Connect with us

Nation

Insecurity: Heed Counsel Of Statesmen, CNG Tells Buhari

Published

on

Following the alarming insecurity in northern Nigeria, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to heed the counsel of genuine statesmen instead of relying on those it called close-knit circle of family, friends and psychopaths.

They lamented that the North “has been abandoned at the mercy of a murderous insurgency, rampaging banditry, dare devil kidnappers and marauding rapists.”

These were contained in a letter to the President presented to Katsina State Governor, Hon Aminu Masari, when students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, were abducted.

According to the letter signed by BoT Chairman, Nastura Ashir Shariff, CNG said the millions of young people who followed the President with faith that his leadership will address their hopes and aspirations, have lost confidence in his ability or willingness.

The letter reads: ”It is worth recalling here that in 2015, Nigerian voters trusted you to lead our nation through and out of its limitations, into a future in which we will live secure lives and pursue livelihoods in a united Nigeria whose resources will be protected by leaders.

“The North in particular, voted you massively hoping for the possibility that we could look to a future without Boko Haram; that our young will get good education, acquire skills and get jobs; that corruption will be arrested, contained and eliminated. Unfortunately, five years afterwards, we regret to say that we celebrated what we presumed to be an end of poor governance and to leadership that run away from threats, much too early.

“Whereas the foundations of a nation are rooted in the perceptions of citizens that its leaders can address at least their minimal needs which are security, for us in the North today, policing lives and livelihoods of communities is now a major problem. We make bold to remind Your Excellency that with security, we can feed  ourselves and feed the rest of Nigeria, but when, as is the case today, threats to lives limit productive capacities, people are killed and kidnapped, herds are stolen or limited by hostile and damaging political interests, cost of living generally become prohibitive, the entire Northern viability suffers.

“The prevailing scenario in the North today is such that the general population feel genuinely betrayed and abandoned at the mercy of a murderous insurgency, rampaging banditry, dare devil kidnappers and marauding rapists with no sign of political will and capacity by your government to challenge them.

“This informs the audacity with which school children of Kankara Science Secondary School in Katsina were abducted in hundreds right under your nose. Heightening the concerns that top administration officials drive pecuniary interests in the general and pervasive insecurity that has been going on ceaselessly across the country, especially all over the North. This is confirmed by the trend of mobilizing and arming non-state actors against any attempt to find solutions to the deadly security situation as happened to the Security Review Meeting planned by the CNG in Kaduna recently.

“While we respectfully remind you of your primary responsibility for the protection of citizen’s lives, we regret to note however, that the current structure of the national security is not in any way serving that purpose. At this point, we wish to call your attention to the reality that the millions of young people who followed your campaign trails, pledging to you their unquestioning support and loyalty with full faith that your leadership will address their hopes and aspirations, have today lost confidence in your ability or willingness.

“Northerners today wonder how it has become possible to quickly forget the picture of hundreds of thousands who turned up in Maiduguri defying the threats of bombs and bullets, to register their faith and support for you; to forget adolescents and children who defied parents and security agents to catch a glimpse of a Buhari they had been brought up to believe had the solution to Nigeria’s problems. We conclude by reminding you that every leader shall ultimately be called by posterity to account for the manner he discharged the responsibility and trust saddled on him.

“In this regard we call your attention to the general feeling that neither you nor any official of your government is particularly having the slightest concern over the theft of the Katsina children and it will take much more than talking from the confines of the Villa to reclaim that lost public confidence.

“It is our hope that Your Excellency would begin to give listening ear more to the public and heed counsel from genuine statesmen and not concentrating attention to a handful of aides and close-knit circle of family, friends and psychopaths.

“Meanwhile Sir, we restate here that our willingness and commitment to sustain the struggle for a peaceful Northern Nigeria in the context of a nation that operates unencumbered by problems it should not live under will be sustained even in the face of severe challenges.”

 

 

Continue Reading

Nation

Party Chieftain Hails LG Boss’ Dev Strides

Published

on

Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, Hon Chukwuemeka Nwuche has extolled the sterling leadership being provided by the Chairman of the council, Hon Iyeko Okporo, describing it as unprecedented.
Hon Chukwuemeka described the council chairman as God-sent, considering his achievements in just 100 days in office.
The PDP chieftain said the chairman has rekindled the hope and trust of the people in grassroots governance.
He expressed gratitude to the Governor for enabling his people to have his replica at Akinima.
He explained that the solar water project, the Late Eze Ekpeye Logbo 11 palace fencing, generator house rebuilding and town hall, all in Odiereke Ubie Community can best be described as the hallmark of true leadership.
He said the projects have direct bearing on the basic needs of the people who have suffered untold hardship and bad governance until the saviour came into office.
“ It is thunderous, as you can see the organic support and show of love to the performing chairman. Our people are overwhelmed seeing one of their own touching lives in a special way. As a community ,we have been in the past years without drinking water, but just two months in office, the chairman has provided not just drinking water, but a well-treated solar water project. Okporo is God-sent, no wonder he is nicknamed such. We have compared notes with other chairmen in the past and came to the conclusion that what he is doing in 100 days is overwhelming. Governor Fubara has made us proud by allowing a level playing field that necessitated the emergency of the chairman. You can see the women, men, youths and traditional rulers all saying one thing. God bless Governor Fubara for giving us our own. We owe him prayers and unwavering support,” he said.
In her welcome address, the Ward 9 councillor, Hon Catherine Uriah showered encomiums on the chairman for addressing the basic needs of the people in just 100 days in office.
Hon Uriah also thanked the Governor for allowing the will of the people to prevail in the just concluded local government elections which produced the God fearing chairman.
She said the people of Ward 9 as well as Ahoada West are pleased with the chairman because he is doing well.
She said the people will go to length to show support to him in his determination to redefine governance at the grassroots.

Continue Reading

Nation

Group Plans Pilot Farm Programme For 50  Schools

Published

on

A community-based non-governmental organisation, The Peoples Encouragers Initiative, is planning a pilot farm project for 50 schools in both Ahoada East and Ahoada West Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
Executive Director of the organisation, Chukwuma Abraham disclosed this at the recent International Human Rights Day celebration at Ahoada, headquarters of Ahoada East Local Government Area.
Abraham said the proposed programme which gulps the sum of N45million was intended to bring the youths back to the land and make them self-reliant.
“We hope to mobilise the factors of production inherent in all the schools through this programme to achieve two basic objectives of building self reliant youths and to create a viable and sustainable stream of income for our schools,” he said.
He said the programmme will also keep the youth busy and impact farming skills, stressing that each of the participating schools is expected to nominate at least two members of staff to coordinate and supervise the programme while10 students will be elected as executive members to administer the programmme on a day to day basis in their various schools.
“Every school has a sizeable portion of arable land to carry out the programme of establishing a functional farm in their chosen area of interest. We are hoping to mobilise an estimated N45 million to enable us set up the pilot farms across the 50 schools within Ahoada East and Ahoada West Local Government Areas,” he said.
He said the celebration was to draw attention of both the Nigerian government and the international community to the issue of human rights violation, adding that findings by the organisation has shown that insecurity and youth unemployment worsened over the past few years as a result of the insecurity that engulfed the Orashi region of the State. We also found out that the high level of cultism and social unrest within our environment is mostly fuelled by the high use of  illicit drugs among the youths. This programme will afford us the opportunity to take a tour through the universal declaration of human rights and reinforce on our youths the understanding that substance abuse can lead to crime, crime can lead to jail term and criminal record can blight their future dreams and life for ever,”he said.
Also speaking, the representative of the Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Ikporo Freedom urged the students to shun all forms of anti-social behaviours especially during the holiday season.
He also warned them against joining bad groups and stressed the need for the organisation to include private schools in the programme.
The Chairman of Ahoada East Local Government Council, Hon Ezu R .C . Hezekiah represented by his Deputy, Hon Ununuma Odoi pledged the support of the council to the programme.
He also urged other groups in the area to emulate The Peoples Encouragers Initiative by organizing programms that will impact on the lives of the people.

John Bibor

Continue Reading

Nation

NCSU Flays Police Take Over Of Rivers PDP Secretariat

Published

on

The Nigeria Civil Service Union(NCSU) has condemned the take over of the secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Rivers State by the police, saying the action is against the tenets and principles of the rule of law.
This is even as the union has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to call to order the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike for allegedly orchestrating and instigating the crisis rocking the PDP in the State.
The Rivers State Chairman of NCSU, Comrade Chukwuka Richman Osumah, who made the condemnation in an interview in Port Harcourt, said the police have no right to take over the PDP secretariat, as a ploy to provide cover and protection for members of the state executive of the party loyal to Wike, who were recently sacked by a court of competent jurisdiction in the State.
According to him, the action of the police is in clear defiance of a court ruling sacking the party executives at all levels in the State, instead of taking steps to enforce same.
He regretted that the police have consistently been showing that they are not appreciative of the logistic support Governor SiminalayiFubara has been extending to them, by openly demonstrating their bias, loyalty and allegiance to Wike and his supporters, contrary to their rules of engagement, which uphold and recognise absolute neutrality.
He said the Minister is wasting his time if he thinks that he could destroy the State by orchestrating and instigating needless crisis that is capable of making the State ungovernable, and appealed to President Tinubu to call him and his supporters to order.
Commenting on the fate of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers in the State, who defected from the ruling PDP to the All Progressives Congress(APC), Osumah said their fate is apparently sealed, as the Supreme Court had already given judgment in a similar case, saying, Wike is merely wasting his time by using the lawmakers against Governor Fubara, and causing unnecessary problem in the State.
He said if the Minister and his supporters do not retrace their steps and give peace a chance, the NCSU would have no choice than to mobilise all civil servants in the State, to troop out to the streets and protest against them.
The labour leader stressed the need for the police to vacate the PDP secretariat along Aba Road in Port Harcourt, and respect the High Court ruling which declared the congresses of the party in the State null and void.
While reiterating the need for President Tinubu to call Wike to order, Osumah said the President cannot continue to fold his arms and watch the Minister continuously make frantic efforts to destroy his State.
He also carpeted those blaming Governor Fubara administration for the recent gruesome murder of a Chief Security Officer(CSO) and his son in Igwuruta Ali community, saying those making such insinuations and attributing the sad incident to security lapses on the part of the state government, are missing the point.
He noted that by empowering the police in the State with several operational vehicles and other logistics, it was expected that the police would reciprocate the gesture, by living up to their constitutional obligation of protecting lives and property in the State, contending that Governor Fubara has been playing his part of guaranteeing security in the State.

 

He said the State is generally peaceful and safe, and challenged those criticising the Governor to cast their minds and attention to what is happening in other parts of the country, where killings and other social vices have become the order of the day.
Osumah cited as an example the recent killings in Ebonyi State by Fulani herdsmen as well as incidences of kidnapping and banditry in several other States of the federation, and wondered if Governor Fubara could be held responsible for such anomalies.

Continue Reading

Trending