resident in France and neighbouring European countries on the sidelines of the New Global Financing Pact Summit in the French capital, Paris.

The President in his inaugural speech said the subsidy era was gone because there was no budgetary allocation for it.

On how he convinced Organised Labour to shelve the planned protest over removal of subsidy, he said: “You want money increase in palliative, transportation what are you protesting about? Are you sharing part of the subsidy? if you protest, I will join you and protest and they stopped. No protest.

“Palliative we will get but we have to save the money in order to embark on palliatives,” he said.

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