The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has partnered with NIPCO Group to deploy 35 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations nationwide.

NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Malam Mele Kyari said, the initiative is in addition to the phased deployment of 56 CNG stations planned by NNPC Retail across the country.

He said at a briefing that once the partnership takes off, the stations could serve over 200,000 vehicles daily.

Kyari said: “The fuel subsidy removal has caused some spike in the cost of premium motor spirit (PMS) (or petrol).

“To this end, we have engaged our principal partner in the CNG business in the country – NIPCO Gas Limited.

“Under the NNPC/NIPCO strategic partnership, 35 state-of-the-art CNG stations will be constructed nationwide, including three other stations.

“Once fully operational, the stations can serve over 200,000 vehicles daily, thereby reducing the cost of automobile fuel in Nigeria and reducing the cost of transportation.”

He noted that the market will determine the price of the CNG, stressing that it would still be three times cheaper than the price of petrol.

According to him, the CNG is safe and is widely used by the heavily populated India and Pakistan, especially for fueling tricycles.

Kyari said many kits conversion companies have agreed to come and establish their firms in Nigeria.

Kyari said the landmark collaboration aims to expand CNG infrastructure, improve access to CNG, and accelerate the adoption of cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel for buses, cars and tricycles, which will significantly reduce the cost of transportation and engender sustainable national economic growth.

According to him, under the NNPC-NIPCO strategic partnership, 35 CNG stations will be constructed nationwide, including three mother stations.

Once fully operational, the stations can service over 200,000 vehicles daily, thereby significantly reducing carbon emissions and associated impact on climate.

He said the project will be rolled out in phases.

The first phase comprising 21 CNG stations will support intra-city transportation and be ready by the first quarter of 2024.

The second phase, comprising 35 CNG stations, will support inter-city transformation and will be ready by the first quarter of 2025.

NNPCL, Kyari added, has floated NNPC Prime LNG Limited for domestic LNG production and supply.

He added that NNPCL is also collaborating with Miju Auto Gas, a leading CNG kit Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) based in India, to set up training and conversion centres to facilitate in-country conversion of vehicles from petrol to CNG.

Kyari said NIPCO Gas is currently operating 14 CNG stations across Nigeria and has converted over 7,000 vehicles to run on CNG.

He added that NIPCO’s technical competency and field experience will bolster this initiative’s success and amplify its positive impact on the nation’s economy.

According to him, this forward-thinking initiative will leverage Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources to bring multiple benefits to Nigerians, including access to cheaper fuel, reduced cost of transportation, reduced carbon emission, create new business value chains and streams of job opportunities.

NIPCO Managing Director, Mr. Mahendra Verma, acknowledged a long-standing relationship with NNPCL.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has jeered the All Progressives Congress (APC) for choosing the immediate past Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje as its national chairman, describing Ganduje as “ethically challenged”.

The PDP said the ruling party settled for Ganduje “in spite of the stinking corruption and bribery allegations against him in the public domain”.

A statement by the spokesman for the PDP, Debo Ologunagba said the choice “further confirms that the APC is a cesspit of corruption and a haven for thieves, bribe takers and treasury looters”.

The statement said: “By appointing Ganduje, notoriously referred to as ‘Gandola’ by Nigerians over the infamous video of him barefacedly stuffing his gown with US Dollar notes as bribe allegedly from a contractor, while serving as Governor of Kano State, further validates that the APC is a putrid party of embezzlers and charlatans.

“It also underscores APC’s impunity and insensitivity to the demands of honesty, integrity and moral rectitude required of public office holders”.

The PDP recalled a recent report of a forensic analysis by the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), which confirmed the authenticity of a 2017 viral video which captured the ex-Kano Governor stuffing dollar bills under his garment.

“It speaks volume of the APC under Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu that Ganduje, who should ordinarily be under prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged bribery is rather crowned and rewarded with the position of the APC National Chairman.

“Such can only happen in a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) like the APC which, according to the former Director General of Progressive Governors’ Forum, is replete with political bandits,” the statement added.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intensified its pressure yesterday on the Niger Republic junta to restore democracy.

The chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Governments, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, dispatched two delegations, one a mission to warn Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani of the consequence of failing to respect the position of ECOWAS that President Mohammed Bazoum should be reinstated.

Former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and Sultan of Sokoto ALhaji Sa’ad Abubakar on behalf of the sub-region met with junta leader in Niamey, after taking briefing from President Tinubu in Abuja.

The second delegation was led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe with a mission to persuade leaders of Libya and Algeria – Niger’s Northern neighbours – to lend their support to the pressure on the military usurpers.

The sub-regions Chiefs of Defence Staff, after concluding their meeting in Abuja, have returned to their respective countries to brief their Commanders in Chief on their decisions and readiness for a military offensive, if necessary.

United States (U.S.) President Joe Biden, also yesterday gave his total support to ECOWAS decision that the junta should step down.

Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale explained in a statement that the President acted in line with the resolution reached at the end of last weekend’s extraordinary summit of ECOWAS in Abuja.

Niger has been embroiled in crisis since July 26 when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum.

The coup drew condemnations from the international community, including ECOWAS which gave the junta till August 6 to reinstate Bazoum. The sub-regionional body went on to announce a number of sanctions against Niger with Nigeria taking the lead by cutting off power supply to the troubled nation.

Niger, with a population of over 27 million, shares border with Nigeria in the North.

Yesterday, Defence Headquarters clarified that it had yet to receive an order to deploy troops against the Niger junta headed by 62-year-old Gen Tchiani.

Already, Washington has directed its non-emergency embassy officials in Niger to exit.

Ngelale added that Tinubu while meeting with the Abubakar-led team , charged the members to engage all the Niger stakeholders robustly with a view to resolving the crisis.

“We don’t want to hold brief for anybody. Our concern is democracy and the peace of the region,” he quoted the President as saying.

Before their departure, Abubakar told reporters that ECOWAS leaders were unhappy with the developments in Niger.

He said: “We have just been giving our marching orders to go to Niger and convey the feelings of our Heads of State in the region that they are not happy with what happened.

“And they gave them an ultimatum that the coup leaders should desist from what they are doing and give back power to an elected President and again, to make sure that this message is sent loud and clear to them.

“ So far, we are going there to convey this message to them and hear their response and report back what they have said.”.

Kingibe said talking with Libya and Algeria would stimulate the solidarity required for peaceful talks.

“Of course, this kind of situation requires solidarity. It requires coordination with all parties that are relevant to the situation.

“In that regard, Libya and Algeria are also very important neighbours of Niger. So, my mission is to go there with a message from President Tinubu. To brief them on the ECOWAS position and solicit solidarity and cooperation.

”We hope to find a diplomatic solution. Nobody wants to go to war, especially with neighbours that they share a common language, culture and religion.”

Senegal gained a measure of revenge over West Africa rival Mali to record a sensational win en route to night’s final at the 2023 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket Championship in Kigali, Rwanda.

Senegal denied Mali back to back final appearance with 75-65 points victory at the BK Arena on Thursday night in the second semi final of the competition and the 11 times champions will now face Nigeria’s D’Tigress in the final.

Senegal had initially lost 72-49 points to Mali in the group games in which they actually lost both games but they came back when they had another chance through the qualification to the Quarter final and they have seized it with both hands.

They have won a the three games they have played against Egypt, Cameroon and now Mali.

Senegal won the first quarter 20-16 points but they were behind 38-36 points at the end of the first half. They had their best spell of the game in the third quarter which they won with 13 points and despite losing the last quarter 16-15 points they were still able to win the game by 75-65 points.

They will face D’Tigress on tonight after playing thrice in the final in 2005, 2017 and 2019. They lost all the three against the Nigerian team.

Senegal are the record winners off the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket Championship with 11 titles in their kitty. They also hold the record for consecutive wins which they set in 1981 having it for four consecutive periods in 1974, 1977, 1979 and 1981.

Nigeria’s D’Tigress are aiming to equal that record having won the last three editions of the competition from 2017 to 2021 and they will achieve that if they beat Senegal in tonight.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday in Lagos moved to resolve some of the administrative challenges encountered in the 2023 general elections.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this at the post-election review of the 2023 general elections with some administrative secretaries.

Yakubu said the meeting with the administrative secretaries was to identify some of the administrative issues that affected INEC’s performance in the last general elections.

The chairman noted that the review of the administrative secretaries was important because Nigerians judged the commission based on the performance of the administrative officers in their respective states.

He said some of the administrative secretaries discharged their responsibilities effectively and the commission appreciated their dedication and commitment.

However, Yakubu, said there were still many areas that required rededication, commitment, improvement and, where necessary, sanctions to erring INEC officials.

“This meeting is to identify the areas of strength with a view to consolidating where necessary.

“Also, the meeting with the administrative officials was to identify the weakness, in other to come up with actionable recommendations for improvement in future elections.

“Therefore, based on the feedback from the public, the commission has also identified these challenges and how to resolve them for future elections.

“Among them were late arrival of election materials to some polling units, inefficient service at polling units by trained officials, management of the BVAS technology and insecurity of facilities and personnel,” he said.

Yakubu explained that to achieve prompt collection of polls nationwide at the appointed hour, the administrative officers in their respective states must get their logistics right.

He said the commission wanted to know the obstacles to the full implementation of these arrangements.

“Does INEC have the required vehicles and buses for road and maritime transportation during election?” he said.

The chairman noted that Nigerians still complained that they hardly expected prompt service at polling units by well-trained officials whether they were regular staff of the commission or ad hoc staff.

Yakubu said with regard to the management of the new technologies, the commission wanted to know the challenges the administrative secretaries encountered during the elections.

The chairman noted that in terms of security of facilities and personnel, the commission would like to know their experience on the field and how INEC could improve in this respect.

He urged the administrative secretaries across the state to frankly speak on issues that were identified.

Yakubu said it was by so doing that the challenges encountered in the field at the last general elections could only be addressed.

(NAN)

On his return to Yola, the capital of Adamawa, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri on Monday spoke about the violence some youths imposed on the state last Saturday. He inspected the warehouses looted by the youths and, after that, addressed the people.

The governor acknowledged the current economic hardship, appealed for calm since the government was working on palliative measures, and promised the prosecution of the arrested “hoodlums.”

Good talk so far. But Fintiri couldn’t resist the penchant for politicians to bury their heads in the sand. He soon went the cheap way of deflecting from the apparent issues.

Hear him: “Preliminary findings from the investigation suggested that besides the purported claim to the economic crunch, which is propelled by the imminent trend of criminality, is the inducement of some lazy politicians amongst us. There are some of us who contested and lost elections and feel that the only way to distract us is by inducing trouble that will sap our energy. We shall deal decisively with anyone who aided and abetted this callous slide into anarchy.”

The governor’s revisionism in this short speech is worrying. He trivialised and impugned on the reality of the people’s suffering and shifted responsibility to some politicians who “lost elections”. This is even though the state police commissioner, Afolabi Babalola, hinted that the violence may have been inspired by rumours that palliatives, which government didn’t want to distribute, were the warehouses.

Fintiri said “purported economic hardship,” suggesting that there was no economic hardship or that it was not enough to warrant an attack on a facility even if goods meant for the people were hoarded there. But the governor should know that hunger and deprivation are a debilitating pair, from which history records people turning into cannibals.

A governor should not downplay the destructive impact of Nigeria’s suffocating poverty in the face of the ostentation in the government.

Even though there can be no justification for crime, politicians must understand that there are limits to what a person can bear. They must also stop playing on the intelligence of citizens by attributing the fallout of the government’s failure to so-called opposition politicians.

In showing that this is futile, we should ask whether disgruntled politicians also instigated the serial vandalism of the new Second Niger Bridge since its opening in May 2023. Are politicians who lost elections also behind teenagers caught in the web of crimes like internet fraud, ritual killing, kidnapping, street robbery, drug abuse, and all such violent criminal tendencies that the country contends with? Why do Nigerian leaders pretend not to understand that refusing to pay attention to youth and children is a problem to national development.

I said this much in “We kill militants but in Vain,” published August 2, 2016. Quoting from “Building strong workforces to power Africa’s growth,” a study commissioned by General Electric, I wrote: “By 2025, sub-Saharan Africa will be home to 25 per cent of the global population of people aged 24 and younger. It submits that successfully providing jobs for this population will directly raise per-capita income, due to the resulting decrease in the non-working population.”

And since working people typically save, there would be greater domestic savings providing money for investment, which would aid immediate and future growth. The paper also notices that the gainful employment of this population will lead to a fall in fertility rates and impact the participation of the female gender in the labour force, lower the number of children per family, and free more money to spend on the education and healthcare needs of families.

The document is, however, generous in its honesty as it gives insights into the flipside of not managing this demographic dividend well. It says: ‘…without the requisite investments in skills development, infrastructure, and services, a growing proportion of youths could be left unemployed and with little hope for socioeconomic advancement. This could increase social tensions, undermining cohesion, and stability.’ But Nigeria refused to pay attention, and we are edging toward that dangerous pass.

Currently, about 70% of the country’s population is under the age of 30. According to a report published by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism in April 2023, fifty-three per cent of these youths are unemployed.

There is also the problem of education. Between April 25 and May 6, 2023, 1,586,765 candidates wrote the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME). Less than half of this number will find placement at the end. In 2020, for instance, 1,949,983 candidates wrote the exam, but only 551,553 were admitted into various institutions of higher learning. Although the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) allocated a quota of 956,809 in 2020, the institutions could not fulfil their assigned quotas. This implies that about one million youths will not gain admission this year. So, Nigeria can neither get most aspiring young people into higher education postings nor employ hundreds of thousands of those graduating each year. We, therefore, have a crowd of agile, restless, idle, and angry youths on our hands.

We are not doing better with the children. On that front, about 20 million are out of school, and a significant number (70%) of those attending school aren’t learning optimally. The country has a dire situation, but we play politics! What is beginning to play out across the country lends credence to a Yoruba aphorism, which means that “the child that people don’t invest in will vandalise and auction all their property/investments”.

Nigeria’s story is compounded by the pandemic of poverty that has hit most parents. When parents cannot provide for children who are denied education or any means of livelihood, society has big trouble. This challenge worsens when children and youth have unfettered access to psychotropic substances and light weapons. With all these glaring difficulties, it is tragic when leaders sing the narrative of opposition figures and the related rather than swift actions to save the future.

Most important is the deliberate education of every Nigerian child, regardless of the circumstances of their birth or where they come from.

It is gratifying that President Bola Tinubu’s last speech revealed a plan to invest in education. We must, however, be careful to invest appropriately. It shouldn’t be about throwing money at the situation but reforming the entire sector for optimal delivery.

Like in other forward-looking countries, education is the only irrevocable gift that this avaricious generation of Nigerians can pass on to the next generation. And when we talk about education, we don’t mean piling children into blocks of newly renovated classrooms manned by half-baked teachers whose empty stomachs and minds conflicted.

Functional education considers the whole value chain. From an adequately targeted curriculum and pedagogy to raising qualified and well-motivated teachers, ensuring that every child gets an education, at least for the first nine years of their lives, and giving vocational education pride of place, those who lead Nigeria must do much more than merely mouth their commitment to the future. They must walk their talk and deliver good governance. Without that, we are building a country that will one day swallow its people. The education of the Nigerian child must also include a re-orientation and re-evaluation of the values passed onto these children.

In addition, this country must do something about the population growth rate, which the National Population Commission (NPC) put at 3.2 per cent per annum in 2023. There is a lot to worry about when a country has 133 million people in multi-dimensional poverty and a Gross Domestic Product growth rate of 2.3 per cent. So even as the government battles with the national economy, it must do something urgent about population planning. This is what all serious nations with eyes on the future do.

We do not need to go as far as China by prescribing specific numbers of children to citizens, but we must educate Nigerians about the need to have only children they can care for. The strength of countries like China is not just in its population but in decades of deliberate planning and execution of policies across culture, ethics, education, technology, and what have you. Nigeria’s leaders should aim to register their names in gold. They cannot achieve this by making redundant accusations against political opponents. You should get to work.

Adedokun can be reached on Twitter: @niranadedokun

Fellow Nigerians, let me tell you from the outset and without equivocation that I voted “against” the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25th presidential election. And if the opportunity arises again, I will repeat the same thing, whether in the rain or in the scorching sun. It was a promise I made to myself that I cannot in good conscience vote for a man who represented and still represents all the character attributes that generations of our forebears preached against.

 Yes, I couldn’t turn a blind eye to all the corruption and vices linked to him and pretend they didn’t matter in this new age where we are being force-fed true lies and outright propaganda. A season when Tinubu scorned every attempt to hold himself accountable. His political trajectory tells a grim cautionary tale about a president Nigeria does not need. Voting against him was one of the happiest moments of my life.  

Though he was declared president, courtesy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s magic and has since assumed office, the facts remain that he did not win the election. INEC, which had assured Nigerians that they were ready and would conduct the most credible elections in the country’s history, betrayed us when it mattered most.

You see, my dilemma really, has been where do I begin to tell the story of what happened on February 25, 2023 for the benefit of posterity? How do I preserve the truth and nothing but the truth of what has befallen this land of our fathers? How do I tell my little children that on a day that would live in infamy for eternity, that the electoral commission deliberately sabotaged the free will of the Nigerian people? That day, this land of our fathers called Nigeria finally lost its soul, as evil menacingly triumphed over good and dared us to talk again.

A day,  all those precious values and tutelage under which we were raised and coached to be the persons we are today finally crushed to smithereens and thrown into the dustbin. Decades of righteous morality suddenly meant nothing anymore as a man with no known parents, no siblings, no classmates, no record of primary or secondary schools attended became president! Not because he excelled, nor did he even try to impress the people on the campaign trail. In fact, his campaigning was hogwash, a Richter-scale disaster on every level. His speeches were mediocre or gibberish and delivered in a stutter.

And to those who mock us and call us moralists, I ask: of what use is a society without morality? Any wonder why we are failing as a country? It is because of avarice and wickedness have taken over the land of our fathers.

Tinubu refused to debate with other candidates. He dodged every attempt to interrogate his manifesto. His handlers shielded him all through the campaigns, told and propagated lies about his imaginary abilities. But in his dodges and prevarications, his parsing and evasion of scrutiny, one could sense his arm’s-length relationship with the truth.

Many analysts and his supporters appeared to have been groomed or trained as effective apologists and deniers of his many sins – they became the foot soldiers of his renewed hope mantra that has left a nation disillusioned and impoverished. His style has always been driven by reflexes – act first and think later. Sometimes, I wonder what his supporters and defenders teach their children at home. What they tell them not to do, or do. Do they correct them when they are naughty or do they celebrate them for being naughty? What values do they ingrain in their children? I am curious. What manners do they teach their children? I need to know. Do they teach them the difference between good and evil?

Do they raise their children to be like Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme who forged her JAMB score and took the nation on a ride or will they condemn her for falsifying her JAMB result and boldly going on social media to tell the world she was incapable of what she was accused of and that she was traumatised by JAMB’s allegation that she manipulated her score? Someone should answer me.

Now, how do I tell my innocent little children that on February 25, 2023, the electoral umpire, INEC, stole the mandate of Nigerians and handed it to Tinubu, the most flawed character that has ever run for the office of president of Nigeria? The election was stolen by an electoral body we had gradually begun to trust to deliver fair and transparent elections owing to its vigorous campaign that with electronic transmission of results, winners and losers would only be determined by the people.

It boasted that the people didn’t even need to wait for it to know the winners, that they could tabulate for themselves scores of each candidate and know in real time who was winning and who was losing. INEC told the whole world that the safeguards it had put in place were foolproof and that no hacker could gain access to its servers. It succeeded in building confidence and earning the trust of Nigerians. We took its assurances seriously and momentarily lowered our guards, believing it was going to redeem itself of all past failures and malfeasance. I personally believed those assurances, and helped in my own little way by sensitising and winning a few skeptics over to believing INEC’s assurances.

On the D-day of election, this same electoral body wilfully damaged the very same election it had campaigned vigorously would be credible. It wilfully disconnected the transmission of the presidential election results in real time while transmitting the House of Representatives and Senate elections results held the same time. Oh no! INEC! Why did you do this?

If I may ask, why do we have men of such little worth in critical positions in this country? People so easily susceptible to self-gratification? Why are our public officials so demonstrably unpatriotic? All the while, many Nigerians did not know that INEC was actually a participant in that election. It had vested interests and a grand scheme to win the election for a particular candidate, and was merely fooling Nigerians with assurances of free and fair polls. It had it all planned – how it would steal the presidential election and claim there were “technical hitches” and glitches as a reason for deliberately disconnecting its server to achieve its nefarious scheme, while claiming it suspected it was being hacked. On such nebulous pretext, INEC refused to transmit the presidential result real time on Election Day.

Such a suspect explanation strains credulity, since it is so far removed from anything even remotely close to the whole unvarnished truth. And that truth is, INEC, with its own hands, compromised an election that should have been a watershed moment in our history. Its officials deliberately made what should have worked to fail. This gave them room to resort to manual coalition of results which was subject to manipulations and alterations as can be seen in the eventual outcome. Even INEC couldn’t explain how it was able to read scores in heavily blurred result sheets in court. Who will ever trust INEC again? Yet, it allocated figures to the various candidates and declared winners in those instances. Instances too many to call isolated incidences. Of course, this was the plan all along, to deliberately sabotage the electronic transmission and blame it on imaginary technical hitches. 

Because that was the only way it could manipulate the outcome in favour of  Tinubu who had boasted he would win no matter what. Months before the election, even his aides boasted that they had the formula to win the election. 

Fellow Nigerians, it is clear that what they had was a magic formula, a rigging formula. For the first time in our chequered history with elections, a man was able to buy the presidency of Nigeria which even some corrupt politicians of the past had said was not for sale to the highest bidder.    

There is no gainsaying that how Tinubu won the presidential election left much to be desired. 

I have been reflecting on the future of Nigeria in the hands of the president – it is almost a hopeless situation we find ourselves in. The ironies and contradictions about this man are too self-evident. They make you want to cry and laugh at the same time. Cry for what we have become, laugh to remain sane in our new nightmare reality.

Imagine Tinubu saying he will fight corruption! How does that even sound in his mouth? Or imagine him preaching to young school children not to cheat, lie under oath, manipulate their age or engage in forgery. How will all that sound in his mouth? Who will listen and take him seriously? Will he use the presidential pulpit to preach moral rectitude to the country when the story of his life as we know it tramples on all the core and sacred values that underpin the moral fabric of society?

In the past, character mattered and society frowned on bad behaviour. It never rewarded such and one could easily judge someone’s upbringing from his character. How you were raised would betray itself from your character and the behaviour exhibited in the public space. The character code of society was largely a set of behaviours and conducts handed down from generation to generation through parenting and teaching in schools. The values people were taught to practice and live by  formed the moral fabric of society and ultimately, defined them and their ways of life and the value proposition for the next generation – passed on to the next and the next – a kind of 400 metres relay race.

Again, how do I even tell my children that I now call Tinubu president and compelled to accord him the full courtesies meant for that high office? How will I even begin the conversation – that all the societal safeguards to keep people like him at bay failed. The effect is both chilling and psychedelic on our values. Nigeria is not going to recover from this. The damage to our psyche is too profound and everlasting.

Well, I will come back to this in more detail in another article soon. For now, let me march on to address an unfolding development that hints at the incipient danger that is to come under this man as president.

The Persecution of Emefiele

In his inaugural speech, Tinubu tried to rally a country that had become disillusioned owing to the way he emerged as president. He had declared inter alia, “Our administration shall govern on your behalf but never rule over you. We shall consult and dialogue but never dictate. We shall reach out to all but never put down a single person for holding views contrary to our own. We are here to further mend and heal this nation, not tear and injure it.”

Continuing he said: “Nigeria will be impartially governed according to the constitution and the rule of law.” Did you hear that? The rule of law, that is the bedrock of democracy, not the rule of force.. 

But a leopard cannot change its spots. Tinubu was never going to govern according to the rule of law. That is too civilised for his base instincts to adhere to. He is too dictatorial to accept the rule of law as a governance principle. Each time he mouths rule of law, he is actually referring to the direct opposite. Don’t be fooled by the text of his lofty speeches. They are mere speeches, never designed to drive his actions. They are convenient precepts meant to hoodwink you to letting down your guard. Don’t be fooled.

Tinubu is never going to heal this land no matter how much he tries. Why? He is part of the problems of this country that the Nigerian people are struggling to free themselves from. He is a natural dictator who pretends to be a democrat. He preaches democracy but corrupts the rule of law. Between his speeches and actions, lies a mountain of contradictions and his natural reflexes will always get the better of him. To him, the end justifies the means. He does not believe in free and fair elections to get to power, instead he believes in “snatching,” “grabbing” and running away with it.

The ink on his  inaugural statement had hardly dried when his crude and barbaric instincts took over. A mere 12 days after being sworn in as president, he ordered the suspension and illegal detention of the Governor of the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele on the pretext that investigations into his actions in office were ongoing. I chuckled, when I saw that statement and muttered unprintable words to no one in particular. Investigations? Oh my God! Liars!

It is noteworthy that Emefiele was arrested despite a subsisting court order issued on December 29, 2022, barring the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Inspector General of Police and other agencies of government from arresting, interrogating or detaining him over terrorism and other sundry allegations against him.

Justice Hassan had ruled that “it is further ordered that the fourth respondent, their agents, servants, privies and all officers under their control and command are hereby restrained from instigating, arrest or arresting, interrogating and detaining Mr Godwin Emefiele, in respect of any matter or policy decision on the economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or for any connected purposes except by an order of a superior court”.

 The judge had made the order while delivering judgment in a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Forum for Accountability and Good Leadership. In the suit, the applicant, among other reliefs, had prayed the court for a declaration that the continuous harassment, intimidation, threats, restriction of free movement, abuse of the right of office, surreptitious moves to arrest and humiliate Emefiele by the respondents were vindictive, unwarranted and abrasive.

In  a blatant  disregard for  this judgment of the court, Tinubu, the pretentious democrat and advocate of the rule of law and his gestapo  Bichi-led DSS went after Emefiele in the early hours of June 10 and arrested him  in a commando-style operation. And have kept him in detention since then. Two other courts have since ruled against Tinubu-Bichi’s continuous detention of Emefiele all to no avail.

Only recently, a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Friday, July 14, to be specific, nullified the arrest warrant on Emefiele procured by the DSS. The court presided over by Justice Bello Kawu, held that the arrest, detention, and interrogation of Emefiele, was in violation of a subsisting judgment and orders of Justice M. A. Hassan. Emefiele through his counsel had prayed the court to set aside and nullify his arrest and detention, saying that it was illegal and a nullity in view of a subsisting judgment of another court which was delivered on December 29, 2022.

Accordingly, Justice Kawu made an order setting aside any warrant of arrest obtained or procured by the respondents, especially the DSS for the arrest of Emefiele in connection with the allegations of terrorism financing, fraudulent practices, money laundering, and threat to national security before any court. The judge also granted an injunction restraining the respondents, particularly the DSS from arresting, detaining, or interfering with Mr. Emefiele’s personal liberty and freedom of movement. The court equally granted an order of injunction directing and mandating the DSS to forthwith release and set free Emefiele from any arrest and/or detention whatsoever.

Despite these definitive court pronouncements, Tinubu and his lawless DSS  refused to comply. Instead, the DSS hurriedly filed two nebulous charges of illegal possession of a single-barrel gun and ammunition against him, while still in breach of the various court orders. It is instructive to recall that the drama by the DSS to arrest the CBN governor started late last year when it secretly sought an order of the court presided by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Abuja, Justice John Tsoho, to arrest and detain him over terrorism charges. The eagle-eyed judge had spotted mischief and rejected the request on the grounds that the Service had not placed any compelling evidence before the court to grant such a request, considering how weighty the allegations were.

Delivering ruling in suit last December, Tsoho posited that the entire affidavit depositions, especially as per paragraph 4 of the supporting affidavit, purport that preliminary investigation had revealed various acts of terrorism financing, fraudulent activities perpetrated by the respondent and his involvement in economic crimes of national security dimension. The chief judge said these are “no doubt, grave allegations, which the applicant has not presented any concrete evidence to support. And the applicant should have taken the court into confidence, while seeking the exercise of its discretion in favour of granting its application”.

He averred: “It is my respectful opinion that the ipse dixit (assertion) of the applicant, standing on its own, is not sufficient evidence upon which to deprive a person of his liberty. The respondent in this application is named as ‘Godwin Emefiele’ without disclosure of his status or position anywhere, not even in the affidavit.

“It is left to speculation if the ‘Godwin Emefiele’ is the same person as the serving Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. If it is, then he is unarguably a high-ranking public official in Nigeria and indeed occupies a sensitive position as one of the key drivers of the nation’s economy. Therefore, an application of this kind should have evidence of the approval of the respondent’s boss, that such measures are authorised to be taken.”

The judge told the DSS in no uncertain terms that his court would not be used to authorise an illegitimate operation. He described the suit as an illegal operation and a ploy by the DSS to deceive the court into granting a frivolous order to help arrest and deprive an innocent man of his personal liberty.

Let me state here without equivocation, in criminal investigations, if you don’t have prima facie evidence, you don’t take a suspect into custody. It is strange that an agency that went to court to seek leave to arrest someone since December last year and finally took the person into custody nearly two months ago, is still “investigating” and trying to come up with an appropriate offence to charge him with. This is indefensible and it is like arresting someone and asking him to prove his innocence. And despite several court orders to release him, the DSS has blatantly refused. For those defending the DSS, let this be your portion someday.

Honestly, I was shocked by the extent these people were willing to go, to destroy a man. And as the judge noted, the DSS did not provide any evidence before the court to support the request to deny Emefiele his freedom. Why? Because there was no such thing. It was all political. It was a hatchet plot to get a perceived enemy out of circulation before the election.

The truth is that the DSS under the current Director General, Mr Yusuf Bichi has become a willing tool in Tinubu’s hands to hound and persecute his perceived political enemies. Chief among those enemies is Emefiele. He became a target, first, for having the temerity and audacity to show interest in the presidency which Tinubu felt was his turn to “grab, snatch and run with it” at all cost.

Emefiele’s second sin and most serious, was the Naira redesign policy and currency swap, which Tinubu openly declared was principally targeted at eroding his chances of winning the election. Many of those in his campaign office then parroted this same line and targeted the central bank governor with all sorts of vile comments, too egregious to repeat here. They boasted then that if they ever got to power, Emefiele would be number one on the list of those to suffer and that he would rot in prison. Even some obnoxious governors were not left out of the vile campaign against Emefiele.

Now, they power, they must exert vengeance. Emefiele must suffer.  That is what this is about. Nothing more, nothing less. Pure vendetta.

One of the deranged supporters of Tinubu wrote a nasty diatribe against the governor following his illegal arrest and detention. It didn’t matter to him that the DSS allegations were nebulous and nefarious. 

My biggest disappointment in the whole scheme was former President Muhammadu Buhari, who stayed aloof and pretended he was unaware at whose behest Bichi was acting. No responsible government could have tolerated such an egregious breach of security. When an outsider and politician was using a critical security agency to hound a top official of government because of a policy approved by the president he felt was targeted at him. 

But then, was Buhari’s government a responsible government? The answer is capital NO! How could any responsible government fail to take action against Bichi for such compromise of his office? Especially when he was motivated by partisan interest. As a matter of fact, it was Bichi’s conduct that posed a grave threat to national security. He was using the powers of his office to execute a political plot for a candidate seeking election.

While the DSS is obsessed with Emefiele and has charged him with possession of a firearm, another real threat to national security is thriving. Asari Dokubo is brandishing AK-47 rifles about unhindered. His well-armed militia army is openly holding training drills unchallenged. But this same DSS doesn’t see him or his militia as  threat to national security so long they continue to profess their support for Tinubu. But it sees Emefiele as a bigger threat to national security for terror financing and owning a single-barrel gun!  How embarrassing will these people not get? After whipping up public opinion against the governor with imaginary terrorism allegations and charges of financial crimes, all this partisan agency could come up with is his possession of a gun and 23 rounds of ammunition. This is shameful.

The shame and embarrassment got even worse on Tuesday, July 25, shortly after Emefiele’s eventual arraignment and bail hearing. The judge granted him bail and ordered he remain in the custody of the correctional service until he perfects bail conditions. But Tinubu-Bichi’s lawless DSS would have none of that. For daring to resist the forceful abduction of the governor from the custody of the correctional service while still inside the premises of the Federal High Court, DSS operatives manhandled the correctional service operatives. The viral video of the assault sent chills down the spine of every sane Nigerian except those who issued the orders.

But this is what you get when incompetent people man critical state institutions. They reduce such institutions to their own level of incompetence. How did Bichi get this very important appointment in the first place? Factors extraneous to merit. Same factors that have crippled this country’s progress since independence and prevented it from reaching its full potential.

I can bet an arm and a leg that Tinubu is thoroughly enjoying the DSS show of shame. I can imagine him gleefully laughing and beating his chest that “I am now in charge”. He must be surprised by the enormous powers he now wields. That he can order the detention of any Nigerian who he perceives to be his enemy. Power, the old maxim says, corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Nigerians are about to witness the most dangerous man as President. We should prepare ourselves for the most brutal democratic dictator ever.

Just in case we have forgotten, let me remind Nigerians: In early February 2021, Nigeria’s then information and culture minister, Lai Mohammed disclosed at a press conference  that the Nigerian government had uncovered 123 companies and 33 bureau de change service providers that were linked to terrorism financing in the country.

He added that  an analysis by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in 2020-2021, revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, 424 associates/supporters of the financiers, in addition to identifying 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and 7 co-conspirators. The announcement was sequel to the jailing of six Nigerians in the United Arab Emirates over allegations of terrorism financing.

Fellow Nigerians, have you heard anything about these real terror financiers and their supporters ever since? No!  Have you heard or seen the DSS charging in the wee hours of the morning to arrest any of the people Lai Mohammed spoke about? No!

Is this not the same Bichi who was the Director General of DSS then? Of he was.  If this man was so interested in securing Nigeria from bandits, terrorists and their sponsors, all through the length and breadth of this country, we would have seen it from the record of his achievements in curbing their activities. We would have hailed him if he was man enough to go after those identified terrorists’ financiers. He would have become a hero of  sorts of the republic. I would have hailed him. But he never did, for reasons best known to him. I dare say most of those real terror financiers are from a particular part of this country that Bichi protects.

Bichi gives terrorists a free pass and then goes after soft civilian targets for possession of the equivalent of a dane gun. Okay, if  Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing, what of Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Chairman of EFCC, who has been detained by the DSS without charge for nearly two months now. Was he also involved in terror financing or is his detention related to his role  in  the naira redesign policy? The truth is that Bichi is carrying on a vendetta against those identified as arrowheads of that policy  to satisfy Tinubu’s anger.

If you don’t trust me on this, then Nigerians should ask Bichi, why he arrested Emefiele in the first place despite a court order barring him from doing so. Was it because of illegal possession of the equivalent of a dane gun? Surely, that was not the reason for his arrest. The gun was discovered after the fact. Tinubu and Bichi arrested him first and then went searching for evidence to charge him with. Is that the SOP of DSS? Emefiele is not just a clerk in an office, he is the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor. 

Time will tell where we are headed. Tinubu has been given the opportunity to pick his friends out of history’s crowd. He has so far wasted no time in showing us who his friends and enemies are. His cabinet nominees tell us clearly that there is a reward for bad behaviour. Those who worked in cahoots with INEC to change the votes representing the supreme will of the people in favour of Tinubu have been rewarded with ministerial positions. Of particular blight, the Rivers State presidential election result remains an everlasting stain on INEC. The authentic result on INEC’s IRev was ditched, while manipulated results were declared. And someone is being celebrated for “delivering” Rivers State to Tinubu and the APC – clear message here is that if you rig for him, you will be rewarded with a ministerial position or any other appointment.   

Many well-meaning Nigerians are utterly dismayed by Tinubu’s reward for bad behaviour. But can anyone do now?  A few days ago, a sparring partner mockingly said that kudos should be given to the president for saving the country’s blushes by not including Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman’s name on the ministerial list. But who knows, maybe there is another reward waiting for him.

..Visits CJN,
..Describes as unacceptable, neglect of judicial officers' welfare

The President of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau extends Condolences to the Family of Late Justice Nweze and Signs Condolence Register

"..Mr. Maikyau expressed the sadness of the Bar over the death of Hon. Justice Nweze, who he described as a cerebral jurist

During his visit to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the NBA President decried the state of welfare of Nigerian judicial officers.

The removal of fuel Subsidy and the subsequent price hike of petroleum products in Nigeria has been a contentious issue that has sparked socio-economic unrest. Most Nigerians are groaning from the hardship necessitated by ‘’Tinubunomics.’’ Petrol Stations have been abandoned for the rich; market squares have been deserted owing to highfalutin prices of food commodities; travelling has now become a luxury, Nigeria’s electricity supply that is largely epileptic, its tariff has  geometrically increased without improvement in output; school fees in States and Federal Universities have been over- a- hundred percent increased. Unfortunately, minimum wage is still at an unbelievable thirty – Thousand-Naira rate.

In all of these biting realities, the scores of the activities of bandits and terrorists are gushing -in from Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Plateau and every nook and cranny of the country. Little wonder then, former Present Olusegun Obasanjo opined recently during a keynote address at the public presentation of a book titled, “Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa,” written by a former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, who had also served as Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga, that ‘’Nigeria is sitting dangerously on a keg of gunpowder’’ because of incongruent economic policies slipping many Nigerians into poverty.

However, the Federal Government has cautioned Nigerians to be patient, that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Aye, this is what every administration tells Nigerians, perhaps this as become an already- made  mantra, after a careful study of the nature of Nigerians to be extremely hopeful people, with the mentality of suffering and smiling as lyricized by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Indeed, our hope will not be extinguished by the labyrinths of ill-thought-out governmental policies that have over the years impoverished the common people whilst enriching the ruling class! The palliatives that the Federal Government has approved as cushioning the  adverse effects of the subsidy removal, that implies that over 12 million poor and low – income households in Nigeria will be given N8,000 per month for the next six months is likened to almajirinization of these Nigerians. Let me digress a little to drive home my point.

The word “Almajiri,’’ according to Cheta Nwanze, in his article, ‘’History of the Almajiri System in Nigeria,’’ Almajiri is derived from the Arabic “Al muhajirun”, meaning, “an emigrant”. It usually refers to a person who migrates from his home to a popular teacher in the quest for Islamic knowledge’’.  In pre-colonial era, this system of education taught their students Islamic principles, values, jurisprudence and theology. Many learnt farming, masonry, fishing, et cetera. In fact, the groundnut pyramid is attributed to the hard work and skills of the students who partook in the Almajiri system. Besides, when the colonial masters came, some of these students served has judges, clerks, and teachers who provided the colonial administration with the needed staff. This system was successful because the states, then, provided the funds for their studies.

However, the British stopped and abrogated the state sponsorship and the Almajiri school system on the note that they were religious schools, ‘’karatun Boko’’ and instead established and funded western education and schools. This resulted to the Mallams forcing their students to go into towns and cities to beg. When they go begging, they were handed ‘’kobo – kobo’’ that was usually next to nothing in catering for their daily needs. In the midst of this, their teachers imposed ‘’kudi sati’’ on the Almajiris, a kind of weekly payment to be made and indoctrinated them that it is better to beg than to steal. This was the turning point of the Almajiri system that his now synonymous with begging, abject poverty, destitution, radicalization, criminality, constitution of religious and social nuisances and its over dependence on the rich upper political class for their livelihood. The ‘sharing’ of N8000 to poor Nigerians would only turn them into beggars, plunge them into penury and on a long run, become another sets of bandits and terrorists. What can N8000 afford for a poor home in today’s Nigeria?  Let us assume they won’t buy fuel because they do not have cars and generators. But they are going to buy garri that was transported to the market; they are going to buy rice, oil, meat, fish, grains; pay house rent,  seek medical care, pay school fees, et cetera.   

To solve this crisis, rather than take to ‘sharing’ money as if it is an ‘’Owanbe’’ occasion, the Nigerian government must take a multi-faceted approach that addresses both the economic and social impacts of it policies. One approach is to diversify the economy away from oil and reduce the country’s over dependency on petroleum products. This can be done by investing in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, as well as promoting other sectors of the economy such as agriculture and manufacturing. By reducing the country’s dependency on oil, the government can reduce the impact of fluctuations in global oil prices and reduce the need for fuel subsidies.

Another approach is to use the palliative money to refurbish, at least, one of Nigerian’s moribund refineries. It is absurd that the National Economic Council does not consider this as an urgent remedy to nip in the bud the dilapidating economic circumstances that Nigeria is plunged into at the moment. It is crazily bizarre that a country as rich and blessed with petroleum products, amidst other natural resources as Nigeria cannot boast of a functional refinery in this time and age! A functional refinery in Nigeria would bolster Nigerian’s access to forex and also make fuel available and cheap. Imagine marketers buying fuel from our refinery with Naira! Imagine Nigeria exporting crude and refined petroleum products! Nigeria economy will jumpstart, there will be employment opportunities, the price of dollars will fall and prices of goods and services will come down for everyone to afford.

Another approach is to increase transparency and accountability in the management of the country’s oil resources. This includes addressing issues such has corruption and mismanagement in the oil sector, as well as ensuring that revenues from oil exports are used to benefit the country and its citizens. By increasing transparency and accountability, the government can build trust with its citizens and reduce the likelihood of social unrest.

In conclusion, the removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent price hike of petroleum products in Nigeria is a complex issue that requires a multi-faceted approach. By diversifying the economy away from oil, increasing transparency and accountability in the management of oil resources, and refurbishing some of Nigeria’s refineries, Nigeria can build a more sustainable and resilient economy for the future. The Nigerian government must be circumspect of any approach it is adopting to bringing succor to its citizens. Targeting social safety net programmes like gifting money to some selected people isn’t of immediate need. The government after leveling up can implement targeted social safety net programmes to mitigate the impacts of the removal of fuel subsidy on the vulnerable populations. This can include programmes such as cash transfers, food subsidies, and job creation initiatives. By providing support to those most affected by the policy, the government can reduce the impact of the price hike on the most vulnerable members of society. To engage in giving meagre sum of money to some Nigerians would only impoverish them mentally, psychologically and this class of Nigerians may likely become pawns in the hands of politicians to win future elections. If this policy is implemented, this government would only succeed in spreading the Almajiri predicaments all over Nigeria.

Former Chelsea defender, Gary Cahill has backed centre-back Levi Co to have a big 2023/24 season.
Cahill said that Colwill, who recently signed a new long-term deal with Chelsea, has massive potential.
According to him, the 20-year-old defender is a very good player and will learn a lot
from teammate Thiago Silva at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking about Colwill, Cahill said (per Chelsea’s official website): “You look at attributes you want in a centre-back and ask: Is he tall and good in the air? Does he have a good presence? Is he quick? Does he take up good positions to receive the ball? Is he composed on the ball? Levi Colwill has those attributes – now he must keep learning and progressing.

“So will playing alongside Thiago [Silva], who has achieved so much in the game. He can soak up things from him, carry on learning and learning. It will be a big season for him. It is clear he’s got massive potential and is a very good player.”

[DailyPost]