Buhari hasn’t added any value to democracy… we’ll stop him in 2019 - Na’Abba

Gali Umar Na’Abba, former speaker of the house of representatives, says in November 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari told members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) board of trustees that he would seek re-election in 2019.

Na’Abba, who is a member of the board, has vowed not to support Buhari’s re-election bid because the president “has not added even an inch of value to democracy”.
In an interview with Osasu Igbinedion, the former speaker accused the president of running a “one-man” government.

He said Buhari does not consult party members before taking decisions because he “considers them to be evil”.
“I had the occasion to sit down with the president and tell him this is what is wrong. And all he told me was that things were wrong before but now, with his election, everything is right now. And I was very very disappointed,” Na’Abbah said.
“A lot of people campaigned, supported him and elected him for one reason or the other. I decided to move back to APC from PDP to support him because from his utterances, I believed he wanted to add value to democracy.

“And this is three years into his administration, he doesn’t work with the party, he regards party members as evil, he doesn’t consult with anybody in the party and I am a member of the board of trustees, even though we don’t have it officially.
“The last time we had a meeting with such a board was in February 2016. Such meeting was called again in November 2017 when he decided he wanted to get re-elected and he needed us.

“He promised to reconstitute the board. Before, he refused to do that because he thought politicians are responsible for all the evils in this country. He also promised to increase the number of ministers.
“In a nutshell, the president has not added value to democracy by an inch.”
Asked if there was a chance that the APC would field another presidential candidate other that Buhari, Na’Abba said some party members have hijacked and pocketed the party.

He distanced himself from those endorsing the president for a second term.
“Nigerians have chosen democracy as the system within which and with which they produce their leaders, and that any president who comes must ensure that the democratic architecture is improved substantially because it has been weak, it is still weak and will continue to be weak,” he said.

“After I tell you that I am not going to support him or not, I want you to understand my reason. Today, we have no internal democracy in the country and the quality of leadership has been failing.
“Democracy, economy and society has not grown since 1999 and this is as a result of this tendency. And I have chilren, grandchildren and it is only when there is democracy that every Nigerian can be able to make it in life.

“There is no way I can support him.
“They said they have endorsed him to contest. I am sure they did not ask the opinion of anybody since they have put the party in their pocket.” - Cable Nigeria

Transfer update : Sanchez boards plane ahead of reported Man United medical

Alexis Sanchez's expected move to Manchester United appears to be imminent after the Chilean took to social media to show himself boarding a plane ahead of a reported medical.

Both Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger have acknowledged that a move is close and, although neither club has announced an agreement, Sanchez fuelled rumours of a scheduled medical on Sunday by taking to his official Instagram account and posting a video of himself boarding a private jet.

Sanchez's future has long been a hot topic in the Premier League, with Manchester City nearly snatching him from Arsenal for a figure thought to be £60million in August.

But Arsenal pulled out at the last minute, reportedly due to their inability to secure a replacement at such short notice, forcing Sanchez – who had entered the final year of his contract – to stay put.

Speculation about City's interest remained and a reunion with Pep Guardiola appeared a formality at the start of January, only for United to come in and provide a better offer for both Arsenal and the player, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan expected to go the other way in a swap deal.

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Fulani Herdsmen attack: Three people killed as suspected herdsmen attack Adamawa village

Three persons have been confirmed killed after an early Sunday morning attack by armed men in Kikon Village of Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

The gunmen suspected to be herdsmen stormed the village on motor-bikes, setting houses and food barns on fire, carting away cattle belonging to the farmers.

According to Channels, the invaders stormed the village at about 2am while the villagers were still sleeping, causing them to run into the bush for safety.

Recall that herdsmen have recently launched deadly attacks on farming communities in Benue state, killing several people.

The Northern elders has also called on the federal government to be more proactive in protecting lives and property of citizens particularly those in states currently involved in herdsmen/farmer clashes. - Daily Post

2019 election : Present your son for president, go home – Okonkwo tells Buhari

The key-note speaker at the recent gathering of the South East, South South and Middle Belt, tagged “handshake across the Niger” Alban Ofili-Okonkwo, has told President Buhari to present his son as a presidential aspirant in 2019 and resign.

Okonkwo, the Chairman of Autobahn, noted that Buhari was in his 30s when he started leading Nigeria and is still controlling the affairs of the country, adding that it was time to say no to the development.

While fielding questions from Vanguard, the business mogul said it was time for Buhari to present his son to Nigeria and go home.

He said, “I am not concerned. The people, who know me and my antecedents, know that for me to have been invited, it showed that the event was not ethnic in any way.

“My first grandson is Yoruba, my first granddaughter is Yoruba. If I am an entrepreneur, what defines me is what I do and how I do it, not my tribe or my tongue.

“I have never run a company where everybody in the company comes from my geopolitical zone, it is not possible. Competence is what we are looking for because we live in an international highway of knowledge.

“No matter anybody’s pigmentation, height, size or where he comes from, if a company is looking for someone to be employed, a competent person will be the one to be employed no matter where the person is.

“That is tomorrow’s world and the world that Nigeria needs to join. Unfortunately, our leaders till now, are giving us what they can.

“I think it is time for this generation to say no to that. President Muhammadu Buhari was in his 30s when he started handling the affairs of Nigeria and in his late 70s he is still handling the affairs of Nigeria.

“For God’s sake, he should give us his son and go home. Whether his son is Fulani does not matter, what matters is competence.

“If he has trained a son to the extent that he understands, and can connect with my children and convince them to come to Nigeria to build a new nation, he should give him to us.

“We need a new nation where we can get more money than our oil wealth can give us through quality leadership. The new Nigeria should not be a nation where we will depend on what we dig out from the ground to survive.

“If at their own time it was good for a 36-year old boy to become a leader, why can’t it be possible now? I am in my 60s and I am in retirement.

“The minimum I can do is to make sure that those in their 30s and 40s take their turn by saying enough is enough. That will enable people, who can create value to multiply.

“It is easy to build network in value creation. On the social media there is high breed of interaction on account of knowledge by Nigerian professionals.

“When Buhari went abroad for treatment because he could not get better treatment in Nigeria, was it a Fulani person that treated him there?

“He came back different and happy because he was treated well as a result of knowledge and a good infrastructure. We need a President who would understand the importance of knowledge and infrastructure, who will no longer look at tribe, tongue, and faith, who will understand the landscape of Nigeria and seek inspiration from the wonders of nature. And I think the time for that has come.” - Daily Post

SAD !!! From Ghana to Ivory Coast: How herdsmen have been wreaking havoc across Africa

Clashes between farmers and nomadic herders across West Africa are beginning to look like the norm, with each country taking its share of the violence. Residents of Logo and Guma communities in Benue state, Nigeria, entered 2018 on a sad note.

Suspected herdsmen invaded communities in the areas and by the time the dust settled on an attack, over 70 people had been killed.

West African countries such as Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Congo have had their fair share of the mayhem but Nigeria remains the worst-hit.

A 2017 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report said between 2010 and 2016, “deaths from Fulani extremists resulted in more than 3,000 deaths across four countries, with 92% of fatalities taking place in Nigeria”.

In 2015, GTI rated the herdsmen as the fourth deadliest terror group in the world, after ISIL, Taliban, al-Shabaab and Boko Haram.

WEST AFRICA AND HERDSMEN CRISIS: THE BIGGER PICTURE

The conflict between herdsmen and farmers is known to have a long and brutal history in West Africa, even predating the sub-region’s insecurity challenges.

The first possible line of thought could be the competition over resources, including land and water. The conflicts are fuelled by the herdsmen’s quest for grazing field, but here is the sad thing: the pattern of attacks over the years have shown to be a complex mix of politics, identity, religion, terrorism and criminality.

The sub-region’s loose political and security environment is not helping matters, either.

And the attacks have also assumed a dreadful transnational dimension. For instance, some attackers said to be recruited from Mali and the Central African Republic have been fingered in violence in parts of Nigeria. Bands of mercenary have also been involved in similar incidents in parts of Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, and Niger.

Below are a few instances of these attacks in West African countries

EIGHTEEN KILLED IN NIGER

In a November 2016, eighteen people were killed in various clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

The clash, which broke out near the village of Bangui along the country’s southern border with Nigeria, also left 20 others injured, the country’s officials had said.

What happened? Livestock belonging to the herders were said to have invaded the field of one of the farmers, damaging crops.

“The nomadic herders fought with a farmer, whom they wounded. He was taken to the medical centre and everything started from there,” Oumarou Mohamane, Bangui’s mayor, had told Reuters.

In a reprisal attack, a group of farmers then attacked the camp, burning down houses numbering about 15.

GHANA TOO…

Villages in the Kwahu east district of the eastern region of Ghana were thrown into mourning after clashes between herdsmen and some of their farmers left a reported number of 15 persons dead, including five Fulanis.

Hundreds were also left stranded and displaced after fleeing their communities in the incident which occurred in November.

The clashes, which were between residents of Dwibease and Hweehwe, and the herders, followed the death of an unidentified boy at Dwerebeafe.

Solomon Aboagye, an indigene, was quoted by Ghana Web, an online platform, to have said: “In retaliation, three of the Fulanis were also killed at Aboyan.

“Two of the natives went to the farm and did not return. I asked some people to search for them and unfortunately, they found them dead.”

It was also reported that the deaths occurred at night in the farms and the bodies spotted daytime.

BLOODSHED IN IVORY COAST

Seventeen persons were confirmed dead and 39 others injured after a clash broke out between herdsmen and farmers in Bouna, north-east of Ivory Coast, in 2016.

Among those injured in the clash, which spanned two days, were five of the security personnel deployed to quell the crisis.

The attack was said to be just one out of many other violent clashes between the two parties “but none has been of this magnitude”.

“On the night of March 23 to 24, the situation was particularly aggravated and it was at this time that 17 people died,” Vincent Toh Bi, one of the residents, had told AfricaNews.

OPPORTUNITY FOR SPREAD OF JIHAD?

While happenings have shown the clashes between the herders and the farmers have largely been unattended to, there are fears that they could pose as a window for the emergence of a deadly “movement”.

A Reuters report back in 2016 noted that while these clashes are usually brushed off, “Islamist militants are exploiting Fulani anger to spread jihad from the thinly populated north to its center”.

“The Fulani complained that farmers took all the land,” Lala Walet, a Mopti NGO worker, promoting livestock commerce was quoted as saying.

“So the jihadists came and said ‘OK, join our group and we will help you fight to get it back.” - Cable Nigeria