News

VGN Solicits Wike, Other Govs’ Support …Wants Buhari To Assent To Outfit’s Bill

Published

3 years ago

October 12, 2020

A grassroots security outfit and paramilitary organisation, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) in the South-South geopolitical zone, has solicited the support of Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and other governors in the region to enable the body discharge its responsibilities more effectively in order to check criminality in the area. This is even as the body has equally stressed the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the VGN Bill passed by the National Assembly to give the outfit full operational backing in the country.
The Acting Commandant of VGN in the South-South, Mr Tolumobofa Jonathan Akpoebibo, who made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt last Saturday while reviewing the operations of the Rivers State Command, said the body was in dire need of logistic support in the zone going by the sensitive nature and size of the area.
According to hum, apart from lagging behind in the area of manpower, VGN in the zone needs vehicles to help its personnel’s mobility as well as stipends to enable it fund its activities.
Akpoebibo said the outfit needs more support from the Governors just as the state Governors in the North, the South-West and South-East are supporting their people.
He further indicated that the VGN Bill which the National Assembly recently passed into law, and currently awaiting the President’s assent, if given the final nod, would go a long way to reposition the body for greater efficiency, stressing that the body was currently training its personnel and ungrading their capacity to make them more result-oriented in the discharge of their functions.
The Zonal Commandant also gave an insight into what makes the work of the outfit different from that of the police and other security agencies, stressing that the work of VGN is to gather information which its personnel disseminate to the conventional security bodies for prompt actions, among other responsibilities.
According to him, “We assist the efforts of the police, the Military and the rest of them. We work with all conventional security bodies. We have the right to arrest and hand over. We also have the right to report any criminal activities to the government, the conventional security bodies and this body is recognised by the Federal Government and the 36 State Governors.”
Akpoebibo said this explains why VGN personnel are deployed to all communities in the country.
He said members of the body equally beam their searchlight on the creeks where some hoodlums may gather before executing their evil plots, saying, “We want to follow them up even in the creeks, to the smallest community, to know what they are really doing. And then give the conventional security bodies feedback”.
On how the personnel are able to discharge their functions successfully without being armed, Akpoebibo said, “Security is not all about arms. If you want to gather information, you don’t need to carry arms. You don’t need to carry gun. It is all about gathering vital information”.
In a related development, the Acting Commander of VGN in Rivers State, Mr Chuks Osumah, says the security outfit has been on ground in the state, particularly in ensuring that criminality is reduced to the barest minimum in the state.
According to him, the body has played significant roles in the arrest of some hardened criminals in the state.
Osumah, who spoke in an interview, assured that the body would continue to work with the state government to achieve set goals, but hinted that it needs the support of the government and well-meaning Nigerians to surmount its current office accommodation and other logistic challenges.
“Knowing the kind of Governor we have, he said he was confident that Governor Wike would do the needful by supporting the outfit.
On his part, the Assistant Commander, Legal, Boate Ayebaemi said VGN is held in high esteem in the country, as members of the body are effectively playing their roles across the country, and debunked insinuations that there are cracks within its ranks.
Ayebaemi, therefore, affirmed that Dr. Mohammed Usman Jahun remains the Commandant General of VGN in the country, and advised those parading themselves to desist forthwith, following a recent Court of Appeal ruling recognising him (Jahun) as such.
He equally authenticated the fact that Mr Chuks Osumah is the Acting Commander of the body in Rivers State, and solicited the support and cooperation of members to the leadership of the body in the state.

Donatus Ebi

News

CAS Lauds Troops For Exceptional Performance In South-East Operation

Published

2 days ago

December 1, 2023

The Tide

Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, has lauded Nigerian Air Force (NAF) troops for exceptional performance in ongoing Joint Task Force in the South-East code-named “Operation Udo Ka II”.
Abubakar said this yesterday in Enugu during his maiden visit and tour of operational and training assets and facilities within NAF Ground Training Command (GTC), Enugu.
He noted that NAF troops had done exceptionally well and recorded series of success in the joint operation meant to keep the South-East safe and secured for all.
The CAS noted that the GTC Command was highly important to NAF as it housed the ground component (non technical component) as well as a unit of air component necessary to ensure the attainment of the mandate of NAF.
He said: “Today, we are in Enugu, which is the host of the GTC Command in our maiden visit and we are here to interact with the NAF personnel, see the facilities and infrastructure on ground.
“We are also here to encourage the personnel to continue to do the good job they had been doing before now.
“The GTC Command and the Air Training Command are key to all of our activities in NAF and the two commands ensure we have the adequate and skilled manpower for all our activities and operations.
“I am also here to strengthen our activities within Operation Udo Ka II, which Enugu is the headquarters, and see how we can achieve greater successes more than what we are having now and ensure that South-East is totally secured.”
He disclosed that 750 personnel were currently undergoing training and would be graduating between December 2023 and January, 2024.
“These training are important to us in terms of our operation; and the current number is very significant amount of manpower to be injected into our operations and other activities in the country,” he said.
On the inspection in the new GTC Command Headquarters, new 553 Base Services Group (BSG) Headquarters and BSG Annex; Abubakar said that he was quite satisfied and impressed with the pace, level and quality of work done already.
“I have taken out time to inspect the projects and asked questions about the projects and I tell you that I am satisfied with what are on ground and all our assets and facilities are well maintained and protected,” he said.
The NAF boss commended NAF officers, airmen and airwomen in GTC Command for “doing a good job and keeping the flag flying high” as well as extolled their sacrifices and commitment to duties as well.
“I am very happy for their performance. We at the NAF headquarters, we are doing all we can to make sure they have all the necessary support and equipment as well as welfare and accommodation to carry out their jobs effectively,” he said.
He assured NAF personnel of doing more by providing all necessary infrastructures to ensure the maximum working of the GTC Command.
The CAS also inaugurated a renovated airmen’s club and new Mrs Rakiya Abubakar Children’s Park as well as inspected the water treatment and reticulation system and the hospital within NAF Base, Abakpa in Enugu.

News

UNIBADAN Lecturer Wins Best Thesis Dollar Prize

Published

2 days ago

December 1, 2023

The Tide

The Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS), University of Lagos, has announced Dr Muhammad Ribadu as winner of this year’s Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D thesis in African Studies award.
The Director of the institute, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, made the announcement in a statement issued to newsmen yesterday in Lagos.
Ribadu, of the University of Ibadan, will be rewarded with a total of 1000 dollars, a plaque and a certificate.
Falaiye said a total of 18 entries for the 4th edition of competition were received from various universities in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
He gave the title of the winning thesis as: The Social Context of Gentrification in Lagos State; Ph.D (Jan. 2023) Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan.
“The first runner up for this competition was Oluwaseyi Popogbe, currently a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Crawford University in Ogun.
“The title of his thesis is: Social Exclusion and Poverty in Selected Coastal Slum Areas in Lagos State; Ph.D (Dec. 2022) Department of Economics University of Lagos.
“The second runner up position went to Dr Charles Akwen, currently a lecturer at the Department of English, University of Lagos.
“Akwen’s thesis is titled: Notions of Identity in the Literary Creativity of Odia Ofeimun and Yang Mu; Ph.D (Dec. 2022) English Literature, University of Lagos,” the director stated.
He said that both the first and second runners up would be awarded plaques and certificates in recognition of their contributions and hard work.
Falaiye noted that the competition was in honour of Prof. Rahamon Bello, who was the 10th Vice Chancellor of the university, at the time the institute was inaugurated.
The prize money is usually donated every year for the award by friends of Prof. Bello.
Falaiye said that Dec, 6, had been fixed for the presentation of the awards.
The Tide source reports that the award was first presented in 2020.

News

States, LGs Lack Infrastructure To Manage Ecological Fund, Shun Queries – Perm Sec

Published

2 days ago

December 1, 2023

The Tide

The 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government councils have no structure in place to manage Ecological Fund.
The declaration was made in Abuja, yesterday, by the Permanent Secretary, Ecological Project Office, Malam Shehu Ibrahim.
Ibrahim made the declaration at an interactive session with the House Representatives Committee on Ecological Fund.
He said since states and local governments began to share the fund with the Federal Government they had not been able to put structures in place to manage their share.
The Ecological Fund is an intervention fund by the Federal Government to address the multifarious ecological challenges in various communities in the country.
Ibrahim told the house committee that the sharing of the fund among the three tiers of government followed a court decision.
He said governors and local council chairmen never welcomed queries about how they deployed the ecological funds.
“It is a `no-go’ area,’’ he quipped.
“They don’t want to see officials of the Ecological Project Office near them; so we cannot ask them how they spend the money,’’ he added.
Ibrahim said also that all motions by the National Assembly regarding intervention on ecological project matters had been treated.
“The Ecological Project Office acts expeditiously on documents sent to it to solve problems; it looks at some of the gaps within the motion and tries to fill the gaps, and we have had more than five of such motions.
“ The Ecological Project Office does not handle funds; it only appraises projects and makes recommendations to the president,’’ he said.
The permanent secretary explained that it is the Ministry of Finance that manages the fund and the projects.
He stressed that it was a misconception that the Ecological Project Office is in charge of funds and at liberty to decide on where projects would be sited with the money in its coffers.
He said whenever there were interventions; the Ecological Project Office informed affected communities and went with the contractor to hand over the projects to the community.
This is to enable the community to take ownership of the intervention and communicate their observations to the project office.
Responding, Rep. Sani Jaji (APC-Kaura Namoda/ Birnin Magaji), chairman of the committee, said there should always be stakeholders engagement before embarking on ecological fund intervention projects.
He noted that the projects were stakeholders’ projects and failure to include the stakeholders would always lead to security breach.
“So many things happened with UNICEF’s polio vaccine rejection; but when it included stakeholders, people began to accept the vaccine.
“It is critical to involve stakeholders and ensure equity. Security cannot be the reason why you won’t execute projects in certain parts of the country.
“The perception about your office is that there is money out there; so you need to change that perception and let people know that you have limitations about the execution of projects,’’ he said.
Jaji challenged the Ecological Fund Project Office to provide the needed advice to the president to enable him to take the correct steps.