How Shekarau Underdeveloped Kano State

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By MUKHATAR MUHAMMED GWARZO
With the election of Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as the governor of Kano state in 1999 following Nigeria’s return to civil rule, Kano state undoubtedly began its democratic journey on a sound footing. Dr. Kwankwaso commenced his work by setting up various development initiatives like the Community Re-orientation Committee (CRC)—a programme which was mandated with the provision of free maternal care, provision of instructional materials to school children, uniforms, free feeding and even payment of school fees for the very less privileged children. Apart from the fact that Kwankwaso received an award by UNICEF, the federal government even requested him to provide the blueprint on school feeding and also gave special grant to any state that introduced free feeding. The positive result was that school enrolment and quality of education greatly increased within that period. Such was Kwankwaso’s opening feat from 1999 to 2003.
From 2003, when the former Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau won the governorship election as a result of his being under the same political party, ANPP with respected General Muhammadu Buhari, the developments initiated by the Kwankwaso administration practically began to collapse. The main reason for the ugly tendency was that Ibrahim Shekarau assumed the mantle of leadership obviously without even the slightest plan for development. His principal aim of contesting the election was to unleash his long accumulated venom on his predecessor as indicated by the hurried way he set up a bogus witch-hunting committee to indict Kwankwaso on laughably spurious allegations. Interestingly, Kwankwaso full-heartedly congratulated Ibrahim Shekarau and prayed for his success on his electoral victory in 2003. Conversely, when Dr. Kwankwaso defeated Shekarau’s candidate during the last elections, he lacked the goodwill to congratulate Kwankwaso, instead he headed for the tribunals to protest the election results.
At the assumption of office Shekarau had demonstrated his insatiable greed and love of ill-gotten wealth when he hastily conjured up state-resource draining machinery called ‘Adaidaita sahu’ to siphon off public funds. According to Umar Faruk Jibril, a former head of Department of Mass communication and now the Commissioner of Information in the Kwankwaso administration in an interview with Daily Champion of July 16, 2011 “Adaidaita sahu was a drain pipe that was used to drain state resources for propagandist purposes. It was a communication a gimmick meant to deceive people. They do nothing other than go to the media and ask people to be saints. How can you be a saint in a devil’s den? How can you be good when you are neglected?” As an intellectual Dr. Faruk intelligently defended his position when he pointed accurately that “between 2003 and 2011, Kano has the highest number of addicts in the whole of the country…and the last government claimed to have cleansed the minds of youth”. Apparently if Adaidaita Sahu was not a half-hearted programme, it would have succeeded in providing jobs for the same youths it only aided in destroying.
The Adaidaita Sahu charade was not the only avenue setup by the Shekarau regime to drain away public resources. The real window to the heavy financial recklessness of the Shekarau administration can be found in how the local government councils were managed in the last eight years. Financial irresponsibility in the LGCs was so enormous that it prompted a probe of the councils by the Kano State House of Assembly in 2009 which set up an ad-hoc committee that went round the 44 LGCs to assess their performance for the 2008 fiscal year.
Needless to say, part of the findings of that committees report discovered that most of the LGCs do not have proper records of account of their expenditure. The processes of contracts were replete with irregularities and flagrant disrespect for due process. Cases of contract inflation, duplication and payment of at least 70 percent or even full pay to contractors before they commenced their project were virtually endless. But unfortunately even after the above findings by the ANPP dominated House of Assembly, the executive arm of government conspiratorially connived with the House members to attempt to sweep the report under the carpet.
Consequently, it was the enormity of this public insult by the last government that prompted the arrest of Shekarau’s stooge in the last governorship election Salihu Sagir Takai by the EFCC based on a petition submitted to it by the Movement for Justice in Nigeria (MOJIN) led by its national president Abdulkarim Dayyabu. Takai was quizzed by the EFCC for his role as the Commissioner for local government between 2007 and 2010. Others arrested along with Takai on the alleged misappropriation of N44 billion, were his permanent secretary Abdulmalik Yakubu and the influential ANPP chairmen of Nassarawa, Tarauni, Gwale and Municipal—Nasiru Yusuf Gawauna, Amanallah Ahmad Muhammed, Abbas Sani Abbas and Salisu Maje Gwangwazo respectively.
According to MOJIN’s petition, “the local government councils received over N220 billion in three years without putting 30 percent of the huge amount into public use”. It also noted that the “overwhelming majority of local government councils cannot give a satisfactory account of spending of grant in the 2008 fiscal year.
Furthermore, while Dr. Kwankwaso’s rural electrification covered over 300 hundred towns and villages in just four years; the Shekarau government was only able to electrify a paltry 50towns in eight years. Also, the overpriced fertilizer contract amounting to N4billion that was awarded unilaterally by Ibrahim Shekarau ended in mammoth money laundering which was detected at the London airport. The attendant obnoxious repercussion of the infamous fertilizer scam was the almost total collapse of the Kano State Agricultural Company (KASCO). KASCO, a company which operated almost 24 hours during Kwankwaso’s tenure; and which even received several fertilizer production requests from the federal government could not produce a single bag of fertilizer because all its equipments were vandalized by the Shekarau government.
Besides, the profligate former governor Ibrahim Shekarau, within only two years, gleefully embarked on a senseless spending spree of more than N70 billion in the sinful name of security votes—an amount which doubled the budget of education and health combined. He likewise spent several billions of naira for some so-called water projects that never benefited anybody. The devastating water scarcity persisted until the return of Dr. Kwankwaso who immediately restored water supply to the long suffering communities of Kano.
Shifting to environmental angle, most parts Kano state during the last unproductive regime of Ibrahim Shekarau literally turned into lavatories. The whole state stank terribly anytime there were rainfalls. Ironically, it was over the same period that Ibrahim Shekarau out of sheer callousness purchased and distributed over 1,000 sumptuous vehicles to all ANPP house of assembly members and traditional rulers not only in Kano but also from the southern part of Nigeria. He further bought degrees and traditional titles, all to the very detriment of his own people!
Absurdly, even after the veil of hypocrisy that shielded the Shekarau government’s financial scandals was blown off, the government still shamelessly attempted to use its deceptive religious tool to give the public an erroneous impression that the arrest of its agents was the machinations of political opponents. Fortunately, a great proportion of the public has already discerned the genuine disclosure of the actual embezzlement of funds that held sway in the circles of the last government.
The extent of the financial havoc wreaked by the Shekarau administration could only be understood better when we compare his wasted eight years with the constructive eight years of his military predecessor late Audu Bako. In the latter’s reign, Kano has gone through so many developmental projects that still benefit the populace.
On page 15 of its March/April, 2008 edition, the National Review magazine reported that Audu Bako deserved commendation for “his far reaching developmental policies and projects. Many legacies of the Audu Bako administration are living testimony of a leader with vision and concern for the development of his state and its people”. According to the magazine “these legacies…include the Government House, Nassarawa Hospital (now Abdullahi Wase Hospital), City Hospital (now Murtala Muhammed Hospital), the state secretariat,Tiga Dam, Bagauda Dam, high quality road networks, local government reforms, health centres in local government areas ans so on”. All these projects were realized with much less funds as that of the Shekarau administration which got close to a trillion naira in its entire life span.
Unfortunately, all that Shekarau did was to waste away those staggering funds and leave the government with virtually empty treasury and crazy amounts in both external debts of $209 million and internal liabilities of N77 billion. And in place of developmental projects, Kano state instead was saddled with an embarrassing reality as pointed by the ruinous DFID report which revealed that “only 10 and 13 percent of pupils pass English and Mathematics respectively. There are more than 100 children per classroom, four out of every 10 classrooms lack acceptable blackboards, there was no portable drinking water for pupils and secondary schools students and about 200 primary school pupils share a toilet in most public schools with an alarming 1,200 pupils sharing a toilet in schools in Nassawara Local Government alone!). These revelations pertain to only the primary and secondary schools aspects of education. Tertiary institutions in Kano state also suffered hugely from the imprudent government of Ibrahim Shekarau. We still recall with disgust, how the gross negligence of the last government led the students of the Kano state school of Technology to lose a whole session among other state institutions. The students were so enraged by the government’s insensitivity to their plight that they embarked on a protest to the government house only to be brutalized by the police on government’s order. It was the very day that Kwankwaso was sworn in, that the schools resumed sessions.
Turning to the health sector, the tragic story was much worse. The same DFIDreport showed that maternal mortality in Kano was almost twice the national average of 545 with 1025 deaths per 100,000. This unacceptable rise in maternal mortality could be directly attributed to the suspension of Kwankwaso’s free ante-natal services by the Shekarau administration. In addition, the official termination of the immunization programme on polio by the Shekarau government for a year led to the deaths of many innocent children. For this particular official highhandedness, Shekarau should be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, because according to an authoritative source “over 200 children died during that period”. You only need to visit state hospitals to ascertain the level of unacceptable rot and decay that pervade such hospitals. There were no medical facilities of any sorts and the few in existence had become so worn-out, decrepit and outdated that they were almost equal to useless. It was mainly this kind of negligence of public health facilities that lent credence to reports about a particular hospital in Cairo, the capital of Egypt where almost 90 percent of the patients were said to be from Kano state alone! There is little need to say that the amount of money spent by those patients in a foreign country in search basic health services may be sufficient enough to build a decent hospital with all the necessary facilities and personnel.
We can similarly recall that all the three wives of Ibrahim Shekarau gave birth to their children abroad at an over-inflated public expenditure. The wives also launched bogus appeal funds for some obscure projects and finally carted away with the funds generated without handing over up to this moment.
Moreover, apart from all these, the confusion of roles between religion and party politics which was created by the Shekarau administration also affected political development in Kano quite negatively. Ironically, the lifestyles of most government officials of the last government were quite at variance with the sainthood they feigned. An insider of the last administration who simply identified himself as Abba told me that Shekarau “almost lost control of the government to the extent that everyone did what they wanted without being called to order thereby creating fertile environment for the crazy financial recklessness witnessed in his administration”. Abba further blamed what he described as Shekarau’s narcissism for the misfortunes suffered by his party at the polls. According to Malam Abba, “the former governor was someone who always nurtured his own immediate interests at heart against everything else”.
There are many questions that can establish the truth of this claim: if it was not true, why did Shekarau build an obscenely palatable mansion for himself and ignored his deputy Engineer Abdullahi Tijjani Gwarzo? Why did he build that palace for himself while he was still in power in contravention of the law which only authorized building houses for former governors and their deputies? And why did he use humungous state resources to obtain a rare chieftaincy title in a state where more than two-thirds of the population could not afford three meals a day? And again, why did he fail to sustain a simple cordial relationship with all the two deputies he had in his eight-year rule? All these questions show how Ibrahim Shekarau’s self-importance went into his head to the very disservice of his party and the state by extension. There can be no development in an atmosphere of selfishness.
Finally, the aforesaid has brought into light the conspicuous insensitivity of the Shekarau government to the pressing requirements of the Kano people. Writing in his book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney affirmed that “the only positive development in colonialism was when it ended”. It is obvious that Shekarau’s government was analogous to a vicious colonialism that has just ended. The people of Kano have now been fully emancipated from the fatally slavish lifestyle in which the last government wickedly subjected them to. Therefore we assure our good people that Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso represents hope and a decent future for our beloved Kano state. If he could bring several meaningful developments to the state with less than 80 billion naira during his first tenure, then we can also trust him to bring multiple-folds of developments to the state with more resources at his disposal. We once again congratulate the people of Kano on their new found and unfettered social, cultural, educational and economic freedom.

MUKHTAR MUHAMMED GWARZO
NO. KOFAR FADA GWARZO LG KANO STATE
mukhatarfada@yahoo.com

Prof Jega Resign Now, If…

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When Professor Atahiru Jega was appointed by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), many Nigerians applauded his appointment. Everywhere, the accolade was the same. They said that here indeed was a man of integrity.

I personally was very skeptical to say the least, especially as the government appointing him was the same that rejected all the crucial recommendations of the Justice Uwais committee(of which Prof. Jega was a member) on electoral reforms, which same government had set up.

To cut a long story short, I participated in the 2011 presidential election as a candidate, and my party the African Renaissance Party(ARP) participated  actively alongside other political parties in the general elections.

I was personally far from convinced that the results announced by Professor Jega and his Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) represented a true reflection of the electoral wishes of the Nigerian electorate especially regarding the presidential elections where all the six(6) presidential candidates who three(3) days to the presidential election (on the 13th of April to be precise) stepped down for the incumbent president Jonathan at a function held at the Legacy House (president Jonathan’s campaign headquarters) were announced to have scored much more votes than me. Some even scoring as much as four times my votes. But I did not go to the tribunal.

I made calls to many Nigerians including to Prof. Wole Soyinka complaining that there appeared to be much more than met the eyes with the whole elections.

However of the about 21 presidential candidates who contested the April 16 elections , two(2) went to the tribunals/court to challenge the outcome of the elections as announced by Prof. Jega. One was General Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change(CPC), and the other was Chief Ambrose Owuru of the Hope Democratic Party(HDP). The application of Chief Owuru did not go far and was soon thrown out by the tribunal amidst controversial circumstances that I found most confusing, but the application of General Buhari, or rather of his party (CPC) has continued up till date.

Now, the Federal Government spent hundreds of billions of Naira on this election and Nigeria as a whole spent trillions of Naira on the exercise. Above all, about 800 Nigerians lost their lives in the violence following the presidential elections for which the federal government set up a panel of enquiry.

Ordinarily, one would have expected that an Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) chaired by a prof. Jega whom so many said was a Mr. Integrity himself would have not needed any promptings to fully release the ultimate evidence to demonstrate to all and sundry that the elections it conducted was indeed credible once there were any contestations to its credibility.

Of course the ultimate evidence can be none other than the very ballot papers that the voters purportedly used to register their support for the candidates and their parties for the elections.

But when INEC and Professor Jega begin to refuse to produce the ballot papers and other necessary electoral materials for forensic examinations by parties actively contesting the veracity of the presidential election, then the direct interpretation of such refusal by the Nigerian masses and the world can be nothing but that the ballot papers must be at variance with the results declared by the electoral commission.

For Professor Jega’s INEC to claim that production of the ballot papers would bridge national security is not only an insult on the intelligence and sensibilities of Nigerians but indeed an affront  on the souls of the about 800 Nigerians who died in the violence attending the presidential elections.

The April 2011 elections and the preparations  to the exercise were witnessed by Nigerians as well as by the international community. Since the test of the pudding lies in the eating, and Nigerians are fully entitled to know exactly what really transpired in not only the presidential elections , but indeed in all elections conducted by professor Jega’s headed INEC, I call on all Nigerians who voted in the elections, on all Nigerians, on all religious leaders whether Muslims or Christians, or others, on all members of the international community as well as local bodies that monitored and observed the elections, on all donor bodies that have been making contributions and assisting the Nigerian electoral processes, to prevail on professor Jega and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to immediately release the ballot papers used for the elections and other materials for forensic examinations.

I call on the Nigerian Labor Congress, on the Nigerian Bar Association, on the Nigerian women and on the youths, indeed on all bodies, professional and otherwise to patriotically prevail on INEC and prof Jega to release the ballot papers and other so-called sensitive materials necessary to bring the nation abreast with  the truth pertaining to the elections.

I call on all political parties and on all civil society organizations, on all NYSC members, indeed on all citizens of Nigeria to insist on the release of the materials and documents.

Truly, conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal it.

In the bible, it is written; AND YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE. ..Nigerians demand to know the truth, so they shall be free of conjectures and falsehood.

The Quran says in Sura 17(81)

TRUTH HAS ARRIVED, AND FALSEHOOD PERISHED. FOR FALSEHOOD IS (BY ITS NATURE)BOUND TO PERISH.

It says in Sura 21(18)
NAY,WE HURL THE TRUTH AGAINST FALSEHOOD, AND IT KNOCKS OUT ITS BRAIN AND BEHOLD, FALSEHOOD DOTH PERISH.

And it says in Sura 34(49)

SAY,TRUTH HAS ARRIVED AND FALSEHOOD SHOWETH NOT ITS FACE AND WILL NOT RETURN

I recall that when Professor Atahiru Jega was collating the result of the presidential election, many vice chancellors of Nigerian universities who assisted in the collation of the results were there on the screens of our national televisions and were watched  by Nigerians announcing purported results from the states where they served

I say to all those vice chancellors that their reputation and integrity are at stake. And that they collectively and individually owe it to themselves, to their parent institutions, to their families, to their students, to their friends and relatives, in-laws and colleagues to insist and ensure that the ballot papers and other so-called sensitive materials  pertaining to the election whose conduct they participated prominently in are produced by Prof. Jega and INEC for thorough forensic examinations to determine the veracity of the elections the conducted. If they fail to do this, then they shall be condemned by posterity and shall be construed to have consciously colluded to undermine the electoral will of Nigerians.

I say to Professor Jega, that he should stop hiding under the pretense that the release of the ballot papers and other relevant materials pertaining to the conduct of the presidential election of 16th April 2011,  and other elections would undermine the security of Nigeria. I put it to him that I am not aware of anything that makes him , or any INEC Commissioner more patriotic or more Nigerian than myself, or those contesting the result of the elections he conducted at the tribunals, or any other Nigerian for that matter.

I say to him that IF YOU CANNOT OR REFUSE TO PRODUCE THE BALLOT PAPERS AND OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS TO ESTABLISH FOREVER THE VERACITY OF THE ELECTION YOU CONDUCTED AND FOR WHICH NIGERIA SPENT SO MUCH, THEN IMMEDIATELY RESIGN AND LET THE PERSON WHO WOULD PRODUCE THEM TAKE OVER AT INEC, AND FOREEVER HIDE YOUR FACE IN SHAME.

The transformation that Nigeria needs and that Nigerians want and have been waiting for must be one predicated on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The implications of INEC not releasing the concrete evidences in its possession(which are properties of the Nigerian state) are too enormous to contemplate.

Sovereignty is not of the state ultimately but of the people. It is not the swearing in ceremony or exercise per se, that gives a president the powers to govern but the mandate of the people, which in a multi-party democracy is bestowed through voting. If the electoral body that conducted the election and pronounces a candidate (returns) winner refuses to produce the concrete evidence to prove that the candidate it declared  winner is indeed the true winner  in a situation where there is serious contestation, it should be clear that the candidate declared winner may not have won the elections after all.

This means that  the person was wrongfully declared winner. It means that the person is occupying the position so declared to have won illegitimately. This means that any government formed or founded by such a candidate is illegitimate.

The implication of an illegitimate president for a nation such as ours is indeed enormous and its consequences for the nation are frightening.
For an illegitimate president, all appointments made by him whether of ministers, Ambassadors, chief of police or army, secretary of government and what have you are all illegitimately done and of no consequence and null and void. All official communications whether to the National assembly, to foreign governments, e.t.c, are illegitimate and in fact if INEC dose not produce evidence to justify its declaration of Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan as haven won the April 16th elections…It means that what happened on May 29th 2011 at the Eagle square Abuja by way of a swearing in ceremony was essentially a coup detate and a treason against the Nigerian state.

If what happened on May 29th 2011 was a coup detate against the Nigeria state, then it is the duty of every and all law abiding citizens of Nigeria to pull down such a government with any means necessary and install a legitimate one.

I recall at a point just when the April 2011 elections were to commence and professor Jega had invited Nigerian political parties to an emergency meeting or rather briefing at the conference room at the INEC headquarters at Asokoro District, Abuja where he announced that the commission had no option but to postpone the elections as the vendors that INEC had contracted to supply electoral materials had failed to deliver on schedule. At that occasion, I had asked professor Jega directly to disclose the identity of the vendor or vendors who he alleged had disappointed the nation. Prof. Jega had answered that he would not disclose the identity requested and that the information was with the National Security Adviser.
Clearly, Prof. Jega’s was strange and extremely suspicious .This attitude of the ruling elites of Nigeria and their collaborators of secrecy is at the bottom of all the problems bedeviling the nation.

It is common knowledge that several people were caught in different parts of the nation during the infamous elections with baskets and truck loads of already thumb printed ballot papers. The public does not know how many millions of these nefarious ballot papers found their way into INEC strong rooms and were part of the votes that were declared by Prof. Jega and the collaborating vice chancellors from various Nigerian universities as having been won by their selected candidates. The only opportunity open for the nation to discover the truth is the forensic examination of the ballot papers and other vital documents used for the conduct of the election. This opportunity is the same that Prof. Jega(Mr. Integrity)is trying to frustrate.
But we , the people of Nigeria shall not agree.

These people have been fooling the nation for too long and making Nigeria the laughing stock of the world. Nigeria is a nation that has set up hundreds of panels and commissions of enquiries, spending trillions of Naira in the processes, only for the findings of the panels and commissions to be kept hidden and secret.

It is a secret what the nation spends on the members of the National assembly. It is a secret what the almighty governors collect as security votes. It is a secret why the Nigerian nation grows richer everyday and her citizens grow poorer every minute.

It is a secret who and who have been importing petroleum products for Nigeria while her refineries remain comatose.
Indeed, Nigeria is in trouble and Nigerians are left with no other option but to stand up and demand that all the secrets must be made  open in the spirit of freedom of information, transparency, democracy and good governance.

\This country belongs to all of us and the transformation we want must be based  on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
all those who were shouting themselves hoarse in insulting Professor Maurice Iwu have all lost their voices. They tell us that the election conducted by Professor Jega was mush better. But where is the proof?
The proof lies in the release of the ballot papers and other vital materials used by Professor Jega to conduct his 2011 elections.

Some believe that the number of aggrieved candidates who have gone to the tribunals and courts to protest electoral mal practices have reduced drastically from what it was in 2007 to the situation now in 2011, they do not know that the reasons for the apparent reduction in the number of cases in the tribunals are traceable directly to the draconian and wicked imposition by the Nigerian judiciary of a fee of N400,000(Four hundred thousand Naira) for all aggrieved candidates to pay before their matters can be entertained by the courts and tribunals.
They do not know that INEC under Professor Jega was simply allocating votes to favored political parties and candidates at will and that the votes being announced by INEC has haven been scored by candidates had no bearing whatsoever to the votes cast by the electorates at the polls.

Incidentally, these are the same announced votes that Jega and his INEC intend to use to deregister parties which they claim did not meet up  certain most undemocratic criteria.

The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has been variously fingered at the revelations coming out of the Senate hearings on privatization. None has heard anything of any summons whatsoever being issued on him to come and clear the air. Yet his party as we have been told by the current acting chairman..will rule Nigeria for ever.

As matters stand, INDEED, ONLY A REVOLUTION CAN DELIVER NIGERIA.

Yahaya Ezeemoo Ndu
National Chairman
African Renaissance Party(ARP)

“Muslims Leave Niger Delta in Seven Days or Else” – Ijaw Militants [Water Lions]

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EGBESU MIGHTIER FRATERNITY OF IZON (IJAW) LAND  (The Water Lion)    

10th October, 2011.  

Dear Muslim Community in Niger Delta Region,  

LEAVE OUR LAND NOW WITHIN SEVEN (7) DAYS:                                        

We are compelled by the present Boko Haram merciless bombing in the country without verifiable developmental agitation. Even now there are killings going on in the NORTH. The continuous killings of Christians in the North are unbearable to us now. Boko Haram has been leaving bombs around churches and other places with clusters of the innocent. Its wild excesses are essentially a reaction to the Presidential ascendancy of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. If we are actually one Nigeria, why won’t we allow other geo-political Zone to rule the country?

Saudi Arabia is the centre of the Islamic faith, yet, there was not even a single killing of Christian faithful in that country.  why all these killings of innocent citizens in reaction to Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidential Victory? With this trend, we can’t leave together. Leave Niger Delta now!!! Your failure to leave at the expiration of this letter, we’ll start to kill any MUSLIM WE SEE IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION full stop and no going back.   No section of this country is an embodiment of killing others. Muslims can’t live in our land freely (Niger Delta) while BOKO HARAM will be killing our people in their land. This is our message, If you like stay and test our ultimatum and see what will happen. We are fully ready to kill if you (muslims) test us.  

We have tasted blood war during the days of our agitation for equal right. These Boko Haram live among you and pray in the same mosque. So you can’t claim that you don’t know where the Boko Haram is. The Truth is that no dispensation will ever be good in Nigeria except from Muslim North. The North is out to fight the President with the Islamic Sect.

Enough is enough with this Sect to worry Mr. President. GO YOUR HOME AND LEAVE OUR LAND NOW within these SEVEN (7) DAYS ULTMATUM from the date of this letter. Every Niger Delta to return home as our message will going to be implemented without hesitation. And any person or individual that make inflammatory statement against us will be dealt with.   We the EGBESU MIGHTIER FRATERNITY have giving you our word. We have killed and we will not hesitate to kill again if you dare us. EGBERI faooo!!!!  

This is signed by the joint Revolutionary Council.              

———–                     

Commander OKIKI KENE – Bazoka Boys of  Niger Delta                                          

GEN – OKIN SELE – Water-force of Izon land

GEN – korumah – The Strike Force Of Izon land                                                                         

GEN – ABU MIC – Barkoromo Ogbo of  Niger Delta

ACN condemns arrest, detention of journalists

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The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has strongly condemned the arrest and detention of four senior editors and other officials of The Nation newspaper, reportedly following a petition to the police by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the harassment of journalists for no other reason than for carrying out their professional duties is a dangerous throwback to the past and a blight on the country’s democratic credentials.

It reminded the police, which acted illegally in arresting the editors without establishing reasonable suspicion as stipulated by Section 35 of the Constitution, former President Obasanjo who is so eager to get his pound of flesh and President Goodluck Jonathan under whose watch this is happening, that the media fought hard, perhaps more than any other group, for the democracy being enjoyed by all today.

ACN wondered whether Inspector-General of Police Hafis Ringim, who reportedly ordered the arrest of the journalists, would have acted with the same alacrity if the personality concerned is an ordinary Nigerian.

”The Nigeria police force put up a show of force in harassing and detaining harmless journalists. This is typical of the police, which sees itself as beholding to the elite while daily intimidating, brutalising and killing ordinary Nigerians. One can only imagine how successful the police would have been in tackling the security challenges facing the country if it had been employing the same attitude (show of force) in battling armed robbers, kidnappers and Boko Haram elements,” the party said

It wondered why Obasanjo did not go to court to challenge the paper’s story which he found offensive, as he had threatened, instead of petitioning the police as he did.

”Would Obasanjo have done that (petition the police) if he had not been a former President? Is it not possible that he used his status to goad the police into carrying out an illegal act, in line with his trademark disregard for the rule of law? Does Obasanjo remember that he would probably not be alive today were it not for this same media which exposed the plan by the Abacha administration to execute him with dispatch after his conviction over an alleged coup?” ACN queried.

The party also said President Jonathan cannot escape being blamed for the illegal action of the police under his watch, especially since he has so far not come out to condemn the action of the police in not carrying out an investigation before harassing innocent journalists.

”Under President Jonathan’s watch, the judiciary has been hobbled and judges cowed. Is it now the turn of the media to be cowed? Is the arrest of The Nation’s journalists aimed at sending a signal to the media that publishing the truth is not enough, and that journalists risk arrest and detention if their stories make the high and mighty in the society uncomfortable?” it said.

ACN also said it is curious that the Presidency has not come out to say whether or not the contentious letter is in its possession, ”or is the presidency saying, by its silence on this issue, that no such letter exists?”

Concerning the authenticity or otherwise of the letter at the centre of the whole issue, the party said the police should have used handwriting experts to determine the authenticity of the letter, after which it can arrest the journalists (if it found that the letter was forged) and charge
them to court.

It warned that the targeting of the judiciary and the media – two institutions that are key to the survival of any democracy – for decimation could spell danger for the nation’s young democracy, and call for vigilance on the part of the citizenry if the country is not to be taken down the path of dictatorship.


Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
Action Congress of Nigeria
Lagos, Oct. 12th 2011

Anambra Labor Strike called off

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Today, October 12, 2011, at 1pm, the striking workers called off the three week old strike. The announcement was made today in Awka, the capital of Anambra State [Aroma Junction].

The government of Peter Obi in signed agreement with labor leaders agreed to abide with new labor act.

See agreement below.

The Signed Agreement

Interview with Secretary of APGA UK on Victor Umeh & APGA Crisis

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This interview below was filed by the APGA UK Chapter.

In the interview, the Secretary of APGA UK,Onyeka Mbaso states that APGA UK Chapter backs Victor Umeh, Gov Rochas Okorocha and Gov Peter Obi.

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Please let us know who you are and what you represent?

Thank you very much my name is Sir Onyeka Mbaso the General Secretary All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) UK Chapter. We are members of APGA in the United Kingdom Chapter with our headquarters in London. APGA UK Chapter stands for a future of Nigeria that is anchored on good governance that will be fair for all. We are part of the APGA in Nigeria and we work closely with APGA National Working Committee (NWC) in Nigeria to establish good governance and help rebuild our economy to enable us secure the recovery and investments in growth and jobs.

APGA UK Chapter wants to restore trust in politics with greater transparency and accountability in a system battered by looting of public funds and electoral malpractices. We represent our values; will of people, a nation of laws, good education, good leadership and diplomacy.

There is a report in Nigeria Compass that APGA in Diaspora are in support of efforts to rebuild APGA.

First, I will start by saying that the article in question was written by Mr Nnamdi Kanu who does not represent APGA UK Chapter. He is an Igbo indigene that resides in London and he should not be parading himself as the Chairman of APGA UK Chapter

The National Executive Committee of our great party APGA recognized Mr Uzonna Udemba as the substantive and duly recognized Chairman of APGA in UK. APGA UK Chapter will always welcome a genuine rebuilding of our great party if need be and not some individuals rebuilding APGA for their selfish interests. The able leadership and an excellent Party structure articulated by Chief Sir Victor Umeh of our great party APGA enabled the Party to capture Imo state and Anambra state respectively. The Chapter is continually propounding the ethos of good governance and supporting the ongoing electoral reform both in the Party and in Nigeria that will govern elected individuals of the party and the country.

Our main focus in UK is to support our national Party in Nigeria to continue the excellent work already on the way for a modern progressive APGA based on fairness, respect, decency and openness which we strongly believe that the current leadership of Chief Sir Victor Umeh is practicing. His able leadership and documented achievements has made tremendous impact in stamping integrity in governance of APGA as a national Party in Nigeria and has linked the party to the hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian people. The UK Chapter therefore gives kudos to the leadership integrity of Chief (Sir) Victor UMEH (KSJ, JP)

In the modern societies today, the progressives’ political parties are constantly rebuilding and reforming their policies and strategies and if there are any problems to overcome, the party will pull their intellectual resources together, work together and stop blaming one another. In essence individual’s members of the party should remember that we are all in this together and that real change comes when people are inspired and mobilized. We should focus on the fact that our political systems have betrayed the people and not the leadership of Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh. If you look deep into the current leadership of APGA in Nigeria, you will notice that the real change came from collective endeavors and that was what brought Governors Peter Obi and Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha into the Anambra State and Imo State government houses respectively. APGA UK Chapter supports a change that can offer a new approach, a change with policies and ideology and the point that stresses that the role of the state is to strengthen society and make public services serve the people who use them.

What is All Progressives Grand Alliance Membership strength?

APGA UK Chapter membership strength is very strong now and it can be measured by the influx of new members. We have had series of meetings since we started our meeting in London led by our current Chairman Mr Uzonna Udemba and his Executive Members.  We started the meeting with few committed members but today I can tell you that we have over eight hundred members. The way the membership is expanding has prompted us to start making plans of establishing more chapters within and outside the United Kingdom. The simplest measure of any party’s strength lies on the number and commitment of its members.

Thanks to the leadership of the APGA National Chairman Chief Sir Victor Umeh through the  APGA policies and ideas that has lifted our current member’s status to an all time high.

Do APGA UK Chapter participate in voting in Nigeria and what is our relationship with APGA in Nigeria

The process of ongoing electoral reforms in Nigeria is already accommodating Nigerians in  Diaspora whereby people can vote from where ever they live abroad.  This is a welcome development which APGA UK supports and has a position statement from UK Diaspora perspective. We however indirectly participate in elections in Nigeria because we have families back home that we have a great influence on the way our loved ones in Nigeria cast their votes at the polls. We can recall that Governor Peter Obi lived in London before he contested for the Governor of Anambra state. If there is no relationship between Diaspora and Nigeria how would he have been elected as the governor.

Our relationship with APGA in Nigeria is very cordial and we work alongside the APGA National Working Committee by consulting them in all matters pertaining to policy implementation.

We learnt that there was an article on Nigeria Compass.com, Tagged how the party faired in the face of seven years leadership crisis between Chief Sir Victor Umeh and Chief Chekwas Okorie

Thank you very much for drawing my attention to that article. I want to clarify to you once more that there is no leadership crisis between Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh and Chief Chekwas Okorie at the moment that will warrant a press interview by Chief Chekwas Okorie’s agents. The matter has been concluded by the Supreme Court of Nigeria judgement of the 13th June 2011 where Chief Chekwas Okorie was defeated in the court and has since been expelled from the party.

I will refer you to the Nigerian weekly law report of 13th June 2011 (part 1250, 427-642) page 544, APGA versus Umeh. It’s a big shame that no proper checks are done in Nigeria before any publication is made on the local newspapers. We APGA UK Chapter will always abide by the rule of law. We do not support any particular individual in our great party but we do support a legitimate leadership which is the one in which Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh is the National Chairman. Our advice to any Igbo citizen is to join hands to promote our great party APGA. APGA UK chapter will not sit and watch some selfish individuals to destabilize our great party.

We recognize the fact that Chief Chekwas Okorie was the founding chairman of APGA but we cannot fail to give credit to current chairman, Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh for the leadership role he has played in steering our great party to this level today. Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh has sustained the movement, the party solidarity in spite of all opposition’s and distractions.

We understand that APGA has been in existence since 2002 in the United Kingdom

Well that is a fact but the APGA of 2002 under the leader of Andrew Emelife, Iyke Oti and the then National Chairman Chief Chekwas Okorie has seized to exist immediately the group noticed the crisis in the party under Chief Chekwas Okorie. They have delinked themselves from the National Working Committee for the past eight years and some of their executive members have joined other political parties in the United Kingdom. This is a very normal thing when any organization is no longer functional. No one heard about APGA in Diaspora until the National Chairman Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh came to London to inaugurate the APGA UK Chapter executives.

Do the 2002 APGA Diaspora members play any role in the last poll?

I have stated these before that those 2002 APGA UK executives had seized to exist for nearly eight years now with every person coming up claiming to be the past Chairman or Chairwoman. To be very honest with you, they did not play any role as APGA members in the last poll because they were not a functioning chapter. As I said earlier they have assimilated themselves into other political parties.

We learnt that Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh was in London recently to inaugurate the APGA UK Chapter Executives

That was true, Chief Sir Victor Umeh inaugurated the APGA UK Chapter Executives in London under the leadership of Mr Uzonna Udemba, the chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) UK Chapter and the General Secretary is Sir Onyeka Mbaso. There is no other APGA Chapter except the APGA Chapter in London in which the Chapter Secretariat is located at No 2 Station Rise, Tulse Hill, London, SE27 9BW. On the inauguration, the National Chairman charged the UK Chapter to work assiduously in promoting the image of our great party APGA in the United Kingdom.

We learnt that some factions of Chekwas Okorie was in your last general meeting in London

Yes some individuals that have lost touch with APGA came and claimed that they are Chief Chekwas Okorie’s faction in the meeting. We made it clear to them that the man himself has been expelled from the party. We advised them to obtain a membership card and become a card carrying member so that they will be current with APGA as a political party.

APGA UK Chapter welcomes anybody that will abide by the APGA constitution because our great party is the peoples party. APGA UK Chapter is the only recognized chapter in UK at the moment under the leadership of Mr Uzonna Udemba and his Executives.

How does APGA UK Chapter rate the leadership of the two APGA state governors?

The visions and innovations of Governor Peter Obi and Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha are second to none. One thing I must spell out in Nigeria is that our people don’t have patience, if you look at what is happening in Anambra state, you will notice the good works of Governor Peter Obi. Some cynics who are opposing his gigantic reforms and policies are those who are bent on corruption and looting of the state treasury and benefactors of his predecessors. Governor Peter Obi has done more than five hundred kilometers of road construction in Anambra state. His innovations have touched the lives of ordinary citizens by providing transformers, computers to schools, the economy, the construction of libraries and hospitals.

The pacesetting progress of His Excellency Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha in Imo state with his rescue mission agenda is evident for all to see. In his first one hundred days in office the Governor has extended his commitment to attracting investors to Imo state. He has flagged off an internal security outfit christened operation rescue with one hundred vehicles to ensure effective policing in the state. Governor Rochas Okorocha has rehabilitated the water scheme project in Imo state, disbursed monies that is accrued to local government areas to name but a few. APGA UK Chapter members are fully behind the leadership of Governor Peter Obi and Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha.

It was reported recently that the two APGA governors are working clandestinely to push out the APGA National Chairman Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh. What is APGA UK Chapter take on that?

Our members have expressed considerable disquiet with the publications in the newspapers in Nigeria and the developments at home and APGA UK Chapter will work very hard to make sure that peace reigns in our party APGA. From the recent developments you can see that everything is coming back to normal. Any normal person will want stability in his/her party because stability brings peace.  The APGA UK Chapter position is very clear on our unequivocal support to the two APGA Governors and our able National Chairman Chief Sir Victor Umeh. APGA UK Chapter stands for justice and true governance at all times.

Has Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh grown the party since he became the National Chairman? How has he grown the party?

APGA UK Chapter can tell you categorically that the National Chairman has grown our party in different areas. He has installed trust in APGA and you are aware that trust is the basis for almost all the relationships in our lives. Without trust it is impossible to create healthy and productive environments. When people trust you they are ready to give their best. Chief Sir Victor Umeh’s vision and policy in APGA has brought about stability inspired people to work towards that vision and this is evident in the tremendous strides the party has made at both the national, state and local government level. It was this stability in our party that led to APGA capturing Imo state. APGA’s main targets come 2015 elections are to capture Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers and Delta states respectively. Irrespective of what you may read on the pages of newspapers, Chief Sir Umeh still maintain cordial relationships with the two APGA governors – Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha and Governor Peter Obi. The National Chairman has grown the party through his exemplary leadership skills. He is a man with an impeccable character because it is very important that a good leader should be very trustworthy to lead others. The National Chairman has been a source of inspiration, a motivator and he is ready to roll up his sleeves and get dirty for the progress of our great party.

Chief Sir Victor Umeh has demonstrated that he is a confident leader through the way he functions in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. Last April Governorship Election in Imo state have proved to the whole Nigeria what a true leader can do in times of uncertainty. You can only identify a good leader by his/her ability to tolerate ambiguity, calmness, composure and steadfast to main purpose. All these good qualities of the National Chairman brought us to this level we are today. The APGA UK Chapter wants to thank Governor Peter Obi, Governor Rochas Okorocha and Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh for being proactive in raising the bar in other to achieve excellence in their various offices.

Who is Mr Nnamdi Kanu to APGA UK Chapter?

To be honest with you, this name only came to our attention after the APGA UK Chapter executive’s inauguration by the National Chairman Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh on the 28th of August 2011. As the General Secretary of this chapter, I read on the sun newspaper that a man is parading himself as the Europe/UK APGA Chairman. At the moment Mr Nnamdi Kanu has been advised to desist from such publication.  The UK Chapter Press release has already disassociated itself from any such publication that may bring the party and UK Chapter into disrepute.

The Chairman of APGA UK Chapter is Mr Uzonna Udemba and the General Secretary is Sir Onyeka Mbaso. Here is the list of our APGA UK Chapter Executives.

Chairman –Mr  Uzonna Udemba

Vice Chairman – Nnaama Ernest Ezeajughi

General Secretary – Sir Onyeka Mbaso

Assistant General Secretary – Dr Ifeanyi Onukwube

Co-ordinator – Kelechi Onuzulike

BOT Chairman – Sir Jude Ibe

Treasurer – Barrister Chiddi Akurunwa

Financial Secretary – Engr. Chijioke Okafor

Assistant Financial Secretary- Micheal Udeogba

Legal Adviser – Barrister Edwin Ajoku

Assistant Legal Adviser – Barrister Chi Chikwendu

Welfare Secretary – Chukie Ajoku

Organising Secretary – Steve Chukwunonye

Women Leader- Mrs.  Nneka Ndigwe

Youth Leader – Martinsixtus Ezejimofor

Assistant Youth Leader- Okechukwu Agunanna

Provost – Okey Ibeabuchi

Special Adviser – Chief Engr. Victor Ihezie

Special Adviser- Chief Ben Amadi

Special Adviser- Chief Brown Obioha

Special Adviser- Chief Kevin Nwamma

Special Adviser- Chief Dan Otuonye

There is no faction in APGA UK Chapter; we have only one APGA both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom under the leadership of Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh. Thank you.

Group urges Ekiti people to resist demolition of their houses

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The Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) has urged residents of Ado-Ekiti, the

State capital to henceforth, resist any attempt by the State government to demolish their houses. The group said it was wicked and devilish for a government that has not done anything on the areas where houses and shops were demolished to be destroying houses in others areas. EJG said in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Dr Tunji Oluwasanmi that it was more inhuman for peoples’ sources of livelihood to be destroyed by a government that is holding their resources in trust for them without provision for alternative settlement or compensation. “Our position is that; from now on, Ekiti people should begin to take their destiny in their hands by resisting any attempt to demolish their houses or shops. “The people must begin to ask questions as to what has happened to the areas where buildings were demolished? “They should ask Dr Kayode Fayemi’s demolition squad what benefits they stand to derive from the demolition? “Most importantly, they should ask them what happens to those whose sources of livelihood have been destroyed? “Therefore, we are calling on Ekiti people to bring back that spirit of resistance in them by driving away anyone that brings bulldozer to their houses away.”

Umezoke: Shocker Awaits Dignatories

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Shocker may be the apt word to describe what awaits dignitaries and the rest Nigerians who would be in Amichi, Nnewi South  council of Anambra state the country home of the erstwhile Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Chief Edwin Umezoke who would be buried this morning.

The remains of the former speaker who died last month in an India hospital for ailments suspected to be food poisoning were scheduled to be interred today in his compound within the Amichi royal estate.

His final journey began Monday at the national Assembly, down to the Anambra state Assembly where valedictory sessions were held in his honour ahead his committal to mother earth this morning.

Unfortunately the high expectations of citizens that his demise might attract the attention of the Federal and state governments to the poor conditions of roads leading to his house, especially the gully-ravaged Nnewi community roads and the Oba-Nnewi-Amichi-Uga-Okigwe federal highway that have been completely closed to traffic for about four years in some portions were dashed as nothing has been done to them as at last night when Guardian visited again.

First to express his dissatisfaction was the monarch of Amichi and cousin to the late statesman, HRH Igwe Offorbuike Ezeoke who was miffed by the apparent neglect of the axial roads connecting his community with other parts of the country, even now that the erstwhile national chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) was dead

It was the late former speaker who embraced the Government of National Unity (GNU) under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua all geared towards stabilizing the polity.

His son Chinemerem, an erstwhile aide to Yar’Adua ccould not pick calls for comments.

However a valedictory sitting was held in his honour by the Anambra state Assembly yesterday.

Jonathan Speech At The Launch of YouWin Job Creation Program

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Keynote Address By His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Gcfr, At The Public / Formal Launch Of The Youwin! Job Creation Programme On Tuesday, 11th October, 2011.

 

 

 

Protocol

 It is with great pleasure that I formally launch one of this Administration’s key programmes targeted at youth empowerment, employment generation and wealth creation.

 As I said in my Budget Presentation Speech late last year, unemployment among our youth is one of our biggest challenges as a nation. But this is a challenge that we are willing and ready to address to unlock the vast potentials of the Nigerian youth.

 In the course of the campaigns for the April 2011 Presidential elections, I met many young Nigerians, based at home and in diaspora who have refused to submit to the blackmail of self-defeat and despair, and who are showing great initiative in making positive use of their God-given talents.

 My concern is that we need to grow the population of such positively-attuned youth. It is our duty to identify them early and support them and this cannot be done by merely raising their hopes but by giving them a chance to be who they want to be. 

 At the 17th ordinary session of the Summit of the African Union in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, last June, I spoke about the opportunities in the continent’s demography profile, as projections show that close to 70 % of the African population will be under 20 by 2020. I told my colleagues that this constitutes such a large and powerful force for future development.

 Incidentally, at the summit, I met a young Nigerian entrepreneur who spoke passionately about the challenges faced by young people in business and the need for government to assist them in fulfilling their aspirations.

 That young Nigerian is Cynthia Mosunmola Umoru, who represents the can-do spirit of the youth that gives us confidence about the future of our great country. Her call for government’s support incidentally coincides with the commitment we made at the Malabo Summit on accelerating youth empowerment for sustainable development.

 In this regard, and in fulfilment of my electoral promises, the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria initiative, also known as YouWin!, is one of the first programmes to be funded, in part, from the N50 billion job creation fund set aside in the 2011 budget. YouWin! is a demonstration of this Administration’s goal of developing a robust private sector by encouraging locally-owned enterprises.

 YouWin! is an innovative business plan competition that harnesses the creative energies of young people between the ages of 18 and 35. The programme is largely targeted at owners of existing formal and informal businesses who will be asked to submit their business plans for a competition. These will be evaluated by a panel of experts and the best submissions from each geopolitical zone will be selected for support.

 The government, in partnership with other stakeholders, will then provide support for these winners to either expand their existing businesses to create jobs for the youth in their locality, or start-up businesses that create jobs based on their ideas.

 Through YouWin!, over 3,600 Nigerian youth will be financially assisted to actualise their entrepreneurial ideas and plans. It is expected that these would create between 80,000 to 110,000 sustainable jobs over the next 4 years.

 Permit me to make a reference to Steve Jobs, the recently deceased co-founder of Apple. Jobs started his career by building the first Apple personal computer in the run-down garage of his foster parents and he pursued his entrepreneurial dreams to become one of the most influential innovators of the 21st century.

Similarly Bill Gates’ Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook are eloquent testimonies to the capacity of the youth to dream big and win big in an innovative manner. We have such men and women in this land too: our challenge is to find them early, nurture them and encourage them. 

 As I formally launch this programme today, I am also formally declaring the application for the first cycle open. Following this national launch here, the programme will be re-launched in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country over the next two weeks.

 In line with our renewed commitment to regular performance evaluation and measurement, this Administration will monitor the programme closely over the next three years of its implementation to ensure that it remains responsive to the needs of young Nigerian men and women.

 While I commend our development partners for their support on the YouWin initiative, let me use this occasion to reemphasise the need for productive partnerships with global businesses and organizations on our job creation agenda.

 I wish to reiterate this Administration’s commitment to comprehensively address the challenge of youth unemployment and as we invest in the development of their skills, talents and entrepreneurship through programmes such as YouWin!, we provide that mentorship and support that they need to become all that they potentially can be.

 Thank you for your attention and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Anambra Grandmother nabbed with 1.5kg Cocaine

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Ozoekwe Franca

Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 59 year old grandmother at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos. The suspect was to export 1.500kg of powdery substance that tested positive to cocaine. She was arrested last weekend during the screening of British Airways passengers to London Heathrow airport with the drug neatly hidden in the sides of her luggage.

NDLEA Commander at the Airport, Alhaji Hamza Umar explained that the drug was detected at the luggage checking desk at the international wing of the airport. According to Hamza, “a 59 year old grandmother, Ozekwe Franca had been arrested by NDLEA operatives. She was arrested following the discovery of 1.500kg of cocaine in her luggage during routine check”.

Franca with parcels of cocaine

Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade described the grandmother’s action as disappointing. “It is difficult to comprehend her motivation for drug trafficking at 59. Her action is disappointing. This is one wrong step with adverse consequences for the rest of her life” Giade stated.

Preliminary investigation by the NDLEA shows that the suspect travelled to London 5 years ago. She is married with eight children, two males and six females all married with children. She hails from Umunya town in Anambra State South East Nigeria.

Franca with parcels of cocaine

The 59 year old grandmother however told narcotic investigators that she was promised the sum of five thousand pound 5,000. “This is my first time of engaging in drug trafficking. I was given the bag with the drug hidden in it and they promised to pay me the sum of five thousand pounds. The man that organised the deal used to meet with me in an eatery in Lagos. He never told me that I will be caught. I was devastated the moment the drug was discovered. It was like the end of my world because I told my husband in Umunya town in Anambra State that I was going to Lagos” Franca stated.

She will soon be arraigned at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Lagos.

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