A social critic and former lawmaker, Shehu Sani has claimed that the country’s numerous problems are man-made.
Sani laments that despite the huge amount of money from the Paris refund shared by state governors, 133 million people now live below the poverty line.
The social critic stated in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Monday.
He noted that about 4.3 million people in the North East face severe hunger and malnutrition, a figure, according to him, given by the World Food Programme, WFP.
“In eight years, $5.4 billion Paris refund was shared to states governors; 133 million people now live below the poverty line and 4.3 million people in the North East face severe hunger and malnutrition according to WFP figures. Our problems are man-made,” Sani said.
[DailyPost]
Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has called on the Buhari-led government to increase the pay of workers between N100,000 to N250,000 as monthly remuneration.
This is coming as Nigerians celebrate workers day today, May 1.
Omoyele made the appeal on social media.
The minimum wage in Nigeria is currently N30,000, however, there have been calls for the government to increase it as the cost of living has increased.
See Omoyele's post below;
The presiding bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo, has urged Christian song writers to always ensure they include the name of Jesus Christ in their songs going forward.
He said they should not allow the central figure of the Christian faith, which is Jesus Christ, to disappear from their songs, adding he has observed absence of the name in several gospel songs.
The cleric made the appeal on Monday during the church’s 42nd anniversary held at its international headquarters in Ota, Ogun State, and broadcast live across all LFC churches worldwide.
“Just a word of instruction to all of our song writers and all those in music ministries among us.
“Anything about Jesus, endeavour to input the name of Jesus in your songs. The enemy (devil) is not angry about our melody, he is angry about the name; that they speak no more in that name.
“And as i began to watch, I saw the name (of Jesus) is disppearing again and again and replaced with only melody. That’s not it,” he said.
The Bishop then sang an ancient hymn written by Louisa M. R. Stead in the 1900s (Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.), explaining that it is only the name of Jesus that gets God’s attention.
“There is something about that name that rings a bell in heaven. Let’s endeavour to put the name of Jesus in our song writing; that is what makes it Christian,” he added.
The cleric also cautioned song writers against making sounds or shouting without meaning.
“And I’ve also found something funny in the church, there is a lot of shout without interpretation.
“Let’s put meaning to the shout, let’s put meaning to it. Shout Halleluyah. That means, the Lord Reigns. It has an heavenly meaning, put it in there.
“Not oooaaahhhhhh, that’s not it. Listen to me, this will help you.
“We must endeavour to recover the fundamentals of the faith,” he said.
Oyedepo told the congregation that as a church, its leadership should always try to put things in place so that God’s grace will be experienced by worshippers.
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has felicitated with Nigerian workers on the occasion of the Workers' Day Celebration while calling on them to hold onto those values that encourage productivity in the nation.
In his message to workers made available, Obi encouraged Nigerian workers to see their jobs as channels for contributing to nation-building. He explained that the nation will grow and develop more if Nigerians understood that the task of nation-building is for everyone.
He argued that Nigeria is gifted with a hardworking workforce, desirous of the country's development. He explained that not minding poor workers' welfare in the nation, the workers have continued to labour for the nation.
Obi encouraged the workers not to be disheartened by the many challenges that, today, pervade the economic and political space of the nation. He urged everyone to remain focused on building a more productive and prosperous nation, which he said, is part of the offerings of the New Nigeria.
"I want to assure you that the forces of darkness that have held this nation bound for long, will not continue to have their way. We are determined to take back our nation for good and we are not giving up. I urge you all to remain steadfast. The sun of justice, peace, and development will soon shine on our nation," Obi concluded.
Three persons reportedly died in two road accidents that happened at the same spot near Ifo market, along the Abeokuta-Sango highway, Ogun State.
A tricycle and a pick-up van rammed into a stationary Mack truck from behind at different times.
The incident led to the immediate death of three victims, while three others sustained injuries.
The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) corps told newsmen that the crashes occurred on Saturday night and in the early hours of Sunday.
According to TRACE spokesman, Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Mack truck travelling inward Abeokuta had its propeller pulled off while in motion, thereby rendering it immobile.
The truck, numbered T-7827LA, was then moved off the road with caution tape and cones used to separate it from the main road.
However, a speeding tricycle with registration number JGB724WB rammed into the truck on Saturday night.
The rider died in the process and passengers suffered injuries, the TRACE spokesman stated.
Akinbiyi added that a Nissan Pick-Up van, with registration number GEN256XA, also ran into the truck on Sunday morning, killing the driver and one of the passengers.
The bodies of the deceased, he informed, have been deposited at the General Hospital, Ifo, while the injured are receiving treatment in the same hospital.
Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, says President Muhammadu Buhari served Nigeria meritoriously throughout his administration.
Adesina, in a statement on Sunday, claimed Buhari would not be leaving the country the way he met it.
Recall that Buhari emerged president of the country in 2015 and won the seat for a second term in 2019.
However, his eight-year tenure will come to an end on May 29.
Meanwhile, as Buhari prepares to leave office this month, Adesina has described his administration’s achievement as a collector’s item.
Part of his statement read, Those who are objective, taking a dispassionate look at this fact sheet, would admit that President Buhari came, and served meritoriously. As he had promised many times, he would not be leaving Nigeria the way he met it.
As the ceasefire by warring factions in the Sudanese crisis draws close, some Nigerians, who were trapped at the border between Sudan and Egypt, have cried out that their lives may be in danger if the Nigerian government fails to take immediate action to evacuate them.
The stranded Nigerians, in a viral video, claimed that they were left in the middle of nowhere by bus drivers contracted by the Nigerian government to transport them from Sudan to Egypt, where they were promised to be flown back to Nigeria.
The Nigerian government had repeatedly shifted the date of arrival of the trapped Nigerians to the country, thereby creating apprehension among citizens on the safety of the 5,500 students that have shown interest in getting evacuated back home and several thousand other citizens still trapped in war-torn Sudan.
In the viral video, over 400 Nigerians said they were denied access to Egypt, which subsequently led the contracted drivers into attempt dropping them off about a kilometre from the designated entry point into Egypt from the Sudanese border. They said it was their protest that made the buses, whose drivers had attempted to drive off after dropping them, to be parked in sight.
A female voice of one of the Nigerians, speaking in Hausa, said, “We have left the border, see our buses here, we’re onboard. We have so far spent five days here now. See the mats that we have been sleeping on and under the buses while some of us sleep inside the buses. That is how we have been surviving in this border.
“There’s intense cold because the location is in Sahara. We have been suffering from hunger and thirst, because there’s nothing for us to eat or drink. Some of us in the other buses said they’re fine because they’re being provided with meals inside their vehicles.
“But in our vehicle, we’re suffering. There was even a crisis among us yesterday as those in the other vehicles wanted to go and leave us behind, maybe because they’re linked to some influential people, that’s why they’re been treated well and different from us.
“But we resisted that attempt because if they go and leave us behind, we don’t know our fate. We’re not fine, we want to go; if we won’t leave, then they should provide us with food. We’re not fine, we need help. They’re spreading rumours and lies that we’re now in Egypt and accommodated in the hotel. This is not true, it is a lie.”
The situation of those stranded might have been confirmed by the Nigerian government, as Chairman, Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sudan Evacuation, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Sani Gwarzo, in an update, yesterday, said Egyptian authorities had refused to permit 420 Nigerians to cross to Cairo for airlift.
Gwarzo, who disclosed that the Nigerian government would deploy diplomatic channels to resolve the crisis, said while the Sudanese government charged $8 per person to cross their border, Egypt requested $25. He said the Nigerian government had made full payment to bus contractors for seamless transportation, and that the federal government would use Port Sudan as alternative route to move Nigerians out of troubled areas in Sudan.
[ThisDay]
Famous Nigerian Catholic priest, Rev Fr Chinenye Oluoma has accused Nigerians, especially the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, of exhibiting wrong attitude, saying it hinders progress and development.
Oluoma, in a video posted on his verified Facebook page on Monday, said a wrong attitude can keep a nation from entering its promised land, no matter how much the people pray.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, uses university senior lecturers for the conduct of elections in Nigeria. They serve as returning officers.
Using ASUU as an instance, the cleric lamented how members of the union would help politicians rig elections and thereafter turn around to complain about the bad condition of public universities, saying it’s as a result of wrong attitude.
He said, Wrong attitude can keep you from entering the promised land. Sometimes we can pray very well, shake mountains with prayer but our attitude is what keeps us from going into the promised land.
Look at professors, we will have ASUU strike for almost one year, but professors will come and read riot acts and may want to go on strike so that government will do this, government must do that. It will be the same professors that will go and write wrong results.
The same professors that the government will use and rig elections, politicians will use and rig elections, tomorrow universities will not be alright and they will be complaining. Wrong attitude.
Help them rig elections and let’s see…If your budget for education is supposed to be N100b and they paid you to rig elections, won’t they recover their money.
If they used N50b in bribing you, maybe they will throw N30b onto you.
A former Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello has urged newly appointed Judges and Khadis in Kaduna State to discharge their duties responsibly.
Bello gave the admonition on Sunday at a reception organized in honour of Justice Buhari Balarabe, one of the newly appointed high court Judges in the state.
He advised judges to shun corruption and attend to their cases with promptitude.
Bello said, You should not keep matters unattended, because that goes to impinge the credibility of the system, institution and your personal integrity.
While urging them to be firm, courageous and listen to experienced judges and seek advice, Bello said that as new judges, they would be vulnerable.
He urged them to be conscious to learn the dos and don’ts of the job.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have seized 126 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 63 kilograms concealed in a used Toyota Corolla car imported from Toronto, Canada at the Tincan port in Lagos.
This is even as an attempt by a freight agent, Mordi Chukwuemeka Samuel, to export 900 grams of the same substance, Loud, hidden inside walls of a travelling bag containing food items, to Kenya, was thwarted by NDLEA officers at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday 29th April.
When Mordi presented the bag, which he claimed contained food items for export, operatives noticed that in the course of searching the consignment, the side walls of the bag were unevenly bloated, after which they dismantled the false packings and recovered the illicit substance.
The previous day, Friday 28th April, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan port intercepted 63kg Canadian Loud packed in bags in the boot of one of the five used vehicles in a container marked, TLLU4840762 coming from Toronto via Montreal, during a joint examination with other stakeholders at the port.
Similarly, men of the Agency’s Directorate of Operations and Investigation, DOGI, attached to courier firms also on Thursday 27th April intercepted 1.53kg skunk concealed in old hard drives meant for export to Dubai, United Arab Emirate.
In Benue, operatives recovered 859 bottles of Codeine based Syrup weighing 117.3kg abandoned by a suspected dealer about two kilometers away from NDLEA check point along Enugu – Otukpo road on Wednesday 26th April, while two suspects: Kabiru Muhammed, 35, and Isah Muhammed, 28, were arrested with 20 blocks of cannabis weighing 11.2kg concealed in a bag of cassava flakes (garri) along Zaria-Kano road, Kano on Friday 28th April.
No fewer than seven bags of cannabis with a gross weight of 74.5kg were recovered when operatives raided an uncompleted building located in a bush in Ala town, Akure area of Ondo state just as 60kg of the same substance concealed among footwears in two jumbo sacks was recovered from one Aminu Mohammed along Ibadan – Oyo road, Oyo state while waiting to board a vehicle to Kebbi State.
In Adamawa state, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 29th April raided a clandestine factory in Mubi, where a new psychoactive substance, Akuskura, was being produced in large quantities and distributed to Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic. At the time of the raid, production activities were ongoing in the premises.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the officers and men of MMIA, Tincan, DOGI, Kano, Ondo, Oyo, Benue and Adamawa Commands of the Agency for their vigilance and professionalism in the discharge of their responsibilities. He charged them and their colleagues across the country not to rest on their oars.
[NationalDaily]
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The Board of Trustees of the Aliko Dangote Foundation has resolved to be fully involved in the evacuation and resettling of thousands of Nigerians stranded in Sudan.
MD/CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), Zouera Youssoufou, has been in contact with the management of Air Peace and the Federal Government to indicate the Foundation’s readiness to support the stranded Nigerians.
She said: “The Foundation will collaborate with the Federal Government and Air Peace in ensuring seamless transportation of the stranded Nigerians and more importantly provide logistics and succour to the evacuees, to make them settle more comfortably when they return to Nigeria.”
The Foundation MD further stated that ADF’s understands the challenges of the Federal Government and Air Peace involved in this mission and has contacted relevant Federal Government agencies, involved in humanitarian disaster relief intervention, “…indicating our interest in collaborating with them to ensure that all Nigerians stranded in Sudan are brought back home safely.”
It would be recalled that Aliko Dangote Foundation supported the Nigerian government with logistics support for the Nigerian volunteer health workers who supported the Ebola containment efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone upon their return to the country in 2015.
Also, during the recent Covid pandemic, ADF supported the return of Nigerians from India and Dubai during the outbreak of the pandemic with specially chartered flights and Covid testing and quarantining when they arrived back in Nigeria.
Since 2011, ADF has supported several thousand IDPs in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, and Abuja with a total spending of over 25 billion naira in the provision of food, shelter, and health services.
Meanwhile, a Joint press release from the Ministry of foreign affairs and the federal ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development revealed that the first batch of 13 buses conveying six hundred and thirty-seven (637) evacuees had arrived at the identified safe borders at Aswan, Egypt.
[Vanguard]
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, have saluted Nigerian workers for their resilience, courage and faith in the country.
They sent their goodwill messages yesterday ahead of today’s celebration of May Day also known as Workers’ Day worldwide.
Atiku advised the workers to see this year’s May Day as a moment for sober reflection and stocktaking in view of the myriad of socio-economic problems facing them in the last eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC’s) administration.
The Wazirin Adamawa, in the message of solidarity with the nation’s workforce, said the lives and welfare of workers and their families hadbeen reduced to the abyss of mere existence due to the litany of policy errors by the ruling APC government, which created insecurity in all facets of workers’ lives: food, shelter, health, wealth and education.
Despite the precarious situation, Atiku enjoined the workers not to despair and cowed, but to keep their heads above water and stay afloat, be resilient and hopeful; for the sake of the younger generation and the country’s future.
“In Nigeria of today, the minimum wage of N30,000 cannot buy a full bag of rice, let alone cloth or pay for a worker’s many utility bills. In fact, hyperinflation in all sectors of our nation has constituted serious socio-economic strangulation to the average Nigerian worker, who’s now poorer than 2015 when APC came to power.”
Atiku extolled the virtues of hard work, perseverance and endurance of the working people in the country.
“It is unimaginable how a government could be so heartless to treat its own bonafide citizens like medieval slaves in colonial plantations. Where are the so-called ‘dividends of democracy’? Labourers do deserve commensurate wages that meet pervading economic conditions of the time. Alas, Nigerian workers now receive wages that can no longer take them home or bring them back to the office!” he lamented.
The former vice president reminded the workers to stand together, with him, to legally reclaim their stolen mandate at the February 25 presidential polls.
“Hope is the breath that keeps people alive. Let’s work together in unity of voice and purpose to retrieve our electoral victory through the law courts. Let’s have faith that the judiciary would be fair and dispense unbiased justice.”
Also, Lawan (Senate president) commended Nigerian workers for their resilience and patriotism even as they celebrate the workers day today.
In a statement he signed, Lawan said throughout the country’s history, Nigerian workers have been remarkable for their patriotism, commitment to nation-building and resilience in the face of serious development challenges.
“They have contributed in finding solutions to the challenges and supported the efforts of the government targeted at meeting the yearnings of the populace.
“This consistent patriotic stance of the Nigerian workers has enhanced peace and industrial harmony and provided a conducive environment for economic growth and development in the country.
“The dictum that “Labour creates wealth” remains valid today as it has ever been. It is in the realisation of this that the government must always pay serious attention to labour-related matters.
“It is with this understanding that the ninth National Assembly (NASS) has guarded itself against the introduction of any anti-labour legislation since its inception in 2019. We are happy that this stance has also helped in sustaining industrial peace in the country,” Lawan said, adding that being the last May Day in the tenure of the ninth National Assembly, it is worth highlighting some of the achievements of the Assembly.
“By 2019 when the ninth Assembly was inaugurated, the nation’s financial year or budget cycle had become notorious for being unreliable and uncertain. To redress that situation, the Assembly in collaboration with the Executive Arm of Government, promptly reset the financial year to run from January to December. This has since then been sustained, resulting in significant improvement in budget performance.
“Also, we successfully passed many critical bills that had become jinxed under the previous Assemblies, as we did to some other extant legislations that are critical to good governance and service delivery in the public sector.
“Such critical legislations include: Deep Off-shore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (Amendment) Act, 2019; Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020; Police Act 2020, Petroleum Industry Act 2021; Electoral Act 2022 and many more.
“A special mention must be made of the 16 constitutional amendment bills, for the fifth alterations of the 1999 Constitution, which President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law in March this year.
“Recognising that Nigeria still has many challenges to contend with, I urge the labour movement to continue to sustain this atmosphere of industrial peace and harmony under the new administration of President-elect Ahmed Bola Tinubu that will be inaugurated on 29th May, 2023,” Lawan added.
Similarly, Gbajabiamila lauded the efforts of the Nigerian workers on the occasion of this year’s International Workers’ Day.
Gbajabiamila in a statement said the Nigerian workers have paid their dues over the years, therefore, they deserved to be celebrated always, not just on workers’ day.
Recalling the sacrifices of the Nigerian workers, Gbajabiamila said such would not go in vain, noting that they would continue to reap from their good works.
He said Nigeria would not have been what it is today but for the diligence, dedication and commitment at various levels.
He saluted them for their invaluable contributions to the growth and development of Nigeria even as he urged them to do more for the betterment of the country.
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the N30,000 minimum wage is no longer sufficient to meet the demand of an average Nigerian worker.
In a statement issued on Sunday to felicitate with Nigerian workers on the occasion of the International Workers Day celebrated on May 1, Atiku asked them not to despair but be hopeful.
Atiku advised workers to see the 2023 Worker’s Day as a moment for “sober reflection and stock-taking given the myriad of socio-economic tribulations facing them in the last eight years”.
The former vice-president said the lives and welfare of workers and their families have been reduced to the “abyss of mere existence due to the litany of policy errors by the ruling APC government which created insecurity in all facets of workers’ lives — food, shelter, health, wealth and education”.
“In Nigeria of today, the minimum wage of N30,000 cannot buy a full bag of rice, let alone cloth or pay for a worker’s many utility bills. Hyperinflation in all sectors of our nation has constituted serious socio-economic strangulation to the average Nigerian worker, who’s now poorer than in 2015 when APC came to power,” Atiku said.
“It is unimaginable how a government could be so heartless to treat its bonafide citizens like medieval slaves in colonial plantations. Where are the so-called ‘dividends of democracy’? Labourers do deserve commensurate wages that meet pervading economic conditions of the time. Alas, Nigerian workers now receive wages that can no longer take them home or bring them back to the office”.
Abubakar said despite the “precarious situation”, workers should not despair and cowed, but keep their heads above water and stay afloat, be resilient and hopeful for the sake of the younger generation and the country’s future.
Atiku further extolled the virtues of hard work, perseverance and endurance of the working people in the country.
“Hope is the breath that keeps people alive. Let’s work together in unity of voice and purpose to retrieve our electoral victory through the law courts. Let’s have faith that the judiciary would be fair and dispense unbiased justice,” Atiku said.
[TheCable]
The Police Command in Ogun State has arrested a suspected member of a ritualist syndicate who allegedly killed and dismembered one Oyindamola Adeyemi at Ijebu-Ode on January 28.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed this in a statement issued in Abeokuta on Sunday.
Oyeyemi said that the suspect was arrested on Friday at Ijade-Iloti area of Ijebu-Ode.
He said that the suspect offered the policemen who arrested him N1 million bribe which was rejected.
Oyeyemi said that other members of the gang had earlier been arrested.
He further stated that the suspect was apprehended following painstaking intelligence-based investigation embarked upon by detectives from Obalende Divisional Headquarters, which led them to his hideout.
“The suspect, who had been indicted by the earlier arrested members of the syndicate as the person who bought the two legs of the victim, took to flight immediately he heard that he had been mentioned by his colleagues.
“Since then, the DPO, Obalende division, Murphy Salami, has detailed his detectives to be on his trail with a view to arresting him and possibly recovering the deceased’s two legs from him and prosecuting him with his colleagues-in-crime.
“Luck, however, ran against him when he was apprehended at his Ijade-Iloti hideout on April 28,” he said.
Oyeyemi added that the suspect had confessed being part of the syndicate that killed the victim and that he was the person who severed the two legs of the deceased, which he claimed he used for ritual purpose.
The Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Oladimeji, had directed that the suspect be transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department in order to prosecute him with other members of his syndicate.