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Why Northern Elite Can’t Condemn Killings -Sani …Says Blood Now Cheaper Than Petrol In Nigeria

Published

7 years ago

February 19, 2018

The Senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani has revealed why Northern elite are quiet on the incessant killings of innocent Nigerians in the North.
The lawmaker, who has continued to voice out on the killings of Nigerians in different parts of the country said most political elite from the North were quiet just to avoid being tagged or labelled, “anti-Buhari or anti federal government.”
Sani said with their continuous silence, the elite have succeeded in saving their neck while the necks of the masses are massacred.
He wrote on Facebook, “Most political elite from northern Nigeria are not loudly speaking out against the mass murder going on in northern Nigeria, perpetrated by bandits, armed herdsmen or organised criminal gangs out of fear that they may be tagged or labelled as anti-Federal Government or anti-president.
“The elites save their necks by their silence and the necks of the masses are continuously slaughtered.”
Meanwhile, a former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, and spokesperson of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Prof Ango Abdullahi has vehemently defended the incessant killings by Fulani herdsmen across the country.
Abdullahi also said that the herdsmen menace was politically-motivated by the South to disrupt the politically-united North ahead of the 2019 general elections, adding that this was how Boko Haram was introduced during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government which led to his failure in the 2015 polls.
Justifying the killings, Abdullahi said that the herdsmen are killing members of their host communities in order to defend themselves, adding that the herders were free to take the cattle to any part of the country the same way an Igbo man does his business.
In an interview with newsmen, last Saturday, Abdullahi said, “I have been involved in debates against some respected people from the southern part of this country who believe that this country is not balanced because the North is too big; because the North is too politically united, so there must be a way of disrupting this unity, and this is what we are seeing on ground today, and the elements that are being used are the Fulani herdsmen.
“This matter would be looked at properly; political alliances and so on are welcome. You don’t need to lose blood, or property to engage in political alliance or whatever you want, or still, you don’t need to introduce excuses that will lead to loss of lives. We saw this when the Boko Haram was on ground; they said northerners created the sect to disrupt former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, which led to his failure in the last election, and so on.
“Now that Boko Haram is out of the way, the new excuse is the Fulani herdsmen. This is what is happening in other places except in areas that you are talking.
“We have seen what they called a new handshake across the Niger; it is political, and we have seen the mourning that has taken place in Benue and other places to show that the monolithic North is not in tandem with the Middle Belt; it is all politics. Our Middle Belters don’t need to take the agenda that appears to be a thing of distrust. We are not going to force anybody into a relationship politically or otherwise. We see this as a political agenda.
Asked if herdsmen are not the ones committing the murders, he added, “The truth is, if you want to kill me and I have a chance first, I will kill you, or do you want people to be killed and not defend themselves? By your reporting, you have denied them justice and government also has denied them justice by not going to arrest those that are killing them. So, they defend themselves.
On the herdsmen that kidnapped, raided and set Chief Olu Falae’s farm ablaze, he said, “My uncle was kidnapped last week in Kaduna, my cousin’s children were also kidnapped and they had to go and find N2.5 million to pay. Why is Olu Falae case different? Is it because he was Secretary to the Federal Government? He is a Nigerian just like my uncle and my cousin whose children were kidnapped. The right of every citizen is important under the law. Why is he so special?
“What about the impunity of the people killing herdsmen? The herdsmen in Nigeria are reacting to the injustice meted out daily to them?
“You people, you Nigerians, including you who are biased, who are not prepared to protect the rights and interests of herdsmen. They are killed but not reported, that is not acceptable.
“Herdsmen operate in these places you mentioned because the country has denied them the traditional routes which the British created for them in 1914 when they occupied this country because they realised that, like cars require tracks, herdsmen also require tracks they can use to graze and drink water.
“The British provided it for them and gazetted it but people have denied them these routes. So, where do you expect the animals to follow? They have to follow somewhere and the easy road is the one other people are using. We are all living in Nigeria.
Asked if he was trying to justify the menace of herdsmen, he maintained, “I am justifying it very strongly because herdsmen are being unjustly treated in this country.
“They are businessmen just like the farmers whose crops are being destroyed. They should invest in their business; buy ranches like the farmers bought their parcels of land.
They are businessmen. If an Igbo man could go to my state and set up a shop, why shouldn’t herdsmen operate elsewhere? Or are you the one who planted the grass the animals are feeding on? Are you the one who created the water they drink?
“The land belongs to Nigerians and herdsmen are Nigerians. If an Igbo man can go to the North and set up a business, why won’t herdsmen go to the South, including your village, to graze their cattle?
“Where we come from, you don’t pay for land, you only ask for permission to use it. That is why I said you people are biased against other people and that is why the peace of this country will be very difficult.”
Meanwhile, the Senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani says blood is becoming cheaper than petrol in today’s Nigeria.
Sani, who spoke, last Saturday, while x-raying the challenges facing the country and the way and manner political leaders value the lives of the citizens, said that Nigeria has now become a country of “mass murder, mass burial and continuous bereavement”.
The senator said when a country is no more shocked by tragedy; it has lost its humanity.
“In Nigeria today, blood is becoming cheaper than water and PMS. The most tragic of all tragedies is when tragedy becomes a routine in our daily lives,” he said.
“We are in an era where our political class are toasting champagne on the tiles of new sepulchre. The silence and cowardice of the northern political elites to the mass killings going on in the north is out of fear that they can be labelled or blackmailed as being anti government.
“When a nation is no more shocked by tragedy, it has lost its humanity. When people are being killed every day, they are buried along with the integrity of their government and the honour of their leaders. When the right to life is not sacred, all other rights are incinerated.”
The senator said President Muhammadu Buhari must stop the “sycophantic” culture of governors leaving their duty posts to visit him.
“The new sycophantic political culture of governors leaving their duty post, in their respective states, almost on a daily basis to climb the Rock of Aso in order to pledge loyalty, leave their citizens in the hands of moribund and powerless deputy governors and at the mercy of well armed killers,” he said.
“President Buhari must ban state governors from the daily ritual of visiting the Villa while their home states burn,” Sani added.

News

Shettima In Ethiopia For State Visit

Published

2 days ago

June 27, 2025

The Tide

Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.

Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”

During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.

The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.

In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.

News

RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers

Published

2 days ago

June 27, 2025

The Tide

The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.

This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.

The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.

The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.

Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.

The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.

He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.

According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.

At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.

He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.

Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.

According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.

At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.

He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.

Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.

He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.

However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.

At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.

He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.

Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.

Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.

In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.

At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.

Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.

Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.

John Bibor

News

Tinubu Orders Civil Service Personnel Audit, Skill Gap Analysis

Published

2 days ago

June 27, 2025

The Tide

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.

The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.

“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.

Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.

He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.

“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.

President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.

He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.

“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.

“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.

Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.

Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.

She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.

Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.