Security agencies must stop branding actors, civilians as IPOB members –HURIWA 

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Saturday, said security agencies including the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Army must stop framing up Nollywood actors and innocent civilians as members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra. 

HURIWA is worried too that the African Traditional Religion is being criminalised and demonised by security forces in the South East of Nigeria who regularly invade sacred shrines, desecrate them under the guise of pursuing suspected members of the now proscribed INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF BIAFRA (IPOB). 

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the trend of trying to score erroneous points by detaining and branding innocent Igbo youths and prominent sons and daughters as criminals is disconcerting just as the Rights group bemoans the declining professional practices amongst members of the security forces.

The group said security agencies must forthwith release all Igbo youths falsely detained and languishing in cells and prisons all over the country.

HURIWA recalled that the Imo State Police Command arrested a Nollywood actor known as Hycent Azunna and branded him a member of IPOB’s Eastern Security Network, a claim which his friends nullified as untrue.

Also, last October, the Department of State Services and the police colluded and arrested veteran Nollywood actor, Chiwetalu Agu, for alleged promotion of Biafra and for wearing a Biafra outfit while distributing bread and other items to the poor. He was humiliated and spent days in detention but later released when public outrage greeted his arrest. No charge was brought against him as the allegations of the security agents against him proved false.

Similarly, 21-year-old lady, Glory Okolie, was arrested last year by officers of the Intelligence Response Team in Owerri, Imo State. Okolie was arrested on June 17, 2021, the same day she was to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam.

The police as usual erroneously branded Okolie as a girlfriend of an IPOB member, subjected her to inhumane treatment like washing of their clothes, cooking and all sorts of nonsense. 

The police held on to her for months till they were forced to release her this year due to the outrage and agitation of activists, civil society organisations and human rights lawyers.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko on Saturday said, “The arbitrary arrests of youths in Owerri and labelling them as IPOB members is highly disturbing.  Now, if tenants are owing landlords, the police is bribed to frame up the tenant as IPOB and paraded and some ends up disappearing for life.

“The cases are numerous from Chiwetalu Agu to Hycent Azunna to Glory Okolie. Many like them have been persecuted and some even killed. A former Archbishop of Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, Anthony Obinna, once raised the alarm of abandoned corpses of young Igbo boys slaughtered and abandoned at Federal Medical Centres by the police.

“The infractions by police and the Army in Imo and use of extrajudicial killings must stop. Security agencies must not use Igbo youths to score points or prove to their bosses that they are working. While we encourage clamp down on criminals and ‘unknown gunmen’ turning the South-East upside down and appeal for greater use of hard core intelligence driven skills to flush out mass killers and hoodlums, HURIWA note with seriousness that the framing up of Igbo youths as criminals which is utterly nonsensical and smacks of apartheid practices and ethnic profiling must stop.”

May 21, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

Why Are Indigenous Politicians Helping Armed Fulani To Overrun Nigeria?

Ndidi Uwechue

21 May 2022

Just as there is no debating that the Hutus of Rwanda carried out a deadly onslaught against the Tutsis, so also in Nigeria there is no debating that the Fulani are carrying out an ethnic cleansing-genocide against indigenous people so as to grab their rich lands, and permanently change the demographics, culture, and name of the country known as Nigeria. Survivors of armed Fulani attacks have told us so. So too have armed terrorists revealed that their reward for killing is to be given land, and for Nigeria to become the “Islamic State of West Africa” (viz the fallout from the recent Abuja-Kaduna train attack). 

The motives of the Fulani are understandable. They are non-indigenous immigrant settlers and Nigeria is a land filled with natural resources which they covet. Moreover, their Ahmadu Bello in 1960, declared to them that their mission should be to “ruthlessly” make Nigeria their “estate”. This Fulani Caliphate Agenda would be impossible to get off the ground though, if not for the key ingredient: INDIGENOUS POLITICIANS. So, why are indigenous politicians helping armed Fulani to overrun Nigeria?

THE BIG ISSUE – is that indigenous politicians from the NINAS Alliance Territory are playing the role of Judas Goat. This is the animal that leads sheep or goats to the abattoir and is rewarded by its master with much food, and with its life spared. If not for indigenous politicians upholding a document they know is a Forgery called 1999 Constitution, the Fulani would have no access to the ancestral lands of the indigenous Ethnic Nations of the South and Middle Belt (NINAS Territory). That illegitimate 1999 Constitution is the illegitimate “Entry Visa” of the Fulani. All political parties subscribe to that Forgery. Then, the declared winner of elections swears an Oath Of Office to uphold, defend, and govern by that Forgery. In so doing, indigenous politicians give life to, and empower what is actually a Forgery, opening the door for Fulani to enter the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples, saying that they are entitled through the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.  

To stop these Fulani, some State Governors had passed anti-open grazing laws, but which cannot be enforced. For, while the Fulani invaders come armed with AK47s and AK49s, under the 1999 Constitution, Governors cannot arm their people for self-defence. 

THE REASON – that indigenous politicians uphold the illegitimate 1999 Constitution, the Entry Visa for Fulani, is because they do not care about their people. They have no vision for their people’s welfare. They want money and the power of impunity, so as Judas Goats for the Fulani they get to live, and to live lavishly.

Therefore Elections 2023 are of utmost importance for the task assigned to indigenous politicians. It is the means of renewing the life of the 1999 Constitution when the Oath of Office is taken by the declared winner of elections. That gives the Fulani Caliphate and armed Fulani more time to make Nigeria their “estate”. For playing such a crucial helping role, indigenous politicians are rewarded with more years to acquire money and riches from the public purse.

THE SOLUTION – has been placed on the Table by the non-violent NINAS Movement since 16 December 2020 when a Constitutional Force Majeure was Declared to Terminate the operation of the illegitimate 1999 Constitution in the NINAS Territory. Indigenous politicians in defiance of the will of their people who have Repudiated the sham, genocide-enabling 1999 Constitution, but with the false confidence that comes from having access to public money, and being protected by troop-loads of armed police and soldiers, have been wasting time (even though their defenceless and unprotected are people being slaughtered by armed Fulani, and farms destroyed), aiming to run down the time clock, then claim that there is no time left to do anything before Elections 2023. 

There IS time left before those elections to do the right thing, and to do the right thing the right way. The PRIORITY now is to protect indigenous communities. Relying on Buhari has proven to be futile, and no wonder, he has been judged by local as well as foreign observers as being complicit in the deadly onslaught against indigenous peoples by his Fulani compatriots. Politicians from the NINAS Territory should therefore know that any decision by them or their political parties to go for Elections 2023 will be interpreted as a clear-minded choice to help the enemy preserve the 1999 Constitution and this will mean sabotaging their own people, and being directly responsible for bringing armed Fulani upon them. Instead, serving officials should even at this stage have some sense to retreat from the treasonous path that will bring calamity upon them, for they would certainly face the fury of their people for upholding the Fulani invader-enabling sham 1999 Constitution.

Transitional Government is needed right now! The matter is too plain for any kind of confusion: the 1999 Constitution creating the (false) Union as well as creating all tiers of government, is a Forgery. It is a Fraud. It is a Deception. It is a Scam. It is Make-believe. It has therefore been REPUDIATED, viz the Solemn Assemblies of the Lower Niger, the Yoruba, and the Middle Belt Blocs; plus other joint assemblies, and the Constitutional Force Majeure (CFM). With their inalienable right of Self-Determination made possible by the CFM, indigenous Ethnic Nations of the NINAS Territory should be taking fuller charge of their various spaces. It is impossible to expect indigenous peoples to sit still while armed Fulani destroy their farms, violate their daughters, and then slaughter everybody. More and more individuals and groups across the NINAS Territory are stepping forward to embrace the DIAGNOSIS, PRESCRIPTION and TREATMENT Proposition of the non-violent NINAS Movement. The main task of NINAS is to lead the dismantling of the fraudulent 1999 Constitution to end the degenerate Unitary Union it creates, and to champion the processes of Self-Determination by which Sovereignty is restored to the constituent Blocs of the NINAS Territory. The Union Dispute that the Fulani Caliphate has been imperiously avoiding since 1966, would get resolved. Indigenous Ethnic Nations in formations of their choice (Blocs), will decide whether or not to re-federate as a Union of Nigeria. That is their inalienable decision.

Ndidi Uwechue is a British citizen with Igbo heritage from the Lower Niger Bloc. She is a retired Metropolitan (London) Police Officer, she is a signatory to the Constitutional Force Majeure, and she writes from Abuja.

Closure Of Dei-Dei Market And Letting Okada Riders Who Are Mostly From Niger Republic To Operate Is Apartheid: HURIWA Tells FCT Minister

Frontline civil society group:- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked the minister of FCT Malam Muhammad Bello to re-open Dei- Dei market, find a way to rebuild the infrastructures destroyed by commercial motorcyclists in a fracas yesterday Wednesday or ban the operation of commercial motorcyclists in Deidei and Kubwa for justice, equity and fairness. 
The Rights group said it is offensive to the principle of natural justice that two parties were involved in a fracas but the authority rather than make peace and create harmony and reconciliation decided to back one of the combatants because of religious motive. HURIWA said the role of a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is that of service without bitterness or sectionalism since ministers are appointed for all of Nigeria. 
“We do not want to believe that it is true that the FCT Minister who is a Nigerian will adopt controversial and unnatural steps that offends the commercial interests of his fellow citizens and let off the motor cyclists who are largely illegal aliens from Niger Republic, Chad and just a sprinkling of moslem Northern Nigerians only because traders at Dei Dei market that fought with Okada riders are mostly Igbos from Southern Nigeria and are Christians by faith Orientation.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari who constitutionally is the governor of FCT to ask his subordinate the FCT Minister to adopt solution that won’t be seen as favouring a party in a fight by two parties only because the favoured party are almost 100 percent Moslems sharing same faith system with the minister. Leadership is not to bow to religious or ethnic sentiments. leadership must be altruistic, nationalistic,  just, fair and equitable and the Minister who has worked harmoniously with peoples of all faith systems and ethnicity for years, should not now be remotely connected to this sort of story of open but shameful partiality and crude biasness.”
HURIWA recalled that the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, has ordered the immediate closure of the Dei-Dei International Building Material Market following yesterday’s violence which claimed four lives.
Trouble started at the market when an unidentified female trader reportedly fell of a commercial motorcycle and was crushed to death by an articulated vehicle.
Other traders from the market then burnt the motorcycle blaming the biker of reckless riding. Their action however prompted a reprisal from okada riders in the area who regrouped in large number and went into the timber section of the market and set it ablaze.
The FCT Minister while inspecting the scene of the incident with FCT Commissioner of Police Sunday Babaji, the Director State Security Services, alongside other sister security agencies and top officials of the FCT Administration, directed for the indefinite closure of the market.
Bello directed the community and the market leaders to fish out the hoodlums responsible for the crisis.
He said, “The community and market leaders must fish out hoodlums and bad eggs among them, unfortunately this time around hoodlums carry arms and they shot innocent people. As a matter of fact, I saw four corpses this is very sad and totally unacceptable in Abuja.
“We have agreed with security agencies that full scale investigations will be done, and the communities have to be part and parcel of the solution or else there will be no peace. In the interim the timber market and the surrounding markets, including all the activities along the road that have clustered it and made it unpassable will all stop untill the technical team reviews everything, and then we will take the next decision.
“I am appealing to other communities within the FCT that there is no tribal or religious misunderstanding because all the leadership of various communities have lived here in peace for many years. This is simply the matter of criminals and hoodlums taking the laws into their hands” he said.
On his part, the vice chairman of Timber Shed market Dei-Dei, Ifeanyi Chibata told the minister and his team that about 45 to 50 shops were burnt with 25 vehicles set ablaze during the unrest.
The secretary Tomato and Onion Sellers Association Dei-Dei, Dahiru Garba Mani disclosed that four persons were killed during the clash in the market.
They both appealed to the minister of FCT to make provision for a police division with adequate personnel.
HURIWA has however asked the minister to rescind his decision which is offensive to Constitutionalism, equity, fairness and equality before the law of natural justice and respect to human rights of all. 

NYSC: SHOULD WE QUERY OUR PRESIDENT?

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

Two days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari in the exercise of his powers, authority and discretion as the sole appointing authority of heads  of strategic government offices and agencies domiciled within the jurisdiction of the Federal government of Nigeria, effected a change in the hierarchical organogram  of the most visible institutional capacity building and skills acquisition plaplatform- the NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE  CORPS  SCHEME (NYSC) hitherto effiefficiently and effectively led by the Nasarawa State’s born effervescent military two star General -:MAJOR GENERAL SHUAIBU IBRAHIM and replaced him with the Yobe State’s born Doctorate Degree Student of National War College who nonetheless is a senior military one Star General Brigadier-General Mohammed Fadah. 

This generally unexpected change has come with it a nostalgic poser whether Government in Nigeria made up of politicians of varying degrees and characters generally are not patient enough to let Good people finish some or all of their good works before moving them to other areas for continuation of the gifted talents and acumen embellished with formidable innovative ideas? Is government not comfortable in letting good policies and initiatives for the benefit of the educated hoi-polloi or to use the most appropriate terminology- the youths, to mature and endure? Does government in this 21st century Nigeria satisfied with the status quo of the more you look the less you see or rather the barber’s chair syndrome of motion without movement? Is this decision appropriate and is it in the public interest? Is government willing to sustain this unprecedented and landmark achievements made by one of the finest discoveries in public service made by the current administration in the very person of the Nasarawa State’s born associate professor Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim? For us as citizens,  we ought to ask questions for the overall benefits of the good people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but of course the President has his job to do and as we know the military institution is such a regimented institution that the members have this ideology of OBEYING THE LAST ORDER and OBEY WITHOUT COMPLAIN. 

So do we query President Muhammadu Buhari on why he moved a good and terrific professional gentleman who loves all persons equally irrespective of tribes, religion or ideologically persuasions so long as the person is law abiding and patriotic-Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim for Brigadier General Mohammed Fadah who is a product of the highly respected military institution and in addition also he is a Doctorate student wearing one Star General’s rank of the prestigious Nigeria Army? Why did President not let Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim be there to manage the NYSC YOUTHS TRUST FUND that he and other egg heads worked round the clock to articulate and present to the Federal Government for implementation which till now has not been introduced? As we proceed we will see multiple other innovation that the immediate past DG of NYSC Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim introduced and are efficiently managed in compliance with global best practices. 

However, should we wait and give the new man the benefits of the doubts since he has affirmed and promised publicly to drive to a successful end the many innovative ideas of his successor and professional colleague- General Shuaibu Ibrahim? I think our best decision is to say YES and give him the benefit of the doubts and to pray for him believing that like his other colleague he will always say to himself- YES I CAN. 

The new Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Fadah, has in the last 24 hours promised to sustain the vision of the founding fathers of the scheme.

He said this on Wednesday in Abuja, at the formal handing/taking over ceremony from the outgoing Director-General, Maj.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim.

Fadah said that national unity, peaceful cohesion and integration were the vision for which the scheme was created and that he would ensure that it was achieved to the letter.

According to him, the former D-G had created very huge shoes for him to fit in, but with the support of the management, I will fit them properly.

Fadah said, “We will maintain all the completed projects and ensure the completion of ongoing ones to a logical conclusion.

“Please, let us work as one family. You have supported Gen. Ibrahim, extend that kind of support and advice to me.

“Because I need your cooperation for us to make progress and build on what he has done.”

Fadah was appointed on Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari as the 19th D-G of the scheme.

An indigene of Yobe state, he attended Sugum Primary School and Government Science Secondary School, both in Yobe.

Fadah also attended Kaduna Polytechnic where he obtained Higher National Diploma (HND), and the Lagos State University, where he obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management.

He also attended the University of Ilorin, where he obtained a Master of Arts in Peace and Strategic Studies.

The new NYSC boss is presently studying for his PhD in Security and Strategic Studies at the National Defence Academy.

He has also participated in various military courses from Young Officers’ Course on Intelligence to Comprehensive Protection of Civilian Leadership Course.

Earlier in his handover speech, Ibrahim said that in his three years as the helmsman of the scheme, he enjoyed the full support and cooperation of both staff and stakeholders of the organisation.

He said, “I am confident that the new D-G will consolidate on the gains of the past three years, especially through the multiplicity of partnerships with both government and Non-Governmental Organisations for national development.

“I would advise that you pay particular attention to the security and general welfare of youth corps members and staff, as well as make sustained advocacy for stakeholders’ support as part of your approaches to administration of the scheme.”

Also, during a farewell parade in his honour, Ibrahim called on Nigerians in diaspora to, upon completion of their qualifying academic programmes, always return to the country for the mandatory service year to avoid contravening the law.

According to him, returning to observe the service year is a show of patriotism and a way of contributing their quota to the development of the country.

He commended other Nigerians in diaspora that have made themselves available for the National Service.

Ibrahim also expressed gratitude to staff and management of the NYSC for the loyalty, commitment and passion they demonstrated to actualise his vision for the scheme.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ibrahim assumed office as the 18th D-G of the scheme on May 10, 2019 as a Brig.-Gen. and was promoted to the rank of Maj.-Gen. in Dec. 2021. Are these the initial gragra as a new appointee or will he abide by his solemn pledge to maintain the high standards already set by his predecessor? We will wait for the next few weeks to be able to discern the best answers to our aforementioned posers but I think as a preliminary assertion, I think the new person will definitely want to put his name on World’s map like his immediate predecessor from the same military family and it is generally believed in the academia that dull brains do not embark on Doctorate Degree enterprise and since the new person is pursuing his Doctorate we can as well be hopeful that he might be a great guy. But the wait continues for few weeks and then we appraise his initial first steps in practical terms and not by what he has stated in those moments of conviviality during his inauguration. Here below are brief records of what the immediate past DG of NYSC MAJOR GENERAL SHUAIBU IBRAHIM achieved with phenomenal accuracy. 

The landmark achievements of the director-general of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Maj. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim have once more demonstrated the role of effective and transformational leadership in organizations, public or private.  The Nigerian Army general and an academic as an associate professor of military history, assumed the position of director-general of the Scheme on 10 May 2019. Earlier to his appointment as the 18th DG of NYSC, he was the Registrar of the Nigerian Army University, Biu, Borno state.

The NYSC Scheme, since establishment on  May 22, 1973, is one Nigerian Institution that has stayed the course and at the same time in great need of organizational renewal and redesign, and that is precisely what General Shuaibu Ibrahim has done for the Scheme. NYSC is being comprehensively overhauled and repositioned for the challenges of 21st Century Nigeria and now in a better position to discharge its core mandate through the implementation of the 5-Year Strategic Plan instituted by the foresighted general.

For emphasis, the NYSC Scheme has fifteen main objectives, and the numero uno is: inculcating discipline in Nigerian youths by instilling in them a tradition of industry at work, and of patriotic and loyal service to Nigeria in any situation they may find themselves. Another is: raising the moral tone of the Nigerian youths by giving them the opportunity to learn about higher ideals of national achievement, social and cultural improvement; and another: developing in the Nigerian youths the attitudes of mind, acquired through shared experience and suitable training, which will make them more amenable to mobilisation in the national interest. The fourth and fifth are about self-development and nation building: empowering Nigerian youths to acquire the spirit of self-reliance by helping them to develop skills for self-employment; and getting them to contribute to the accelerated growth of the national economy. The rest of the objectives can be summed as inculcating in the Nigerian youths patriotic zeal, sense of unity and nationalism.

Traditionally, even the worst critics once calling for scrapping of the Scheme, would admit that, despite the formidable challenges, the NYSC has impacted greatly on the socio-economic development of Nigeria through its various programmes. The impacts recorded by the Scheme are mostly seen and appreciated by well-meaning Nigerians in the real sectors of the nation’s economy, especially in education, health, agriculture and rural infrastructure as well as in corps members’ huge participation in the implementation of national programmes such as elections, population census and mass sensitization of the rural populace, which have earned the Scheme a lot of accolades. The signature impacts of the Scheme have been escalated and modified, and new dimensions introduced by egghead director general.

When General Shuaibu Ibrahim took over the reins at the NYSC in 2019, he unveiled his 5-point  policy thrust, which were: sustaining effective utilization of the potentials of Corps members for optimal benefits; pursuit a technology-driven organization to deepen effective service delivery; improving on the welfare and security of Corps members and Staff; strengthening existing collaboration with stakeholders; and reinvigorating the NYSC Ventures and Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Programme (SAED) in line with the NYSC Act for greater impact.

General Shuiabu Ibrahim’s scorecard spans over thirty-six fundamental achievements, but only a few of them can be reviewed here for obvious reasons. Under him, new Permanent Orientation Camps have been set up in Edo and Bayelsa States and several existing ones have been upgraded with the aid of state governments. Part of the key component of both the new and the upgraded Permanent Orientation Camps is the ultra-modern skill acquisition equipment, which is part of the reinvigoration of the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme of the Scheme that has also received a great boost.

Also reinvigorated is the NYSC Ventures, including the registration of a number of them already incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission.  These include NYSC Garment Factory, Mgbakwu, Anambra State; NYSC Garment Factory, Minna, Niger State; NYSC Rice Mill, Ezillo, Ebonyi State; NYSC Bakery and Water Factory, Kubwa, Abuja; NYSC Feed Mill, Ipaja, Lagos; and the NYSC Entertainment Company Limited, which comprises the NYSC National Band, NYSC National Cultural Troupe and the NYSC Movie.

Under General Shuaibu Ibrahim the NYSC Ventures and the NYSC Integrated Online System and other revenue generation efforts have generated unprecedented over N1.2 billion remitted to the Federation Account within the last two years and another N761, 798,479.50 also remitted to the Federal Government as the revenue generated in the year 2021. This feat is pointing to the NYSC Scheme becoming financially sustainable and becoming a major revenue earner for the Federal Government.

One other area of interest is the enrolment of Corps members in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), a feat that has further elevated Corps Welfare. Funds have already been released by the Federal Government for its take-off.

One other major feat the NYSC Scheme has achieved under General Shuaibu Ibrahim should be the production of the first ever NYSC Movie with the title “A call to Service,” which premiered on 4th December, 2021 in Abuja.  This will serve as a tool for sensitization of the public about the Scheme and give the prospective corps members the foretaste of the Scheme and get them psychologically prepared for service to the fatherland.

General Shuaibu Ibrahim also led the Scheme to establish the NYSC National Cultural Troupe to develop the talents of Corps members and also serve as a source of revenue generation for the Scheme. Also established is the NYSC Museum, which is domiciled in the NDHQ, Abuja, for effective preservation of the Scheme’s artifacts, including Corps members’ inventions and fabrications. There is also NYSC Bakery in Keffi and the NYSC Table Water Factory also constructed in Keffi, Nasarawa State and another in Kubwa, Abuja.

Perhaps quite revolutionary in this era of e-media and ICT-driven world is the establishment of a Radio station at the NDHQ  as well as the approval that has been secured for the establishment of NYSC Television station by the hardworking transformational leader and scholar.

NYSC under General Shuaibu is about completing a state-of-the-art ICT Centre at the NYSC Headquarters and has also introduced a nationwide live broadcast by Corps members through the virtual platform.  

General Shuaibu understands that in this era of e-media and ICT-driven world, corps members needed to be trained and retrained in ICT  and tech to be able to benefit maximally from the unfolding 4th Industrial Revolution, which has already unraveled in many countries like China, India, and here  in Africa; in Rwanda and Kenya. Shuaibu also wants to ensure  fully equipped ICT Centres to optimize the digitization and digitalization process of the Scheme.

Apart from the NYSC Skill Acquisition Centres spread round the country, as part of its efforts to be self-sustaining, the NYSC Garment Factories are being established and that of  Keffi, Nasarawa State, has already come on stream under his watch.

General Shuaibu Ibrahim has also led the NYSC to immortalise the “Bauchi Eleven,” who lost their lives during the post-election violence of 2011,  through  employment and scholarship for their siblings as well as employment for a sibling of Corps member Precious Owolabi, who was hit by a stray bullet during a religious crisis.

In appreciation, the Scheme has received commendations from the Presidency on the role of Corps Medical Personnel in the fight against COVID-19 in the Presidential Villa  and  a 4-Star Service Provider award by the SERVICOM National Office. In further recognition of the Scheme as a leading light of youth organizations in Africa, the Scheme was invited to send 10 (ten) Corps members to India to participate in that country’s 75th Independence Anniversary; and receipt of Award of Excellence from the Federal Ministry of Justice for the Scheme’s consistent implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.

General Shuaibu has been thinking out of the box on how  to address the perennial paucity of funds drawing back the projects of the NYSC Scheme  and came  up with the NYSC Trust Fund. Apart from hosting one or two  symposiums on its imperative, the proposed NYSC Trust Fund  Bill has scaled through the second reading at the House of Representatives and  stakeholders’ support for the establishment of the Fund is also gathering momentum.

With reinvigoration of the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) Programme to train a greater number of youths, especially those that are not educated up to tertiary level, establishment of six (6) Garment Factories, one in each geo-political zone; expansion of Orientation Camps to 5,000 carrying capacity; establishment of arable farm settlements and animal husbandry in every geo-political zone to produce 50% of the initial food requirements at the Orientation Camps; establishment  of NYSC Radio and the TV already approved, establishment of NYSC ICT centers round the country and with the NYSC Trust coming to power the Scheme,  the present NYSC director general, General Shuaibu Ibrahim  has indeed restored the NYSC Scheme to its lost glory and master image.

The Scheme is now fully reinvigorated, rebranded and repositioned to be able to carry out its salutary statutory responsibilities and help to push  the country into being part of the 4th industrial revolution. The nation appreciates, and a united and developed Nigeria shall be your reward.

*EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and was National Commissioner of the NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA. HE IS A PROFESSIONAL JOURNALIST.

Explosion: HURIWA calls for dismissal of Kano police commissioner 

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Thursday, demanded the sacking of the Commissioner of Police in Kano State, Mr. Sama’ila Dikko, for jumping to conclusion that the explosion that rocked the Sabon Gari area of the state on Tuesday was a gas explosion and not a bomb blast.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, lambasted the police boss for declaring the root cause of the disaster without any investigation, even as residents and eyewitnesses strongly said on live television interviews that the explosion was as a result of a bomb blast.

The explosion rocked the Aba Road of the area in the early hours of Tuesday, killing nine 

with many others injured.

The state Commissioner of Police (Dikko) had while giving an update on the incident, said it was a gas explosion from a welder’s shop close to a nursery and primary school.

But eyewitnesses disagreed with the police boss saying the incident “was not a gas explosion, but a bomb, due to the high-density vibration,” emphasising that it shook houses located about five kilometre away from the scene of the explosion.

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “Eyewitness spoke with Arise TV showed and they contradicted what the police said.  The witnesses said it was a suicide bomber that detonated a bomb killing himself and many others but the police lied.

“HURIWA calls for the dismissal of the police commissioner for jumping to conclusion on the cause of the explosion even before any sort of investigation is done.

“We also call for a judicial commission of inquiry by the Kano State Government together with the Federal Government and Southern Governors’ Forum because the target of the bomb blast were Igbos and other Southerners that dominate Sabon Gari Kano. 

“We also call for independent forensic probe to be done too to determine the actual cause of the explosion that eye witnesses are now attributing to bomb blasts 

“The police must show discipline and professionalism without jumping into conclusion but by exercise diligence and scrutiny in its investigations.”

May 18, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

DSS must arrest Sheikh Abubakar Jibril for inciting Muslims against Bishop Kukah –HURIWA

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Monday, tasked the Department of State Services to arrest a Kano-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Jibril, who is the Chief Imam of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) for allegedly inciting Muslims against the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan-Kukah.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said Jibril was captured in a video that has gone viral allegedly telling his many Muslim followers to get the home address of Kukah and possibly attack the bishop if he is the person that sent Deborah Samuel Emmanuel Yakubu to the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto where she allegedly blasphemed against the Religion of Islam. 

Rampaging hoodlums on Saturday torched and vandalised at least two parishes presided over by Bishop Kukah and it took the swift response of security operatives to stop any attack on Kukah’s personal residence.

Rioters had on Thursday stoned and burnt a 200-level Home Economics student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, Deborah Yakubu, for alleged blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

The police arrested two suspects and protesters had demanded their release. The young demonstrators turned violent, vandalised, looted and burnt traders’ shops, churches and residential apartments perceived to be owned by Christians.

HURIWA accused security agencies as well as 18 of the 19 governors in the whole of northern Nigeria of supporting the brutal killing of blasphemers and for grooming Islamic extremists through the implementation of policies skewed in favour of Moslems to the neglect of many other citizens of other faiths and belief systems in those States.

The group cited Section 10 of the 1999 constitution as saying the government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “By this statement, HURIWA is putting the Department of State Services on notice to hold Sheikh Abubakar Jibril accountable for the fatal mob attack on Kukah’s parishes on Saturday. In fact we think the constant bashing of spokespersons of President Muhammadu Buhari against Bishop Kukah each time the Cleric issues critiques of some anti people’s and anti democracy thereby encouraging haters of truth and objectivity to target Right Reverend Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto for attacks by such Islamic fanatics as has just happened with the recorded video by the Sokoto Islamic preacher who openly incited his followers against Bishop Kukah.

“Jibril, in a trending video, erroneously accused Bishop Kukah of motivating Deborah to commit alleged blasphemy and that he should stop or else he will be dealt with. The inflammatory cleric (Jibril) then asked if they know his (Kukah’s) house and the listeners shouted, ‘Yes we do’. He is inciting them to attack Bishop Kukah.

“HURIWA charges the DSS to arrest Jibril immediately for questioning as the secret police had probed and persecuted the late deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia; and other vocal Christian leaders like Kukah himself.

“Anything short of the arrest of Jibril is sentimental and condemnable. Nothing must happen to Kukah. Nigerians are watching and are not fools.

“HURIWA again enjoins all Nigerians of conscience to come out enmasse as announced by the Christian Association of Nigeria and protest the killing of Deborah to pressure the Muhammadu Buhari led government to serve justice on the matter and for her killers to be punished according to extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

May 16, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).

Gideon & Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation Condemns Deborah’s Murder, Calls for Thorough Investigation

As reactions continue to trail the gruesome murder of Deborah Emmanuel, a 200 Level student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, a non governmental and non for profit organisation, Gideon & Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation has called for thorough investigation and proper punishment for all those involved in the barbaric act.

The peace advocacy organisation with impeccable track records in building and enthroning peace in Nigeria in a statement signed by it President Rev. Dr Gideon Para-Mallam likened Deborah’s tragedy to the tragedy of Leah Sharibu a Christian school girl that was abducted by Boko Haram terrorists a secondary school in Yobe state in 2018.

The statement reads in parts;

The Gideon & Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation deplores and condemns the horrendous murder of Ms Deborah Emmanuel, a 200 Level student of Home Economics at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto yesterday. The killers, some of who were her fellow students, took it upon themselves to stone and then burn her alive, for alleged blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad. We condemn this criminal act of injustice done to Deborah by its perpetuators and any who aided and assisted in planning this latest affront to humanity in Nigeria, those who stood by and failed to help Deborah, those who encouraged the killers, and anyone who may have incited them.

Deborah had a right to life; she had a right to live that life with dignity and to fulfil her human potential. Instead, this young woman’s life has been cut short, and in monstrous circumstances. All those dreams and hopes for the future, destroyed in a few moments of profound evil. How is it that our young people behaved in this way? They clearly think they can do what they want and will get away with it. We wish to extend our profound condolences and sympathy to her family and friends who are mourning the loss and the horrific circumstances of her murder. We are all pained.

We see this wicked act as having been facilitated by successive governments failing to respond effectively to religious extremism and violence. This impunity has gone on for too long. This is one too many and collective action is required, not rhetoric. Nigeria, under many regional and international treaties, is legally bound to protect its population from violence, abduction, abuse and other ill-treatment. There is an urgent need to adopt effective measures for the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of such abuses. The tragedy of Deborah, like the tragedy of Leah Sharibu (still in captivity) and countless others, killed or abused because of their religion, confirms how successive Nigerian governments have reneged on their international obligations. It is time to move beyond rhetoric to action. It is as simple as that. Nigerian leaders need to act to redeem this country.

This dastardly act must be thoroughly investigated, prosecuted and punished. All those involved, from the killers to their accomplices to any who may have incited them, must be held to account. We and many others here and abroad will be closely scrutinising the actions of the Sokoto State and its criminal justice system. In addition, we anticipate that the Federal Government will monitor the process to ensure compliance with the rule of law on this matter. The Nigerian government also needs to face up to its responsibilities of protecting its citizens from the violence that is engulfing this once beautiful and peaceful nation now turning ugly in the name of religion! How can we remain passive over such basic matters of life as a nation?

The murder of Deborah Emmanuel is a defining moment in our collective history. This is not the Nigeria that we love and cherish. The Para-Mallam Peace Foundation calls for calm and restraint. While demanding fundamental changes and holding the government and the perpetrators to account, Nigerians must pursue the paths of peace and justice. We commend those Islamic scholars and leaders especially the Sultan of Sokoto, whose voice is respected within the Muslim community in Nigeria, who have already spoken up against this perverse action as being plain and simple criminality, and who have appealed for calm. We welcome those Muslim voices who are speaking up against this evil. We must all act in a way that keeps this situation from spiralling out of control. JUNGLE JUSTICE IN THE NAME OF RELIGION MUST STOP!!!

NINAS Extraordinary Alerts and Battlefield Instructions, 5th Episode, Parts 1-4

NINAS Secretariat

12 May 2022

As the Union Dispute declared on December 16, 2020 [ie Constitutional Force Majeure], by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) moves from the Enlightenment and Mobilization phases to Enforcement, and as constituent components of the distressed Federation of Nigeria continue to consider viable options for redemption from the terror, land-grab and conquest onslaught of the Federal Government-backed Fulani invasion, we are glad to announce to all, that NINAS has the 1999 Constitution in a Chokehold and the Caliphate proprietors of that Constitution in a Pinfall.

This means that both the prison walls and the prison gate of Unitary Nigeria are now irreversibly compromised by the NINAS Strategic Designs and the joint-jailbreak to Freedom is imminent.

These Battlefield Instructions speak to the Actions we need to take Now to terminate the Fraud of 1999 to end the Mischief of 1914, liberating ourselves therefore from the over 100 years of bondage.

Here is an important broadcast from the NINAS Secretariat as a four-part series of videos.

Part 1: 1999 Constitution in Chokehold; Enforcers in Pinfall: Victory in the Horizon Over the Invaders.

Part 2: What We Must Do Now To End Our Bondage

Part 3: UN Scribe’s Terror Therapy; Amina Mohammed Narrative Gambit Dead on Arrival

Part 4: Union Dispute: Transition Now, Not Elections 2023

HURIWA TO GOV. TAMBUWAL, SOKOTO COLLEGE MANAGEMENT: YOU HAVE BLOOD OF DEBORAH IN YOUR HANDS

… Carpets President Muhammadu Buhari’s conspiratorial silence on the STONE AGE BARBARIC MURDER OF DEBORAH SAMUEL YAKUBU

Frontline Civil rights advocacy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the conspiratorial silence for over 24 hours of President Muhammadu Buhari over the brutal hacking to death of a 200 level Christian Student of the Sokoto College of Education Miss  Deborah Samuel Yakubu by Islamic extremists in the school over alleged blasphemy.

Warning that reprisals may become inevitable  if the case of murder of Deborah in Sokoto is swept under the carpets like similar cases of murders of Christians over alleged blasphemy  by Islamists in Kubwa Abuja and twice in Kano State, the Rights group told Sokoto state governor Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and the hierarchy of the ill fated school that the blood of the innocent Christian girl murdered in broad daylight is on their heads and generations unborn won’t forgive them for seemingly ominous inaction. HURIWA is by this statesman urging that the strongest deterrent action provided by law is applied against these killers of Deborah who are even captured on video recordings or else the Federal Government has unwittingly authorised that reprisals should occur and these violence will do Nigeria no good because religious violence could lead to a civil war. 

“HURIWA is very much aware, that President Muhammadu Buhari did not mince words to condemn Indigenous Peoples of Biafra(IPOB) even without any scientific evidence linking them remotely or otherwise to the gruesome and despicable beheading of the soldiers’ couple massacred by unknown gunmen reportedly on their way to a traditional wedding in the South East of Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari even gave order that the killers be hunted down and dealt with decisively by military forces.”

HURIWA continued thus: “President Muhammadu Buhari did this aforementioned hurried but generally hasty reaction because the perceived or suspected killers are Igbos, an Ethnicity that his administration has treated with the short end of the stick for not voting for him in 2015 and 2019. But since over 28 hours that a Christian student of the Sokoto College of Education Deborah Samuel Yakubu was lynched by Islamic students for alleged blasphemy, President Muhammadu Buhari has maintained conspiratorial silence as if the innocent blood that was shed by the Extremists is not that of a human being. This same hypocrisy of conspiratorial silence was noticed with the Sokoto State governor who stayed away from taking action but secretly sent his commissioner for higher education to speak on the murder. We in HURIWA want to let him Tambuwal and Buhari know that so long as there is no justice for this murdered Martyr Miss Deborah Yakubu, her innocent blood is on their heads”. 

HURIWA condemned the  management of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto for standing by and for doing next to nothing whilst the riotous Islamic extremists within the students body descended on their fellow Students and killed her like a chicken but only made timid announcement of the so-called indefinite closure of the institution after a female student was reportedly killed for alleged blasphemy.

HURIWA said it is preposterous that the late student, believed to be a Christian, was stoned to death and burnt just because she was reportedly  said to have attributed her academic excellence to Jesus and rankled by her response, she was asked to withdraw the statement — to which she refused even as her refusal to apologise made the mob attack her and then set her body ablaze. The Rights group wondered when Sokoto has become an Islamic State when section 10 of the Constitution recognises Nigeria as a SECULAR STATE whereby no RELIGION IS A STATE RELIGION.”

HURIWA quoted a source as stating that “She (Deboraj Yakubu Samuel) was having an argument with some of her schoolmates over their ongoing examination and when she was asked how she managed to pass her exams, she said it was Jesus,” the source was quoted as saying. “She was asked to withdraw the statement and apologise which she refused. “The school security intervened, and took her to their post but they were overpowered by students after which she was killed in the process. After killing her, her body was burnt on the school premises.” Reacting to the incident, the college directed all students to vacate its campus immediately.

The college said thus: “Following today’s early morning Students rampage in the college, the college management has resolved to close down the college indefinitely with immediate effect. Consequently, all students are hereby directed to vacate the College campus immediately (12th may, 2022),” the statement read.

HURIWA in a statement by Conrade Emmanuel Onwubiko its National Coordinator however blamed the management for not adequately providing her security by failing to call for police and military beef up but simply sacrificed the Christian Student at the altar of religious extremism and hypocrisy. 

HURIWA said religious pluralism and freedoms have suffered organised criminal attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari who before he won election in 2015 supported the introduction of full shariah law in Northern Nigeria, became President but nobody who killed Christian has ever been known to have been punished in accordance with the law of Nigeria thus creating the impression that the laws of Nigeria are not meant to be effective in the core Moslem North. 

HURIWA condemned the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for reportedly debunking his initial condemnation of the dastardly act of killing by the Extremists of Deborah just as the Rights group said Atiku Abubakar has a terrible record of not intervening when Christians are killed by his kinsmen but yet he hopes to win the votes of Christians as he seeks the ticket of the opposition PDP to become their Presidential Candidate this month. 

HURIWA dismissed ATIKU ABUBAKAR as someone who lacks principles and is perpetually afraid of Islamic fundamentalists thus creating the image of himself as a Moslem bigot. ATIKU ABUBAKAR DENIED EVER CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN GIRL DEBORAH IN SOKOTO BECAUSECISLAMISTS THREATENED HIM ON HIS FACEBOOK AND TWEETER NOT TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR HIM. LET US ASK ATIKU ABUBAKAR,  IF YOUR DAUGHTER IS AT THIS RECEIVING END OF THIS BARBARIC MURDER,  WILL YOU OREFER THE SO CALLED VOTES OF THE LAWLESS ISLAMISTS OR WILL YOU STAND BY THE NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION WHICH IN SECTION 36(5) GUARANTEES FAIR HEARING TO ALL ACCUSED PERSONS SND SECTION 6 CONCEDES JUDICIAL POWER OF THE FEDERATION TO THE COURTS OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION LOSTED THEREIN? WE ASK PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI,  IF ONE OF YOUR DAUGHTER IS THE ONE TREATED LIKE A CHICKEN LIKE DEBORSH OF SOKOTO COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, WILL YOU MAINTAIN CONSPIRATORIAL SILENCE AS IF YOU ARE NOT ON THIS PLANET WITH US?”

PDP is a scam, HURIWA slams party for shunning zoning 

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria,(HURIWA)on Thursday, slammed the Peoples Democratic Party for throwing open its presidential ticket ahead of its primaries slated for May 28 to 29 2022.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, described PDP as a “huge scam” for jettisoning the zoning of the party’s presidential ticket to the Southern region, especially the South-East. 

The group, which said the PDP has shown that it does not respect equity, fairness, and justice, urged Nigerians to get their Permanent Voters Card  ready to oust the PDP and the All Progressives Congress should any of the party field a northern candidate at the end of their individual presidential primaries at the end of May. 

The National Executive Committee of the PDP had on Wednesday night at its 96th meeting held in Abuja dumped the principle of zoning and threw the presidential slot open in 2023.

Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “We condemn the decision of Peoples Democratic Party to throw its presidential ticket open thus throwing the spanner in the works and campaigns of elder statesmen including Pa Ayo Adebanjo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Edwin Clark, Ohanaeze President George Obiozor, amongst others that the PDP and the All Progressives Congress should zone the office of President to the South-East.

“PDP’s decision not to heed the wise counsel of these elder statesmen is blameworthy considering that the South-East is the only zone that has not produced a democratically elected President out of the three major ethnicities since Nigeria’s Self government after over 60 years existence as a Sovereignty.

“Throwing the contest open has confirmed that PDP has scammed the South-East even after the zone has suffered marginalisation and exclusion from the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Since 1999, Nigeria’s fourth Republic, the South-South (Goodluck Jonathan) has been in power as Vice-President and President from 2007 to 2015. Obasanjo (South-West) was President from 1999 to 2007 while Atiku Abubakar (North-East) was his deputy for the eight years. Buhari (North-West) has been President since 2015 and would leave in 2023 while Yemi Osinbajo (also from South-West) has been his deputy.

“No South-East politician has been President or Vice-President since 1999 and before. PDP’s decision shows that itself and APC indeed plots to retain presidential powers in the North because it is likely that APC will do the same thing as PDP. 

“What PDP has done shows clearly that it is indeed a 419 political contraption and our plea is that Nigerian voters who don’t have PVCs should get their cards so as to reject both PDP and APC should both feature Northern candidates for President.

“HURIWA must warn PDP that its decision will divide Nigeria in such a way that Nigeria may collapse because a lot more elite and hitherto patriotic groups and persons in the South will openly oppose the so-called ‘One Nigeria’ which is not different from ‘Yahoo-Yahoo’ mantra. The South-East should be the zone to produce President in 2023 for peace, unity and stability of Nigeria beyond 2023. Nigeria’s end is near.”

May 12, 2022

Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA).