Cardinal Okogie : ‘Politicians more dangerous than Boko Haram, herdsmen’

Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, yesterday, wrote Nigerians, speaking on the greatest problem of the masses.

According to the cleric, politicians were more harmful to Nigerians than the incessant attacks by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen.

The former Archbishop said the recent call by former Defence Minister, Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma (retd), for self-defence should normally cause apprehensions in the presidency, since its legitimacy was in doubt.

In his latest letter to the nation, entitled “We are waiting and watching 2,” Okogie said politicians, rather than herdsmen, kidnappers and armed robbers, were the real threat to the nation’s security.

His letter came at a time Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, said it would be the greatest miracle for Nigeria to pull through the 2019 elections successfully. 

Okogie said rather than worry about several informed admonitions, government’s apologists, as usual, opted to insult the messenger, insisting that the nation’s “political leaders constitute the greatest threat to security in this country, not armed robbers nor kidnappers, not Boko Haram nor herdsmen.”

Okogie’s letter is a follow-up to his last, with the same title.

It reads, “Whoever loves Nigeria should be concerned about the security of life and property within her borders.

“It affects all of us across party, ethnic and religious lines. It affects the rich and the poor.

“Unfortunately, it can, and it ought to be said that our political leaders constitute the greatest threat to security in this country, not armed robbers nor kidnappers, not Boko Haram nor herdsmen.

“Nigerians are currently forced to watch a show of shame by the ruling party of today and the ruling party of yesterday.

“Such are accusations and counter-accusations of looting that Nigerians find it difficult to differentiate between the accuser and the accused.

“Huge sums of money belonging to the people of Nigeria obviously got into wrong hands and for wrong reasons. There are good reasons to suspect that the looting that took place cut across party lines.

“Nigerians deserve to know how, for example, the two leading parties financed their campaigns in 2015.

“But instead of honest answers, we are treated by the two big parties to a theatrical display of politically motivated compilation of lists of looters.

“Nigerians deserve to know how, for example, the two leading parties financed their campaigns in 2015.

“But instead of honest answers, we are treated by the two big parties to a theatrical display of politically motivated compilation of lists of looters.

‘’We are forced to say what Jesus said to the accusers of the adulterous woman in the Gospel: whoever has not sinned let him cast the first stone.” - Daily Post

Nigerian-born teenager stabbed to death in London

An 18-year old boy stabbed on Wednesday, in Hackney, London, has been identified as Israel Ogunsola, the son of a Nigerian.

At least six people Nigerians have been killed in London attacks in 2018 alone.

Ogunsola, already injured, was said to have approached some officers in Link Street shortly before 8pm.

Paramedics and staff from the London air ambulance attempted to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene less than 30 minutes later.

Dele Ogunsola, the victim’s father, who spoke to EveningStandard demanded that the “bloodshed must stop”.

He said his son was just cycling to meet friends when the incident occurred. He described the computer programming student as “academically brilliant”.

Dele said his family has been living in London since 1985.

“My son was a well brought up boy who respected everyone and was liked by all and sundry,” Dele said.

“He was thoughtful and joyous and had lots of friends. He went out on his bicycle and never came back. He was on his own as far as I know, maybe it was a robbery, the police have not told me.

“We are struggling to come to terms with what has happened. He has an older brother and sister, he was the baby of the house. We are all heartbroken.

“The bloodshed must stop. London’s streets are so dangerous. Young people are being slaughtered every day. If it means bringing back more stop and search, then so be it. We have to tackle this problem and the Government needs to do more.”

Ogunsola is said to be the 21st person below 25 years old,  to die from knife or gun crime in London this year.

Two boys, aged 17, have been arrested in relation to his death. - Cable Nigeria

Terrorism : Again10 killed as Fulani herdsmen attack another Benue community

No fewer than 10 persons were allegedly killed after suspected herdsmen attacked Mbakyondo, Mbakpa and Sengaev communities in the Agagbe district of Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.

It was gathered that the herdsmen stormed the communities at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday and started shooting sporadically in all directions.

Many villagers are said to have been killed in their sleep, with several others injured in the attack. Several houses were also razed by the invading herdsmen.

The latest invasion may not be unconnected with the recent clash between some youths in Mbakpa community and some herdsmen in the area early in the week.

Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, Commissioner of Police in the state, Fatai Owoseni, who confirmed the clash between the youths and the herdsmen in Mbakpa Community, said the State Police Command was already in talks with the leadership of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the body of herders on the matter.

“Gwer West Local Government in Mbakpa community woke up to a report that the youths in that community led an attack on some herdsmen in that area. There is now an exodus of members of that community into Naka town for fear of a reprisal attack.

“We are still talking with leaders of herdsmen in that area to ascertain the level of casualty. We heard that one of the herdsmen is missing and we immediately got in touch with leadership of MACBAN and the body of herders in order to douse and prevent an escalation of anything that could come as reprisal,” had Owoseni stated. - Daily Post

Corruption: Brazil sends ex-president Lula to prison

Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will begin his 12 year prison term from Friday, after a judge gave him 24 hours to surrender to police.

The order from Judge Sergio Moro, head of Brazil’s huge “Car Wash” anti-graft probe, came as a complete surprise given that lawyers had earlier said the leftist former two-term president had at least until Tuesday before he’d have to go behind bars.

Lula, 72, was once one of the most popular politicians on the planet and he easily leads polls in Brazil’s October presidential election. His incarceration will throw the race completely open.

Moro’s office said that in view of Lula’s stature as a former president, he would have “the opportunity to present himself voluntarily” to police in the city of Curitiba, where the “Car Wash” probe is based, by 5:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday.

There was no immediate reaction from Lula, who had been described earlier by supporters as facing his jailing calmly.

However, Senator Lindbergh Farias, from Lula’s Workers’ Party, issued a defiant call for supporters to congregate in front of Lula’s house in Sao Bernardo near Sao Paulo on Friday.

“Moro ordered prison for Lula. Everyone to Sao Bernardo tomorrow from 5:00 am in front of Lula’s house!” he tweeted.

Lula had been due to address a Workers’ Party rally in the city on Friday afternoon, but that event would now coincide with Moro’s surrender deadline.

Lula petitioned to the Supreme Court on Thursday to be allowed to remain free while pursuing appeals in higher courts against his conviction for receiving a seaside apartment as a bribe from a construction company. A lower court appeal failed this January.

However, the Supreme Court judges ruled 6-5 in a marathon session that under the law, Lula must begin his sentence after having lost that first appeal.

Still, it had been widely expected that with more technical appeals, Lula would start his sentence only sometime next week at the earliest.

Brazil’s left is furious at the Supreme Court ruling, seeing Lula’s imminent imprisonment as a plot to prevent the Workers’ Party from returning to power. Party leader Gleisi Hoffmann said the court ruling violated “constitutional law and the presumption of innocence” and made Brazil “look like a little banana republic.”

However, there were celebrations on the right and among prosecutors supporting the epic “Car Wash” probe, which has revealed high-level corruption throughout Brazilian business and politics over the last four years.

To them, Lula epitomizes Brazil’s corruption-riddled elite. His conviction on charges of accepting a seaside apartment as a bribe is “Car Wash’s” biggest scalp by far.

Lula, who grew up poor and with little formal education before becoming a trade union leader and politician, says he will go down fighting.

Analysts say that his election hopes have now been dealt a body blow. But he is not necessarily knocked out.

In theory, once someone has been convicted and lost their lower court appeal, they are barred from running for office under Brazil’s clean slate law. But the issue will not be decided for months.

Lula has until mid-August to register his candidacy and only after that will the Superior Electoral Tribunal rule on whether his candidacy is valid.

Animal kingdom !!! How Nigerian Government repaired £2.8m ship with £18m – Mbu

A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mathew Mbu, has told a story of how the Nigerian Government repaired a ship worth only £2.8 million with a whopping £18 million.

This was made public through an autobiography he left behind to be published by his family.

The book was entitled, ‘Mbu: Dignity in Service’.

He said that he bought the ship on behalf of the country for £2.8 million and expressed surprise that the Ministry of Defence officials allegedly sent the vessel for refitting at a whopping sum of £18m, shortly after he left the ministry.

Mbu, who died on February 6, 2012, had left the manuscript of his autobiography which the family published in his honour.

The former Minister’s son, Mathew Mbu Jr., told journalists on Thursday that the book would be launched posthumously on April 10, 2018 at the Shehu Yar ’Adua Centre, Abuja.

The author explained in the book how he fought corruption by serving with dignity, noting that the then Minister of Defence, Alhaji Muhammad Ribadu, approved £6 .5 million for the flagship, which he (Mbu) purchased for the Nigerian Navy for £2.8 million, thus saving the nation £3. 7 m.

Mbu Jr. said, “MT Mbu did not only come back with a flagship befitting the NN for £2 .8 m and saved £3.7 m, but had a deal to pay back the £2 .8 m in 10 years interest-free.

“The story of Mbu tells us how to stop kickback and start kicking forward. Unfortunately, and it was a sad moment for Mbu when he left the ministry and one of those ships was sent for refitting at the cost of £18 m.

The deceased, in the autobiography, advised the government to focus on free and fair election, security and anti-corruption fight, noting that if these were achieved, “Nigerians in their ingenuity will fashion out the rest in no time.”

Mbu also frowned at the investment in Tinapa Resort by the Donald Duke administration in Cross River State, describing it as a non-viable project.

“Politically, it was myopic at conception; why should the resources of a state be frozen for decades? What about the cost of maintaining a non-viable project?” The former ambassador queried. - Daily Post

Corruption !!! FG :Petrol import loss hits N1.4tr

Nigeria records about N1.4 trillion yearly as under-recovery from its importation and sale of Premium Motor Spirit  at N145 per litre, Petroleum Resources Minister Ibe Kachikwu said yesterday.

He spoke at a meeting in Abuja where stakeholders in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector met to review the challenges of the LPG market.

Kachikwu explained that it was time Nigeria began to look at alternative fuel sources, such as LPG, which are clean and less expensive.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari would in the next two months launch an infrastructure rebirth plan with which the country would leverage to attract private finance to upgrade her oil and gas infrastructure.

Said the minister: “Clean energy is very essential and we need to move away from complete utilisation in our transport sector of only PMS which is creating a lot of under-recovery of N1.4 trillion per annum of exposure to the government.

“At the end of the day, we begin to go into other components of cleaner fuels and rely less on the PMS that is gotten from out of the country.”

Asked to clarify if the figure on petrol under-recovery was annually and how the government felt about it, Kachikwu replied: “Yes, currently. That is being addressed at a very high level and I don’t want to go into that.”

In March, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) disclosed that its expenditure on petrol subsidy was N774 million daily, and that 50 million litres was consumed across the country everyday.

NNPC’s Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti Baru described the amount as “under-recovery”, adding that the huge fund was due to the proliferation of filling stations in communities with international land and coastal borders across the country.

Kachikwu also indicated that the government would launch an infrastructure rebirth plan for the oil and gas industry. The rebirth plan he noted, will enable private investors put in money in key infrastructure assets across the entire value chain of the sector.

“I think government is focused in all the areas. We are hoping to launch an infrastructure rebirth map for the oil sector over the next two months, and I hope His Excellency, the President will launch that.

“The effect is that it will be to open up tariff and create policy positions that will enable people to actually go in and invest in critical infrastructure that is needed because anywhere you go, whether it is distribution of petroleum products massively through trucks and rather than through pipelines, whether it is being able to take crude into refineries or distribute gas throughout the country, infrastructure is so key.

“There are lots of stranded gas and power everywhere. Distribution is key; infrastructure is key. We need to find a way of finding enough incentives to enable the private sector go in very bullishly and put the money where it is supposed to be,” he explained.

On the significance of the LPG meeting, Kachikwu said: “Coming from this meetings we are having, we will come up with recommendations of what DPR needs to do to deepen licensing issues and enforcement issues, but over and above just going after individuals who have done it wrongly; what are the incentives, schemes and structures we need to put in place, and it just goes to tell u where the storage capacities for the gas we have been buying; where are the official distribution and sales centers? If we deepen the regulation, deepen the licensing and enforcement, we should be able to get there.”

He noted: “But, like you know, we already have a gas policy which was approved at FEC and all of this is in there. What this group is going to do is to take a piece of that as it concerns LPG and say how we can take that policy document and expand and activate the whole LPG.” - The Nation

Armed Robbers kill four policemen, six others in Kwara

Robbers bearing sophisticated weapons invaded Kwara State town of Offa yesterday, killing no fewer than 10 people including four policemen and raided five banks in a commando-like manner.

Gaining access to the town from Ijagbo in the western end, the robbers shot sporadically, killing four policemen at a police station in the entrance to town, and six others, including passers-by. A commercial motorcyclist was among the dead, according to eyewitnesses.

They reportedly used dynamite to break the vaults of the commercial houses made up of three new generation and two old generation banks.

Eyewitnesses who recalled the deadly incident told our reporter on the telephone that “The robbers carted away substantial amount of money from the banks’ vaults. They blew open the security of the banks with dynamite.  Many passers-by were hit by stray bullets. A commercial motorcyclist was among those killed.”

It was gathered that the bandits, numbering about 15, came in about four vehicles. They blocked access to the town from Ilorin and Osogbo. They operated for about one hour from around 4:30pm.

They reportedly escaped from the town with their loot through Igosun area.

Bodies were seen in some parts of the town where the policemen operated after their departure.

The injured were taken to the Offa Genera Hospital.

Kwara State police Spokesman Ajayi Okasanmi who confirmed the raid, said victims included policeman and other individuals.

He promised to make details available after full investigation. - The Nation