A society that cares about its future, must experience sleeplessness, especially as it pertains to the preparedness, possibilities, as well as the prospects of its youth as leaders of tomorrow on the one hand, and the well being of its citizens after retirement on the other hand. Though in 2009, His Excellency Matthew Hassan Kukah, had in a piece titled “Preparing for Nigeria’s Coming Power Elite”, hypothesized that: “In about half a century from now, a new brand of leaders of Nigerian descent who are now honing their political skills and tailoring their brinkmanship in some of the best schools…
Author: Francis Damina
Why I Suspended Benue Council Chairmen Benue State governor, Hyacinth Iormem Alia, has debunked accusations from council chairmen in the state that he has sacked them from office. The governor stated this in an interview at the weekend while reaponding to a press conference organized by the suspended council chairmen, who accused him of sacking them from office despite a subsisting court order barring their sack. Recall that the Benue State House of Assembly had during plenary session on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, recommended for the suspension of all the 23 local government chairmen as well as their various legislative…
In the past few days, there have been alot of brooding and civilian sabre- rattling over a video clip in which my friend – the outgone Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Elrufai, is seen addressing an audience of a supposedly Muslim Imams and Ulamas. Among other things in the now viral clip, he unambiguously said: one, that the 2023 elections were a referendum between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. “If anything”, the former Governor said, “they (the elections) have demonstrated to Christians – especially the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party – Mr Peter Obi, that in Politics, they…
The Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, arraigned one Bukar Mohammed before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri on a one-count charge of obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N43, 328, 000.00 (Forty-Three Million, Three Hundred and Twenty Eight Thousand Naira). The defendant allegedly converted the money entrusted in his custody for safe keeping to his own personal use. The charge reads: ‘‘That you, Bukar Mohammed sometime in 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently induced one Alhaji Ali Mohammed…
1. Vacancy exist in one of our subsidiaries (A hospitality outfit) for an IT Officer with functional experience in Networking, Hardware Repairs, PAS, System troubleshooting/ Configuration etc. A minimum of 2 -4 years experience is required. Experience in hospitality background would be an added advantage. Interested candidates should pls send CV to hr@northwestpetroleum-ng.com with the subject *IT Officer* Thank you. 2. Corporate Driver Location: Yaba/Ikoyi Industry: Financial services Remuneration: 50k Benefit: HMO, Pension Interested persons leaving within Obalende axis with Valid drivers license should call 09080640444 and send CV to hr@mkobo.com.ng 3. Driver Logistics Operations Needed. A driver with a logistics Operations…
In the build-up to 2015 presidential elections, my benefactor and teacher, Malam Mohammed Haruna, had introduced me to Malam Garba Shehu who was then head of His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s media crew. I immediately linked up with him at their office in Utako where we discussed issues related to the presidential campaign of the then APC flagbearer -General Muhammadu Buhari. Obvious in the conversation was Garba Shehu’s mastery and understanding of his calling as a journalist. I was also to meet him twice at the Buhari Support Organization’s Secretariat somewhere in Lobito Crescent with Malam Adamu Adamu, Cols. MM…
Fredrick Nwabufo, journalist and columnist, has convened an ideological and voluntary group for journalists committed to peace-building, national cohesion and progress. According to the columnist, the group named, ‘Journalists for United Nigeria (JUN)’, is strictly non-partisan; not a pressure or lobby group, but a think-factory to connect minds in the media who are committed to a united Nigeria. ‘’I believe, the media possesses some of the brightest minds. JUN is more or less a discussion forum for like-minded people. It is non-partisan; it is not a pressure group. It is not a lobby group; it is not a political group.…
No doubt, from North to South, East to West, insecurity has become the cog on the wheel of Nigeria’s drive to nationhood. Of recent, apart from the dreaded Boko Haram, there have been, across the country, much talk about the unity or otherwise of the country predicated on the activities of criminals. Almost on a daily basis, tens, and sometimes, hundreds of innocent people, either get killed or kidnapped with their properties often not spared. And these usually include pregnant women and children. Clearly, Nigeria is becoming unsafe by the day! Yes, this accounts for the emergence of non-state actors…
Not unexpectedly, Bishop Kukah’s Christmas homily, not unlike his previous speeches and homilies, has generated a plethora of bile-coloured reactions from the Muslim North, particularly from apex muslim organization in Nigeria, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), on claims that the homily was simply an attack on Islam. In a response, the JNI described the homily as a poisoned arrow fired at the heart of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria. The Bishop had in the homily accused President Buhari of uncritically favouring the Muslim North rather than seeing the whole country as his constituency. ” It is curious that President Buhari’s…
In the last few days, there have been, in many social media groups and fora, an outpouring of vituperations, brickbats, ignorance, insularity, bigotry, etcetera, as reactions to a ‘leaked conversation’ between yours sincerely and arguably, the finest and most sincere political figure from Southern Kaduna – His Excellency Barnabas Bala Bantex. The former Deputy Governor had on Tuesday, before lauds, called when I was already set for a recorded Phone Interview with a prominent Kaduna Sheikh who was expected to lend his voice to a Peace initiative aimed at bringing to a terminal point the killings in especially the Southern…
Birthed in June 1932, her death was not unexpected. Not unexpected because Mama Janet Hauwa Kukah died at the age of 86. And as we may all be aware, old age is a disease that has no cure. Unfortunately, despite Mama’s qualifications to seek for terrestrial relocation in the hereafter owing to her age, her demise can never be dissociated from the pains of memory. Of course, death remains the most dreaded event in human existence. According to Archbishop Peter Sarpong, no matter how we view death, it still remains a ” social evil, which disturbs or disrupts the social…
This is indeed a very difficult time for His Excellency Architect Barnabas Bala Bantex. The former Deputy Governor is now being consumed by partisan groupthink. In a widely circulated video of an interview on ECWA Television last week, Bantex, who along with the president of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Hon. Jonathan Asake, were invited to chart the way out of the challenges of insecurity in Southern Kaduna, brewed a storm when he, towards the end of the interview session, said: ” But I want to use this forum to do two things: one is to say to the people…
In the coming days or week, the media would be awashed with questions relating to happenings in Northern Nigeria considering the current fire of insecurity that is about to consume the region. The other day, it was Bishop Kukah reflecting on the danger of the current brand of Almajiranchi, and only yesterday, Mahmud Jega wrote about Fire from Borno to Sokoto. While Bishop Kukah called attention to the economic and security implications of over thirteen million abandoned children roaming the streets as almajiris, Jega, in his Daily Trust Monday Column titled ” Fire from Borno to Sokoto”, asked: ” When…
Every society must be SLEEPLESS about its future, especially, on one hand, the preparedness, possibilities, as well as the prospects of its youth as leaders of tomorrow; and on the other hand, the well being of its citizens after retirement. Though in 2009, His Excellency Matthew Hassan Kukah, had in a piece titled “Preparing for Nigeria’s Coming Power Elite”, hypothesised that: “In about half a century from now, a new brand of leaders of Nigerian descent who are now honing their political skills and tailoring their brinkmanship in some of the best schools around the globe, will return home to…
For some time now, there has been an influx of reactions deeply steeped in bile as feedbacks to the homily delivered by His Lordship, Most Rev. Dr Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop Of Sokoto Diocese, on 11th February 2020, at the Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna. The event was the funeral of Michael Nnadi – a seminarian of Sokoto Diocese kidnapped and later killed by his abductors. The feedbacks have been marked by harsh insulting language: vituperatory, offensive, intemperate, filthy, obscene, and vitriolic, to say the least. They are so harsh that the inerrable conclusion one could easily draw is…
I was almost set to start hitting the road to my village when at about 8 am, penultimate Thursday, I saw Bishop Kukah’s call. “What is it in this early hour of the day?” I pondered in fear. His Lordship wanted us to conclude discussions on a Gwong lady – Gloria Auta, who had come to Abuja from Lagos; and on an illustrious Kuturmi son in Ukraine. While the lady runs a football academy in Lagos that has Daniel Amokachi as Patron, the Kuturmi son is aspiring to have the biggest poultry farm in Nigeria located here in our home…
He is 43 years today as a priest. Blessed is the womb that bore this great man. I do not mean his Mother’s since, apart from having that blessed woman whose name should have been Maryamu as his biological mother, the Bishop is equally blessed to be the first fruit from the womb of Holy Family Parish, Gidan Bako, with his ordination as its first indigenous priest on 19th December 1976. Each time, like yesterday, I visit the Parish House, the silence of the vicinage reminds me of the many greats the parish had hatched: the Bishop himself, Rev. Fr.…
