After 18 months of submitting his panel’s report to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the need to dispense with the subsisting pseudo-federal structure which virtually all the geo-political blocs see as an impediment to national cohesion and economic progress, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has again tactically harped on the need for a speedy restructuring of Nigeria. At a summit of Northern youths, Governor El-Rufai who headed the APC committee, said Nigeria as presently constituted consists of two unequal countries. According to him, ‘’there is a backward, less educated and unhealthy Northern Nigeria and a developing, largely educated…
Author: Akanimo Sampson
A seeming unguarded ultimatum by a coalition of Northern groups has triggered a backstage consultation in the vastly polluted Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region that could boil over with another armed rebellion. The coalition has given governors who are opposed to the RUGA Settlements for Fulani herdsmen 30 days to reconsider their decisions in the best interest of their states. Their Spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said the debate to accept or not to accept the programme was already causing disaffection for Fulani herders. According to him, ‘’while we warn all state governments that stand against the implementation of…
Response to the on-going Ebola outbreak in the Eastern axis of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently being complicated by a fresh spike in the displacement crisis in the country. Renewed violence in that region that is still struggling to contain the Ebola outbreak has claimed the lives of at least 160 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others. Aid agencies say the development has further complicated the response to the public health emergency. For instance, the International Organisation for Migration’s Chief of Mission in DRC, Fabien Sambussy, says the people who fled the frontline of the…
The Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR) has accused Egyptian security forces of extra-judicial killing of 3,185 civilians since July 3, 2013 when the US-client General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi overthrew the government of President Mohammad Morsi who was the first democratically elected President of the North African country. El-Sisi has assumed the title of Field Marshall and permanent president of the troubled country since Egypt’s rubber-stamp parliament overwhelmingly voted to approve constitutional changes to extend his term of office by another 12 years. The rights organisation’s report was issued on the 6th anniversary on the July 3, 2013 coup against President…
A vast majority of Nigerians seeking asylum in Norway are being rejected. In 2018 for instance, those who know better say the rejection rate was 94%. Though few were granted asylum, many still plausibly qualify as vulnerable. Norway is a country that in the last 15 years has experienced an upsurge in asylum applications from people from Nigeria. Within this period, Nigerians have been the largest national group of possible victims of human trafficking in this European country. The authorities have been making efforts to offer assisted return to Nigerian migrants without residence permits in Norway, and how those who…
With the fuel subsidy regime allegedly opening Nigeria’s public finance to huge corruption and illegal exportation of petroleum products to neighboring countries, there are intense diplomatic pressure from all fronts for President Muhammadu Buhari to discontinue with the regime. This, for those who know better, implies a new hike in the pump price of petroleum protects in the country. It is already being estimated that the country may have spent some N10 trillion in the provision of pump price subsidy on imported petroleum products from 2006 to 2018. A research report by BudgIT, a public finance focused civic organisation, said…
While the humanitarian situation in the capital Tripoli worsens for all civilians, some 3,300 migrants who remain detained in similar centres are considered at-risk. An airstrike on Tajoura detention centre in Libya late Tuesday night killed at least 44 migrants and injured more than 130 others including some registered with IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme, several of whom were scheduled to return home in the coming days. The United Nations Network on Migration condemns the attack on the refugee and migrant detention centre in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, that has killed at least 44 people and wounded more than…
With the Hurricane Corruption still hitting the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari hard, a renowned human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has again started to press for a probe of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Military President Ibrahim Babangida for allegedly ripping-off Nigeria of $ 28.2 billion. Falana who is also a constitutional lawyer is asking for an immediate and comprehensive probe of the disappearance of the $12.2 billion under the military regime of Babangida, popularly known as IBB, and of the $16 billion allegedly spent on generating electricity in…
Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, is beginning to portray himself as a leader who adores absolute power. What is currently manifesting from his political chemistry are symptoms of fascism, or perhaps, an indication that he is inching towards being branded as a fascist leader. For the Cambridge Dictionary, facism is a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control, and being extremely proud of country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed. Trust is the speaker would wish the Green Chamber of the bicameral Legislature to be the most peaceful, the most supportive of…
The growing menace of terrorism is currently a major source of severe headache for security chiefs in West Africa. Apparently overwhelmed, they are presently seeking greater regional collaboration to contain the situation before it develops into a migraine for them. Already, the Committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff (CCDS) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is busy reiterating their resolve to curb the menace of terrorism by recommending a special summit of the region’s Authority of Heads of State and Government to address it and through the creation of a forum to share intelligence amongst member states.…
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched an online statistical review of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) last week during its annual Trade Development Board meeting. The SDG Pulse presents analyses for a range of indicators relevant to trade, investment, financing for development, debt, transport and technology. “SDG Pulse offers a great tool for anyone interested in sustainable development. We have provided high quality statistical analyses, clear key messages and most importantly, all of the data are easily downloadable”, UNCTAD’s head of statistics and information, Steve MacFeely, said. The new annual report has a special ‘In…
A bill seeking to regulate and control all aspects of environmental practice in Nigeria is yet to receive the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari due to backstage opposition by some environmental managers who want it killed. The bill which seeks to establish a body known as Institute of Environmental Practitioners of Nigeria was even strongly opposed by some individuals and groups during its public hearing at the National Assembly. The delay by President Buhari in giving his assent to the bill is a source of worry to the Nigeria Environmental Society (NES). President of the society, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, is…
A new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says rules of origin, the criteria needed to determine the nationality of a product, could make or break the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that entered into force in May. The Economic Development in Africa Report 2019 notes that rules of origin could be a game changer for the continent as long as they are simple, transparent, business friendly and predictable. “The AfCFTA is a landmark achievement in the continent’s history of regional integration and is expected to generate significant gains. But it is the rules of origin…
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is currently in league with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to arrest the growing insecurity in Niger, the African country vulnerable to terrorism and violent extremism. In partnership with the National Assembly of Niger, the international bodies in the second week of June organised a conference for parliamentarians from the region in Niamey. This came as the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China promise to donate $1.00 million to the IPU for its work on countering terrorism and violent extremism within the framework of…
Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has offered the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari’s party, a free counsel on how to deal with the Hurricane Corruption currently rubbishing the Change toga of the party. The PDP has advised APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole to redeem his name by submitting himself to the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to answer huge allegations of corruption as Edo State governor as well as alleged misconducts as the APC Chair instead of struggling to dry clean his dented image with the…
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken a seeming major step towards strengthening collaboration between immigration and border security operatives within the sub-region. The sub-regional bloc has agreed to set up a Migration Academy in Nigeria. The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, who made this known said the academy will be set up in Tugga, Kebbi State, to train immigration officers in the region. Babandede who disclosed this during the Passing out Parade of 396 cadets of the 44th Superintendent Basic Course in Kano, said the academy, when fully established, will help in…
In spite of the broadening rejection of the Ruga Settlements, a programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the nomadic Fulani herdsmen, the pro-Fulani administration has commenced a seeming fierce backstage lobby to rally the resisting circles behind the land-grabbing project for a suspected Islamisation agenda. The Buhari lobbyists are claiming that there is no government plan to seize state land, colonise territory or impose Ruga on any part of the federation. President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has been battling to convince the skeptical citizenry that his principal’s settlement programme for his…
A seeming backstage peace initiative between governors of Eastern Nigeria, the battle ground of the undying Biafra agitation by Igbo youths, and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has been stalled by the Ruga settlements programme being vigorously pursued by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. The Igbo governors were locked in a barter kind of deal with the rampaging Fulani herdsmen which they perceived as a panacea to achieving enduring peace between farmers and herdsmen in their geo-political bloc. Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State who let the cat out of the bag said, “we actually proposed…
The Anglo-Dutch oil and gas major, Shell, is currently seeking the approval of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) to pump the 2009 and 2013 funds into its host communities in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, in line with the peace deal for the reopening of the shut Oil Mining License (OML) 25. NAPIMS is a Corporate Services Unit in the Exploration and Production Directorate of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) charged with the responsibility of managing the Federal Government’s investment in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Going by the initial plan of…
The putrefying stench of corruption that has been oozing out of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration since the exit of the largely demonised Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, is seriously calling the integrity of the retired Army General and former military dictator to question. The Buhari military regime aborted the administration of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) under the watch of the late former President Shehu Shagari, on the ground of corruption and decayed social infrastructure. Since his military dictatorship was terminated in a palace coup by his then Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Babangida, the…
Campaigners of the Lower Niger Congress (LNC), a pro-restructuring group, is currently engaging US policy makers to debunk what they described as ‘’the false narrative’’ of the government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch on the killings in the country. LNC Secretary General, Tony Nnadi, a lawyer, is claiming that US policy makers ‘’have gotten the truth as opposed to the false narrative that the government has been using to cover the crime being committed.’’ According to him, the Buhari administration sent Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the US in response to their ongoing visit to the US Congress…
The experts and members of the Ministerial Committee on the Single Currency Programme of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at their meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in the dying days of last month, failed to stay united on the symbol of the sub-region’s currency. They however, agreed by a consensus on ECO as the name for the ECOWAS single currency. They also considered other monetary issues particularly the status of economic convergence, exchange regime, monetary policy framework, Central Bank model and implementation of mechanisms relating to the Special Fund for Development of the currency’s road map. Regarding the legal texts…
A leading world rights group, Human Rights Watch has said that the adoption of a ground-breaking global treaty on June 21, 2019 by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will improve protections for workers facing violence and harassment. ILO member governments, worker representatives, and employers’ organisations spent two years negotiating the text and voted overwhelmingly to adopt the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment, and an accompanying non-binding recommendation that provides guidance on the convention’s obligations. “Governments, workers, and employers have made history by adopting a treaty that sets standards for ending the scourge of violence and harassment in the world…
Diplomats from Germany, Britain, France, the European Union, China, Russia and Iran met in Vienna for talks on the 2015 Iranian Nuclear Treaty, a year after Washington unilaterally scrapped the agreement. The meeting which held at the weekend ended in a stalemate as no agreement emerged on the central issue: the growing danger of a US war against Iran. The previous week, amid an ongoing US military build-up in the Persian Gulf, US President Donald Trump announced that he had pulled back from launching air strikes on Iran that would have caused hundreds of deaths only 10 minutes before they…
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) this Sunday, the International Day of Parliamentarism, is celebrating its 130th anniversary. What began in 1889 as a small group of parliamentarians, dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue, has since grown into a global organisation of national parliaments. By the end of 2019, IPU membership will inch closer to being universal – consisting of 180 national parliaments, 12 supranational parliamentary bodies, and increasing numbers of parliamentarians who attend its meetings. “Democracy, human rights, multilateralism and the rule of law are being increasingly threatened in our world today. It is therefore urgent to take the…
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has started to ring a worrisome on the rising inequality around the world, warning that it is a blight on the development hopes of the globe. According to the UN agency, ‘’the development gains of the 20th century are being eroded by growing inequality – and something needs to be done about it. Inequality is deepening. Instead of reducing, it’s getting worse.’’ The challenge is exacerbated by a fraught multilateral system and rising tensions, attendees at the annual meeting of UNCTAD’s governing body heard, at the UN headquarters in Geneva. Today,…
Member of the House of Representatives, Hon James Abiodun Faleke, has declined offers from the people of Kogi West Senatorial district to contest the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election. Instead, he asked the people to choose a candidate with the interest of the area at heart. Speaking at a meeting of stakeholders from the area in Abuja on Friday, Faleke told his people that he was back to Lagos where he was trained politically and would support any candidate selected by them, but would not support anyone who helped in truncating the…
The Anglo-Dutch oil and gas super major, Shell, is currently working out another Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) for the development of their host communities in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s vastly polluted oil and gas region. Shell’s General Manager in charge of External Relations, Igo Weli, who made this known in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, however, pointed out that the existing GMoU has expired. In 2006, Shell introduced a new way of working with communities called the GMoU which has continued to be used successfully by other oil companies. A GMoU is an agreement between the big oil…
There are indications that Akwa Ibom State, one of the big oil and gas states of the Niger Delta is being ravaged by the malaria scourge. This is bursting into the open as the state government under the watch of Governor Udom Emmanuel, a former bank top executive, is busy soliciting increased immunisation coverage from stakeholders to check the spread of preventable childhood killer diseases in the state. The state Malaria Control Officer, Mary Bassey, while giving an update on Malaria Preventive Strategies Integration, maintained that apart from immunisation, there was need for all hands to also be on deck…
The titanic race for the Creek Haven, the Bayelsa State Government House in Yenagoa, the state capital, is on the front burner of the swampy state criss-crossed by a network of oil pipelines. All the contending political forces, some of them marginal, do not appear to be leaving anything to chance. The governorship race promises to be a bi-polar war between the dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the invading All Progressives Congress (APC). Apart from these two parties, no other one in the state has any significance to cause a miraculous upset in the battle for the Creek Haven.…
