Why Buhari’s government cannot unite Nigeria – Soyinka

 

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s government cannot unite Nigeria due to its systemic failure.

Soyinka stated this at the book reading and signing of two of his books titled ‘Trumpism in Academe’ and ‘Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth’ in Abuja on Saturday.

He was responding to former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, who asked if he could write a story that would inspire unity among the various tribes in the country.

In response, Soyinka claimed Nigeria had lost a key opportunity to unite.

“We had a critical moment and we lost that moment. The moment when this country could have come together.

“There has been more than one moment and we lost the moment. Will another one come? I don’t know. Right now I don’t see it under this government quite frankly.

“There is a failure, a systemic failure in present governance and I don’t know who can put it together,” Soyinka added.

Soyinka however insisted that Nigeria should remain one entity.

- DAILY POST

We were brought to Ogun to work as sales girls but ended up as prostitutes – Rescued underaged girls

 

At least, 22 underaged girls of Akwa Ibom State of origin were on Friday rescued from a prostitution home in Ogun State, DAILY POST reports.

The girls were said to have been lured from Akwa Ibom to Ogun State with phony offers of employment.

Some of them said they were brought to the Gateway State to work as sales girls, but they were later locked in different rooms to work as prostitutes.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the arrest to DAILY POST on Saturday.

Oyeyemi said the rescue operation was coordinated by the Area commander of Ota, ACP Muhideen Obe, having gathered credible intelligence.

Obe had been informed that minors were being recruited from other states and used as commercial sex workers at one KOLAB hotel in Itele Ota.

The police team, according to Oyeyemi, stormed the said hotel at about 8pm, “where the 22 teenagers, whose ages are between 10 and 14 years were rescued.”

“On interrogation, the girls narrated how they were lured from their respective villages in Akwa Ibom State to come to Ogun State, with the promise to employ them as sales girls in restaurants and supermarkets, only for them to get to Lagos and got transferred to a brothel in Ogun State as commercial sex workers.”

The girls, according to the police spokesperson, narrated that “they were deprived of using phone or any communication devices, thereby making it impossible for them to reach out to their parents or relations.”

DAILY POST learnt that the manager of the hotel, one 33-year-old Isaac Ogbaji and 10 other male suspects were arrested during the operation.

Meanwhile, the Ogun Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered that the family support unit of the Ota Area command rake over the investigation of the case.

The unit is to identify the recruiting cartel and bring same to justice as soon as possible.

- DAILY POST

Scores of gunmen in buses attack Akwa Ibom police station

 

The Police Command in Akwa Ibom has confirmed the attack by gunmen of a Divisional Police Headquarters in Odoro Ikpe in Ini Local Government Area (LGA).

The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko Macdon, disclosed this while carrying out an on-the-spot assessment of the attacked police station.

Macdon said: “Yes, there was an attack of the Divisional Police Headquarters, Odoro Ikpe.

“Six persons, including five officers and a wife of an officer, were killed.”

He said items destroyed included vehicles and other valuables.

A witness said that the hoodlums came in two buses and a Sienna car filled with armed men, numbering about 40.

He said that the gunmen arrived the place with sophisticated weapons and broke into the police facility at about 2:45 a.m, killing five policemen on duty, injuring many others and setting vehicles alight.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that police stations and other security posts in Akwa Ibom have experienced cases of early morning attacks.

The attacks had led to the death of officers and destruction of facilities, including utility vehicles and infrastructure.

The Chairman of Ini LGA, Mr Isreal Idaisin, also confirmed the attack on the police station.

He commended the youths of the area whom, he said, were proactive in raising alarm which helped to reduce the number of casualties.

“I urge the good people of Ini LGA to stay calm as we are working with relevant security agencies and the state government to ensure that the situation is contained and necessary modalities put in place to forestall a reoccurrence.

“There is no cause for fear as the culprits will be brought to book in no distant time,” he said.

- PM NEWS

COVID-19: UK retains 10 days quarantine requirement for travellers from Nigeria

 

Travellers entering the United Kingdom from Nigeria are still expected to observe 10 days self quarantine and take two post-arrival tests.

Nigeria remains in the amber category in the new guidance released on Friday.

According to the UK department of health and social care, countries are rated as red, amber or green based on their COVID-19 risk levels.

People travelling to the UK who have been in an amber country in the previous 10 days must complete a passenger locator form and take two COVID-19 tests after arrival in England.

On arrival in the UK, the traveller must also quarantine “at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days”.

Travellers may be able to end quarantine early if “you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the ‘Test to Release’ scheme”. The scheme allows a traveller to pay for a private COVID-19 test and if the result is negative, one can end the quarantine.

Travellers who have been in a red country will be expected to quarantine in a managed hotel and take two COVID-19 tests.

Countries on the red list include India, Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa and other nations that have recently witnessed a spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths.

Travellers from green countries will not need to quarantine, and will only be required to take one post-arrival test.

Green countries consist of Portugal, Gibraltar, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, among others.

According to the travel guide, countries are scored against three key categories of genomic surveillance capability, SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk and variant of concern (VOC) transmission risk.

The list of countries and territories in the green, amber and red categories can be found here.

- THECABLE

2023 presidency: Igbo will occupy Aso Rock, Tinubu, Atiku should step aside – Ohanaeze chieftain

 The immediate past spokesman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chuks Ibegbu, on Saturday, vowed to ensure the emergence of an Igbo presidency in 2023.

Ibegbu, who was recently appointed as the Special Envoy on Nigeria Presidency on Ndigbo Extraction by a coalition of Igbo organisations, vowed to put an “executive Zik in Aso Rock in 2023.”

In a terse statement he signed and forwarded to DAILY POST, the Ohanaeze chieftain promised to build bridges with all stakeholders, groups and power points in the country to realise his ambition.

Ibegbu noted that the “Nigeria Presidency is not gotten by sentiments, threats or emotions but through diplomatic persuasion and he will reach out to all Nigerian stakeholders and party leaders to achieve that.”

He called on “presidential aspirants of Igbo extraction to start showing interest now so that the Igbos will be taken serious on the issue.”

The former Ohanaeze’s spokesman also appealed to “Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and others showing interest in 2023 Presidency to sheathe such interest in the overall interest of the nation.”

He called on Nigerians to do everything to ensure peace, unity and progress of the country, stressing that “If Nigeria breaks, Africa and the black race is doomed.”

Ibegbu noted that there has to be political, economic and structural justice in the nation.

He urged people of the Southeast to put their acts together in the pursuit of their legitimate rights in Nigeria and condemned the killings all over the country.

- DAILY POST

I get energised when people insult me – Oyedepo

 Presiding Bishop, Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo has said he always gets energised when people insult him.

Oyedepo, in one of his sermons on Saturday said “What people don’t know is that when you insult me, it energizes me and the thing is hitting you.

“I told them at the ministers conference that the reason I don’t react, I don’t want people to lose their job. When they put me on the front of papers my sons will buy, my enemies will buy so if they don’t sell, or they sack them won’t I be praying for them for miracle job?”

“I have enough on my list for miracle job. Don’t add to it. When they do it I just do as if I don’t know. They just carry on. When they’re not selling more, they write again, they sell more. Amen,” he added.

Oyedepo said there is a grace that made Christians live above discouragement, saying that “one of the vendors was selling and I was coming to Canaanland, there was a hold-up at Abule Egba; he said “buy”. “We don’t buy paper”. He now brought one that has me only as the major picture at the back of the magazine.

“He said “what of this? I said “we don’t buy paper”. That was in 1999. I’ve not found out what they wrote there. I don’t have that time sir. Since 1999 I’ve not asked any mortal man what they wrote about me. You’re writing about me, I know me more than you.

“They brought a paper to my house, the editor says he lives in Gowon Estate and so he gave me an advanced copy. I said “I don’t read paper”. He said “it’s free”. I said “I don’t read paper, go to our office you’ll meet one man there”, he is the one who reads our papers.

“Now, I’ve not found out what was in that paper. That was 1996. There is no method you can use to sell yesterday’s paper today.”

- PM NEWS

Aregbesola: Nigerians with expired passports can come home, renew at airports

 

Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, says Nigerians with expired passports can travel back home “without fear of harassment”.

The minister gave the assurance at a webinar organised by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) on Saturday.

He said the establishment of front offices have been approved at Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt airports to help Nigerians “who arrive the country on expired passports to have their passports renewed immediately”.

“It is in this regard that the NIS recently granted a waiver for Nigerians with expired passports desirous of coming to Nigeria to do so without fear of harassment by airlines,” the minister said.

MAY 31 DEADLINE TO CLEAR BACKLOG

Aregbesola also said he has given a May 31 deadline to clear all backlogs of passport applications.

The minister said the delay in passport issuance experienced by Nigerians is one of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the federal government has reached an “advanced stage” of domesticating the production of passport booklets to avert a future recurrence.

He said: “The Nigerian Immigration Service in recent time has been facing challenges in passport issuing, particularly because of a shortage of booklet, both locally and abroad. The ministry and NIS have been frantically working to resolve this.

“I gave a May 31st deadline to clear all backlogs of passport application. To ensure a permanent solution to the recurrent scarcity of booklet, the federal government is at an advanced stage of domesticating the production of passport booklets here in Nigeria.

“So, with what we are commencing on June 1st, I am confident that we shall no longer experience any shortage of booklets and the issuance and renewal of passports will be seamless starting from the 1st of June.

“To ensure efficient and effective service delivery to Nigerians, we have recently reviewed the passport issuing process with a view to streamlining the process for better performance while also eliminating the activities of touts.

“All passport applications and issuance are to be made online. Effective June 1, all passport application and issuance will take a period of six weeks to enable the NIS to carry out due diligence on all applicants.”

The minister added that the NIS recently approved the revalidation of all payments for passports made by Nigerians sequel to the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is to enable the service conclude action on all pending passport applications,” he said.

- THECABLE