Afeni Shakur Davis, Tupac's mother, dies at 69

Afeni Shakur Davis, the mother of one of hip-hop's most seminal and iconic figures, has died at age 69, the Marin County, California, sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Though she is best known as Tupac Shakur's mom, Shakur Davis also was a Black Panther as a young adult and an activist and philanthropist in her later years.
Deputies responded to a family member's call reporting "a possible cardiac arrest" at Shakur Davis' Sausalito home about 9:34 p.m. Monday, the Marin County Sheriff's Office said.
Shakur Davis was taken to Marin General Hospital, where she died at 10:28 p.m., the office said. There was nothing suspicious about her death and there's no evidence of foul play, Lt. Doug Pittman said Tuesday. An autopsy was scheduled for later in the day.
Tupac love letter for sale
"Sheriff's Coroners Office will lead investigation to determine exact cause & manner of Afeni Shakur's death," the office said in a tweet.


Afeni Shakur Davis in 2003.
Shakur Davis was a "well-loved, well-respected" member of the community, Pittman said.
"Miss Shakur has had an extensive background not only in the community but her involvement with so many things," he said. "She's been a leader, a person people followed. All that said about who she's been and where's she's at now, this is a tragic loss for this community."
The Shakur family, in a statement, said she "embodied strength, resilience, wisdom and love. She was a pioneer for social change and was committed to building a more peaceful world."
From drugs to arts
In a 2005 interview ahead of the opening of the now-shuttered Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Shakur Davis recalled how her life was almost derailed by drugs and how her son got it back on track.
Her drug use made her so oblivious to what was happening in her life that when someone told her in 1990 that her son -- then on the precipice of becoming the biggest name in hip-hop -- was going to be on "The Arsenio Hall Show," she thought the person was lying, she said.

      Sad news about Pacs mom #AfeniShakur RIP   Dear Mama learned a lot about being a women from watching you... 🙏😢😇 pic.twitter.com/MMTxwYhrxI

— Pepa (@DaRealPepa) May 3, 2016


In the mid-1980s, she was homeless in New York and "messing around with cocaine," Shakur Davis said. Despite the drug use, she was still coherent enough to realize that Tupac would become a product of the streets if she didn't make different choices.
"I was running around with militants, trying to be badder than I was, trying to stay up later than I should," she said in the 2005 interview.
She decided to enroll Tupac in the 127th Street Ensemble, a Harlem theater group, something she called "the best thing I could've done in my insanity." They later moved to Maryland, where she enrolled him in the Baltimore School for the Arts, and then to a small town outside Sausalito.
It was there that Tupac confronted her about her cocaine use.
"He asked me if I could handle it, and I said yeah because I'd been dipping and dabbing all my life," she said during the interview. "What pissed him off is that I lied to him."
'Pac told the local drug dealers not to sell to her, she said, and he told his mother to get clean or to forget about being involved in his life.
'Arts can save children'
She got clean in 1991, she said, and when her son was gunned down in Las Vegas in 1996, she resisted the urges to delve back into her old bad habits. She instead founded Amaru Entertainment to keep her son's music alive.
R.I.P. to Tupac's mama Afeni Shakur https://t.co/mBc8Odo6Q2 pic.twitter.com/G1Z2KtwaRQ

— XXL Magazine (@XXL) May 3, 2016
Later, she realized that her life -- mistake-ridden as it may have been -- might serve as a lesson to others.
"Arts can save children, no matter what's going on in their homes," she said. "I wasn't available to do the right things for my son. If not for the arts, my child would've been lost."


She provided the majority of the money to begin the $4 million first phase of the arts center, while her Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation hosted poetry and theater camps for youngsters in the Atlanta area. The family said she established the foundation to "instill a sense of freedom of expression and education through the arts."
"I learned that I can't save the world, but I can help a child at a time," she said, pointing out that her new life of philanthropy wouldn't have been possible without the influence of her legendary son. "God created a miracle with his spirit. I'm all right with that."
Afeni Shakur on her son Tupac: "I miss him...."
Now they're both reunited. RIP pic.twitter.com/1xhRHe8Mqq

— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) May 3, 2016
And as much as she credited Tupac with inspiring her to help others, the tribulations she endured in raising him weren't lost on the multiplatinum artist. He regularly invoked her in his music, perhaps never as directly as in his chart-topping song, "Dear Mama."
In it, he rapped, "And even as a crack fiend, mama, you always was a black queen, mama/I finally understand, for a woman it ain't easy trying to raise a man/You always was committed, a poor single mother on welfare, tell me how you did it/There's no way I can pay you back, but the plan is to show you that I understand."
Shakur Davis is survived by a daughter, Sekyiwa Shakur.

Giant snake attacks handler

 

A North Carolina reptile enthusiast calls 911 as he drives himself to the hospital after being bit by his pet king cobra snake. 

Man sprayed poison in open food at grocery stores, FBI says

 

A man who went into multiple Michigan grocery stores and sprayed a poisonous mixture on open food is in custody, according to the FBI.

About 15 stores -- including a Whole Foods Market and a Kroger -- in Ann Arbor, Flint, Midland, Birch Run and Saline may have been targeted, according to the Washtenaw County Public Health Department.

"It's just absolutely crazy. Why would somebody do that?" a customer outside Whole Foods Market told us

Though the department says it has not received any "unusual reports of illness," it says it's received reports of vomiting and diarrhea that "are being actively investigated for possible connection to this incident."

The suspect admitted to spraying a "potentially hazardous material" -- a liquid combination of water, hand cleaner and mice poison -- on produce in three stores within the past two weeks, the FBI said.

Investigators are trying to determine whether any other stores were affected.

County officials advised consumers to throw away any food from salad bars, olive bars and ready-to-eat hot and cold food areas purchased from affected stores between the middle of March through the end of April.

"While the risk for adverse health effects appears to be low, more investigation is being done to determine what level of exposure may have occurred," said Dr. Eden Wells of the Washtenaw County Public Health Department.

A list of the potentially contaminated stores can be found at the county public

Oduamadi Dedicates First HJK Goal To Late Father

 

Super Eagles winger Nnamdi Oduamadi has dedicated his first HJK Helsinki goal to his late father Pa Vincent Oduamadi.

The Nigerian international who was on target in the 5-1 drubbing of Ilves on Wednesday wrote on his Instagram wall: "Dad I know you up there watching, my goal today was dedicated to you. I love you forever." 

It was Oduamadi's first strike in seven games for HJK who returned to the league summit on goal difference ahead of Mariehamn, who drew goalless at home to PK-35 Vantaa.

Oduamadi is currently on a season-long loan deal from Italian side AC Milan.

Tinubu, Atiku absent as Buhari meets APC leaders

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday evening met with leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress behind closed doors.

The meeting was held inside the First Lady’s Conference Hall at the Presidential Villa, Abuja started at about 9:10pm and ended in the early hours of Thursday.


Buhari was accompanied by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal; the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu; and some other presidential aides.

Party leaders who attended the meeting included the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; the party’s Deputy National Chairman, North, Senator Lawali Shuaibu; Deputy National Chairman, South, Segun Oni; President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

Others were Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State; Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State; Senate Leader, Ali Ndume; a former Minister of Information, Chief Tony Momoh; Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu; and the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh.

A national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar were conspicuously absent at the meeting.

The agenda of the meeting was not made public.

At the end of the meeting, both the Presidency and the party leadership refused to disclose details of the meeting to State House correspondents who kept vigil at the venue.

When approached, Ojudu simply said, “It was a meeting of the leaders of the party. What we discussed was very private, there is no communique. We just discussed generally about governance and issues of the party. There is nothing to communicate to you about.”

Odigie-Oyegun also evaded questions when he simply replied, “The meeting was for routine matters, for usual stuff: party, government and everything,” as he made his way out of the venue.

It will be recalled that a similar meeting of the party leaders presided over by Osinbajo was held on February 24 at a time Buhari was on a one-week trip to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

That first meeting was attended by Tinubu, Atiku; former chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande; and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuf Lasun.

They also did not brief journalists at the end of the first meeting.

Under Jonathan,Diezani was untouchable–Sanusi

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi 11, said that nobody that had a confrontation with the former Minister Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, survived such an effrontery. This, Sanusi said, was because the former minister was one of the most powerful ministers under Jonathan.

He said, “I knew that taking on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporaton was taking on the most powerful minister in Jonathan’s government, and nobody who had touched Diezani had survived. It was not a question of what would happen, I just didn’t care at that time. I did not want to go down in history as having seen this and kept quiet.

 

After the first round of reconciliation, there was $29bn that was explained. And how was that explained? Crude that was shipped by NNPC did not entirely belong to NNPC.”

He said some oil companies paid taxes and royalties in oil, and the NNPC sold this oil on behalf of FIRS, meaning FIRS got the money and not necessarily the federal government.

“No reasonable explanation for $20bn, $6bn was with NPDC that had not gotten to the federation account till date.”

Sanusi also said that Jonathan threatened him for writing a letter to inform Jonathan that $49bn was missing from the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Sanusi, who served as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said the former President said that he (Jonathan) would rather resign than for Sanusi to remain at the head of the apex bank.

The former CBN governor said when he wrote the letter to Jonathan in August 2013, the ex-President did nothing about it.

Sanusi said it was when former President Olusegun Obasanjo made reference to his letter four months later that Jonathan got angry and decided to take action.

He said unfortunately, Jonathan was more concerned with the fact that the letter leaked rather than sanction the people under whose watch the money went missing.

He said, “In the middle of all these, the President called me and said I should see him at 3pm. I turned up at 3pm and the entire place had been swept. There was no one apart from security services. I got to his office, it was just me and him. It was as if everybody had been asked to go.

“And so he says to me, he’s calling me because he is surprised that the letter I wrote to him got to Obasanjo, I said I’m surprised too. He said he was convinced that the letter went from the CBN to Obasanjo, and I had 24 hours to find who leaked the letter or sack somebody; the director who prepared the letter or my secretary and if I did not sack them, it was proof that I leaked the letter and therefore, I should resign.

“I said to him that I’m surprised that I’m being asked to resign for raising an alarm over missing funds and the minister in charge of the portfolio is not being asked to resign.

“From then I knew I had signed my equivalent of a death warrant. But I said I was not resigning. He got very angry and said whether you like it or not, you’re going to leave that office, I cannot continue to work with you, either you or I will leave government.”

Sanusi, however, revealed that former Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State had confessed to leaking the letter.

The former CBN governor traced the current economic crisis to the stealing and lack of accountability which characterised the Jonathan administration.

He said he had warned Jonathan that there would be inflation, unemployment and currency instability if leakages were jot plugged but sadly, nothing was done about it.

Army court-martials six soldiers for murder

The Nigerian Army on Wednesday brought six military personnel from various units of the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Adekunle Fajuyi Cantonment, Odogbo, Ibadan, before a General Court Martial over allegation of murder and other offences.

The soldiers were also accused of manslaughter, stealing, negligence of performance of military duties, sexual relationship with spouse of military personnel, disgraceful conduct of indecent nature, and scandalous conduct.


The trial began after the General Officer Commanding at the division, Maj. Gen. Laz Ilo, inaugurated the General Court Martial in Ibadan, which is presided over by Brig. Gen. Ibikunle Raji with five other members.

Those arraigned were a major, one captain, one lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one corporal and one private.

The GOC said the military formation was anchored and driven by core values and discipline.

He said, “In administration of discipline in the Nigerian Army, we ensure that justice is never miscarried. The accused, who have committed the offence, are given ample opportunity and are required to defend themselves. Under my command, the division will not tolerate any form of indiscipline. I will not condone any form of indiscipline. Every act of indiscipline and every manifestation of indiscipline must be decisively dealt with. No act of indiscipline will go unpunished.”

Ilo said that the inauguration of the court martial was in line with the vision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to guarantee a “professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles to the nation.”

The GOC said a human rights desk had been established at the division where complaints about erring military personnel from the public would be accepted and investigated.

Ohakim gave me $2.29m cash to buy house –Witness

A witness,  Mr. Abu Sule, told a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday that he collected $2.29m cash in Ghana-Must-Go’ bag from a former Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, to help the former governor to buy a property in Asokoro, Abuja.

Sule, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s second prosecution witness in Ohakim’s ongoing trial, said this while he was being cross-examined by the former governor’s lead counsel, Awa Kalu (SAN).

 

The witness said he collected the $2.29m, which was an equivalent of N270m, from Ohakim in $100 bills at night sometimes in November 2008 and handed it over to the then owner of the property, Alhaji Isah Maidabino, the next day.

The witness, an architect and Managing Director of Tweenex Consociates H.D Ltd., said he kept the money in the boot of his car overnight before handing it over to Maidabino, now a director in the office of the Head of Service of the Federation.

The EFCC is prosecuting Ohakim who was Imo State governor between 2007 and 2011 on three counts of money laundering.

The charges arose from his alleged purchase of the property at 60, Kwame Nkrumah Street, Plot No 1098, Cadastral Zone A04,  Asokoro District, Abuja with cash payment of $2.29 which was said to be dollar equivalent of N270m in November 2008.

Ohakim was also accused of failing to declare the property as part of his assets when asked by the EFCC to do so.

The prosecution said the offences bordering on cash payment of N270m violated section 15(1)(d) and section 14(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004.

Sule had earlier in his evidence-in-chief, narrated how he allegedly helped Ohakim to buy and conceal the former governor’s ownership of the property.

The witness had told Justice Adeniyi Ademola, that the former governor instructed him to use his (Sule’s) company, Tweenex Consociates H.D Ltd., to buy the property.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Festus Keyamo, the witness said Ohakim subsequently put pressure on him to prepare a tenancy agreement with Tweenex as the landlord to make it look as if he (Ohakim) was a tenant in the property.

Fielding questions from Kalu on Wednesday, Sule said he did not count the $2.29m when the former governor handed over the money to him out of trust they had for each other.

He however said he counted it along with Maidabino before handing the money over to him.

He said, “The money ($2.29m) was given to me by the defendant. It was given to me in a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag and that was how I transported it. It was in $100 bills. I didn’t count the money and he (Ohakim) didn’t request for counting because we trusted each other. But I counted it along with Alhaji Maidabino.

“I did not issue a receipt because a receipt was not demanded. I was sent on an errand and I delivered it.

“I carried the money to a bank in Maitama in Unity Bank. I handed over the money to Alhaji Maidabino at Unity Bank.

“Alhaji Maidabino issued deed of assignment and sale agreement to me.

“He did not acknowledge the receipt of the sum in writing.

“I didn’t pay the money into any account. I didn’t see Alhaji Maidabino pay that sum into any account. I did not witness any transaction.

“What Alhaji did with the money, I don’t know. But he handed over the title documents of the property to me.”

Fielding more questions, he said did not have any security arrangement in place when carrying the money from one place to another.

He said, “I had no security. I trusted in God. I left the money in my car boot and I went home and I slept. I was not accompanied to the bank by any security operative, I went alone.”

He confirmed that all his dealings with the former governor were always documented and that he had issued a receipt for a N20m transaction to the defendant.

Sule confirmed that he did not issue any receipt for the $2.29m given to him by Ohakim.

He also said he did not collect any receipt from the Maidabino because the title documents which he collected from him (Maidabino) were sufficient as proof of payment.

Sule said, “I gave the money to him (Maidabino) and he gave me the title documents. He signed the sales agreement and I believe that was a good receipt.”

But he confirmed that the sales agreement was between Tweenex and Maidabino and  that up till date, Tweenex remained the registered owner of the property at 60, Kwame Nkrumah Street, Plot No 1098, Cadastral Zone A04,  Asokoro District, Abuja.

He said he could not confirm the details of the use of the property as collateral by Maidabino for certain loans.

But he confirmed that up till October 6, 2009 the transfer of the ownership of the property was still “encumbered” by Unity Bank.

The EFCC called Maidabino as its third prosecution witness on Wednesday.

Maidabino confirmed that he sold the property to Tweenex through Sule sometimes in November 2008.

Led in evidence by Keyamo, the witness, a serving director in the office of the Head of Service of the Federation,  said he had finished building the house in 1997 while he was a deputy director in the Presidential Villa.

Maidabino, who will be 60 on June 6, 2016, confirmed that he collected $2.29m cash at Unity Bank, Maitama, from Sule for the sale of the house.

Justice Ademola adjourned the trial till Thursday.

Lagos politician, Adeniji-Adele passes on at 60

Former Lagos Island Local Government Chairman and Commissioner of Sports, in Lagos State, Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele is dead. He was aged 60 years.

Adeniji-Adele, according to his son, Hon, Sultan Adeniji Adele, who confirmed the death, said his father passed on at about 6:00am Nigerian time in an Indian hospital today..

 

Sultan message read: “Good morning every one, My dad Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele this morning passed on in India, may almighty Allah grant him Aljanah fidau. Hon. Sultan Adeniji-Adele.”

Adele, fondly called Papa is a Prince of Lagos and was very prominent in the politics and sports administration in the state and Nigeria.

He also served as a deputy gubernatorial candidate under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, political platform before joining the All Progressives Congress, APC.

His remains according to family sources would soon be flown home for a befitting burial.

Adeniji-Adele, he is survived by wife, Tawakalitu and children.

Organisers dedicate 2016 Okpekpe race to late Oba of Benin

THIS year’s 10-km Okpekpe Road Race has been dedicated to the memory of   Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Oba Erediauwa, CFR, the Oba of Benin, who was a passionate follower of sports in the country.

In a statement by the organisers in Lagos yesterday, “the late monarch was not just a great unifier of all Edo people; he was also a keen lover of sports as a vehicle to promote peace and unity.”

The statement added, “we drew a lot of inspiration from the noble values Omo N’Oba espoused in conceiving the Okpepke race few years ago.”

The organisers stressed that: “though deeply saddened, by the passing on to glory of the Oba, we are however consoled that the sterling legacy bequeathed by the great monarch already secured for him a front-roll seat in the pantheons of sages of all time.”

Continuing, the organisers said, we are further comforted that we have a worthy successor in the Crown Prince, His Excellency, Ambassador Eheneden Erediauwa.”

“It is with mixed feelings that the organizers of the Annual Okpekpe International Marathon received the news of the passing on to glory of our most revered Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Oba Erediauwa, CFR.

“As our own modest way of celebrating this icon, the board met and resolved that this year’s edition of the Okpekpe race be dedicated to the great king as he joins his ancestors.

“Our heart-felt condolences to the Crown Prince, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the people of Edo State,” the statement signed by the Mike Itemuagbor, MD/CEO Pamodzi Sports Marketing (PSM), organizers of the annual road race.

Players grumble over unpaid salaries

Players of Giwa FC are grumbling over the uncertainties hanging over them as the Jos club will be thrown out of the Nigeria Professional Football League should they fail to honour a second straight league match this weekend.

 

Several players of the club are unhappy they have not been paid salaries for several months now.

At the weekend, Wikki Tourists walked over Giwa at the Ilorin Stadium after the Jos club stayed away from the match venue following their banishment from the Rwang Pam Stadium in Jos on account of crowd trouble.

Should Giwa fail to honour their next game away at Abia Warriors on Sunday, they will be expelled from the league as clearly stipulated in the rules of the competition. One of the disturbed Giwa players said their fate is hanging in a balance.

“We don’t know what is next for us here. All we do is to go to training and come back. We are not happy at all,” he told AfricanFootball.com

“We went to Jos stadium last weekend for the game against Wikki and there were no referees for the game. We the players are in dilemma right now and every day we get frustrated.”

Another player said they have not been paid salaries. “We are being owed salary, some four months, some three and others two months,” he disclosed.

Bello reiterates commitment to civil service integrity

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has reiterated his commitment to enthroning a credible civil service that is ready to complement the New Direction policies of his administration.

The Governor who stated this in Lokoja said the report of the ongoing staff verification exercise will be fully implemented and people involved in the ghost workers fraud in the state, will face the wrath of the law.

“I am regularly briefed on the activities of the staff verification panel and I want to say I am excited about what the exercise will bring to our economy, what we can save to boost our infrastructure and the openings that will be available to others who want jobs.

“Let me reiterate my earlier commitment to the Kogi people that I will build an incorrigible civil service and stop the draining of our resources by ghost workers. Kogi State deserves a n efficient and vibrant civil service and I want to assure you all that we our government shall achieve that.

“I want to express gratitude to Kogi workers for supporting the exercise. It goes to show that they know what we know: That ghost workers are cankerworms that have eaten our economy dry. They are also the ones who have made it hard for us to pay wages”.

The Governor said he will continue to ensure prompt payment of salaries, insisting that workers must not be made to suffer after rendering services to the state.

He insisted that the recently approved bailout will be judiciously utilized to achieve the aim of the Buhari administration in offering the bailout to improve the capacity of states to pay wages.

On the allegation by former Governor Idris Wada that he was the one who works for the bailout and not the Governor, Bello said his administration only met the conditions set out for the approval of the bailout.

Benue Massacre: CAN drags Fulani herdsmen to NHRC

The Benue State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, lodged a complaint at the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, over alleged killings and wanton destruction of property in the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

While submitting a copy of the petition to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, the CAN delegation, led by its Chairman in Benue State, Rev. Augustine Akpen Leva, expressed dismay at what it described as “failure of government to curb the incessant, unwarranted killings and wanton destruction of property” in various parts of the state, allegedly perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen.

Rev Leva told the Commission that “these mindless killings and invasion of the land reached its climax from 2013 and is advancing with sporadic and regular attacks here and there”.

He said: “The worst affected Local Government Areas so far are: Agatu, Markurdi (Adaka, Adeke, Adem, Upahar, Tse-Kwaghbo, Apir and Mbalagah communities. Others are Gwer-West, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Kwande and Guma (Tse-Oragbo and Tse-Anundu) and Tarka Buruku”.

CAN demanded adequate compensation from Federal and State governments to assuage the feelings of the people who it said have been traumatized and dehumanized following the series of attacks unleashed on them from time to time by marauding herdsmen.

Besides, the association told the Commission that the herdsmen were equipped with sophisticated weapons, saying “It is an ocular fact that the continued attacks, which are evidently encouraged by the indecision of Government, are clearly jihadist attempts, calculated at forcefully Islamizing and subjugating the people of Benue state”.

Meantime, while receiving the complaint in Abuja yesterday, the NHRC boss, Prof. Angwe said the commission would carry out an impartial investigation into the matter and also ensure that justice prevailed.

“It is sad that these killings and destruction of property have continued over time and a lot of people have lost their lives as a result of these numerous attacks”, Angwe noted.

He called on the Federal and State governments to take proactive steps with a view to ensuring that the affected families were properly settled “to avert hunger as the farmers whose produce feed the nation, no longer go to their farms for fear of attacks”.

“The Commission condemns in very strong terms the attacks that are today going on between pastoralists and farmers. The act concerns the entire human community hence we have commenced proactive steps within our mandate to protect the rights of Nigerians and other nationals living in Nigeria”, Angwe added.

He maintained that all hands should be on deck to curb the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen, saying it would be disastrous for the nation which is still grappling with security and economic challenges, to also cope with the issue of hunger.

Digital switch over, new dawn in TV broadcasting – Minister

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting is a new dawn that will revolutionize television broadcasting in the entire West African sub-region.

Alhaji Mohammed stated this in Abuja on Wednesday while addressing journalists on the roll-out of the pilot phase of the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Jos, Plateau State, on Saturday.

He said that with this development, television broadcasting will no longer be the same.

“As I said earlier, the Digital Switch Over (DSO) roll-out last Saturday was nothing short of a revolution in broadcasting. The DSO is an evolving media landscape that affects us all and how we receive, watch, monetize and develop television and production going forward.

Therefore, what happened in Jos at the weekend is momentous, the dawn of a new era for Government, TV Channels, Producers, Advertisers and, most importantly, the Nigerian TV customer,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

He underscored the political will mustered by the Buhari Administration to record such a feat, saying before the advent of this government, the nation had missed the transition deadline twice, thereby eroding the confidence of investors and the public in the DSO

“When we came in about six months ago, a cloud of uncertainty and confusion hung over Nigeria’s digital transition. There were no Set–Top Boxes, without which the transition could not be kick-started; there was no established Signal Distributor on ground. There were no software and security devices for protection of the boxes. The banks had cancelled the Letters of Credit that were granted for the importation of Set-Top Boxes and no one could say for sure if indeed we will meet the third deadline of June 2017 to fully switch on digital broadcasting and switched off analogue broadcasting.

“But we swung into action, setting up an inter-ministerial task force to drive the process, in a show of political will. After a series of meetings and concrete actions to resolve knotty issues, investor and stakeholder confidence was restored and we were firmly set on the path that led to last Saturday’s roll-out,” the Minister said.

While enumerating the benefits of digital broadcasting, Alhaji Mohammed said 15 channels with high-resolution pictures and hi fidelity sound were unveiled at the initial stage and that after the full transition to digital, over 30 TV channels will be watched by over 30 million viewers, making Nigeria one of the biggest markets for free to air TV in the world.

The Minister said unlike the analogue broadcasting, the digital broadcasting technology is not limited to the delivery of television programmes only but there are value added and interactive services such as Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), television shopping, weather forecasts, electronic newspapers etc which can also be accessed on the television set by the viewer, ushering in a new television viewing experience.

In addition, he disclosed that movie and music producers will now have a unique opportunity to release their works directly to TV households, which will be a big blow to those who pirate their works.

Alhaji Mohammed also spoke on the economic gains of the DSO, saying:
“In terms of the economy, all licensed Set-Top Box manufacturers have been mandated to establish manufacturing companies in Nigeria to produce the boxes locally, after importing the first set of boxes.

This will create massive employment and also ensure the transfer of technology to our people. The transition will also be a catalyst for retailers and installers to emerge all over the country, with a massive impact on the local economy”.

The Minister therefore challenged broadcasters in the country to invest in developing compelling content to attract viewers and advertisers.

I am not hiding from EFCC, I am not a coward, says Fani- Kayode

FORMER Spokesperson to the ex- President Goodluck Jonathan’s Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode has denied some media reports that he was hiding from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, saying that was not true as he was not a coward.

 

Fani- Kayode who described the report as totally absurd, said that he was not hiding as he has been in his Abuja residence in the last few weeks, adding that the EFCC never wrote him or called him on phone to explain his role in the Presidential Campaign funds of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, during the 2015 presidential elections.

According to him, others who were alleged to be involved in the campaign funds were invited in a civilised way, treated in a humane and decent manner, even as he wondered why he should be treated differently, criminalised in the newspapers and not even afforded what he termed, common courtesy of a formal invitation by the EFCC , adding that he was waiting for a formal letter from the anti- graft agency or their call as he has handed over those saying he was running to God.

In a statement titled, “My reaction to the allegation that I have gone underground and that I am hiding from the EFCC” and made available to Vanguard early this morning, the former Aviation Minister said, “I have just read some absurd media reports in which have quoted their sources in the EFCC, as saying that I had gone underground and that I was hiding from them. This is false. I have not been invited by the EFCC by letter and neither have they phoned me or attempted to reach me in any other way. I have been in my Abuja home for the last few weeks and I am not hiding from anyone.

“I am not a coward and this attempt to further demonise and humiliate me by the EFCC will fail. If they have any questions for me why don’t they just write to me or call me, give me a date and I will be in their office. I have made my position clear on the issue of the Presidential campaign funds, I have written an essay about it in my various columns about two weeks ago and I have been waiting for the EFCC to reach me ever since then. They have invited others but they have not invited me. I do not believe that I have done anything wrong and this latest attempt to criminalise me and make me look like a fugitive from justice will fail.

“Others that were invited to the EFCC over this same campaign funds issue were sent letters of invitation and were reached. I appear to be the exception and now these hideous lies are being fed to the newspapers to make it look as if I am in hiding or that I am running from them just to sensationalise the whole issue.

“This is also to justify what the EFCC wish to do which is to arrest me in public, humiliate me or to storm my home and lock me up indefinitely. There is no need for all that drama and if it happens that way the Nigerian people will know why. I have no fear of the EFCC, I will respond to their invitation any day and anytime they send it to me and I will help them to clarify whatever issues they wish to raise in any way that I can.

“Others were invited in a civilised way and were treated in a humane and decent manner. I really do wonder why I should be treated differently, criminalised in the newspapers in this way and not even afforded the common courtesy of a formal invitation by them. I await their letter or their call and I leave those that wish to give the impression that I am running from them to God. “

El-Rufai hailed over compensation for bomb blast victims’ families

NATIONAL Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, has commended Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State for paying N29.1 million as compensation to the families of workers killed in a bomb blast in Zaria nine months ago.

 

Twenty workers died in the incident on July 7, 2015 at the premises of Sabongari Local Government Secretariat in Zaria.

Those affected were mostly local council workers from Lere and Kauru councils, who travelled to Zaria for the mandatory verification of their employment status ordered by the governor.

In a statement by its General Secretary, Issa Aremu, the union acknowledged what it described as “sensitivity” of the Governor to the demands of trade unions in the state that families of the 20 dead workers were adequately compensated.

 

Breaking : SERAP sues FG over killings by herdsmen, others

The Registered Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have dragged the Federal Government to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja over “failure to prevent, account for and investigate killings, raping, maiming of Nigerians and other residents, and destruction of property across the country by herdsmen, the military and police.”

In the suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/15/16 and filed yesterday by Solicitor to SERAP, Femi Falana SAN, the Plaintiff contends “that the continuing attacks, killings, raping, maiming of Nigerians and other residents, and destruction of property by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators across the country amount to serious violations of human rights of the rights to life, to the security and dignity of the human person, and to property.”

The suit reads in part: “The Plaintiff contends that the Defendant is responsible for these human rights violations and abuses by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators which have not been adequately prevented, investigated or prosecuted by the authorities. These responsibilities are heightened when an observable pattern has been overlooked or ignored, such as is the case in this suit.”

  

“The Plaintiff also contends that the obligation to secure the right to life is not confined to cases where it has been established that the killings were caused by an agent of the State. Nor is it decisive whether those affected or their families have lodged a formal complaint about the killings with the competent investigatory authority.”

“It is contended that the mere knowledge of the killings by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators on the part of the authorities have ipso facto given rise to an obligation under Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to carry out an effective investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killings and to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and to provide reparations to victims.”

“Moreover, the Defendant has a responsibility for those killings, raping maiming and destruction of property where authorities knew or ought to have known of an immediate threat and failed to take measures that might have been expected to avoid those attacks and killings.”

“The Plaintiff further contends that the Defendant has positive obligations to provide a framework of security for the protection of life, and to protect the lives of those individuals at risk from unlawful attacks by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators. The lack of accountability for the attacks by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators across the country has continued to create a culture of impunity which clearly is not compatible with the rule of law in a democratic society.”

“The Plaintiff contends that the Defendant has a positive obligation to take measures to secure the right to life, right to security and dignity of the human person and right to property, and to prevent attacks and killings by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators across Nigeria.”

“Human life has a special value and dignity which requires legal protection. It should be pointed out that those affected in the present case include the most disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors of society.”

“By interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights so as to impose on the Defendant obligations to prevent, account for and investigate killings, raping, maiming of Nigerians and other residents and destruction of property, whether or not the Defendant is directly or indirectly responsible, the ECOWAS Court of Justice will be demanding from the Nigerian government a commitment to securing these rights and to the reform of the very structure and modus operandi of its legal institutions. In so doing, the ECOWAS Court will help to address the systemic factors contributing to the attacks by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators.”

A fundamental notion of contemporary human rights law is that victims of violations enjoy an independent right to effective remedies. This idea is itself founded on another longstanding legal principle: ubi ius ibi remedium (there is no right without a remedy).”

SERAP therefore is asking the ECOWAS Court of Justice for the following reliefs:

A DECLARATION that the attacks, killings, raping and maiming of citizens and other residents and destruction of property and other serious human rights violations and abuses across the country by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators amount to failure by the Defendant to exercise due diligence to prevent the attacks and killings and cannot be justified under any circumstances, and therefore constitutes a serious breach of Nigeria’s international human rights obligations and commitments to ensure and secure the rights to life, to dignity and security of the human person, and to property, guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party;

A DECLARATION that the failure of the Defendant to exercise due diligence and to take steps to prevent attacks, killings, raping, and maiming of hundreds of Nigerians and other residents and destruction of property and other serious human rights violations and abuses by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators, and to conduct prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigations and to hold those responsible to account, is unlawful as it amounts to breaches of obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party;

A DECLARATION that the failure of the Defendant to provide for an effective remedy and reparation for the victims, is unlawful as it amounts to breaches of obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party;

A DECLARATION that the failure of the Defendant to provide an environment necessary for securing and promoting the enjoyment of the human rights to life, dignity and security of the person, and to property, is unlawful as it amounts to breaches of obligations to promote and fulfil the human rights guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party

AN ORDER directing the Defendant and/or its agents individually and/or collectively to respect, protect, promote, and fulfil the human rights of Nigerians and residents and communities across the country that have suffered attacks and human rights violations abuses by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators;

AN ORDER directing the Defendant to investigate all cases of unlawful killings noted herein and pay adequate money compensation of N50 million to each of the dependents;

AN ORDER directing the Defendant and/or its agents individually and/or collectively to provide effective remedies and reparation, including adequate compensation, restitution, satisfaction or guarantees of non-repetition that the Honourable Court may deem fit to grant to the victims of attacks by the military, police, herdsmen and other unknown perpetrators.

Troops rescue 11, 595 hostages from Boko Haram dens

THE Nigerian Army said yesterday that no fewer than 11, 595 civilians held at various enclaves by Boko Haram had been rescued.

This came as troops intensified efforts to clear and mop up all insurgent activities in the North East.

The army said the rescue operations were carried out within the past six weeks, noting that women and young children who had been caught in the Boko Haram crossfire finally regained their freedom and temporarily settled in camps for internally displaced persons, IDPs.

 

In continuation of the clearance and mopping up operations of the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in various parts of the North East geo-political region, troops have rescued no fewer than 11,595 persons held hostage by the terrorists within the last one month,” the army said in a statement signed by the Acting a Director of Army Public Relations, Sani Usman, yesterday.

The military further explained that the rescue operations were carried out by different military outposts across the region and that a significant number of them were received from Cameroonian authorities.

Usman said: “On March 1, 2016, troops of 155 Task Force Battalion received 10,000 refugees from the Republic of Cameroon at Banki and Bama axis.

“Two days later, Army Headquarters Special Forces (AHQ SF) Battalion also rescued 63 persons held captives by terrorists at Maleri. The same unit on 5th March 2016 rescued 779 persons at Fotokol general area, a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon.

“Within the first week of March 2016, the 254 Task Force Battalion also rescued 45 persons at Kuaguru, while 143 Battalion similarly rescued 27 persons at Gadayamo,15 at Galadadani Dam in Madagali and 10 persons from Disa village.

‘’On March 11, 2016, troops of 231 Battalion and Armed Forces Strike Force (AFSF) also rescued seven persons held captives by Boko Haram terrorists at Betso village; 5 of whom were elderly women and 2 young girls.”

My life’s in God’s hands – Anenih

Chief Tony Anenih, former Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed disappointment with what he, yesterday, described as the fictional reports about his death, saying his life is in God’s hands.

Anenih, who is in London on a private visit, according to his media aide, Sufyuan Ojeifo, was shocked by news of his death on social media platforms.

 

He is in London on a private visit. He will be back in Abuja on Sunday, and he felt really disappointed with the report. He could not believe that any medium could publish such fiction as news and noted that his life is in the hands of God,” Ojeifo quoted the 82-year-old politician and former policeman as saying.

“I spoke with him (Anenih) at 1.37 pm today (yesterday). He is hale and hearty. The report was simply a concoction of mischief. Only God and the harbinger of the rumour know the intention behind it. When I spoke with him, he said he did not know the hospital mentioned in the report neither did he know the doctor mentioned.

He said he did not have brain cancer. He rounded off with me by saying “God is on the throne.”

Anenih, the Iyasele of Esanland, was Chairman of the PDP BoT and a national leader of the party and is expected to lead the party into the forthcoming governorship election in his native Edo State scheduled to hold in September.

Buhari, Saraki, Dogara, APC leaders in closed door meeting in Villa

President Muhammadu Buhari is currently meeting behind closed doors with some leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting has the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the National Chairman of APC, John Odegie-Oyegun in attendance.

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha,
Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari and the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume were also in the meeting.

Also at the meeting are the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, and former Minister of Information, Tony Momoh.

APC Deputy National Chairman North, Shuaibu Lawali, and the Deputy National Chairman South Segun Oni were also in the meeting.

Though the agenda was not disclosed, it is believed to have trappings on some contemporary issues which included the 2016 budget, the menace of fulani herdsmen amongst others.

The meeting was in progress at the time of filing this report.

Bakassi Peninsula: Put your mind at rest, Buhari tells Cameroon

Against the backdrop of allegations that Nigeria was still accessing hydrocarbon from oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula, despite the judgement of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, that ceded the territory to the Republic of Cameroon, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, told his Cameroonian counterpart, Mr. Paul Biya, and his people to put their minds at rest.

 

The two countries also agreed to transfer arrested members of Boko Haram back to their countries of origin to face trial, in line with international best practices.

Answering questions at a joint press briefing which followed the signing of a bilateral agreement on security, among others, between Nigeria and Cameroon, the President stated that a committee had been set up with members from both countries to deliberate on the matter.

He said while the report of the committee was being awaited, the country needed not to worry as Nigeria would not go contrary to the decision of the ICJ.

He said: “On this issue, I will like the government and people of Cameroon to keep their minds at peace. We are an internationally respectful and law abiding nation.

“Somehow, there was crisis between the two nations on Bakassi Peninsula over the hydrocarbon exploitation. This issue is being dealt with by the International Court of Justice.

“The technical part of the extent of international interest forms the second part of your question. On maritime resources, there is a committee of experts, comprising Cameroon and Nigeria sides.

“I cannot fully answer that question until after the results of this committee report gets to us and when they submit the report, I expect that with a few of us that are still around, we shall sit together and see what is the best way for the two countries. So, feel secured and be at peace.”

Biya denies harbouring terrorists

Also reacting to a question on why Cameroon allegedly harboured suspected terrorists who ran to the country for safety, visiting President Pual Biya said the allegation was unfounded, maintaining that Cameroon was committed to ending insurgency in Lake Chad basin.

He said: “Yes I have heard of this information. I heard it in New York during conferences that Cameroon serves as base for Boko Haram but what can Cameroon benefit from that?

“Is it the ideologies? Are we going to benefit from finances? No. It was just bad press. Cameroon remains focused and committed to the fight against Boko Haram.”

 Buhari lauds  Cameroon over IDPs

Meanwhile, President Buhari at a dinner and cultural night organized in honour of the visiting President of Cameroon and his wife, Chantal, at the Presidential Villa, Tuesday night, appreciated the Cameroonian government for giving protection to over 56,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from Nigeria since July 2014.

The President, at the dinner that attracted the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Chief Justice of the Federation, Mahmud Muktar, and top private sector and government functionaries from Cameroon, also thanked the United Nations and other international donor agencies for the various forms of assistance to IDPs across the country.

He also condoled the families of Boko Haram victims along the Nigeria/Cameroon border.

He said: “Our special condolences go to families of our fallen heroes who had sacrificed their lives to safeguard our territorial integrity and provide security of lives and property of our people

“Permit me to use this occasion of your excellency’s visit to Nigeria to once again extend my personal gratitude and that of the Federal Government for your country’s hosting of over 65,000 Nigerian refugees since July 2014.

“We also appreciate the assistance of United Nations System, international donors, local and international non-governmental organisations and the ordinary Cameroonian families who share their meagre provisions with the refugees in the spirit of African brotherhood. We thank them all.”

Buhari, Biya commend Joint Task Force

Meanwhile, both leaders who met behind closed doors, Tuesday, also commended the efforts of the Multinational Joint TaskForce, MNJTF which has been battling to root out Boko Haram insurgents from lake Chad region, having reached an agreement to transfer Boko Haram suspects to their home countries to stand trial.

Reading the communique before signing the document on behalf of the Nigerian government, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama alongside his Cameroonian counter-part, Mbela Mbela, said both countries also agreed that the tripartite meeting of the two countries and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, should be convened by July 2016.

Enugu Attacks: Northern senators warn govs, other leaders

Spurred by the divergent comments trailing the Fulani herdsmen attacks in communities across Nigeria, senators from the North, under the aegis of Northern Senators, yesterday warned governors, leaders and community heads in the country to desist from making inflammatory statements that could further overheat the polity.

This came as Defence Headquarters also, yesterday, vowed that whoever was involved in the killing of innocent Nigerians must be brought to book, in line with the laws of the land.

 

Rising from a meeting in Abuja, the northern senators promised that, as part of moves to nip in the bud the continued clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers, the lawmakers would soon come up with new laws as well as amend existing ones to help promote the interest of Northern Nigeria in particular and the country at large.

They also warned that there would be no country called Nigeria, if other parts of the country asked Fulani herdsmen to leave their communities and states.

Reading a communique issued at the end of the meeting to journalists, Chairman, Northern Senators’ Forum, Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West), who noted that the forum resolved to continue its support for President Muhammadu Buhari in order to bring about even development to all sections of the country, said members of the Forum shall work assiduously to enact laws and amend existing ones.

He said:  “We appreciate the steps the Federal Government had taken so far to contain the problems of herdsmen/farmers clashes and call on community leaders to be careful when making statements on these ugly incidences.”

Asked whether the forum’s call on community leaders to be mindful of what they say was also applicable to governors of respective states, Senator Adamu said:  “It is for all Nigerians. A governor is a community leader. The only difference is that he has a label called governor.

“If you don’t mind, in recent times, it started with the West when elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, had some very nasty experience. It was attributed at the time to Fulani herdsmen. At the end, those people were apprehended and they were not Fulanis.

“This thing has been going on in virtually all parts of the country today. If we now say that everybody should rise and say herdsmen should leave, we will not have a country.”

It would be recalled that Northern governors were reported to have said that Fulanis were not culpable in the spate of killings in Agatu, Enugu, others.

Dealing with perpetrators

While speaking at a meeting held at Defence Headquarters between the committee set up to investigate alleged attacks and killings by herdsmen across the country and the leadership of Miyetti Allah, Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, warned that the military would no longer tolerate any excuse for armed men to unleash violence on innocent Nigerians, be it herdsmen, farmers or any other armed group of whatever guise or name.

Olonisakin, who was represented by the Director of Administration, Defence Headquarters, Major-General Fatai Ali, also disclosed that the military, in conjunction with other security agencies, would do everything possible to restore order in line with the directives of President Buhari.

Backing govs on arrest of culprits

Also yesterday, the All Progressives Congress, APC, South-East geopolitical zonal caucus, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of its governors who were in Enugu State to commiserate with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on the slaughter of 46 Ukpabi, Nimbo natives on April 25 by Fulani herdsmen.

A statement signed by the Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, read thus: “For us, the APC governors’ visit is the soothing balm needed most urgently at this tempestous moment of grief, despair and despondency.

“More so, ethnic merchants have quickly latched on the unfortunate recurring altercation nationwide between herdsmen pastoralists and farmers, for the ignoble objective

to further promote hate, division and widen the fault lines.

We are also enthused with the APC Governors Forum’s solemn pledge not only to join hands with the Federal Government to make sure that the perpetrators and their masterminds are fished out, but also pledge that this is the last of such heinous incident.”

Anambra North, Ayamelum communities live in fear

However, the people of Awka North and Ayamelum local government areas of Anambra State now live in fear of possible invasion of their communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen that have recently unleashed attacks on some communities in the South East.

Chairman of Awka North Local Government, Chief Cosmas Okonkwo, yesterday, in an interview with Vanguard, said the incessant attacks by the Fulani herdsmen on communities bordered by Kogi State had become a serious concern for the people who no longer sleep with their eyes closed.

Okonkwo hinted that the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano, had set up a cattle menace committee, headed by the police commissioner in the state, with traditional rulers, presidents-general of town unions, leaders of Fulani communities and other security agencies in the state as members.

He said the police had been deployed to some parts of the state to ensure that there was no security lapses in the bid to protect the people from the attacks of the herdsmen.

While opposing the grazing bill, he described it as a ploy to foist Fulani herdsmen on the people of the South-South and South-East in particular.

Grazing Bill before National Assembly—Group

Meanwhile, a civil society group, International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, Intersociety, has insisted that a Grazing Reserve Bill was pending before the House of Representatives, contrary to claims by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, that there was no such bill before the National Assembly.

Intersociety in a statement in Onitsha, Anambra State, yesterday, by its chairman, Mr Emeka Umeagbalasi, said:  “The latest of such statements credited to the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ekweremadu during his recent outing in Enugu, we state strongly are deceitful, diversionary, distractive and misleading.

“We had sent our position to the National Assembly through the Senate President and the House Speaker, dated April 26, 2016, stating as follows: “Two Bills concerning the above subject matter, originally drawn from the National Grazing Reserve (Establishment & Development) Bill 2008, introduced and sponsored by Senator Zainab Kure of Niger South Senatorial District of Niger State in the 6th National Assembly (2007-2011); are presently before the House of Reps.

“The two bills are aimed at creating grazing reserves, ranches and cattle reserves across the 36 states to be funded with public funds through the establishment of a National Grazing Reserve Commission, an agency to be placed under the direct control of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also the national patron of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN.”

CAN goes to NHRC

In another development, Benue State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, lodged a complaint at the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, over alleged killings and wanton destruction of property in the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

While submitting a copy of the petition to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, the CAN delegation, led by its Chairman in Benue State, Rev. Augustine Akpen Leva, expressed dismay at what it described as “failure of government to curb the incessant, unwarranted killings and wanton destruction of property” in various parts of the state, allegedly perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen.

Rev Leva told the commission that “these mindless killings and invasion of the land reached its climax from 2013 and is advancing with sporadic and regular attacks here and there”.

He said: “The worst affected local government areas so far are Agatu, Makurdi (Adaka, Adeke, Adem, Upahar, Tse-Kwaghbo, Apir and Mbalagah communities). Others are Gwer-West, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Kwande and Guma (Tse-Oragbo and Tse-Anundu) and Tarka Buruku”.

CAN demanded adequate compensation from federal and state governments to assuage the feelings of the people who had been traumatized and dehumanized, following the series of attacks unleashed on them from time to time by marauding herdsmen.

Besides, the association told the commission that the herdsmen were equipped with sophisticated weapons.

NASS keeps Presidency, ministers waiting for budget

Key ministers, who are members of the special committee raised by the Presidency to work with the National Assembly towards an acceptable budget, yesterday, continued in the waiting game.

This is because the document was still not ready for Mr. President’s signature despite several assurances to that effect.

In spite of several assurances that the National Assembly had completed work on the document as requested by the President, it was still not ready at 7p.m. yesterday.

Findings by Vanguard revealed that members of the National Assembly committee were hard put to remove most of the vexatious items as demanded by the President and restore the votes originally earmarked for other projects and services.

According to impeccable sources the major problem with the budget was how to remove most of the ‘padding’ from the budget and get the money allocated to them into other uses.

It was learned that some members were protective of their projects and were not too keen to get them, and the amount attached to them, off.

Buhari advises states to do background checks on foreign partners

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday cautioned state governments and the private sector against engaging foreign partners without conducting proper background checks.

Buhari gave the advice in a message to the opening of the maiden Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit, organised by the Kaduna State Government, in Kaduna.

 

The President, whose speech was delivered by Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i, noted that various state governments had been making efforts to shore up their revenue base in view of the current economic problems.

“In the face of dwindling oil revenue, I am very pleased to note the efforts being made by state governments to diversify their internally generated revenue sources by opening up their economy for investors and providing a conducive enabling environment.

“More recently, these efforts have been demonstrated not with mere rhetoric or political statements, but with practical policies and well thought out legislation.

“The Kaduna Investment and Economic Summit is a pointer to one of these efforts. State governments and, indeed, the private sector should take care and make background checks before engaging with foreign partners.”

Buhari noted that the summit would help “diversify our oil dependent economy to other viable sectors, where we have competitive advantage.”

The President stressed the importance of the private sector in driving the economy for greater efficiency and growth.

“Private sector led investments remain the most sustainable way of creating much needed jobs and engendering purposeful growth,” the President said.

He said all stakeholders must make concerted efforts “towards sustaining functioning industries, establishing new ones as well as revival of moribund industries.