Nigerians Are Angry Over Poverty, Insecurity, Okogie Tells Buhari

A former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi-Okogie, has said Nigerians are angry over poverty and insecurity in the country.

The former Lagos Archbishop of the Catholic Church urged the Presidency to take note of the criticisms by former President Olusegun Obasanjo; former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and others, saying that they should not be dismissed as “wailers.”

He said, “The truth is: Nigerians are not happy; Nigerians are hungry and angry. They are not happy because their lives and their belongings are not safe.  They work so hard while the value of the money they earn cannot make them enjoy basic things of life.


“Nigerians are unhappy because the economy has been so mismanaged that some cannot pay the school fees of their children.  Nigerians are unhappy because they have not got jobs. Nigerians are unhappy because, instead of hope, they are offered propaganda and insults by the President’s men. Nigerians are angry because their loved ones are butchered by herdsmen while the response of government is woeful.

“The issue at hand is more serious than getting re-elected.  It cannot be resolved by way of a facile intra-party reconciliation.  Before it can succeed, this government must admit it has failed.  Before it can retrace its steps, this government must admit that it has strayed from the path of keeping the promises it made, promises that made Nigerians to vote as they did in 2015.

“Apart from seeking intra-party reconciliation, this government must first reconcile with Nigerians by treating them with respect,” Okogie said in a piece he sent to The PUNCH on Sunday night, titled, ‘There is Anger in the Land.’

According to him, despite “the insolence of some of its officials,” Nigerians still pray for the President Muhammadu Buhari government.

“May this government not suffer the fate of the proverbial hunter’s dog that got lost in the forest because it obstinately refused to heed the hunter’s whistle,” he said.

Starting on a historical note, the vocal cleric recalled that the late football commentator, Ernest Okonkwo, was fond of using an Igbo proverb while giving a minute by minute description of football matches on the radio.

He said, “Anytime there was an infringement that escaped the attention of the referee, he would ask his colleagues, Sebastian Ofurum or Tolu Fatoyinbo, if they too saw the infringement.  If they confirmed what he saw, he would say in Igbo, ‘What two persons have seen and confirmed to be a boa must not be mistaken for a piece of diamond.’

“One may apply that maxim to the situation in our country right now. There is anger in the land.  Many voices are echoing it. These voices of anger are so deafening that it can no longer be denied.  The level of discontent in Nigeria at this point in time is like the proverbial boa sighted by even more than two persons.  It would be unwise to mistake it for a piece of diamond.

“It has been sighted by retired Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, who have spoken of the anger in the land in clear and unmistaken terms.  It has been sighted by traditional rulers, who have called the attention of government to it.  It has been sighted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria when the bishops went to the corridors of power to speak to power in the way Biblical prophets directly confronted kings in Israel.

“This can no longer be treated as the cry of wailers. Even leading members of the party ruling at the centre have demonstrated commendable candour by openly acknowledging that the hopes of 2015 have been shattered by the disappointment of 2019.”

Quoting the late Raggae legend, Bob Marley, as saying ‘your worst enemy could be your best friend, and your best friend your worst enemy,’ Okogie said, “But presidential aides in our country do not seem to grasp the wisdom in those words.”

The retired Archbishop added, “By their own reckoning, anyone who raises doubts as to the rightness of government policies, actions and statements is an enemy of government.  He or she is ridiculed as speaking because there is no more access to ill-gotten wealth.

“A police officer, appointed to his office, demonstrated unspeakable insolence on television, calling an elected state governor a ‘drowning man.’  In other climes, he would lose his job. In Nigeria, he keeps it.”

The former CAN president stated that Catholic bishops had never failed to offer their advice to successive governments in the country. “Every line, every word of every intervention emanating from the Conference was chosen to offer frank and friendly advice,” he said.

He, however, called the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, insolent for attacking Catholic bishops after they met with Buhari and told the President that his goodwill was draining.

Okogie said, “The Bishops did the same thing a few days ago, calling the attention of the President to the anger and disappointment in the land.  At the end of their friendly exchange with the President, some of his aides and friends resorted to name calling and gratuitous accusations.

“Anyone who has a faint idea of how the Catholic Church is run would know that the Catholic Church does not run on tithes. It has never taught that God’s blessings depend on tithes. No Catholic bishop in this country has a private jet.  Not even the Pope has one.

“But an uninformed state governor, notorious for being insolent, described the bishop’s intervention as the wailing of religious leaders who no longer have access to tithes because of this government’s anti-corruption fight.

“True friends tell each other the truth.  There cannot be sincere friendship where there is no truth.  Those who are telling our President the truth are his true friends.  Those who are shielding him from the truth, while insulting those who tell him the truth, are his real enemies.

“By insulting well-meaning Nigerians who happen to disagree with policies of government, they are not winning friends for the President.  They are in fact helping to grow the rank and file of the angry.  Whoever loves this President would want him to succeed.  Whoever wants him to succeed must tell him the truth.  For if he fails, Nigeria fails.”

Okogie recalled that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria stood with and for democratic forces in the country during the dark days of military rule. - PunchNG

FG panics as Azura Power, Seven Energy default on foreign loans

Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, has moved to forestall a major international setback for Nigeria following an imminent default in private sector loans guaranteed by the federal government.

TheCable understands that Azura Power and Seven Energy, two key players in power and gas, have been unable to settle their December 2017 invoices regarding foreign loans that enjoy the World Bank partial risk guarantee (PRG) signed by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).

This has set the federal government in panic mode, with Adeosun writing to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc to “urgently address the situation and settle the invoices”.

NBET is the federal government-owned guarantor that buys electricity from generating companies (GenCos) and resells to distribution companies (DisCos).

Adeosun, in a letter dated February 13, 2018, warned that if the invoices are not settled, “a default by the FGN in the Partial Risk Guarantees will not only significantly impact Nigeria’s borrowing ability in the International Capital Market but also increase our cost of borrowing”.

She said in the light of these implications, “NBET and Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) are requested to urgently address the situation and settle the December invoices for Azura and Seven Energy through (i) Collections from Distribution Companies; and (ii) Recourse to funds held by the two Corporations.”

CONTROVERSIAL GUARANTEES

In August 2014, a federal government circular No. SGF/OP/1/S3/X/737 issued by Anyim Pius Anyim, then secretary to the government of the federation, had directed that a “specimen indemnity clause” be inserted into all contracts and agreements entered into by FGN with foreign entities.

This, he said, was “to provide additional protection to the Federal Government Nigeria and some of its separate legal entities such as the CBN, NNPC and NSIA whose assets may be liable to attachment in enforcement proceedings in foreign jurisdictions”.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, then minister of finance, had sought the legal opinion of Mohammed Bello Adoke, then attorney-general of the federation (AGF), on the put-call option agreement (PCOA) signed with Azura Power — which included the PRG.

Adoke, TheCable learnt, reminded the minister of the SGF circular on the need to indemnify the federal government and prevent its assets from becoming vulnerable in the event of default.

The PCOA was eventually signed without Adoke’s legal opinion which was necessary to activate the agreement.

However, TheCable understands that when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015, pressure was mounted on Abdullahi Yola, the then solicitor-general of the federation, by top presidency officials to give a favourable legal opinion.

At the time there was no attorney-general.

Yola then wrote a different legal opinion early August 2015, finally confirming the validity of the PCOA.

Thereafter, also in August 2015, the federal government signed off its backing of a $237 million World Bank PRG for the construction of the 450 megawatts Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant (IPP) — celebrated as the first of a series of new IPPs to drive growth in the power sector.

The Azura-Edo IPP is the Phase 1 of a 1,500mw IPP facility, whose groundbreaking was performed by then President Goodluck Jonathan in October 2014.

The lenders include JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, Standard Bank and Siemens Bank.

In November 2016, the federal government also signed a $112 million World Bank PRG for the supply of natural gas to the 560mw National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) in Calabar, Cross River state, by Seven Energy.

The PRG was to secure the supply of up to 130 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to  Calabar and enable the regular generation of an additional 560mw to the national grid.

With the defaults, Adeosun said in her letter that “it is strongly expected that both NBET and NDPHC treat these payments as a priority and meet all payment deadlines to avoid drawdown on the Guarantees”.

Copied in the letter are Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Babatunde Fashola, minister of power. - Cable Nigeria

Seven people injured as cows cause accident on Ibadan-Abeokuta expressway

No fewer than seven persons sustained various degrees of injuries in an accident involving a passenger bus and cows at Omi-Adio Ibadan end of the Ibadan-Abeokuta expressway on Monday.

DAILY POST learnt that though, no death was recorded during the accident, a bloody clash between the Fulani settlers and residents in the surrounding villages (host communities) was promptly averted by policemen who came to evacuate the injured at the scene of the accident.

The commercial vehicle (Blue colour Toyota bus) loaded with ten passengers, it was gathered, was coming from Abeokuta to Ibadan when the accident occurred between Aba-Teacher and Aba-Oke village , Omi Adio, Ibadan.

Those who sustained injuries, the driver and six others, were said to have been taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment, while one of the cows, which had injury was evacuated from the expressway to prevent it from causing more accident on the highway.

An eyewitness account said immediately the accident occurred, a young Fulani man who was directing the cows called out the cows and ran away into the bush without caring for the life of the passengers in the wrecked Toyota bus.

He said “It was a terrible scene. This is not the first time we have been witnessing accident by herdsmen who never listen to the warning not to take their cows near the expressway.

“God has been so kind to these passengers; they could have died. The vehicle was badly damaged and instead of making effort to save life, the Fulani man just called on his cows with their language and immediately the whole cow ran after him except the injured cow on the expressway.

“This is very bad, something urgent must be done to avoid all these problems on the highway,” a villager who pleaded anonymity said.

A police source who confirmed the incident assured that normalcy had since returned to the area. - Daily Post

31-year-old Head-teacher repeatedly rapes 10-year-old pupil, infects her with STD

David Eyo, a 31-year-old head-teacher, who allegedly defiled his 10-year-old pupil and infected her with a disease was on Tuesday remanded in Kirikiri Prison on the orders of an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court.

Chief Magistrate, Mrs B.O. Osunsanmi, who gave the ruling, directed that the case file should be duplicated and a copy sent to the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.

The accused, a resident of Aguda in Surulere area of Lagos, is on trial for defilement.

“He defiled his 10-year-old pupil (name withheld) several times in the premises of the school,” he said.

NAN reports that the case was reported by the pupil’s parents to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT).

According to Mrs Titilola Rhodes-Vivour, Coordinator of the DSVRT, who was present in court, the child had informed her classmate about the defilement which had occurred several times within the school premises.

“The classmate who is the girl’s friend, told her mother who in turn informed the father and the case was reported to the Eric Moore Police Station in Surulere.

“At the police station, it was referred to the Gender Desk and the desk got in touch with the DSVRT for further investigation.

“The survivor could not tell her parents because the accused threatened to flog her, telling her that she will die if she tells anybody of the defilement.

“According to the survivor, who was preparing for her Common Entrance Examinations, the pupils used to stay after school hours to be tutored by Eyo who works also as the headteacher, choir master and class teacher.

“Eyo had the habit of isolating the survivor from her classmates and defiling her in the classroom and infected her with a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD).

“The survivor alleged that the sexual abuse had started since September 2017 when she was in Primary Five.”

However the case has been adjourned until June 25.

‘Anambra records 37 fire incidents in two months’

Anambra Fire Service recorded no fewer than 37 fire incidents between Jan. and Feb. 20, according to its Acting Director, Mr. Martin Agbili.

Agbili made this known on Tuesday in Onitsha that the fire incidents were mostly caused by bush burning , a development he said extended to nearby buildings.

“In January alone, we recorded 22 and so far, we have recorded 15 this February.

“The agency is doing its best to improve services, in spite of some daunting challenges facing the organisation, which the state government has promised to tackle,” he said.

Agbili said the record also include the recent fire incident that occurred on Feb. 18 at the Old Motor part, Nkpor which ravaged many trucks and vehicle parts, parked at the garage.

“Twenty five vehicles were burnt as against 40 reported earlier in the media. Mostly affected were fibre parts of trucks parked at the garage of the market.”

He also disclosed that the organisation had commenced sensitisation in churches, schools and market places on adoption of best fire safety measures to reduce fire incidents in the state.

“We are also planning a synergy with the state Material Testing Laboratory, Fiscal Planning Board and the Awka Capital Development Authority, to involve the state fire service before buildings are finally approved.

“Most of the buildings in the state and even in the country lack fire safety designs.

‘’We hope to synergise with these government institutions to ensure proper safety measures before buildings are approved.” 

I smuggle guns, made charms for - Native Doctor

A Beninnois native doctor, Rasheed Akinola Tuesday admitted to be the armourer to a gang of trans-border armed robbers, who specialised in snatching exotic vehicles in Nigeria and moving them to Cotonou in Benin Republic.

Akinola was paraded by the Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal alongside three members of the gang- Ajagba Hammed, 30, alias John T, Tobinju Potel, 35, alias Popo and Botan Remmy, 30.

According to the native doctor, he usually smuggled the gang’s weapons into Nigeria through bush path, adding that they paid him N15, 000 for the job.

He said he had been responsible for the charms used by the gang over the years, which he claimed ensured they went out and returned successfully.

Akinola said: “They came to my place in Port-Novo to collect charms to protect them during robbery. I collected CFA 30,000 for the charm. I have also helped them to cross arms through Idiroko for N15, 000 per transaction. I have only done that twice. The charm protects them and opens the way for them. I was arrested at Mile Two.”

The gang leader, Hammed said he usually got the guns from one Benedict, a car dealer in Cotonou.

He said that Benedict was his godfather, adding that he just snatched exotic cars, took them to the dealer who gave him any amount he deemed fit.

Hammed said: “It was polo who called us to come and rob this year. We have robbed twice – two cars. It is a car dealer that collects the vehicle and he gives us anything he feels like. He is the one who gives us the guns. He is my chairman. For that Prado, he gave us CFA300, 000.”

Potel claimed a Nigerian driver invited him to take part in the robbery, adding that the driver took one of the two vehicles they stole in the country.

According to Edgal, the suspects met their waterloo on January 20, around 9pm, after they snatched two Prado Sports Utility Vehicle (SUVs) belonging to Olayinka Oyebola and Fidel Onwodi at Victoria Island and Ikoyi respectively.

The criminals abandoned Oyebola’s vehicle which they snatched first at Babatunde Crescent in Oniru, Victoria Island, because they suspected it had a tracker and then went after Onwodi, who had stopped along Kingsway Road with his wife for beef barbecue.

According to Edgal, the criminals confined the couple to the back seat but Mrs. Onwodi took advantage of gridlock and jumped off the vehicle before they got to Third Mainland Bridge.

The police chief said an AK47 marked PE-2473; 43 AK49 live ammunition; a locally made cut to size double barrel gun; six live cartridges, a licence plate number JD697KJA and assorted charms were recovered from them.

Edgal said: “The criminals stripped their first victim, Oyebola naked, took him to Ajah/Epe road and pushed him off the vehicle. They made way with his smart phone and N45, 000 which he withdrew from the Zenith Bank Automated Teller Machine (ATM) at Ajose Adeogun.

“The criminals continued their journey until they got to Ikoyi, opposite Southern Sun Hotel, where they sighted another Toyota Prado SUV marked ABC853LK driven by Fidel Onwodi accompanied by his wife.

“The couple had parked to buy beef barbecue. The robbers parked beside Onwodi’s SUV and ordered the couple to move to the rear of the car.

“The man’s wife summoned courage and jumped off the moving vehicle. She took advantage of the slow traffic on the road. The criminals continued moving and abandoned her husband on Third Mainland Bridge.

“They made away with his SUV while that of Oyebola was parked at a location in Babatunde Crescent, Oniru, where undercover operatives of the command recovered it.

“The suspects confessed to series of robbery operations in which exotic cars were snatched at gunpoint. They also confessed that Onwodi’s car was in Cotonou. Investigation is ongoing. The suspects have owned up to the crime and are assisting the police with information that would help in recovering the Prado SUV presently in Cotonou and arrest of other gang members.'' - The Nation

Court dissolves 15-year-old marriage over negligence

An Idi-Ogungun Customary Court, Agodi, Ibadan, on Tuesday dissolved the 15-year-old marriage between one Wuraola Adekunle, and her husband, Rufai, over the latter’s lack of care for their three children.

Chief Mukaila Balogun, the President of the court, said the evidence of both parties had proved that the union lacked love and care.

Balogun said the court could no longer play a reconciliatory role for settlement of the rift since both parties had agreed to path ways.

He dissolved the marriage and ordered that the three kids of the marriage should be in the custody of the respondent “as agreed by the couple.”

Earlier, Wuraola, 43, a resident of Apete, Ibadan, had prayed the court to uphold her request due to her husband’s negligence to take care of her and the three children of the union.

The petitioner said that her 78-year-old husband was in the habit of threatening her whenever she demanded for money.

Wuraola also said she shouldered the responsibility of school fees, feeding and other needs of the children alone.

The respondent did not object to the dissolution, but denied the allegation of negligence.

He urged the court to allow the children to be in his custody so that he could effectively take care of them.

Father Of Boy Smuggled Into Spain In Suitcase On Trial

The heart-wrenching photo went around the world in 2015, shows an eight-year-old boy from Ivory Coast crammed into a suitcase that was found at a Spanish border crossing.

His father goes on trial Tuesday in Ceuta, a Spanish overseas territory in northern Morocco which migrants from Africa regularly try to reach by scaling high border fences, hiding behind car dashboards or in bus chassis.

Prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison term for Ali Ouattara for facilitating his son’s illegal entry into Europe and endangering the child’s life.

“I’m going to this trial with a lot of confidence because I’m not a human trafficker,” Ouattara, 45, told AFP.

On May 7, 2015, Spanish police noticed a young Moroccan woman dragging what looked like a heavy suitcase across the border with Ceuta.

When they put the suitcase through an X-ray machine they were shocked to see the silhouette of a child curled up in fetal position.

“My name is Adou,” the boy told them in French after they extricated him from the suitcase, according to Spanish journalist Nicolas Castellano, who wrote a book about the story.

The desperate smuggling attempt was a first in Ceuta.

But only three months later, a 27-year-old Moroccan died of asphyxiation inside a suitcase placed in the trunk of a car on a ferry linking Melilla, another Spanish territory in Morocco, to southern Spain.

Adou was soon reunited with his mother, and his father, who had been waiting for his son on the Spanish side of the border, was arrested shortly after the police discovery.

Ouattara said he was “misled” by the traffickers who charged him 5,000 euros ($6,200) and did not tell him his son would be hidden in a suitcase.

The traffickers had initially promised to fly the boy from the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan to Madrid but then told him they would instead travel via Ceuta by car, he said.

“For us, it was crucial for the child to come, we couldn’t live without him, we couldn’t stop thinking about him,” Ouattara said.

The boy was discovered after Spanish police x-rayed a suitcase.

A former philosophy and French teacher in Abidjan, Ouattara arrived illegally in Spain in 2006, making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean aboard a boat.

He eventually got a stable job and home in the Canary Islands, and was able to bring his wife and daughter over legally.

But Spanish authorities refused four times to let him bring over his son too.

“I was earning more than 1,300 euros in a launderette but they said it wasn’t enough” for the entire family to live, he says.

His wife, daughter, and Adou are now living in France, but Ali is still in Spain as he is barred from leaving the country pending the trial.

Adou is expected to return to Ceuta for the trial. - PunchNG

87-year-old Father bursts into tears after family scoop £18m National Lottery jackpot

A dad who scooped £18m with his family on the National Lottery burst into tears today as he declared his children are "financially secure forever".

Dennis Banfield, 87, wiped away tears of joy and even had to be comforted by his daughter after his family revealed themselves to be Saturday night's jackpot winners of the £18,139,352 prize.

Dennis, who bought the Lucky Dip ticket at his local newsagents, discovered his family had become millionaires on Sunday when he checked his numbers to see all six had matched.

When Shirley read them out to him she said 'who'd have those numbers?' and her husband of 60 years replied: 'I do'.

The elderly couple, who became Britain's oldest lottery jackpot winners, had told their two daughters Tina, 54, and Karen, 51, their eye-watering windfall was "just a matter of time".

The Banfields said the life-changing sum of money could be used to splash out on new cars and travelling to watch international sporting events after they went public today at Totworth Court in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire.

Dennis, who worked for 40 years at South West Electricity Board, said: “All that has ever mattered to Shirley and I is that the girls are okay.

"We joke that it’s just a matter of time and we are playing the lottery for them, so that they are financially secure forever. To know they are is a wonderful feeling.

“We haven’t thought about moving house – we’ve lived here for more than 57 years - and while I didn’t think I would be interested in a new car, it is rather tempting.

"Although with my dodgy knee I might need to get a chauffeur to go with the car!”

Tina added: "It’s too early to make any firm plans about work and new homes but there are some things I’ve always wanted to do and which are now possible.

"I’m an avid sports fan, especially rugby, so the World Cup in Japan or the Lions Tour of South Africa might be on the cards. And I love fast cars, so why not the Grand Prix?

"I could even drive there in my dream car, a Porsche 911 Carrera convertible.

"It’s not just the tangible things that the win will give us.

"The win means we can all take life a little calmer, enjoy our time together and share in the experience without worrying about food bills, mortgage payments or pension plans.

"Mum and dad always said they played for us - I can’t tell you how pleased I am that they did!”

The winning numbers were 5, 8, 9, 10, 38 and 53. - UK Mirror