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FG Confirms 110 Girls Missing: Your Tears Not Enough, PDP Tells FG, APC …We ‘ve Lost Faith In FG -BBoG …Buhari Has No More Integrity -Adebanjo

Published

5 years ago

February 26, 2018

After unfruitful attempt to down play the recent kidnapping incident in Yobe State, the Federal Government, yesterday, confirmed that 110 schoolgirls of Government Girls Technical School, Dapchi, were unaccounted for in the Boko Haram attack on the school last Monday.
Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this to newsmen in Damaturu after a closed door meeting between a Federal Government delegation, Yobe State Government, security agencies, community leaders and parents of the missing schoolgirls.
“It was a meeting between stakeholders to get a first hand information and, out of the total register of 906 students in school that day, 110 students are unaccounted” he said.
The minister said far reaching decisions were reached among which included the deployment of police and Civil Defence Corps to all schools.
He said security agencies were synergizing to ensure the rescue of every student abducted by the insurgents.
“No stone will be left unturned in our determination to rescue these girls” the minister assured.
He said the federal, state governments and parents would collaborate with security agents to work towards successful rescue of the students.
Mohammed reiterated that the insurgents were being contained and now looking for soft targets.
“Government will remain focused and resolute in the fight against insurgency to rescue the students and every Nigerian in their custody.”
It would be recalled that Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, was last Monday, attacked by Boko Haram insurgents, who abducted the schoolgirls
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to stop shedding crocodile tears and instead, provide answers to urgent questions surrounding the recent abduction of schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday, said the Muhammadu Buhari-led Presidency has a lot of questions to answer regarding the alleged complicity of security agencies around the area coupled with misleading reports that frustrated immediate rescue of the abducted girls.
“The PDP, and indeed, all well-meaning Nigerians are appalled by the crocodile tears being shed by the incompetent and deceptive APC-Federal Government instead of scaling up actions on the matter.
“Nigerians have been in shock over revelations by the Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, that the abduction was preceded by withdrawal of troops around Dapchi, thereby rendering the area defenceless and paving the way for insurgents to attack and abduct our girls.
“We challenge the Presidency to come out clean on issues surrounding this abduction. Who authorized the said withdrawal of troops from the area and for what purpose? What alternative security measures were put in place to protect the people after the troops were withdrawn?
“Who controls security intelligence gathering and consequential protection action and what action was taken to guarantee adequate security in the area?
“We charge the Federal Government to open up on who scripted and released the false rescue report which frustrated prompt action that would have led to the recovery of our innocent girls? Why was that misleading report issued and whose interest did it serve?
“Indeed, from all indications, every right thinking Nigerian has deduced that there are more than meet the eyes in this ugly episode for which those in authority have a lot of questions to answer.
“We invite the world to note that after exposing the community to harm and frustrating prompt rescue, the incompetent APC-controlled Federal Government has not taken any concrete step to give the abductors the desired chase to recover our girls.
“Rather, they sent a delegation of persons with no knowledge of security to Dapchi on fact-funding missions,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the convener of the #BringBackOur Girls (BBOG) movement, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has said that the group no longer has faith in the ability and capacity of President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to deliver on its campaign promise to rescue the children, including students, and women abducted by Boko Haram insurgents.
Making reference to the massacre of residents in Benue State on New Year day and subsequently, and the ‘lackadaisical’ attitude of the Federal Government, Ezekwesili explained that the same situation that played out during the attack on Chibok in 2014, in which the then government seemed to be more interested in campaigning for its re-election than in the incident, appeared to be replaying under Buhari.
The former minister of education also alluded to the Buhari-led Federal Government’s lack-lustre handling of last Monday’s abduction of about 105 girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe State, by Boko Haram sect, a group, the government and the military claimed to have defeated.
She made this position known in an interview with newsmen, last Saturday in Abuja.
Ezekwesili said: “Nobody was paying attention, more or less. Everything was about winning the election in 2015, so, here we are in 2018, 2019 is election year – the same pattern is repeated. So, I simply said I’ve had enough of this”.
She stressed that it was high time Nigerians went beyond merely wishing for good governance.
Speaking further, Ezekwesili, who described herself as an “impatient optimist” while the government, on the contrary, accused her of being confrontational, stated that the government had “looked for her trouble” with such comments.
She defended the cause for which her movement, the BBOG was fighting, saying that the present government, even prior to its coming into power, had promised to rescue the Chibok girls, only to come into power and become ‘relaxed’ about it.
Ezekwesili noted that even if the government had been making efforts, its manner of approach, especially towards the parents of the missing girls, was “appalling”.
“Going adversarial on us was not welcome at all,” she stressed.
“It is time for us to have better governance in the society. It is time to stop failing.
“Nigeria needs to claim the 21st century, and for us to do that, the quality of our leadership would matter.
“I haven’t been excited at the fact that we keep losing opportunities that we have, to catch up with the rest of our contemporaries in the world as a nation.
“APC and PDP are the dominant players in our political space. We don’t have a political party crisis, we have a political class crisis, and so, I said as a citizen, I’m putting out my red card, and when I put it out, other citizens said they had red cards to put out too”.
Ezekwesili challenged the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to be proactive in efforts to rescue the remaining Chibok school girls, and also ensure that the just kidnapped Dapchi school girls by Boko Haram insurgents are returned to their parents as quickly as possible.
Also, Elder statesmen, Ayo Adebanjo has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has lost his integrity.
He also advised the Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo to step down in solidarity with Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s struggle for true federalism.
Asked if some corruption scandals in current administration have stained the reputation of integrity with which Buhari campaigned for president in 2015 and won, Adebanjo said that the president’s integrity was already gone.
According to him, his (Buhari’s) integrity is gone. He should know that, except those who are still ‘chopping’ (eating) under his government. All those who thought he had integrity have seen that none of it is there.
“When a man who has integrity authorises his attorney general to go and meet a criminal in a strange land, and then reinstates that criminal? It’s a pity.”
Adebanjo, claimed that the ‘juju at Aso Rock has turned Vice-President Yemi Osinbanjo into worst devil’.
Speaking on Osinbajo, he added, “Don’t mind that one. I have told him to remember the son of who he is. His father and I were the followers of (Chief Obafemi) Awolowo on federalism.
“He was born in federalism. And when he was the attorney general in Lagos, he took Obasanjo to court over local government allocation that was depriving Lagos of its due resources. He won the case up to the Supreme Court. Now, he is the vice president.
“It just reminds me of what Reuben Abati wrote that there is something wrong; the moment some people get to Aso Rock, there is a ‘juju’ there that turns the good people among them into the worst devils.
“He should have resigned. I say that without any hesitation. The vice president — I know him from his youth — highly intelligent and highly qualified.
“He is a professor, who is very sound. He has a job of his own. He is not jobless. Why shouldn’t he resign? He went there with the thought to serve, maybe thinking of the West that, if there are any excesses of the president, he would be able to check it.
“No! He was brought into wealth and he was silenced because of office. So, the vice president has no excuse. Bola Tinubu has no excuse, particularly the vice president, who is a professional in his own right. He knows about all these ills. He has fought against them before. All these things are going on and you are seeing it?”
In another development, the Governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaidam, has blamed the Nigeria military for the attack on Dapchi town and the abduction of schoolgirls from the community by Boko Haram.
Mr. Gaidam said the attack came barely a week after the military withdrew troops from the town.
He said if the soldiers had been on ground, the attack on the town and subsequent abduction of schoolgirls would not have been possible.
Mr. Gaidam said this when he hosted the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, who was in Damaturu on a sympathy visit.
“I blame the whole attack on Dapchi on the military and the defence headquarters who withdrew troops from Dapchi. The attack occurred barely a week after the military withdrew the soldiers from there,” the Yobe governor said.
“Before then, Dapchi has been peaceful, there was never such incident. But just a week after they withdrew the troops, Boko Haram came to attack the town.
The governor said the Dapchi incident was not the first time the absence of soldiers in the Boko Haram troubled state would be expose residents to such kind of attacks.
He also recalled that in 2013, a secondary school in Buni-Yadi was attacked a week after the military removed soldiers guarding the town. At least 29 students were killed in that attack.
“Let me be quoted anywhere, the military must take blame for the attack on Dapchi. The same thing happened in 2013 when the military suddenly removed troops guarding the town and a week later Boko Haram went there to attack the town and the secondary school there killing 29 students.”
The military is yet to release any official statement on the Dapchi attack, but told our correspondent last week it was not aware any of the girls had been rescued contrary to a claim by the state government which was later withdrawn.
The Yobe State Government recently said it has spent N15.8 billion in the last three years on fighting the Boko Haram insurgency. Most of the expenditure are in form of support for the military, the state said.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Shettima who was in Damaturu on behalf of the Northern Governors’ Forum which he heads, expressed his sympathy to the government and people of Yobe State over the “unfortunate incident”.
“On behalf of the 19 Northern Governors’ forum, we have come to show our sympathy and let you know that we are with you in this traumatic period,” he said.
Mr. Shettima called on the security agencies to ensure the abducted girls are rescued on time.
Over 100 schoolgirls were kidnapped last Monday by the terrorists when they attacked the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi.
The federal government is yet to acknowledge the exact number of girls kidnapped by the terrorists. Parents of the girls, however, released 105 names of missing girls believed to have been abducted by the terrorists.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and that of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, are currently in Yobe as part of efforts to review the situation.

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Catholic Bishops Vow To Work For Credible Polls In 2023

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2022

The Tide

Bishops of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja have pledged to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure free, credible and transparent general elections in 2023.
The commitment is contained in a communiqué jointly signed by Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, the Archbishop of Abuja and Very Rev. Fr. Sam Tumba, after the 3rd General assembly of the Archdiocese.
In the communique issued on Saturday in Abuja, the bishops enjoined Parishes, families, Church societies and groups to dedicate special moments to pray for a hitch-free election.
“We call on Catholics and indeed all Nigerian citizens to be consciously and actively involved in the electoral processes at all levels.
“Voter registration, collection of Permanent Voters Card, casting votes on election days with a firm and clear conscience to elect credible leaders who will bring about the true dividends of democracy”, they said.
The bishops commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Electoral Act into law to enhance the sanctity of the electoral process.
“We task the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure political fairness and transparency, to consolidate the trust reposed in them by Nigerians.
“Parishes and Catholic institutions within our Archdiocese are encouraged to arrange and organize voter awareness programmes, seminars and workshops guided by the Justice, Development and Peace Commission, to better equip our people for greater political responsibility.
“We remain open and willing to collaborate with relevant government agencies, electoral bodies and security operatives to ensure peaceful and credible election processes in the coming year,” the communique added.
The bishops cautioned politicians not to regard the election as a ‘do or die’ affair, adding that they must also refrain from money politics, manipulative and divisive practices along ethnic, social and religious lines to win elections.
“Even though we decry the hard economic situations in the nation, we strongly discourage all Catholics and especially our youths from lending themselves as easy recruits for political thuggery and other criminal activities to enthrone selfish and incompetent aspirants into electoral offices.
“We discourage and condemn any form of vote buying or selling and other electoral malpractices during the elections,” the bishops said.
The bishops advised catholic politicians from all political parties within the Archdiocese to participate in Church activities, so as to be better known by the faithful.
They called on all people of goodwill to cooperate with security agencies to root out criminal elements within communities.
The bishops, however, urged security agents to remain professional in discharging their duties and resist any attempt to be used to intimidate the people by corrupt politicians.
The communique called on Catholics across the country to match work with prayer, for peaceful electioneering process.
They called for sustained prayers for the country, adding: “Nigerians should take courage and be of ardent hope, for the storms will soon be over.”

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Take 2023 Elections Seriously, Wike Tasks Rivers People

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2022

The Tide

The Rivers State Chief Executive, Chief Nyesom Wike, has urged Nigerians to take the upcoming 2023 General Election seriously by securing their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and using it wisely and prayerfully.
Wike stated this during the Inter-Denominational Church Service in commemoration of the 62nd Independence Day Anniversary of Nigeria, at St. Paul’s Cathedral Church, Diobu in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Represented by his Deputy, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, the governor said he believes God would use the 2023 elections to grant the pleas of Nigerians for a rebirth of a new nation.
“Nigeria must rise again, it must fulfil its divine purpose for which God has put it together, Nigeria has a prophetic agenda, whether the devil likes it or not. We must have the confidence that our votes will count and that we will use our votes to bring in the leaders after the heart of God”, the governor said.
Wike said under his watch, the state government has been resolute and consistent in providing the dividends of democracy to the people living and doing business in the state.
“We have seen it, in the massive improvement in security.We have seen it in social and physical infrastructure.What will you say, when public tertiary institutions have been on strike for the past seven months, and some of the students are being killed, some are roaming about, some are going into crime, while others are abusing drugs and going mental, but in Rivers State, all the state institutions are functioning none-stop, and salaries are paid as at when due and lecturers are teaching the way they should”, Wike further stressed.
The state chief executive expressed gratitude to the Almighty God for the 62nd Independence anniversary of the country and for keeping the nation as one in spite of all the security and economic challenges, adding that “God in His infinite mercy has kept us together as a people, what seems impossible with men, is possible with God”.
In his sermon drawn from Matthew Chapter 7: 7-12, Bishop Diocese of Niger Delta North,St. Paul’s Cathedral Church, Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rt. Rev. Wisdom Ihunwo, said “if Nigeria must go forward, we must obey the golden rule”.
He said,”We must not give up on Nigeria; no matter the challenges, God would make the nation great again, but it behooves on us to pray and do the right things at all times”.
A schedule of activities released by the state government shows that on Friday, September 30, 2022, a Jumma’at Prayer would be held at the JIBWIS Directorate Headquarters, Central Mosque, 36 Bonny Street, Port Harcourt Township, at 1:00pm.
According to the programme, signed by the Permanent Secretary, Special Services Bureau, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Sir George Nwaeke, the grand finale would hold on Saturday, October 1, 2022, with a parade ceremony/march-past at Sharks Football Stadium, Port Harcourt by 10:00am.
The statement said that the state Governor, Chief NyesomWike, would preside over the activities at the grand finale on Saturday.

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Buhari Launches INFF In New York

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2022

The Tide

President Muhammadu Buhari has restated the commitment of his administration to the achievement of inclusive, broad-based and sustainable development.
The President spoke while delivering his keynote address at strategic High Level Event held on the sidelines of the 77th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York to launch Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) for Sustainable Development.
The President noted that Nigeria adopted the INFF as a tool to improve the financing of SDGs without increasing public debt and contingent liabilities to levels that will be detrimental to economic sustainability.
He commended the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals; and the United Nation Development Programme for working together to develop Nigeria’s INFF in a process which started in 2020.
“Today’s event marks the end of a long process which began in 2020, when the Steering Committee and the Core Working Group on Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework were inaugurated.
“The Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) has been developed to map out a much-needed sustainable financing plan for Nigeria to deliver on our commitment to the SDGs and our National Development aspirations,” the President said.
He further noted that as part of its commitment to sustainable and inclusive development, his administration aligned its 2017-2020 Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP); the 2020 Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP); the 2021 National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS); and the 2021-2025 National Development Plan (NDP) with the SDGs.
“It is in line with this commitment and with a focus on the National Development Plan (2021-2025) that, the Federal Government of Nigeria, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has adopted the INFF as a tool to improve SDGs financing without increasing public debt and contingent liabilities to levels that will be detrimental to economic sustainability.
“The INFF is backed by Nigeria’s Medium-Term Revenue Strategy and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. As Nigeria champions the INFF process, we hope to promote the strategic alignment of financial policies with sustainable development and provide the enabling conditions for domestic and international, public, and private financial actors to best respond to our national needs.
“I urge all Nigerians, the international community, and our development partners to recognize the importance of this integrated approach to financing development, as you continue to count on my leadership in its immediate implementation,” the President said.
Speaking earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs,Princess AdejokeOrelope-Adefulire, described the launch of the INFF report as a significant milestone in the commitment and efforts to achieve the SDGs in Nigeria.
She noted that the INFF is in line with Nigeria’s strategic approach to the implementation of the SDGs working at the National and Sub-national levels.
“At the National level, we work closely with the Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to integrate the SDGs into their sectorial policies and plans. At the Sub-national level, we are working closely with the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to mainstream the SDGs into their medium and long-term development policies and plans”.
She noted that her office, with the support of UNDP, has supported 16 states to develop SDG-Based Development Plans as part of Nigeria’s Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support (MAPS) for the agenda.
The INFF report, she added, was also another feat recorded by the country in the bid to institutionalize the SDGs, noting Nigeria was the first country in the Global South to have successfully completed a country-led Independent Evaluation of SDG-3 on ‘quality health and well-being for all’ and SDG-4 on ‘qualitative and inclusive education and lifelong learning for all’.
The two reports, she said, were officially launched on the 25th of August, 2022.
The presidential adviser noted that on the 21st of December, 2021, Nigeria became the first African country to successfully realigned its National Statistical System with the requirements and indicators of the SDGs, hence the country will be now be able to track progress on the 230 Key Performance Indicators of the agenda on annual basis through the National Bureau of Statistics.
Orelope-Adefulire further noted that in 2019, Nigeria successfully domesticated the Integrated Sustainable Development Goals Simulation Model (iSDG Model) as a home-grown analytical tool for evidence-based SDGs policymaking and planning with the report launched on the margins of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly by the President.
“The Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) Report we are about to launch today is a product of series of efforts led by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“Nigeria is now among the INFF Pilot Countries that have made significant progress by completing the design process. Indeed, this is an expression of Nigeria’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
She expressed appreciation and profound gratitude to the President for accepting to launch the report as well as all the Institutional Members of the National Steering Committee and the Core Working Group on Nigeria’s INFF for the commitment demonstrated during the design phase.
“We look forward to similar commitment during the implementation phase,” Orelope –Adefulire said while affirming the commitment of her office to continue to drive the process of achieving the SDGs in Nigeria.
“I would like to conclude by re-affirming Nigeria’s commitment to the successful implementation of the SDGs. We look forward to working more closely with you all in this ‘Decade of Action’ for the Global Goals, so that no ‘One is left behind’.”
In his remark, Head/Sustainable Development, Minister Counsellor, Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the UN, Axel Maisonneuve, said EU had also support the mobilisation of capital for an inclusive and sustainable transition, which is at the heart of an INFF, in several ways.
“For instance, we know that whilst public finance of course has a key role to play, it will not be sufficient to bridge the SDG financing gap, and private finance needs to be mobilised as well.
“In the EU, we believe in fact that sustainable finance is critical to enable private financial flows being channelled towards sustainable investments.
“The EU’s Green Deal and the Global Gateway strategies are some of the key examples of the EU efforts in this direction. Indeed, sustainable finance is part and parcel of an INFF,’’ he said.
According to him, private finance is very much part of Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework.
Maisonneuve said the INFF was designed to help the Nigerian government explore innovative financing options linking government with private sector and development partners to increase public revenue and private investments.
“Let me take this opportunity to praise Nigeria for the efforts undertaken toward the achievement of the 2030 agenda and the SDGs and for the key milestone that you have achieved.
“In September 2019, 16 countries committed to pioneer the development and implementation of INFFs, and Nigeria was among them.
“Now, Nigeria has successfully designed its INFF Strategy, and is offering a leading example for INFF progress toward a more systematic, holistic approach to achieve sustainable development objectives,’’ he said.
Goodwill messages were delivered by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed, and development partners.