Entertainment

WhatsApp chat of lecturer telling student waiting for his class that he has left Nigeria permanently

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A Nigerian student has taken to social media to reveal how she found out that her lecturer traveled out of Nigeria.

She shared a screenshot of a WhatsApp chat with the lecturer, where she asked if his class would be holding the next day.

However, the lecturer who had not told his students that he would be relocating, revealed that he had traveled out and would not be returning to Nigeria.

The young lady with Twitter handle @Eriittae who appeared to have been stunned with the discovery simply posted it with questions marks.

She wrote in the chat: ”Good day sir, Sir pls are we having our class tomorrow?”

He replied; ”I have left Nigeria. I will not come back”

See the screenshot and her post below:

She wrote in the chat: ”Good day sir, Sir pls are we having our class tomorrow?”

He replied; ”I have left Nigeria. I will not come back”

See the screenshot and her post below:

Business

Elon Musk’s Starlink plans to launch in Nigeria, to compete with MTN, Glo, Airtel

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Tesla founder, Elon Musk through SpaceX, is in the process of getting necessary licences to bring Starlink, its satellite-based broadband services to Nigeria; a move that will pit it against network providers like MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile.

Starlink is under SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer, which is also owned by Musk.

The company had been in discussion with the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC virtually for several months.

Having made significant progress in the discussion, the NCC granted SpaceX’s request for a face-to-face discussion to gain better insights on the prospects of its proposal.

Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, Ubale Maska, said, “As the regulator of a highly dynamic sector in Nigeria, the commission is conscious of the need to ensure that our regulatory actions are anchored on national interest.

“We have listened to your presentation and we will review it vis-à-vis our regulatory direction of ensuring effective and a sustainable telecoms ecosystem where a licensee’s operational model does not dampen healthy competition among other licensees.”

The SpaceX’s team was led by SpaceX’s Starlink Market Access Director for Africa, Ryan Goodnight.

The NCC said it was interested in making necessary regulatory efforts to increase broadband penetration in the country as contained in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, 2020-2025.

The agency is empowered by Section 70 (2) of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 to regulate the provision and use of all satellite communications services and networks, in whole or in part within Nigeria or on a ship or aircraft registered in Nigeria.

Starlink is an Internet service launched by SpaceX to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband connectivity especially in areas of the globe where Internet is expensive, unreliable, or entirely unavailable.

Starlink satellites are 60 times closer to earth than traditional satellites, hence they are suited to areas where ground infrastructure might be a challenge to ensure that they can deliver high-speed broadband Internet to areas where the infrastructure is missing.

Politics

Insecurity: We won’t relocate AFRICOM to Nigeria, others – US replies Buhari

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The United States has said there is no plan to relocate its Africa Command (AFRICOM) from its current base in Stuttgart, Germany to Nigeria or any other African nation despite the worsening state of insecurity in the region.

The US Department of Defense, gave the response barely two weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to the US government to consider relocating AFRICOM to Africa to assist Nigeria and other adjoining countries to combat worsening terrorism, banditry and other security crises.

Germany-based Africa Command (AFRICOM) is the US military headquarters that oversees its operations in Africa.

Buhari said; “The security challenges in Nigeria remain of great concern to us and impacted more negatively, by existing complex negative pressures in the Sahel, Central and West Africa, as well as the Lake Chad Region.”

He added; “In this connection, and considering the growing security challenges in West and Central Africa, Gulf of Guinea, Lake Chad region and the Sahel, weighing heavily on Africa, it underscores the need for the United States to consider relocating AFRICOM headquarters from Stuttgart, Germany to Africa and near the Theatre of Operation.”

However, responding to an email inquiry from The PUNCH, the US government through The Pentagon, on Thursday ruled out any plan to relocate AFRICOM from its current base in Germany to Nigeria or any part of Africa.

It said previous studies have shown that the cost of relocating AFRICOM from Germany to Africa is very huge.

In the emailed response to The Punch on whether the US would consider Nigeria’s request to relocate AFRICOM to the continent, The Pentagon said although it would continue to value Nigeria and other countries in Africa as important partners, the American government would not consider relocating AFRICOM to any part of the African continent at the moment.

It would be inappropriate to speculate on any future actions. However, at this time, moving this headquarters (AFRICOM HQ) to Africa is not part of any plans, but USAFRICOM’s commitment to their mission, our African and other partners, remains as strong today as when we launched this command more than a decade ago,” US Pentagon spokesperson, Ms Cindi King said.

King also ruled out any plan to consider Buhari’s request in an ongoing global US defense review.

She said; “Although there is an ongoing Global Posture Review, the relocation of Combatant Command headquarters is outside the scope of its assessment. In the case of AFRICOM, previous studies have concluded that the cost associated with the relocation of this headquarters is significant and likely to incur the expense of other engagement opportunities and activities that more directly benefit our valued African partners.

“We greatly value the partnership with Nigeria and appreciate President Buhari’s recognition of the United States’ positive contribution to African peace and security, as well as other regional partners that have made similar past pronouncements. The United States remains committed to continuing our close partnership with African countries and organisations to promote security and stability.”

Entertainment

Uti Nwachukwu says religion, culture has repressed the s3xuality of Nigerians

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Big Brother Africa winner, Uti Nwachukwu has disclosed how uncomfortable some Nigerians become whenever the topic of sex is raised or being discussed in a gathering.

According to the media personality, Nigerians have failed to understand that sex is primarily a God given gift and should be enjoyed; instead, most people see it as an unclean and evil act.

Uti in a Twitter thread on Monday afternoon stated that Nigerians need to desist from hypocrisy and embrace the topic like a norm.

In his post, he mentioned that most people are self-righteous in this part of the world, stating that they desist from the topic in public and openly criticize people, meanwhile, they voraciously anticipate intercourse in their closet.

Here is what Uti wrote;

”Culture&especially religion have played major roles in chronically repressing Nigerians sexually.
That’s why the country seems to be dangerously obsessed with sexuality!

You condemn people; but you flock to public pages to express how much you don’t approve of their sexual Liberation.

It’s always who’s sleeping with who or what”

Uti Nwachukwu continued;

That’s why when Someone Says or does something sexually explicit, Boom!!! THEY BLOW.

Confused much?? Don’t know bout you but if I despise someone/something, I stay totally away from all topics concerning it/them.

World News

Twitter snubs Nigeria, set to open its African headquarters in Ghana

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The CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has announced the selection of Ghana as the country to establish its headquarters in Africa.

Jack made the announcement via his platform, Twitter on Monday, April 12, 2021.

His tweet read: “Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you Ghana and Nana Akufo-Addo.”

https://t.co/tt7KR3kvDg?amp=1

Responding, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, on his official Twitter page revealed that the partnership was agreed upon after a virtual meeting with Jack.

He welcomed the development and described the partnership as exciting for Ghana’s tech sector.

His tweet read: “The choice of Ghana as Headquarters for Twitter’s Africa operations is EXCELLENT news. The government and Ghanaians welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country.

“As I indicated to Jack in our virtual meeting which held on 7th April 2021, this is the start of a beautiful partnership between Twitter and Ghana, which is critical for the development of Ghana’s hugely important tech sector.

“These are exciting times to be in, and to do business in Ghana,” he tweeted.

Entertainment

Pope celebrates mass of ‘mercy’ with prisoners, refugees from Nigeria, others

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Pope Francis on Sunday made a rare outing from Vatican City to celebrate a mass of “divine mercy” with prisoners, refugees and health workers.

The service was held in a church just off St Peter’s Square, in front of a reduced congregation of about 80 people, due to Coronavirus restrictions.

Among the congregation were inmates of two Roman prisons and one youth detention centre; refugees from Syria, Nigeria and Egypt; and nursing staff from a nearby hospital.

His sermon was on how important it was for Christians to serve others. The Pope said, “Sister, brother, do you want proof that God has touched your life? See if you can stoop to bind the wounds of others.

Let us not remain indifferent. Let us not live a one-way faith, a faith that receives but does not give, haven received mercy, let us now become merciful.”

The pope, who is 84 and was vaccinated for coronavirus ahead of his trip to Iraq in early March, did not wear a face mask during the service.

Those who did readings from the bible were also unmasked, while everybody else in the church, including altar boys and other priests, had their masks on.

Entertainment

Man reveals what will happen in Nigeria if Davido’s babymama, Chioma starts dating Wizkid

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A Nigerian man has tweeted on the effect of a hypothetical situation involving Davido, his baby mama, Chioma and colleague, Wizkid.

It is no strange news that Davido and his estranged fiancée, Chioma have been having relationship issues.

Before recent events, there had been rumours that the couple who have a son together were no longer in good terms.

However, with reports of Davido dating American model, Mya Yafai and viral photos of them kissing further fueling the breakup speculations many were left with little doubt as to the stability of their Chioma and the singer’s union.

Also, Chioma subtly confirmed they were no longer together when she deleted all photos of the FEM crooner on Instagram.

Amidst all these, a man identified as @Nigeriangod_ has asserted what will happen if Chioma decides to start dating Wizkid.

According to him, Nigeria will separate as a result of that risky move.

”Imagine say Chioma go date Wizkid, Nigeria go separate,” he wrote.

Politics

Miyetti Allah implores Christians to pray for peace, unity of Nigeria

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The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has called on Christians to pray for the peace and unity of Nigeria as they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The South East Zonal Chairman of MACBAN, Alhaji Gidado Sidikki, made the call on Sunday, April 4, in Enugu in his Easter message to Christians in the area.

Sidikki described the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the pillar of the Christian faith and the celebration, a period to reflect on His earthly mission characterised by good works.

He, therefore, urged Christians to remain resolute in their abiding faith and hope for a better country.

He also urged them to take advantage of the period to renew their faith in the unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigerians.

He said that Nigerians are a people with common destiny and heritage in spite of differences in religion, tongue and political ideology.

The MACBAN zonal chairman said that with prayers and faith in God, the country will prosper and overcome all the challenges that threaten its unity.

Sidikki congratulated Christians in the region for a successful Lenten period and appealed to them not to allow recent security breaches in parts of the zone to breed bad blood in the area.

‘As Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ today, I urge them to reflect on the lessons they learnt during the Lenten period.

Let us love one another and see ourselves as one indivisible entity in spite of our differences,” Sidikki said.

Politics

Why arms flow illegally to Nigeria, others – Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday explained why arms and ammunition continued to flow illegally into Nigeria despite the government’s closure of the country’s borders.

The President, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, spoke when he received the outgoing Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He blamed the proliferation of arms in Nigeria on the current situation in Libya, saying once the North African country remains unstable, illegal arms and ammunition will continue to flow in the Sahel region of Africa.

He said: “We closed our land borders here for more than a year, but arms and ammunition continued to flow illegally.

As far as Libya remains unstable, so will the problem remains.

“We have to cope with the problems of development, as we can’t play hop, step and jump. But we will eventually overcome those problems.

President Buhari said the late Muammar Gadaffi who ruled Libya for 42 years recruited armed guards from different countries, who later escaped with their arms when the Libyan leader was killed in 2011.

“They didn’t learn any other skill than to shoot and kill. So, they are a problem all over the Sahel countries today,” the President added.

Entertainment

Two Nigerians jailed in the UK for Covid-19 loan fraud

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Two people of Nigerian descent, Timilehin Olasemo and David Akinneye are currently in jail in the UK for fraudulently claiming about £500k in loan meant for businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two Nigerians who exploited the UK Government’s Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) by using the identities of eight innocent people to fraudulently obtain £489,000 have pleaded guilty to the crimes.

Due to the absence of the economic activity occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK Government initiated a scheme to support struggling businesses.

In a statement published on Wednesday by the Metropolitan police, Olasemo and Akinneye were said to have connived to benefit from illegal loan applications worth £489,000, and had received over £250,000 at the time of their arrest.

Olasemo, 39-year-old, who is said to be a human resource executive, was charged to court over “conspiracy to commit fraud”, and impersonation and sentenced on Wednesday to three years and two months in prison

David Akinneye, aged 33, is described as her accomplice, and was sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

“Akinneye was the first out of the two to be identified during ongoing enquiries into organised criminality by officers of the Met’s North West London Economic Crime Unit. Olasemo was identified from evidence seized during Akinneye’s arrest,” the statement reads.

“On Friday, 16 October, officers from Met’s North West Economic Crime Unit, part of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Central Specialist Crime Command, arrested Olasemo at her home address. She was charged and remanded in custody the same day.

The investigating officers identified that £489,000 worth of fraudulent loan applications were made using ten identities. Of this, £297,000 worth of loans were successfully obtained by the pair and dissipated. The remaining amount was successfully stopped by the banks.

“It was discovered that Olasemo had obtained and used the personal details of eight individuals in order to fraudulently apply for the loans. She had stolen these identities after accessing employee records containing personal information during her employment.

“The fraudulently obtained monies was paid into the business bank account before being dispersed into mule accounts and later withdrawn from cash machines. Throughout this process, Olasemo sought advice from an accomplice named Olufumi David Akinneye.

Akinneye provided Olasemo with guidance in relation to laundering the proceeds of the frauds and safe addresses to use as correspondence for accounts. He also acted as a middle-man between people who were willing to sell on their bank accounts for use in fraud and other fraudsters who needed mule accounts to receive money obtained from diversion frauds.”

Speaking on the conviction, Chris Collins of the Metropolitan’s north west economic crime unit, said: “Today’s result serves as evidence of the zero-tolerance approach the MPS takes to individuals found guilty of fraud.”

“We will continue to crack down on individuals who are found to be exploiting government schemes for their own monetary gain,” he added.

Meanwhile, Akinneye, who was arrested in August 2020, was also found guilty of being involved in a romance scam.

Politics

Nigeria at risk of Covid-19 third wave, PTF warns

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The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has warned Nigerians against a third wave of the virus that is already being experienced by some countries.

Speaking at the briefing of the taskforce in Abuja on Monday, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and PTF Chairman, Boss Mustapha, said despite the availability of coronavirus vaccines, Nigeria was still at risk.

He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the virus is very potent and people still get infected. It’s also a fact that the vaccination process has only just begun. It has been reported that some countries are recording a third wave of cases.”

He noted that as of March 14, Nigeria’s bed occupancy had reduced to 1.22 percent and active cases stood at 13, 245.

Mustapha said Nigeria had unfortunately crossed 2,000 fatalities on March 12 and now had 2,013 recorded deaths.

“The PTF will like to caution Nigerians on home-based care as there may not be enough facilities and personnel to manage patients in times of emergencies.”

In his remarks, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said only Kogi State was not supplied the Oxford-AztraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as its cold store was still under repairs following vandalisation during the #EndSARS protest.

He said about 8,000 Nigerians had received their first dose of the vaccine, noting that no official report of serious adverse effects had been received from any of those vaccinated “but mild side effects such as swelling at the side of the vaccination is expected as this is normal.”

Business

Nigeria spends N21bn searching for oil, others in January

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The National Petroleum Investment Management Services, (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) has disclosed it incurred N126.17 billion expenses in January.

Out of the sum, N21.47 billion was spent on oil search in the frontier basins, rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries, and the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline.

NAPIMS disclosed this in its February presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

Giving a breakdown of the expenses, NAPIMS revealed N8.33 billion was spent on rehabilitation of refineries; pre-export financing received N5 billion.

Other funded items listed include N1.96 billion funding for the frontier exploration services involves the search for hydrocarbons in inland basins, especially in the north, N3.17 billion for the National Domestic Gas Development and Gas N2.39 billion on Infrastructure Development.

Also, Crude Oil Pre-Export Inspection Agency Expenses and pre-export financing cost N402.69 million; Renewable Energy Development financing gulped N119.83 million while N83.33 million financing was provided for the Nigeria-Morocco pipeline.

Compared with the previous month, the NNPC spent a total of N20.23 billion on all the projects, with the refineries getting N8.33 billion while N4.19 billion and N3.17 billion were spent on the national domestic gas development and gas infrastructure development respectively.

Despite the expenses, the report revealed that N90.85 billion was remitted to the federation account in January.

Politics

Sanusi emerges as new leader of Tijanniyah sect in Nigeria

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Deposed Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammad Sanusi II, has been pronounced as the new leader of the Tijjaniyya Sufi order in Nigeria.

The appointment was announced at the annual event marking the birthday of the sect’s leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass, held in Sokoto State, on Saturday, March 13.

Since the death of Sheikh Khalifa Isyaku Rabiu in 2018, the sect has not appointed any leader.

Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi I, Sanusi’s late grandfather, was a leader of the sect at some point.

The governors of Sokoto and Zamfara states, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Bello Matawalle, and a prominent leader of the sect, Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, were among the invited dignitaries.

Adherents of Tijjianiyya who were in their thousands offered special prayers for peace, unity and stability in the country.

The prayer session was led by Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi and leader of Majma’u Ahbab Rasul Li Shehu Nyass, Alhaji Dahiru Abubakar.

Politics

Okonjo-Iweala makes first official visit to Nigeria as WTO DG

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The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has made her first visit to Nigeria since she assumed office.

She was received in the country on Saturday by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo.

Okonjo-Iweala told reporters in Abuja, the nation’s capital that her visit to Nigeria was to show appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the support accorded her.

She also hinted that discussion on how Nigeria can leverage her position to benefit from trans-national trade formed part of her visit to the country.

Okonjo-Iweala’s visit to Nigeria comes about a month after she was confirmed as the Director-General of the global trade organisation.

As the first woman and first African to lead the international body, her term began on March 1 and would last until the next four years.
The term, which is renewable, will expire on August 31, 2025.

Politics

Nigeria does not need mercenaries to defeat terrorists

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The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, has insisted that Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari has no need to engage foreign mercenaries to defeat terrorism in the country.

Monguno said this during a briefing on Thursday, adding that the Buhari-led administration believes the country is well equipped to deal with Boko Haram’s insurgency and other security challenges on its own without seeking help as many have continued to advocate.

The NSA cited ‘national pride and other non-specific issues’ as reasons why Buhari would not sanction the use of mercenaries to fight insurgency as the “President is more interested in how to utilise the nation’s resources to win the counter-terrorism war.”

What we’re looking at here is that we have the resources; it’s just misapplication and under-utilisation that has affected our abilities to deal with these people,” Monguno said.

He added that the government remains committed to supporting troops with equipment and intelligence to completely eradicate the terrorists.

Business

Why MTN can’t repatriate over N106bn profit from Nigeria

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MTN group says it is yet to repatriate R4.2bn (over N106bn) profits made from Nigeria back to South Africa due to the challenge of accessing foreign currency.

The MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, disclosed this while announcing strong results across its twenty-one African markets.

According to Mupita, as at 31 December 2020 only R286 million (about 707.1million) out of the profits made from Nigeria has been successfully sent back to South Africa.

MTN group posted an impressive double-digit growth in earnings in 2020, doing especially well on its medium-term targets.

The group financial statements shows about 29 million new subscribers were added during the year under review, bringing MTN’s group subscriber base to 280 million in Africa.

In 2020, MTN also revealed new 19 million data users were added and nearly 12 million Mobile Money users, to reach totals of over 114 million and 46 million respectively.

The company said these numbers helped grow its service revenue by 11.9 percent to R170-billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increasing by 13.4 percent.

MTN also reported a 52 percent increase in adjusted headline earnings a share, a four-percentage point increase in return on equity to 17 percent and a more than doubling in operating cashflow to R28.3 billion.

Basic earnings a share increased by 87 percent, good operational performance and an improved contribution of the share of profits from associates and joint ventures.

MTN Group’s capital expenditure was R28.6bn and its net debt was reduced by R12bn to R43bn.

However, MTN announced suspension on its full year dividend for 2020.

The board said it would communicate a revised medium-term dividend policy after the announcement of its 2021 financial year results in March 2022.

On assessment of the progress of cash upstreaming from Nigeria, ARP delivery and COVID-19 impacts, the board will consider returning further cash to shareholders in the form of special dividends or share repurchases after the release of FY2021 result,” the statement noted.

Business

Indian firms invest N591.84bn in Nigeria

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Indian companies’ financial commitments to their subsidiaries and joint-ventures in Nigeria reached $1.44 million (N591.84 billion) in the first two months of this year.

Data from Reverse Bank of India (RBI) obtained by Ripples Nigeria revealed that the investments were made in construction, agriculture, mining, retail, restaurants, and hotel.

However, all the financial commitments made are in form of loans.

Analysis of the data revealed that $596,000 worth of loan was issued out by Damodar Agro Industries Private Limited, Lloyd Insulations (India) Limited, and Transrail Lighting Limited to their Nigeria subsidiaries in January.

Transrail Lighting Limited gave another $750,000 loan to its subsidiary, Transrail Lighting Nigeria Limited while Ecovista Industries Pvt Limited got $100,000 from its parent company in India, Damodar Agro Industries Private Limited, in February.

For year-on-year, the total transactions for February represent a 175 percent increase over the $308,000 transaction recorded in February 2020.

Politics

It’s madness to think Nigeria will work if things continue the way they are —Soyinka

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Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has said it’s madness for anyone to think Nigeria will work under the current structure in the country.

Soyinka stated this on Saturday, while re-echoeing the call for restructuring of the country as a means of tackling some of the major problems confronting it.

Soyinka, who spoke at the 2021 Obafemi Awolowo Lecture titled, ‘Whither Nigeria?’ organised by the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, also contended that there was a consensus among Nigerians that the country must be restructured urgently.

According to him, anybody still asking what restructuring means despite the numerous explanations already provided should be ignored because such persons had chosen to be ignorant deliberately.

The event, held virtually, also had in attendance a former Secretary-General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II; and former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, among others.

Soyinka said, “There is a consensus that this country whether in terms of governance, economic relations, security, educational policy, cultural policy, etc, requires restructuring. Even the word ‘restructuring’ has been restructured in many directions, in cogent expression which will mean the same thing for everybody.

For me, for instance, I emphasised decentralisation, reconfiguration…We all know what we have now is not working, it’s obvious and we can’t continue along the same line and say that it will work, it is sign of madness.

“I want to make a plea to all governors, stop being so timid. Push this federal envelope as far as it can go, even while we undertake the technical aspect of restructuring whether in terms of dialogue, evolving the constitution or whatever, something has to go on, after all, we’ve had so many of these confabs.

“My plea is to governors to start with: You are charged with the immediate responsibility of the welfare of your own people in whatever term and if you study the constitution carefully, I have done this with lawyers, and it seems that a lot can be done at this moment.

You need a season of greater autonomy for your own states and that is what I mean by pushing the federal envelope as far as it can go even with this impossible document that we have to cease what power, what authority you can derive from the constitution.

“Consult with your lawyers, I have consulted with mine and they also expressed the view that the governors are too timid, there is too much centralised mentality embedded in their minds and they are afraid to come out of their cocoons.

“Please remember that your primary responsibility is not the centre but the people, the state. So, take in your hands any form of authority that you can even from this constitution as it stands while we are working on a more honest, a more people-oriented constitution.”

Politics

Commission reveals real causes of boundary crisis in Nigeria

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The Director-General of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Mr Adamu Adaji, has stated that the agency is poised for the speedy resolution of the boundary crises in the country.

Adaji said this in a statement by Mrs Efe Ovuakporie, Head of Information Unit, on Thursday, March 4, in Abuja.

Adaji traced the history of boundary conflicts in the country to the emergence of new states without the prerequisite definition and demarcation of the internal boundaries.

The director-general said that such conflicts at various times made different governments at different times set up ad hoc commissions to handle disputes arising from the creation of states.

He said that there was the need to sensitise stakeholders on the activities of boundary managers at the three levels of government, as well as providing the platform for cross-fertilization of ideas.

“Failures on the part of the ad hoc commission to successfully handle all the boundary-related issues compelled the Federal Government to establish the NBC as a specialised border interventionist agency, to address all boundary disputes across the country.

However, the states are mandated to constitute the states and local governments boundary committees to handle inter and intra-boundary disputes, to complement the works of the NBC,” Adaji said.

He urged participants to evolve far-reaching ideas that would facilitate speedy resolution of boundary-related issues, particularly in the zones and in Nigeria as a whole.

Speaking, Head of Research and Policy Analysis Department, Hajiya Amina Nyako, noted that the agency was committed to ensuring a peaceful border regime between the constituent states in the country and between Nigeria and her proximate neighbours.

In doing this, she said the NBC would continue to monitor trans-border relations with a view to detecting areas of tension and possible conflict and finding a lasting solution that would promote trans-boundary cooperation.

She charged participants to join hands with the NBC in the discharge of its mandates saying, “the tempo toward peaceful coexistence can only be sustained through joint efforts”.

Politics

Kaduna Electoral Commission, best in Nigeria –El’Rufai

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Governor Nasir El-Rufai has described the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KDSIEC) as the best state electoral management body in the country.

According to the governor, the Kaduna Commission conducted the cleanest and best local government elections in the nation’s history.

The governor made this known while swearing in members of the State Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday, March 2.

El-Rufai also disclosed that the commission is the first to use Electronic Voting Machines to conduct the local government election.

The governor noted that the State Electoral Commission conducted the local government election where the sitting government lost some local governments, adding that this is unprecedented.

Usually, in the history of this state and many other states, the ruling party wins every local government; or may be loses one or two wards. But because of the integrity and commitment of the members and Chairman of the state electoral commission in our first term in office, our commission conducted perhaps, the cleanest and best election at the state level in Nigeria’s history,’’ he added.

El Rufai, who said that he is very proud to have re-nominated virtually all the members of the commission back to the office, implored the commissioners to ‘’continue to set the best example of conducting elections at the state level in Nigeria.”

The governor charged them ‘’to build on the foundations you laid and conduct the next local government elections in the cleanest and most transparent manner possible.

‘’This state government does not want to appoint interim administrators or Interim Management Committee or any sort of unelected leaders in any local government because it is against the provisions of the constitution.

We want the commission to ensure that elections are conducted before the expiration of the term of office of the current local government chairmen which ends sometime in June. This is why it is necessary to announce the timetable, to give the notice for election.”

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