Yemi Kale, former statistician-general of the federation, has faulted the new methodology used in computing Nigeria’s unemployment data.

Kale spoke on Arise Television’s Global Business Report on Monday.

On August 24, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics released a new report that pegged the unemployment rate at 4.1 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 and 5.3 percent in the previous quarter.

The new figure showed a difference of about 29.2 percent from the unemployment rate of 33.3 percent announced in 2020.

The NBS said the new methodology — introduced by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) — aligns with global best practices.

Reacting to the report, the former statistician-general said he had refused to change the country’s unemployment data-gathering methodology because it contradicted the system Nigeria operates.

Kale said during his time at the NBS, the committee in charge of reviewing the minimum number of work hours to count as employed, felt one hour did not make sense because the income generated within that time frame was not necessarily liveable.

The economist also stressed that the most important point of data is to “give policymakers the tools they need to understand the problems, proffer solutions, and monitor the impact of those problems”.

“If the policy and data are to match, policymakers need to come out to say that all they are promising Nigerians is one hour of employment, then the methodology works. But if the methodology is focused on one hour and policymakers are trying to look for full-time employment, the data won’t help them,” he said.

“It is only there for textbooks, researchers, and international comparison, and there is nothing wrong with that.

“The most important use of data is to provide information for policymakers, not for international comparisons. You have to ensure that your policymakers can use your data.

“This is why I resisted for 10 years because it did not make any sense in terms of providing the information that our policymakers need.

“So, the 20 hours was set because the committee that was set up, which included the ILO, university professors, UNDP, population commission, and CBN, presented their findings and they decided that one hour did not make sense because the income you will generate on an average from one hour’s work was not going to work.

“The 20 hours was decided on because it was agreed that if you work for that duration, you might be able to generate enough income that might sort of equate to what working one hour in the US is, then you have a bit more comparison.”

Kale, however, said unemployment figures from the NBS have always been in line with the international benchmark.

He said in many of the countries that pushed for the new standard, one hour of work made sense, adding that what the ILO had set was a base guideline and countries could tweak it to suit whatever their needs are.

The economist, therefore, said the new unemployment rate could be misleading to policymakers.

‘NEW METHODOLOGY QUESTION OF THE CHANGING WORLD’

In his response to Kale’s views, Wakili Ibrahim, the head of communications and public relations department at NBS, said times have changed and some Nigerians now earn from working for just one hour.

He insisted that the new methodology was in line with international standards.

“The new methodology is internationally accepted. All our neighbouring countries in Africa are using the new methodology of one hour,” Ibrahim told Punch.

“The world is changing. In high-tech countries, if you work for one hour, you can earn what somebody in a bank cannot earn in one year because of IT.

“Look at lecturers, a lecturer can go lecture for one or two hours, and they will pay him about N200,000 or N300,000 in one or two hours. So, what is the basis for ignoring those ones?

“It is the dynamic world that informed ILO and NBS to adopt this method to capture these people that spend one hour.”

Ibrahim added that if the new methodology was not used, “people will be left out when you use 20 hours as the minimum hour. It is not the question of NBS but the question of the changing world.”

[TheCable]

The 2023 BRICS Summit held at the Sandton Convention Centre, South Africa, from 22-24 August 2023, has come and gone. It was the 15th edition of the annual international conference normally attended by the heads of state or heads of government of the six member countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The Chairman of the 15th edition of the Conference and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa also invited the leaders of 67 countries to the summit of which several honoured the invitation. Nigeria sent its Vice President, Kashim Shettima.

BRIC is an acronym coined in 2001 by then Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill in a research paper that underlined the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The grouping began to evolve as an informal club in 2009 as an initiative of Russia. South Africa became the first beneficiary of the group’s expansion in 2010 when it was admitted into its fold, changing the acronym from BRIC to BRICS. South Africa is the smallest member of the group in terms of population and size of the economy. Together, the BRICS countries account for more than 40% of the world population and a quarter of the global economy. Besides the formal goal of economic cooperation, members also seem united by an unspoken desire to engineer a multipolar world in which the hegemony of the current Western and US-dominated system is whittled down considerably, if not overthrown.

One of the important outcomes of the 2023 BRICS Summit was the invitation of six nations (from over 40 countries said to have indicated interest)  to join the group – Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The new members seem strategically selected – the admission of Ethiopia, one of the fastest growing economies in Africa and the permanent seat of the African Union, is symbolic. It is the same for Egypt, which connects Africa to the Arab world. Saudi Arabia joining BRICS would mean that the world’s largest crude oil exporter will find itself in the same economic bloc as the world’s biggest oil importer, China.  Also both Russia and Saudi Arabia are members of OPEC+, a group of major oil producers. Similarly the invitation to   Iran, home to around a quarter of the Middle East’s oil reserves and which shares the burden of Western sanction with Russia, seemed again to be carefully thought through not just in terms of oil politics but also for its influence in the Middle East.  Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was said to have celebrated his country’s BRICS invitation with a swipe at Washington. He was quoted as saying that the BRICS’ expansion “shows that the unilateral approach is on the way to decay”.

The invitation to Argentina not only connects to the Latin American angle but also taps into the current sentiments in the country. With a triple–digit inflation, a steadily deteriorating value of the peso and an overwhelming burden of debt repayment on a $44bn loan agreement with the IMF, frustrations with the Western system and a yearning for an alternative path to development and international cooperation seem quite widespread in the country.

The UAE, another influential Middle East country, has been a friend of BRICS for quite some time. It joined the BRICS New Development Bank in October 2021, after it was established in 2015. The UAE which enthusiastically accepted the BRICS’ invitation, said it has consistently championed the value of multilateralism in supporting peace, security, and development globally.

Where is Nigeria in all these?

BRICS has come a long way since 2001 when it was first hyped. As many of the then BRIC economies began to face challenges and failed to live up to expectations,  investor attention was shifted from ‘emerging markets’ to ‘frontier markets’, a classification made up of economies smaller than those of the BRICs. Following from that, in late 2013, Jim O’Neil, the same Goldman Sachs analyst who created the BRIC acronym, popularized another acronym, MINT, which was coined by the Boston-based asset management firm Fidelity. MINT is a neologism referring to the economies of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. What was instructive about the four countries listed in the MINT club was that they were all members of the Next Eleven (also known as the N-11). The N-11 were eleven countries – Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam – identified by the same Jim O’Neill in a research paper on December 12 2005 as having a high potential of becoming, along with the BRICS, the world’s largest economies in the 21st century.

At the end of 2011, the top four countries in the N-11 – Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey (also known as MIKT) made up 73 percent of all Next Eleven GDP.  MINT simply meant that Nigeria was given South Korea’s spot in MIKT. To add to the wave of Nigeria-optimism at that time , Filipino billionaire, Enrique Razon, was quoted as declaring during the closing activities at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2014, that Nigeria was the best place to invest in that year. Razon, who controlled a $4.7 billion fortune at that time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, reportedly signed a deal to develop and operate a port in Lagos by 2016 in which he was to invest $225 million.

Essentially from 2005 (the Obasanjo years) until Buhari took over in 2015, the international optimism that Nigeria would be a breakout economy persisted. But in just eight years of the Buhari government, the optimism about Nigeria evaporated and the country became infamous for being pronounced the poverty capital of the World. This is one of the prices any country has to pay for an inept and nepotistic leadership.

I have read some commentaries by some Nigerians that BRICS is a mere hot air and that the country shouldn’t bother about it. With all due respect, I believe arguments like this are made either out of sheer ignorance of the dynamics of international economic relations or a consolation for being left out. The fact is that being located within important groupings like BRICS, even before it has fully taken shape, is itself power. It has emerged that Nigeria did not even apply to be a member of BRICS – either because it felt South Africa is taking a spot that should rightly belong to it (entitlement mentality) or because it wrongly believes in its own exceptionalism.

As Nigeria is pushed further out of relevance in an emerging bloc that has been consolidating since 2009 (despite intermittent challenges), there are fears that the West, suspected to be nudging the ECOWAS into war with Niger ostensibly to restore constitutional order in that country, may deceitfully try to move closer to the country to use her to blunt the current hurrah the BRICS expansion is generating across Africa. But I feel such, if it happens, will make Nigeria more of a pariah among African and BRICS countries.  I also believe that effective diplomacy should be able to make the country part of an evolving BRICS bloc without discarding old partnerships – as the UAE is apparently trying to do.

Given that the desire to be a counter weight to the current Western-dominated global system is a shared value among members of the BRICS, it should be expected that the issue of restructuring the United Nations’ Security Council will sooner than later come up again.  Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya had featured as possible African members in various permutations floated in the past on how the UNSC should be restructured to make it more inclusive. Africa, which has the largest members in the United Nations General Assembly, has always felt short-changed by the current structure of the UNSC where only five countries (USA, Britain, France, China and Russia) wield veto powers. Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who chairs the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), captured Africa’s expectations with the BRICS expansion  when he reportedly told the BRICS-Africa dialogue meeting in Johannesburg that the  “partnership between BRICS and Africa goes beyond convenience… It is a step that places Africa in its rightful position within the global order.”

With two more African countries set to become members of BRICS from January next year, Nigeria seems to have already lost out a potential membership of UNSC – at least for now. It is time for the country to wake up to the reality  that it is fast losing its clout in international affairs and  that it has not been sufficiently strategic  in its choices in international affairs.

Jideofor Adibe is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Nasarawa State University, Keffi and Extraordinary Professor of Government Studies at North Western University, Mafikeng South Africa. He is also the founder of Adonis & Abbey Publishers and can be reached at 0705 807 8841(Text or WhatsApp only).

Mr Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, says the ministry has concluded plans to reintroduce monthly sanitation as part of strategies to keep the city clean.

Wike stated this in Abuja on Monday, after a closed-door meeting with contractors handling different projects in the FCT.

He said that he had already briefed President Bola Tinubu on the idea that at least two Saturdays in a month would be declared for sanitation from 7a.m. to 10 a.m.

According to him, the move would enable companies supporting the FCT with logistics to go to market, and other public places to evacuate refuse.

Wike said for Abuja to be clean, everybody has to cooperate.

“We must all make sacrifices. There is nothing like we are going to suffer. You also contribute to refuse.

“So, if you spare three hours on a Saturday at home, to clear the refuse and bring them out for us to evacuate and dispose of, then that is the little way you can help.

“We are appealing to you (residents) to cooperate with us so we can achieve our goals,” he said.

On streetlights, the minister said that there were some improvements.

“We are not there yet, but I can assure you that everywhere in Abuja will be lit up,” he said.

For those who have distorted the Abuja Master Plan, Wike said that the issue would soon be addressed.

Famous Nigerian Catholic priest, Rev Fr Chinenye Oluoma has berated Nigerian youths who are into fraudulent activities on the Internet, saying they may not end well.

In a video posted on his official Facebook page on Tuesday morning, the priest who spoke during a sermon, lamented how the internet fraudsters defraud innocent people of their hard earned money, stating that it would have been better if they target politicians.

Fr Oluoma said although some music artistes sing to endorse Yahoo, such lifestyle cannot be justified.

He said, “When you pursue wealth at the expense of fellow humans, you are trashing people to get a treasure that will be a trash in your life.

“I don’t understand when people who steal and dupe others get angry when ministers condemn it. Yahoo means a set of people who will just lock themselves in a house, look for somebody who is vulnerable using their computers and dupe the person everything he laboured for.

“Then the person becomes so broke after 30 to 40 years of labouring. You steal everything the person has and the person is dying of depression, High Blood Pressure and heart attack and you are comfortable.

“That some musicians even sing to endorse that kind of lifestyle means to you that it is normal?

“If Yahoo means tricking people, defrauding them of their hard earned money, leaving them penniless and they die of heart attack, how do you want to end well?

“Some people even consider it as a legitimate hustle. How can stealing be a legitimate hustle? If you are that kind of person, you can’t end well.

“If you are into such a thing, please don’t marry because if you marry and you give birth, your children will suffer the consequences.

“At least if you want to be a Yahoo, target politicians who are stealing money. But you won’t target such people, it is people who worked honestly. At least target the bad politicians so that on the last day you and God may have conversations on it”.

A socio-cultural group, Yoruba Council Worldwide, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the seeming disagreement between Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State House of Assembly over cabinet nominees.

THE WHISTLER had reported that the House last Wednesday confirmed only 22 out of the 39 cabinet nominees sent by Sanwo-Olu for screening and confirmation, rejecting 17.

Although the House is yet to make public its reasons for rejecting the 17 nominees, there are speculations that their rejection may not be unconnected with ‘religious politics’.

In an open letter dated August 28, which was obtained by THE WHISTLER on Monday, President of the council, Aare Oba Hassan Oladotun, urged Tinubu to intervene in the matter, which he referred to as “politics of religious attrition”, as the leader of Yoruba land.

Hassan regretted that never in the history of Lagos was development predicated on religious divisions between the Christians and Muslims, adding that if care was not taken, the traditionalists may also begin to demand for their rights.

“The recent scenario concerning Lagos State Commissioner list brouhaha between the Executive and Legislative arm really deserves your fatherly review and leadership urgent intervention.

“As President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, however, your continued leadership guidance, strategic engagement and tactical roles in Yoruba Land and particularly Lagos State political landscape and development remains very crucial and sacrosanct more than the past, most importantly to keep the foundation base politically intact.

“Sir, having noticed the religious bickering and unmitigated attrition, and the attendant discords overtaken the fundamental democratic tenets, civil decorum and ethical principles in Lagos State between Mr. Governor and the legislative arm.

“Hence, being the apex Yoruba umbrella body and mouthpiece of the entire Yoruba people globally, we deem it fit to call your urgent attention and intervention for the purpose of showing an instructive guidelines and leadership direction as the Leader of Yoruba land,” he said.

“We understand the current enormous tasks before you, while we are fully aware of the current situation and discordant tunes of political acrimony, agreements and disagreements which are expected in political power calculus.

“However, we strongly believe that any issue that can be managed internally and mutually as one solid and formidable political family, is not meant to be treated in the open as this will inevitably be viewed as lack of internal cohesion and mutual positively impactful engagement, consequently means the Yorubas washing one’s dirty linen in the open.

“Sir, your impeccable practical leadership qualities and strength of political direction must be seriously brought to bear, particularly on all these defective developments and never in the history of Lagos is our development predicated on religious divisions between the Christians and Muslims, whereas if left unchecked the traditionalists may eventually thrown in the gauntlet in demanding their inalienable and fundamental rights too, that may consequently leading to a house of commotion,” Hassan stated.

The council’s president noted that Tinubu’s intervention would not only help to save Lagos, but the entire Southwest.

“By this singular test of your yet another leadership ability, capacity and capability, hence your intervention roles is more germane and so much required in order to salvage the imminent wrecking ship, not only in Lagos State, but entire South West generally.

“We need to urgently stabilize the home front and ensure all interest are pleased across board, while the need for critical peaceful engagements of all strata ranging from political, socio-cultural organizations, religious and traditional stakeholders is necessary as well,” he added.

Some of the cabinet nominees who were rejected include former Commissioner of Health, Prof Akin Abayomi; his counterparts Mr. Gbenga Omotoso (former Commissioner of Information and Strategy); Engr Olalere Odusote (former Commissioner of Energy and Mineral Resources), Mr. Sam Egube (former Commissioner of Economic Planning and Budget), Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo (former Commissioner of Education), among others.

These former Commissioners who were rejected by the House were said to be the best performers in the first tenure of Sanwo-Olu.

The House had through a 12-man ad-hoc committee chaired by the Chief Whip, Fatai Mojeed, screened the 39 cabinet nominees from August 13 to 16.

THE WHISTLER reported that Sanwo-Olu had on July 28, transmitted 39 cabinet nominees to the House for screening and confirmation.

But since the list was submitted to the House, there have been criticisms coming from different quarters, particularly from religious groups.

President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, tasked the Federal Executive Council (FEC) with a marching order to roll out actions aimed at the revival of the economy and make life more bearable for the people.

He gave the charge to his ministers while presiding over his administration’s maiden FEC meeting, held at the Council Chambers of the State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Delivering his inaugural address to his 45 ministers, President Tinubu noted the urgency in the task before the administration as very enormous; requiring that all those charged with responsibilities must put in their best.

He noted that the administration’s priority areas had been set out in its economic programmes and tasked them to be prepared not to fail as there is no impossibility in the dictionary of service to the people, adding that failure would not be explained away under his watch.

“We must find a home-grown re-engineering of our finances, manage our resources and let the economy work for the people of this country. There are so many things some cynics will say are impossible, but in your dictionary of service, everything is possible and must be possible. We have the talents; we have the level of intellectual capacity to turn this country around.”

He assured the ministers that he would be willing to listen to their concerns, saying: “I am ready to listen. Like I said to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Sunday, I am ready even for corrections, only God is perfect. Don’t be afraid to make decisions. That’s the burden of leadership. I know some of you are still looking for offices. I believe the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff (CoS), and Head of Service of the Federation (HOSOF) will work as a team to settle you down quickly.”

Addressing newsmen at the post-FEC briefing, the ministers explained that the meeting centred around the plans of the administration to revive the economy.

Five ministers, including those of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Ali Pate; Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; and that of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Anite; as well as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, attended the briefing.

Edun said the Council agreed that the economy is not where it ought to be. He also said that FEC examined eight priority areas and identified targets to deliver in the next three years, adding that the President charged them to roll out policies and programmes to turn the economy around.

“Essentially, we went through an exercise of looking at where things stood regarding the economy, growth rate, exchange rate, inflation, unemployment and so on.

“The overriding conclusion is that we’re not where we should be and we also examined the President’s eight-point agenda, that is the eight priority areas for moving the Nigerian economy forward and for delivering to Nigerians and those are basically food security; ending poverty; economic growth and job creation; access to capital, particularly consumer credit; inclusivity in all its dimensions as regards youths and women; improving security; improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate; rule of law, and of course, fighting corruption.

“It is around those matrix that the plans and targets of what will be delivered in the next three years or so were identified, discussed and inputs were given by various ministers and we went away with the marching order to refine further the targets in particular and within weeks to start rolling out policies and programmes to turn around the economy and make things better for all Nigerians.”

Describing the situation with the economy inherited by the new administration, Edun said the Tinubu administration inherited a bad economy with an unacceptable high rate of unemployment, and with inflation standing at 24 per cent.

“Per capita has fallen steadily, inflation is at 24 per cent, unemployment is high, you know they are rebasing the way in which it’s calculated. Either way, it is high and youth unemployment is even unacceptably high, these are the key metrics that we have met,” he said.

He also said the Federal Government is not in a position to borrow money at this time, adding that emphasis is on how to create a macroeconomic environment where both local and foreign investors will invest and increase production.

“So, that is the plan. The expectation is that there will not be a reliance on borrowing. Rather, as revenues increase, as the benefit of removing fuel subsidy and the subsidy on the exchange rate, there will be more money for the government at all levels.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Anite, said the President plans to create 50 million jobs.

“In Mr President’s manifesto during his campaigns, he promised 50 million jobs and that’s our target. We will take it in phases; we are looking at different sectors of the economy that will contribute to this job creation, chief among them is the creative industry and the digital economy, and then the agric sector, agro-processing zones, and mining, oil and gas. So we’re very confident that we will achieve this,” she said.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has directed the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to freeze the processing of visas for all government officials seeking to travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) without proof of direct participation in UNGA’s official schedule of activities.

The President’s directive is part of a broader effort to reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria. To prevent any sharp practice in this regard, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria is accordingly guided on official visa processing while Nigeria’s Permanent Mission in New York is further directed to prevent and stop the accreditation of any government official who is not placed on the protocol lists forwarded by the approving authority.

By this directive, all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies are mandated to ensure that all officials, who are approved for inclusion in the UNGA delegation, strictly limit the number of aides and associated staff partaking in the event. Where excesses or anomalies in this regard are identified, they will be removed during the final verification process.

The President further affirmed that, henceforth, government officials and government expenditure must reflect the prudence and sacrifice being made by well-meaning Nigerians across the nation.

HOWEVER, in spite of seeming measures by the administration, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said “Nigeria is asphyxiating, in dire straits and fast grinding to a halt under the leadership of President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

The opposition party lamented that Nigeria is at the edge of the precipice because the Tinubu administration “lacks the acceptability and followership of citizens,” a situation the party noted has created an atmosphere and feeling of absence of governance in the country.

In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, PDP said it was alarmed that “there is a serious disconnection between the government and citizens arising from ill-planned and hasty implementation of policies that have brought excruciating hardship, horrifying insecurity and a general sense of apprehension that is already threatening the peace, unity and corporate existence of our nation.

“The administration’s lack of ingenuity, tact and sensitivity towards the wellbeing of Nigerians in the removal of subsidy and floating of the Naira inflamed unbearable high cost of living, crippled our national productivity, crashed millions of businesses and sparked massive job loss with attendant escalated poverty, hunger, insecurity and hopelessness across the country.

“The situation has snowballed into a dangerous loss of investors’ confidence with international companies exiting our nation and leaving millions of Nigerians stranded in the labour market with a crippling effect on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are the real drivers of our national economy.

“The APC government continues to tout their fraud-prone palliative programme of miserable average 1,200 bags of rice to Nigerians in each state of the country. APC has expanded its capacity to deceive and defraud Nigerians through phony programmes, a situation that has heightened frustration across the country.”

The PDP added that it was distressing that the ruling party had turned a blind eye to the plight of Nigerians with no concrete commitment towards the safety of lives “despite the killing of over 500 Nigerians in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kaduna and other states, with many more abducted since May 29, 2023.

“The failure of the APC government to decisively act since the abduction of eight corps members who were on their way to Sokoto for their one-year mandatory national service is another ugly testament of the APC government insensitivity towards the security, safety and wellbeing of citizens.

“More disturbing is the recent downing of a Nigerian military aircraft with attendant loss of lives of our brave and gallant military personnel without corresponding reassuring statement from the APC government.

“Instead of protecting Nigerians, the APC government is desperate to plunge our nation into a needless war in Niger Republic over a conflict in that nation that does not constitute any threat whatsoever to our national interest,” PDP lamented.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday, demolished a multimillion naira duplex built on plot 226, in Wuse Zone 6, an unapproved land.

This was made known by the Director, Department of Development Control, Mr Mukhtar Galadima.

Galadima said that the building was illegally developed against all warnings, adding that his team had carried out extensive investigation to ascertain the original owner of the plot, given varying claims that were being put forth by the parties.

According to him, investigation revealed that the developer was not the owner of the plot, adding,”that is why we had to remove the building.”

He said the FCT Administration will not consider the status of any defaulting developer once development rules and regulations are violated.

Galadima said: “We demolished the duplex because somebody built it on someone else’s land without valid title and building plan approval.”

“We allowed the building to this stage before demolishing it because we had to follow all due processes,” he said as quoted by NAN.

Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-Cultural Association has announced the introduction of a security outfit to assist security agencies in curbing crime, including cattle rustling, kidnapping and rural banditry.

The pan-Fulani group disclosed this in a communiqué issued at the end of its yearly general meeting and Delegates’ Conference in Nasarawa State. Miyetti Allah also appealed to the Inspector General Police (IGP) to take proactive measures to protect Fulani pastoralists across the country from tribal hordes, ethnic militias and state-sponsored vigilantes.

In the communiqué, jointly signed by the National President, Abdullahi Badejo, and National Secretary, Saleh Alhassan, the group condemned the policies of some state governors “seeking to criminalise the economic livelihoods of pastoralists through the enactment of obnoxious laws – anti-open grazing law” as the most wicked act any government can do to the economic interest of Fulani. “Pastoralists unanimously condemn and totally reject the repressive and oppressive law and called on the National Assembly to come to their rescue,” it stated.

The group added: “Delegates called for the setting up of a National Truth and Reconciliation Commission to begin the process of total conciliation and national healing process in our rural communities.

“Security agencies should commence the process of detailed documentation of the violence against pastoralists, including the collection of exhibits and all relevant information to isolate the perpetrators of violence and arrest them to ensure justice.

”Delegates condemn all forms of violence, and support the peace-loving people to embrace the spirit of brotherhood and peaceful and harmonious coexistence in our communities.”

They also condemned the profiling of the Fulani race by the media, particularly social media, and urged the press to investigate the veracity of their stories before going to press or risk legal action.

The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, has come under fire from the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

Ganduje in a viral video on Monday claimed Kwankwaso supported the contentious demolition of buildings in Kano.Ganduje spoke in Hausa to some of his loyalists and party supporters from Kano State who paid a courtesy visit to the secretariat.

In the two-minute, 28-second video, Ganduje stated that President Bola Tinubu was smart enough to see through Kwankwaso’s desperation to become the next Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

He added that the random demolition of buildings approved by his administration was the only way he and his political godson (Kano governor, Abba Yusuf) could express their frustration under the guise of sanitising Kano’s master plan.

“Is it not the FCT minister position that he wanted? That was why he demolished buildings in Kano under the guise that he wanted to defend the master plan. If you ask him what the master plan is, he can’t tell you.

“All you will hear is, ‘We will reset the Kano master plan. We have promised Kano people that we will demolish houses even if they are 1,000-storey buildings.’ Look, if an illiterate person does not know he is one, he is certainly blind. That is what befell him,” Ganduje mocked.

The video clip, which has since found its way to social media, has started generating debate among supporters of both candidates.

When contacted for reaction, the NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Major Agbo, pleaded to be left out of the personal conflict between the APC national chairman and his one-time ally.

He said, “Please leave us out of the Ganduje matter. Whatever he thinks he has against Kwankwaso is their problem. It doesn’t have anything to do with the New Nigeria People’s Party.

‘‘Also, the issue of demolition in Kano is the decision of the governor. The party has no role in it.”

But the spokesperson for the NNPP Presidential Campaign Council, Ladipo Johnson, stated that Ganduje is merely seeking relevance.

“Does anyone really still listen to what Ganduje says? The fact that he is the APC national chairman doesn’t mean that he is a rational human being. That is all I have to say.

“We are not going to waste our time on somebody who is inconsequential, no matter what the APC thinks they are doing. It is as simple as that,” he noted.

Prior to the unveiling of the ministerial nominees, there were high expectations that Kwankwaso, former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and some party chieftains from the opposition would feature prominently in Tinubu’s proposed government of national unity.

While Wike and a few others were shortlisted, Kwankwaso was not.

Following reports of planned looting of palliatives kept in warehouses, the Osun State Government has beefed up security around the storage facilities.

The state had received 3,000 bags of rice from the Federal Government and is said to be awaiting 14,516 more bags of rice and 3200 MT of maize before commencing distribution of the palliatives to vulnerable residents of the state.

The palliatives were released to states as part of measures by the Federal Government to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal on citizens.

The Osun Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, while reacting to the reported looting of Bayelsa State warehouse disclosed that additional security measures have been put in place to safeguard warehouses holding palliative for the state.

“We have put enough security measures in place, for those that may want to take advantage of the fact that we are still expecting another consignment from the Federal Government to loot the one we have at hand. We have informed security operatives and we have built more security around the places (warehouses) to make it impossible for anybody to loot the palliatives meant for the vulnerable in the society.

“We will still update the people of the state tomorrow on development over the palliative because we heard information that some consignment will be arriving today (Monday) so when we receive it, we are going to update the people on what is going on.”