OBIDATTI SUPPORTERS IN NORWAY SPONSORED 5,000 POSTERS TO THE GRASSROOT IN KADUNA STATE

n their quest for better Nigeria, The Obidatti Supporters in Norway sponsored the production of 5,000 posters to the grassroots in Kaduna State.

After realizing the poor publicity of Peter Obi at the grassroots level, the decided to support the Obidient Movement with some campaign  materials which is expected to be be distributed down to the grassroots through the Peter Obi Grassroot Alliance, a group work assiduously by taking the Peter Obi message down to the grassroots.

The Coordinator of the group, Samuel Stephen expressed his profound appreciation to the Obidatti Supporters Norway group stating that the campaign materials will go a long way in advancing the Peter Obi campaign. The materials are expected to cover 12 LGAs and over 130 wards across the state.

Wike Criticizes Akitu for Being Silent on Buharis Lopsided  Appointments

Atiku on Wednesday said his government would be run on national unity if elected as president in the 2023 general elections.

He had promised to unify Nigeria by ensuring equity and fairness as well as reflect the federal character system in appointments to government offices.

But Wike described Atiku’s comment as insincere and maintained that Nigerians could not be fooled again.

He said, “Some people now are criticising Buhari’s appointments. Why did they not challenge Buhari since? Election has come. Who is fooling who? All these past seven years, you have not challenged Buhari but election has come. Nobody can fool anybody,” the Rivers governor stated.

Wike, therefore, advised Atiku to start his government of national unity within the PDP by ensuring that Iyorchia Ayu step down as PDP national chairman.

“Some people said they will form a government of national unity. It is not to talk but start now to implement it. If you cannot implement the small one, is it the big one (you will implement?)

“I pity poor Nigerians. When I heard people go to townhall meetings and said all kinds of things: they said they will implement restructuring, they will make sure that every zone will have a member in the security council, that it is not good for one zone to produce all the security chiefs but it is good for one zone to occupy all party positions. You see how Nigerians are,” the governor stated.

Abuja Film Village Launches Media Literacy Campaign For Secondary School Students

The Abuja Film Village (AFV) on Monday the 14th of November, 2022, launched the inaugural leg of its Films in Education media literacy campaign and training for secondary school students. The event, coordinated in partnership with the “I Am the Future of Nigeria Youth Initiative” (IFON), Actors Guild of Nigeria and the Nigerian Film Corporation, was held at the Government Secondary School, Garki., Area 10, Abuja.

The speakers at the event emphasized the need for media action to sensitise the Nigerian populace on the scourge of fake news. The convener of the event and CEO of the Abuja Film Village, Dr. Francisca Ibezim, lauded the Federal Government’s decisive actions against fake news while soliciting sustained and determined action in view of the plethora of information on the internet which can be used in a malicious manner. The continued appeal stressed the need to inculcate and promote media literacy and films in education awareness training into the national curriculum with a view to ensuring access for every Nigerian child.

Dr. Francisca Ibezim stated: “In view of the fact that 21st-century kids are growing up in a digital world and media change, they must be educated on the consequences the change is presenting. The internet and social media have given our youth access to lots of information both real and fake. Teaching media literacy provides relevant skills to detect what information is fake, misleading or in fact real. This enables them to think critically about all the information they process.”

As part of the engagement, the CEO of “I am the Future of Nigeria Youth Initiative”, Mrs Noni Okocha delivered a “Spot the Fake News” training to 100 students of the secondary school which elicited positive reviews from all guests and participants in attendance. The students received further training in film production and photography to enable them to develop an interest in media as a future career path.

The event was personally attended by the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Chief Emeka Rollas as well as other ranking members of the Guild and connected stakeholders.

Calls for State Police – A Middle Beltan Perspective

By Patrick Anum

Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta State and vice-presidential candidate for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), recently spoke at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria’s (ICAN) 2022 annual conference in Abuja and offered a familiar position on the state of insecurity in Nigeria.

He recommended the adoption of state police as the solution for the growing insecurity in the country. The call for the creation of state police is not new. In September, the Northern Governors Forum along with the traditional leaders, made a strong case for the establishment of state police. They explained that it was the only way to effectively tackle the lingering terrorism, insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and wanton destruction of lives and property in the region.

In the past Southern Governors have also reiterated that State police is the only solution to solve the country’s security challenges. Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo and chairman of the forum, has said in the past that the forum would continue to demand the devolution of powers to the states.

To stress this need, there has been National dialogue to this effect. During the National Confab, Delegates on the June 26, 2014, adopted the resolution in support of the establishment, funding and operation of state and community police based on state laws. Of course, none of the confab resolutions were implemented.

From a Middle Beltan perspective, purposeful consideration needs to be given regarding the establishment of state police because unless that is done, the conflict would only be partially resolved in various Middle Belt regions notably Benue, Kogi, Adamawa, Plateau, Taraba, and Nasarawa. It might, however, intensify the crisis in other areas given the histories and the colonial legacies still present in the Middle Belt.

Other regions of the Middle Belt including Southern Kaduna, Southern Gombe, Southern Bauchi, Southern Borno, Southern Kebbi and parts of Niger State could in this regard, benefit from having pre-implementation plans.

The pre implementation plans would identify the gaps that state policing would not fill, possible solutions and special strategies for implementation. An example of such implementation strategies could be the creation of more states in the aforementioned areas before the implementation of state policing apparatus.

However, if state creation is opposed by the other states, and state policing is implemented with the current structure, one can only speculate as to the mayhem that would ensue in a region like Kaduna, where tensions between the areas of Southern Kaduna and the North still exist.

The former President Olusegun Obasanjo had said in 1992 that the problems in Kaduna were attributed to historical and colonial legacies and as such, were complex issues. Many scholars have in light of these considerations advocated for state creation as a solution to the lingering conflict.

Additionally, giving non neutral persons who are state governors such powers could spell disaster in fragile Middle Beltan states.

Already there have been rising tensions between SOKAPU (Southern Kaduna Peoples Union) and El rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State.

SOKAPU and El rufai have traded blames over the causes of the conflict in Kaduna. However, a look at the activities in the state paint a picture as to if the Kaduna State Governor who is currently trying to intervene in the conflict is actually neutral.

The Governor of Kaduna State’s activities include demolishing the only Church in Kaduna State University despite the establishment of six (6) mosques in the area.

He has also reiterated that he used monies from state coffers to pay killers from foreign countries to stop murdering the people of Southern Kaduna while ignoring the possibility of collaborating with security agencies to arrest and detain marauding “foreign killer herdsmen” in his state.

Also, under suspicious circumstances, he has restructured the traditional system in Kaduna leaving people in southern  Kaduna marginalized in their own local governments.

Looking at the larger picture, not only SOKAPU have had issues with El rufai –

 In 2017, the Nigerian Union of Journalists declared Kaduna State “the most lethal state to practice journalism” and warned that “…such attacks( in the state) may not abate soon”.

At least ten journalists and internet commentators have been detained or imprisoned in Kaduna State under Governor Nasir Elrufai, including Jacob Onjewu Dickson, Midat Joseph of Leadership Newspaper, Luka Binniyat of Vanguard, and Steven Kefas an influential internet commentator. 

Abubakar Idris (also known as Dadiyata), a government critic who was kidnapped in August 2019, has not yet been identified either dead or alive. 

It is plausible that the people of Southern Kaduna are not overly hopeful about the prospect of the state policing model being a solution to insecurity in the region.

Gombe State also serves as another case study for the postulation as to why state policing under the current model would serve as a disaster.

It also provides insight as to what the capabilities of having state police might entail for the non-Muslim groups in these areas.

Due to the State Government’s persistent interference with the traditional structures in the State, there have been ongoing accusations from non-Muslim groups in the state regarding the Governor of Gombe, Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya’s authoritarian activities.

Despite coming from a completely different ethnic group, the State Governor Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya attempted to impose a different candidate from the one who had been selected to be the Mai Tangale by King makers in March 2021.

According to reports, members of the Tangale traditional council at the time had either been detained or forced to flee the state as protests sparked crackdowns that resulted in injuries and fatalities

Another individual Alhaji Danladi Sanusi Maishanu whom the Governor tried to impose on the Tangale people had not even ascended the throne when he started making efforts to replace their cherished emblem which previously was (a snake  on a hill – with the moon and star emblem) signifying Islam.

Critics have questioned whether this is the reason why Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya, the governor of the state, had shown such interest in who ascended the throne of the Tangale people.

Another example that illustrates this point would be happenings in Borno State, where we can analyze Kashim Shettima’s actions as former governor.

The Centre for Justice on Religious and Ethnicity in Nigeria had advised Nigerians not to support the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 elections considering the vice presidential nominees activities as the former governor of Borno State. This recommendation was made in an article by Sahara reporters.

The first concerning situation which arose was when Governor Shettima was in charge of Borno State and neglected to enforce the N18,000 minimum wage in the local governments that were predominately Christian.

On the other hand, all the northern and central Borno LGAs, where the Shuwa-Arab and Kanuri tribes are predominately Muslims and there are little to no Christians, he introduced the N18,000 minimum wage.

He refused to enforce the minimum wage in the nine local government areas (LGAs) in southern Borno, where the Kwana, Kibaku, Putai, Bura and others, make up around 85% of the Christians population in the area. 

Even when the Borno State Government sought to hire some judges, all applicants from the Southern region who were of Christian extraction were regrettably ignored.

When a Christian traditional ruler in northern Nigeria passes away, according to Reverend Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, “the governor influences, enforces, and appoints a Muslim to take over, attempting to restructure the traditional institution along Islamic lines.”

He increased the scope by mentioning how “Governor Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State implemented same in Kajuru LGA. Mallam Musa Bello, FCT Minister equally did the same in Bwari area council and how now, they’re trying to enforce a Muslim on Eggon people in Akwanga, Nasarawa state.

The kidnapping of more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls, which gained international news, was the most damning indictment on Shettima.

Goodluck Jonathan, a former president, claimed on page 21 of his book “My Transition Hours” that Shettima was in his words, “terribly interested” in the SSCE exam of the secondary school students in Chibok at the time.

In addition, Kashim Shettima was so interested that they remain in the school and complete their final secondary school (high school) exams there that he disregarded the West African Examinations Council’s request to have the students sit in a more secure setting.

The previous president questioned why the former governor would be that interested in a single school’s SSCE exam.

He also questioned why the Governor, who lacked police authority, would guarantee protection, and he thought it would have been far more plausible if the Commissioner of Police had alternatively made such guarantees especially considering the fact that the Governor just serves as the police chief in name.

How a Governor could miss such a call also baffled him.

It should be noted that there has been significant pressure meted out on even independent state policy. For example, even in Middle Beltan states like Benue, which have been largely autonomous and where anti-grazing laws have been adopted, the current PDP presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and other northern elite have disagreed and fought against such policies with belligerence. The current vice Presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar even went as far as arguing that such laws were against the freedom of movement of certain sections of people in Nigeria and was therefore unconstitutional.

If resistance to autonomous state policy can be this controversial, how much more could it be in instances where people with different worldviews were being forced to coexist in the same state with their harassers.

It should be stressed that, without the necessary restructuring, giving such aforementioned individuals more authority at state level could spell certain catastrophe for the indigenous nationalities of the Middle Belt.

Restructuring is required to give Middle Belt communities their own leadership, legitimate ownership of their land in areas where they are endangered by roving herders, bandits, militia, and restructuring could even solve the problem of authoritarian and repressive political regimes in these areas.

In conclusion, there needs to be pre implementation plans that provide adequate restructuring – before there can be any talk of state police enactment.

Restructuring groups in Nigeria along regional and civilizational lines could be a preferred solution, and in the case of the Middle Belt, this means adopting previous reports that call for the creation of independent states in Southern Kaduna, Southern Gombe, Southern Kebbi, Southern Borno, and sections of Niger, as well as their inclusion to other parts of the Middle Belt, as was the intention of the minority report in 1958.

The adoption of state policy could then be carried out – and would result in little conflict there after.

Fury as Lalong uses State Government power – Calls for Public Holiday in Plateau as APC formally flags off Rally in Plateau

The Plateau State Government in a Press Statement has declared the 15th of November 2022 as a public holiday due to the arrival of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to flag off the All Progressive Congress’s Campaign at the Rwang Pam National Stadium through Dan Manjang in a press statement on the 14th on November 2022.

The State Government justified its position by stating that there is an anticipated and foreseen congestion and disruption to movement and other activities in the State due to the Presidents arrival.

The Governor in the press statement was seen to encourage the people of Plateau State to come out and give the President a rousing welcome to the fury of residents of Plateau who see this as using state power for political means and purposes.

Residents were seen on the Facebook page of the Plateau State Government showing their displeasure of the announcement.

A Daspan Mutia complained of the misplaced focus of the State Government while a Gloria Ogochukwu through a post complained as to why there was such utter disregard for education in the State as a public holiday was uncessary in the wake of resumption of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities after several Months.

Samuel Joshua Olowoniyi reiterated Daspan’s position by speaking about the shutdown of the state for party activities which echoed a misplacement of priorities in the State 

Others called out the hypocrisy of the government to the welfare of the state.

The statement reads;

This is to inform the public that the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR will arrive Plateau State on Tuesday, 15th November, 2022.

The President is expected to flag-off the All Progressives Congress campaign at the Rwang Pam Township Stadium, Jos at 10:00 a.m. same day.

In view of the traffic congestion that is envisaged and resultant disruption to movement and other activities, His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Plateau Rt. Hon. (Dr) Simon Bako Lalong, KSG, CON has approved that Tuesday 15th November, 2022 be declared as work-free.

By this declaration therefore, the public is hereby enjoined to come out enmasse to give the President a rousing welcome.

ANNOUNCER
Dan Manjang, mnipr
Honourable Commissioner for Information.

Attacks continue in Benue – Ex Polytechnic Deputy Rector Killed

Just weeks after a police officer and 22 others were reportedly killed, with another 12 in critical condition in an attack in Gbeji community and police station in Ukum Local Government  Area of Benue State, a former Deputy Rector of the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo was shot dead by unknown assailants along the busy Otukpo – Eke Ugbokolo – Otukpa highway

His death comes after the Information Officer of Ukum local govenrment was also shot dead by unknown assailants who trailed the deceased to his house according to Steve Ayua who spoke to the Vanguard Newspaper.

Meanwhile, the former Rector was reportedly killed while on his way back from Ugbokolo from Otukpo in Benue State whilst in the company of his wife.

According to reports, the deceased travelled for a public engagement and ran into an ambush by armed men. He was flagged down and upon making the stop, was shot and killed. There was also an attempt to kidnap his wife but she was abandoned upon the sighting of approaching military personnel.

These series of events also point to a deterioration of security architecture in the area – as another lecturer was also killed a few months ago from a similar incident and numerous passengers who ply the road have also been either killed, kidnapped or shot at by these gunmen.

The Evil-Genius In Kaduna

By JD Ephraim Esq

Anything said about this evil-genius could be true. Sometimes such geniuses could be like the proverbial crocodile who swallows a heavy stone and believes it will help it sink deeper.
There is nothing I will not believe about this evil-genius. He has tampered with the architecture and engineering of Kaduna State between 2015 and now and there may be more tampering by 2023, If God allows him, to reach that time.
An incidental fall-out of his actions and, or inactions, is that most of us have gone spiritual. And we are testing the spirit world, according to our measure of access to it. In this spirit world, there are forces of darkness and forces of light,as well . To them, have been given, all powers, in their measure, by the Almighty Creator.
However, the more superior of the two forces, is that of light. But it is not freely available, in the material world. It depends on our ability to access it in the spiritual realm, as distinct from, the material world. Whoever has better access, controls the material world. Access to the forces of darkness, translates to, control of the material world; however, this can only be temporary. Control of the material world is not ad- infinitum. It does change, according to the personalities. There in lies our hope, to conquer, in the end, no matter the ingenuity of the evil-genius in Kaduna.
By 2015, majority of the people of Kaduna State voted the evil- genius in, because of the hatred of the then incumbent, especially in the Southern part of the State; where the political elite did what is normally known as “anti-party “.It was an all-party thing. Little did we know that the whole state was stepping into the viper’s hole. We did, praying that, even if anything, he would perform the miracle he did in Abuja, when he was Minister. Alas, we were wrong. The miracle he did in Abuja,it would seem, was to make the city become his, his family, friends, and associates, according to the Senates Committee probe of his land administration in the FCT. They thus ,banned him from holding any public office, but he was smart enough to head to court to have it set aside. By that smart act of going to court,, he became “clean”.On being accused of allowing property to self, family, friends, and Associates ,by the Senate’s Probe Committee, he said , ” well, if it is your time to be Minister in Abuja, you can appropriate the city to your enemies “. Well, some of us believe that here, in Kaduna, he is guided by the same philosophy, and thus, may repeat the Abuja “miracle”.
For a start, we know he has sold off, most of the government’s houses. We do not know yet, to who, but ,we may surmise a guess– and say, “to himself, family, and friends.” We pray that this time around, it would not be so.But what we know, for sure, is that, he may not sell it to his “enemies”. Only time will tell.
But that is just a “tip of the iceberg”. We leave the rest for another day, and the judgement of history.
By 2018,it was clear, that this evil- genius, had done enough harm, to the state. But in his calculation, a span of four years, was not enough. He had retired all the the credible politicians, in the state, to prepare the political space, for himself. He almost succeeded. But not totally. That is why we are able to talk and write.
For him to win the 2019 elections, which would have been impossible, but, as intelligent as he was, he embarked ,on the manipulation of religion. He knew the southern part of the state would not vote for him, because of the actions he had taken against their corporate interest, as mostly Christian minorities . He embarked on campaigns in the northern part of the state,for the 2019 elections, claiming he had declared a jihad on the Southern Kaduna State Christians.He came up with a law controlling religious practice and licensing of the clergy. That done with, he descended on their traditional institutions, and abolished tribal Chiefdoms and titles , and reduced their domains to mere towns and villages. He sacked district heads. He uplifted the Chiefdoms of Jere, Kajuru, and Kauru to Islamic emirates. Kachia, Zango Urban in Zangon Kataf Local government, are still in the sleeves, and we are all watching.
Not done with that, he descended on the civil service, sacked the teachers, and many civil servants . Pensions became a play-toy for him. As most Southern Kaduna people are not business men, but civil servants, and teachers, the Hameed Ali’s experience, was visited, on the people ,as most families, went under the economic realm, while most people fell ill,, frustrated and might have died. For those in businesses, he ensured he crumbled their businesses, for instance, the Micro finance banks- a vital link with the active rural poor . These banks were supporting the active poor through loans, but mounting the saddle of power, civil servants that maintained salary accounts in such banks were forced to transfer them to the conventional commercial banks thereby forcing the microfinance banks to become comatosed.
Within a span of four years, he had dealt with southern Kaduna and defeated them, in a “jihad” he unitarily, declared silently.
The evidence could be seen on the ground. What Uthman Danfodio could not do in the 19th century, other than the raids for slaves and slavery, he has now proven that even in the 21st Century, “jihad” was still possible . He had conquered southern Kaduna and raised his “Jihadic flags”. One could see the flags in the new Emirates of Jere,Kajuru and Kauru that were chiefdoms .

Going hand in hand with this is the spade of insecurity, going on, caused by, terrorists who they falsely brand “bandits”. There are also kidnappers, violent crimes, killing, maiming, raping, and burning down of buildings, farms, and whole villages.
Truly, this is what you see in a jihad. But it has fallen short of converting the people to Islam which a true Islamic jihad is supposed to achieve. It will appear the wickedness is not limited to Southern Kaduna alone but the whole state.
Going back to the 2018/2019 electioneering campaigns, it was enough for the evil genius to show what he had done to Southern Kaduna, and the people will believe that truly he had undertaken and almost won a “jihad” .He needed four more years, to complete, and consolidate the “jihad.” Therefore, he went to Zaria and the rest of the people in the Northern side of the State, during the 2019 electioneering campaigns, and said he needed four more years to complete the “jihad”. Our prominent PDP leaders in the northern side were, it would seem, mischievously silenced, through threats of exposure of skeletons in their cupboards, and they submitted to the mischieve .
The final electoral “victory” was done, it would seem, through Compromises and riggings.

Now. then, after the "jihad" of the 2019 elections, what next ? It is consolidation of what he has in store for the state. Then nature struck : and the Emir of Zazzau died. Allahu Akbar.  Inna lillahi wa inna illaihi rajiuun.  May Allah forgive his shortcomings, and grant him aljanat firdausi.  But the evil- genius is not thinking of how he too will end up in this world. He sees every happening, as an opportunity, to restructure and re-engineer society, in his own image. What sane people think is impossible, for him, it is possible. He has to satisfy his interests. Tradition will not count. It is either that he splits the emirate and ignore history ,or he places his own there ,ala Ganduje of Kano. 

And so it went. Just like during his first term, when he declared he was fighting a “jihad” against a particular section of the state, the rest of the people later, discovered it was not a real Islamic jihad, but his own version of” political jihad”, against the whole state. Those he said he was conducting the jihad for them, after wining,
became the first victims of the evil genius’ “political jihad” and everybody in the state , without exception, is a victim; victims of ill choice. Religion, being opium of the masses, can be used by ,( not angels), but the devil himself. After all, Christians know that when Jesus, was caught-up in the wilderness, to be tempted by Satan, it is reported that Satan quoted from the Bible.
To the Zaria people, the evil genius fought a “political jihad” purportedly, on their behalf, and they mistook it for the real jihad. At last, they have become the victims: real toys in the power calculus, of the evil- genius. Only time will tell.