Politics

Nigeria needs leaders that can unite the country – VP Osinbajo

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Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said only proactive leaders can solve the challenges bedeviling the country.

A statement by the Vice President’s spokesman, Laolu Akande said Osinbajo made the comment on Monday, when he paid a courtesy visit to Abdulwasiu Lawal, Oniru of Iruland, in Lagos.

He said; “Our country needs all the leaders — the best leaders, the most proactive leaders, leaders prepared to bring the country together.

“Lagos is a microcosm of Nigeria. Everybody is here. If things work out well here, things will be okay in the country.

“I am sure your role here is that of someone who brings together communities — not just Yorubas, but everybody.

“And I can see that from your choice of chiefs, you have gone to other parts, and I think this is the attitude of great leaders.

“You should know that you are always in my prayers, because I believe that your role is crucial, not just for the development of this state, but for the whole country.

“Today, you cannot relegate traditional rulers because of the exposure and education of those who occupy that position.”

World News

Pastor Adefarasin advises church members to start planning how to leave Nigeria (Video)

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Nigerian pastor and televangelist, Paul Adefarasin, has subtly advised his Church member to start getting a plan B to exit Nigeria.

According to the clergyman, he has faith but he’s also secured an escape route for himself and his family in case things go south.

In his words; ”If you don’t have a plan B, I know you have faith, i have faith too, but i have a plan B. Plus with Technology, i can talk to you from anywhere in the world.

Get yourself a plan B, whether that’s an Okada to Cameroon or Speed Boat to Seme Border, or a hole in the ground, get a Bunker, because these people are crazy.”

See video below:

Politics

Middle-Belt releases flag, coat of arms, proposed country name

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Following agitations from different groups in Nigeria seeking breakaway nations, the Middle Belt appears to have joined the fray with the unveiling of its own flag and coat of arms.

Sources say the region has kicked-off plans to agitate for its own country, named Midwest Republic.

In 2016, the Middle-Belt had also unveiled its own currency, which it has now redesigned to include Midwest.

It has also released its official flag and coat of arms, photos of which have started going viral on social media.

Massive social media reactions have already begun trailing the proposed creation of The Midwest Republic.

Politics

Aregbesola admits restructuring needed to move country forward

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The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed that the current national arrangement is unworkable while hinting at restructuring as the panacea to the challenges bedeviling the country.

Aregbesola made this call on Friday, March 26, in Ibadan, after his investiture as the grand patron of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, South-West zone.

The minister stated that the current structure needed to be adjusted to enable its constituent parts have access to more resources for development.

Aregbesola said, “The argument that the current political configuration holds down the country may be admissible to a large extent and we need to adjust our structure, both politically and economically.

“Nigeria needs to ensure maximum exploration and use of the resources by the constituent parts of the Federation with a view to encouraging healthy competition and broadening the space for mass participation in wealth creation.

Nigerians need to create a Nigeria where individuals can find fulfillment in life, even as they tread the narrow path of honesty, hard work, and sincerity.

“They need to create a nation where justice reigns and no man is oppressed, where merit can elevate to the top and the content of a man’s or woman’s character is enough to guarantee of enjoying the benefits of a prosperous federal society.”

The minister said secession was not the solution to the current challenges facing the country, adding that war would also not solve the problem but rather compound the woes.

He added, “Besides, those who take the precipitate action of resorting to armed conflict often plunge their land and people to ruin from which there may not be an exit option. Nations are often locked in civil wars of mutually assured destruction in which, peradventure one side wins, the victory will turn to ashes because the cost of victory is the loss of everything that was fought for.”

Politics

Refugees Commission reveals over 2m IDPs in country, bemoans increasing numbers

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The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, NCFRMI, has revealed that more than 2.6 million Nigerians are internally displaced within the country.

This was contained in a statement issued by the NCFRMI Commissioner, Sen. Basheer Lado, at the flag-off of distribution of relief items to 7,500 displaced persons, held at the Kano State Government House on Sunday, February 28.

According to Mr Lado, the displaced persons are spread across both the Northern and Southern parts of the country.

Speaking on the distribution of the relief items, Mr Lado said that about 7,500 displaced persons identified across 1,500 households will benefit from the gesture which includes different variety of food and non-food items.

He stated that the intervention was due to the alarming rate of displacements across Nigeria.

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to support the Commission towards supporting the displaced population across the country, stressing that “we as a Commission will continue to work assiduously in this regard”.

“To this end, in addition to the distribution of food and non-food items to all displaced persons here present today, the Commission will soon launch Project Reliance and the Resettlement City Project in Kano towards the empowerment and resettlement of displaced persons,” he added.

Furthermore, he disclosed that the NCFRMI would build housing units to accommodate those who have lost their homes in Kano.

“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, has been tremendously supportive of the keystone projects of the Commission, especially as it relates to the empowerment and resettlement of displaced persons across the country.

He also thanked Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for his contribution of 20 hectares of land to the Commission to fast-track the construction of the 600 household Resettlement City estates which, according to him, have already reached advanced stages in Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, and Edo states.

Politics

Nigerian govt reveals COVID-19 vaccines to arrive country Tuesday

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The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, has confirmed that Nigeria will on Tuesday, March 2, receive the first tranche of COVID-19 vaccines.

Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, made the disclosure on Saturday, February 27, in Abuja while evaluating the country’s fight against the disease.

“They (vaccines) should depart India on March 1, 2021, in the night and arrive in Abuja on the 2nd of March, 2021, ” he said.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that Nigeria is set to receive its first four million shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, a global scheme set up to procure and distribute vaccines for free, as the world races to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

COVAX, which was set up in April 2020 to help ensure a fairer distribution of coronavirus vaccines between the rich and poor nations, said it would deliver two billion doses to member-states by the end of 2021.

Nigeria’s four million vaccines would be its first COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility.

The facility promised access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries’ population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of 2021 to inoculate three per cent of their populations.

The Nigerian government had earlier announced that the first four million doses of the vaccines would arrive in the country by the end of February.

The SGF disclosed that the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) would be organising the shipment from Mumbai, India, with the World Health Organisation (WHO), both backers of COVAX.

Meanwhile, the PTF chairman praised Nigeria’s health workers and the various frontline workers for working hard to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Mustapha, while evaluating the county’s response to COVID-19 in the past year, said the PTF had performed “very well’’ with a very robust national response.

We have succeeded in discharging our mandate of managing the pandemic with a well-defined process and a robust national response,” he noted.

The SGF said that the strategies evolved by his committee to manage the pandemic had been replicated in some other countries, especially the compulsory Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for travellers.

He explained that the pandemic had helped the country to scale up its health infrastructure, citing the increase in the number of infectious diseases testing laboratories from four to 132 across the country.

Nigeria’s health minister, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Wednesday admitted that the country may have to wait till March to receive its first doses of the vaccines.

Ghana received 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines on Wednesday, making it the first country on the continent to benefit from the COVAX programme.

Cote d`Ivoire, a country with more than 32,000 COVID-19 cases and 188 deaths, also received over 500,000 doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.

It is exactly one year ago, Feb. 27, 2020, that Nigeria detected its first case of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), believed to be the first reported case in Sub-Saharan Africa.

With more than 150,000 cases reported since then, the NCDC said Nigeria’s response had been led by science and driven by the power of coordination, collaboration, and solidarity among federal and state governments, partners, the private sector, and the citizens.

Politics

‘We need restructuring of the mind, not just the country’ – Jonathan

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan says restructuring of the country alone will not help solve the numerous problems bedeviling the country like nepotism, ethnic and religious crisis if Nigerians do not restructure their minds.

Jonathan, who was a guest speaker at the 18th Daily Trust Dialogue held in Abuja on Thursday, with the theme: “Restructuring: Why? How?”, said:

“We cannot restructure without solving issues that polarize us; nepotism, ethnic and religious differences and lack of patriotism.”

Jonathan added that the country must develop specific solutions to her problems adding that Nigerians have mutual suspicion towards one another which must be nipped in the bud before Nigerians can have a better country to live in.

According to the ex-president, “discussion on restructuring will not help except we restructure our minds. Some of the challenges faced at the national level are still there at the state and local government levels, and sometimes even in our communities,” he said.

Continuing, he said:

“We cannot restructure without solving issues that polarize us; nepotism, ethnic and religious differences and lack of patriotism.”

He said that the regional government before the civil war was restructured to 12 states by the then Military Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon.

“It was a great decision to save the country from disintegration after coming out of the civil war. Going forward, Nigeria must design a solution in line with her peculiar issues.

“Let’s do our little best in our little corner to make the country great. The leaders and citizens should not lose hope in the nation as the future is bright.”

Entertainment

See A Country Where People Live With Dead Bodies of Their Relatives

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Torajan tribe in Indonesia bring up dead bodies of their relatives, clean their corpses, and dress them during Manene festival. It is done to strengthen the bond between the dead and the living. It is believed to bring luck in life. This ritual is done every three years.

For them, death is part of spiritual life. When a person die, food and water are put beside him/her everyday until the day of burial. Even then, they are exhumed to be cleaned and cared for by dressing them. They treat their beloved relatives as if they are sick, and not dead. They are bedded in a separate room of the family house until the family can afford a proper funeral.

Skin and flesh are preserved from decaying and rotting by coating of a chemical solution. This is regularly done so that the house could not be filled with bad odour. Corpses are buried in mountains because it is believed to be near heaven. and would be able to ascend with ease.

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