Iniubong Umoren, a jobseeker who went missing after she went for a job interview in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, has been found dead.
The news of her death was announced by a Twitter user, @UmohUduaki who had raise the alarm on her missing friend early Sunday.
Her earlier tweet requesting for a job.
Iniubong left home for an interview at Airport Rd in the outskirts of Uyo April 29, 2021. About 2 hours later, she was said to have made a frantic phone call to her friend where she was heard screaming before the call was abruptly ended. Her phone was switched off shortly after that.
Her friend alleged that she was abducted by one Uduak Frank Akpan, from Nung Ikot Obio, after he lured her on social media with a fake job offer. The police said on Friday, April 30, that an investigation into the case has began and two persons have been arrested.
However, in a post shared on Sunday morning, May 2, @umohuduak1 revealed that she was raped and murdered by her abductor. Details of her death are still sketchy, she was reportedly murdered and buried in a shallow grave.
“They killed my friend and they buried my friend,” she tweeted with a video of her in tears.
The confirmation came as #FindHinyUmoren was gaining traction on social media, garnering attention from many concerned Nigerians as individuals tried to locate the missing lady.
Ever since her friend raised the alarm, #HinyNumoren started trending and through Twitter, the families were able to zero in on the suspects who might have committed the act.
The suspects allegedly lured her after she announced on Twitter on April 27 that she was in need of a job.
“#AkwaIbomTwitter please I’m really in need of a job, something to do to keep mind and soul together while contributing dutifully to the organisation. My location is Uyo, I’m creative, really good in thinking critically and most importantly a fast learner. CV available on request.”
The news of her demise has since further the conversation and Twitter users are reacting disappointedly on the unemployment rate in the country that has been pegged at 33% according to the last report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
They are also calling for the arrest and detention of the culprits.
Here are some of the reactions:
I’ve been following the #FindHinyHumoren hashtag closely over the past couple of days and I am extremely devastated that young Miss Iniobong Umoren, who simply set out to find a job, was raped and murdered.
— Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) May 2, 2021
I don’t know why you people are saying, “They” killed Ini as if we don’t know her killer. Uduak Frank Akpan. That is the name. Uduak Frank Akpan terminated the dream of a young, hardworking Nigerian woman after 4years, 8 semester, 64 cours and 151 credit hours #FindHinnyHumorenpic.twitter.com/vGEXENJRxn
— Doctör Penking™ ???? Peter Obi (@drpenking) May 2, 2021
Uduak Frank Akpan was finally picked up and he confessed to raping and killing Ini after which he buried her in a shallow grave. Following pressure from social media on the police,he ran to Oron in Akwa Ibom State and later to Uruan and was still picked up
She made this tweet searching for a job and she was lured to a fake interview.she went for the interview and gone missing for days only for news to come that she was raped and killed. Rest in Peace Hinny IniUbong Umoren. Your killers will die a painful death.#FindHinnyHumorenpic.twitter.com/JygzB7tIen
In our quest of searching for what to eat, may we not be consumed by what will eat us. ? May we not die untimely while looking for our means of livelihood, Amen.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and 24 concerned Nigerians have sued the regime of the President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Broadcasting Commission at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja.
SERAP said the suit is over “the arbitrary use of the NBC Act and broadcasting code to target, harass, sanction, and fine independent television and radio stations in Nigeria, and to restrict Nigerians’ freedom of expression and access to information.”
The rights group is asking the ECOWAS Court to declare “illegal and contrary to Nigeria’s international human rights obligations the provisions of the NBC Act and broadcasting code frequently apply by the Federal Government and NBC to target, harass, intimidate, and impose sanctions on independent television and radio stations in the country.”
The suit is coming in the wake of the “‘bridge [breach] letter’ by the NBC asking Channels TV to explain why it interviewed the spokesman of a proscribed organisation; the ban on Jay FM 101.9 Jos for playing songs such as Falz’s ‘This is Nigeria’, Wande Coal’s ‘Iskaba’ and Olamide’s ‘See Mary, See Jesus’; and the N9m fines imposed on Channels TV, AIT and Arise TV [N3m each] over their coverage of the #EndSARS protests.”
In the suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/19/21 and filed last week, the Plaintiffs are arguing that “the rights to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom allow Nigerians to seek and attain truth, which is an inherently good activity. These rights also allow Nigerians to participate in representative governance, social and political decision-making, which the Federal Government and NBC are obligated to foster and encourage.”
According to the Plaintiffs, “Attempts to justify restrictions on these fundamental rights and freedom on the overly vague grounds of incitement, morality and subversion of the constituted authority contradict the principles of the universality of human rights. Freedom of Expression is a fundamental human right and cannot be denied without lawful justification.”
The Plaintiffs are also arguing that “the application of the Nigerian Broadcasting Act 1992 and broadcasting code to sanction independent television and radio stations is arbitrary, and has created an environment in which independent media houses are censored, or resort to self-censorship.”
The Plaintiffs state that “despite the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria which guarantees the right to access public records, the Federal Government and its agents and several states of Nigeria have routinely refused to release information sought.”
The Plaintiffs are also arguing that “a lot of Nigerians at home and abroad rely on independent television and radio stations including online on their coverage of topical issues of public interest to access impartial, objective and critical information about ideas and views on how the Federal Government and its agents are performing their constitutional and international human rights obligations.”
The suit filed on behalf of the Plaintiffs by their lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part, “The low level of political tolerance for views perceived to be critical of government or offensive means that the press continues to be subject of scare tactics, harassment and intimidation.”
“Censorship restricts the flow of information from the Federal Government and its agents about issues of public interest, preventing people from accessing critical information, expressing themselves, and denying them opportunities to assert other fundamental human rights.”
“It also violates the rights of people to openly discuss issues relating to transparency and accountability in government, and prevents them from accessing information on a wide range of related concerns.”
“The Federal Government and NBC should be stopped from using the broadcasting code or any other regulations and/or law to erode the sacred rights to freedom of expression, information and media freedom, which is the bedrock of the rule of law and sustainable democracy.”
“The Federal Government and NBC have routinely breached the fundamental principles of media freedom and media plurality, which are a central part of the effective exercise of freedom of expression and access to information, and thereby undermined the ability of Nigeria’s independent media houses to function effectively.”
“The persistent use of the NBC Act and broadcasting code by the Federal Government and the NBC is a blatant violation of the rights to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom, as well as prohibition against self-censorship.”
“The rights to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom promote diversity in forms of individual self-fulfillment and human flourishing, which the Federal Government and its agents ought to cultivate to achieve a tolerant and welcoming environment for the sake of good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights.”
“The Federal Government and NBC have violated the right of Nigerians to objective and impartial news coverage and reportage, as they continue to impermissibly restrict individuals’ rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and press freedom in Nigeria.”
“The Federal Government and NBC have seriously undermined the ability of independent media houses to practice journalism free from undue interference, to cover diverse views that are crucial to the exercise of many other rights and freedoms.”
The Plaintiffs are therefore asking the ECOWAS Court of Justice for the following reliefs:
“A DECLARATION that the application of the provisions of the National Broadcasting Commission Act 1992 and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code by the Defendant and its agent to impose sanctions and penalties on independent television and radio stations is inconsistent and incompatible with the right to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom guaranteed under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“AN ORDER setting aside the sum of Five Million Naira or any other form of penal sanction unilaterally imposed by the Defendant and its agent on Channels TV and/or on any such other television and radio stations.
“AN ORDER directing the Defendant and its agents to immediately repeal and/or amend the National Broadcasting Commission Act and the Nigerian Broadcasting Code and bring them into conformity with Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the Defendant and its agents from unlawfully imposing sanctions fines or doing anything whatsoever to harass Channels TV and any other television and radio stations in violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
“SUCH FURTHER order or orders the Honorable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this suit.”
SERAP said no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
The Federal Government has resolved to deny non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within 14 days entry into Nigeria.
This decision was part of the decisions reached by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 following increasing cases of COVID-19 and fatalities in parts of the country.
The committee’s chairman, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this in a statement issued Sunday, titled ‘Travel advisory for passengers arriving Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey.’
According to the statement, the travel advisory shall take effect from Tuesday while it shall be subjected to review after an initial period of four weeks.
The guidelines read in part, “Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria.
“This regulation, however, does not apply to passengers who transited through these countries.
“The following measures shall apply to airlines and passengers who fail to comply with I and II(a) above: airlines shall mandatorily pay a penalty of $3,500 for each defaulting passenger.
“Non-Nigerians will be denied entry and returned to the country of embarkation at cost to the airline.
“Nigerians and those with permanent resident permit who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within 14 days preceding travel to Nigeria shall be made to undergo seven days of mandatory quarantine in a government approved facility at the point-of-entry city and at cost to the passenger.
“The following condition shall apply to such passengers:Within 24 hours of arrival shall take a COVID-19 PCR test.
“If positive, the passenger shall be admitted within a government-approved treatment centre, in line with national treatment protocols.
“If negative, the passenger shall continue to remain in quarantine and made to undergo a repeat PCR test on day 7 of their quarantine.”
According to the guidelines, passengers arriving in Nigeria from other destinations must observe a seven-day self-isolation at their final destination.
“They must carry out a COVID-19 PCR test on day 7 at selected laboratory and shall be monitored for compliance to isolation protocol by appropriate authorities.
The abducted student of Kings School, otherwise known as Capro Secondary Mission School located at Gana Ropp in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State has regained freedom, the military authorities have confirmed.
Gunmen had in the early hours of April 29 kidnapped the students in Capro, which is few kilometres away from the Yakubu Gowon airport and about 60 kilometres from Jos, the state capital.
However, three of the students escaped while one remained in captivity. But in a statement issued on Sunday, the spokesman of Operation Safe Haven, Major Ibrahim Shittu, said troops rescued the remaining student in captivity on Saturday.
He said the rescue operation was achieved through the sustained search and rescue efforts of the troops, adding that no ransom was paid to secure the student’s release.
According to the military spokesman, the rescued student is in good health condition and has since been reunited with other students in the college.
Bandits have, in recent times, targeted schools for mass abductions – Several students of Greenfield University in Kaduna are still in captivity after they were abducted on April 20.
Bandits who abducted 39 students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, in the Igabi local government area of Kaduna state recently released a video of the students, including a pregnant female student, calling for help.
Fu’ad Lawal has an impressive CV – From owning his writing role at Pulse to directing communication as Editor-in-Chief at Zikoko magazine to now heading the growth process at Eden life, he has, in just a few years, mastered the ability to carve out a simple but thriving niche in old territories.
And getting here he says, has just been a accumulation of simple moments.“I literally just stumbled and stumbled and grasped the nearest tree by and swung and swung across the jungle until I got to this tree.”
Fu’ad resigned at Pulse because he wanted to publish key cultural stories that were constantly dying at the editors’ desk.
He explored this vision at Zikoko and showed everyone that news, and other content from the media can be fun, relatable and easy to digest.
But fueling this passion to create things from the scratch is a fear that time is running and death may be closer than imagined.
You do tell a lot of stories. Almost everyone knows Fu’ad is a great storyteller. How did you get there?
How did I get here? I don’t know. I don’t know how people get there but maybe I do tell a lot of stories. I really don’t know. I don’t know how I got here too. I literally just stumbled and stumbled and grasped the nearest tree by and swung and swung across the jungle until I got to this tree.
Did you tell a lot of stories when you were young?
I just know I was a curious child, I was a talkative and I kind of grew up with people that enabled my curiosity. And when I asked for books, they bought me books and they bought me books even when I didn’t ask. I think I read more as a child than I’m reading as an adult. Naturally, I had been about consuming a lot of stories. Also, we had like a video club and we used to rent out cassettes and part of my job was to watch all the movies so that we can know what to tell people when they ask which one to watch or not.
So I guess it’s one of those things but I don’t think there was any moment where I was like uhmm this is the moment. I don’t think there was any magical moment. I just think I was naturally drawn to it.
What was growing up like for you? You just mentioned how your video club experience made you exposed to more stories when you were young.
There was nothing spectacular about it and there was nothing different from the normal home most of us grew up. One parent is a businessperson, the other parent is a civil servant. I grew up in a small estate where we were not rich but you are also not suffering. Go to the boarding house, come back on holidays, suffer in the boarding house, go back on holidays, eat like a pig. Go back to the boarding house and suffer for six years. I really don’t think there was anything spectacular about it.
The problem is that I remember too much of my childhood. I remember my 5-year-old birthday. I remember a sickness when I was 7. Like I remember all kinds of ridiculous things. So if you say memorable moments, I have a lot of them. I know it sounds ridiculous but like there is no one moment that shaped me.
What’s the craziest story you’ve not told so far?
I don’t know like, it’s nothing that no one has ever heard before. Are you asking for my secret? Ask me this question before it’s over. Maybe I can remember something but for now, I can’t.
Money or impact?
Money is impactful (lol). When you make an impact, money follows actually unless you’re actually running from the money. Unless you are like “No, I don’t want money”. But if you impact, money would follow, more often than not.
Kindly explain that better
Let me use entrepreneurship as an example right. When you solve a problem, a lot of the time you create opportunities. And that opportunity multiplies and turns to money, a lot of money. When you make impact, that gives you a kind of career capital that other people want to make an impact from there and make gain from it. Again It doesn’t always turn to money but more often than not, especially in the type of society we now live in, where opportunities to make money would not evade you or whatever. This sounds ridiculous but I’m not always actively thinking about money first. I have tried, but it is just who I am; I mean it’s unfortunate because it’s not like I have any money anywhere but I clearly lack focus. I should focus on money. Money is important.
We once had a discussion, and you sort of implied that money is very important
Yea money is extremely important. Money saves you time. Money gives you choices. Whatever impact you want to have without money, money makes it faster, more often than not.
I feel there is a stage in your life that especially in a country like Nigeria where chasing money is an act of survival as far as it is legally because lack of money is how you get crushed in this country. Nigeria doesn’t forgive poor people. I mean when you’re rich you don’t want to do things that require forgiving but money is good in that regard, money is just exceedingly functional for me. For example, I didn’t have money in the pandemic and I was totally fine; I did not need it.
You know how people behave when they don’t have money in their account; they have anxiety and they are panicking; I don’t. Because if I need money, money would come outside. I don’t have a lot of needs. I don’t feel like my life is at risk when I don’t have money. I’m hardly interested in things I cannot afford with like 3 months of saving, do you understand?
It’s actually a little weird because I should be focusing on how to make more money because I don’t have any money waiting for me somewhere. So it’s actually a little weird. So money is money, it just does what it does and if It’s not doing anything I don’t need it.
Why did you leave Zikoko?
It was a very curious thing that led me to Big Cabal (Zikoko). And the curious thing I think is, I used to work at Pulse and Pulse has a lot of reach, a lot of reach. Pulse’s reach could only be matched by maybe Naij at that point. Pulse’s cumulative reach, even to Linda Ikeji’s reach on the internet, Linda Ikeji was big like a cultural pulse but Pulse’s reach was ridiculous and I felt like people were writing a lot of incredible stories but a lot of it was getting lost like broader policy stuff that Pulse was making.
And I felt like it would have been great if we created a place for new stories that people were writing that were also extremely important. Not necessarily important but they would just have been nice if we created a place for them at Pulse. But like it wasn’t a priority at the time because, I mean it was a business and they had objectives and they will focus on their objectives.
And so when my boss at Big Cabal reached out to me after I left Pulse. I had other plans, and he was like yea, he had impactful cultural stuff and I was like sign me up.
I remember my boss when I was leaving Pulse. My boss said I think you’re going to make a huge mistake. I said well, that’s actually a likely outcome but what’s the worst thing that can happen? So I joined and I feel like Big cabal had gotten to a point where it is evident and I actually did not write news, you can do stuff in Nigeria that is not news. And I was like okay unto the next one.
Did you feel you had reached the ceiling that you could do with Zikoko?
There’s no ceiling at Big CabaI. I know like one million things that I could do at Big Cabal. But it’s always a question of, this thing you want to do, do you have the energy for it? For me it just felt like a good time to try something else.
Your current role at Eden makes you tell less stories. What are the things you miss about your former job?
Big Cabal was great but Eden also has a great culture. So it doesn’t matter. You know how when you move from the UK to Canada. Just maybe you miss people you used to work with but work is work. You do the work and move on to the next one. And you hope that your relationships last but work is work. That was work that I used to do, just work around you.
At Big Cabal, you do more storytelling than you do now
I suspect you’re trying to edge all of these around storytelling as the central point. First of all, I don’t like the word storytelling but it’s just one thing that I can do. And there are way more flexes. I do not feel I will live a very long life and I can as well flex all the muscles I can flex when I still have the time and the muscles. So yeah.
What are these other flexes?
I like to make things. I like to see things just go from the ground and come alive. I like that process. I like community work. I like organising. I like making complex things simple. I like observing people. Most of the times, whenever there is an opportunity to try one of these things, i just jump into it
So what single thing right now would improve the quality of your life?
I know this question. The single thing to improve the quality of my life- Better passport. I just need a better passport.
Which country’s passport?
I don’t know. Just a passport that would allow me to travel to places. I think a single most important privilege a human being can have is a great passport.
You feel you’re missing out by having only a Nigerian passport
I don’t feel like I’m missing out, I feel like I should be getting more.
If Fu’ad is not literate, what would you be doing by now?
I will probably be fighting for a king somewhere now, I will be farming, or I would be working around the market, maybe I will be selling meat. I just know that there’s one deep place inside my mind where I live a very remote life.
I feel like my ideal life is like one that doesn’t have where he belongs to, that just travels from community to community and just travels really light. I struggle with acquiring too many things, the few things I have, I use them a lot. I use the life out of them.
I’ll probably choose an occupation that requires me to move around, maybe I’ll be a trader or I’ll be a warrior. Those are the two people that travel around. And I think I have ancestors that were traders. I have an APENA ancestor. Do you know what an apena ancestor does?
Google might have an answer. Lol, it says apena
I thought Google knows everything. I think you should ask your parents what an apena is. I want to flex on you.
Your ideal life looks a bit difficult because you are now married. So what does love feel like to you?
It’s intention, and it’s commitment. You make an intention and you commit that intention.
Any big changes from before you were married and when you got married?
It’s mostly just skin and commitment. Like I said it’s commitment. Like ok I want to do this and you just have to show up.
You love food, and now you work at a place where there is a lot of food. Was it a calculated career move?
This scandal is going to follow me for life. There was food at Big Cabal so I had a lot of options. I feel lucky to have had them but I had a lot of options right. But this one was the hardest and as a suffer headmaster, I chose the hardest one.
What were the options?
I can’t disclose that, but I had options. I had options in the media and I had options outside the media. But this was the hardest.
How has it been so far? Has it gone as you expected?
Uhm, I think it’s just somewhere you have very few people in Nigeria. This market. So you have to do a lot of thinking from the scratch. So it’s difficult but I mean it’s like going to the gym. So it’s a new kind of difficulty. I love it in the sense that I know it will work and it is difficult but we go do am.
And the bigger the challenge, the more the money at the end for the next job
You know what’s funny? I think I’ve come to learn that when you make money on these jobs, they stretch you, you come out on the other side, you come out on the other side with more strength, more stamina and just more confidence and your ability to get things done. And coming out on the other side doesn’t always mean success it means just coming out on the other side. I think I hate to use this word but if a person goes to war and comes back home even when they have been defeated, he still comes back a better fighter than when he left. So I think that difficult work is how you build muscle. So I’m building muscles.
That crazy story you have never told
So the first time I was on a plane, I was like 5 or 6. I was a child, That was the first time I’ll be on a plane. I can’t remember much of it, I just remember I was going to Abuja. So the second time I got on a plane I was 16. And we got into our seats, I was supposed to wear the belt and for some weird reasons; I think the one on my seat was bad or maybe I just didn’t know how to use it and I was like shit shit. So I just folded it and put it on my lap.
I was with people that will do it for me if I ask. They will probably crack a joke or laugh at me.
So I flew from Lagos to Abuja without a belt And I just kept replaying all those America films where a plane enter turbulence.To now add it, I now had air pressure and my ears were rolling. But you see I overcame that anxiety later, I like don’t even give a fuck. I just stopped giving a fuck. So here’s that story. You’ve gotten your story.. So I was ready to die rather than ask.
Last week, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) found himself face to face with United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
Buhari may have forgotten, but he first encountered Blinken, at that time the US Deputy Secretary of State, weeks after he took office in 2015. Ironically, the issues that the two men “discussed” last week are the very same that they covered in 2015 when Buhari was preparing for his first state visit to the US.
Buhari told Blinken his talks with Mr President Barack Obama would boost his efforts to overcome terrorism and that Nigeria looked forward to greater US support for the multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram.
He then moved up in the world, arriving in the US where he was received like royalty at the White House by a gushing President Obama.
The American leader applauded Buhari’s “reputation for integrity [and] “to make sure that he is bringing safety and security and peace to his country…and a very clear agenda with respect to rooting out the corruption that too often has held back the economic growth and prosperity of his country.”
Obama looked forward to discussing security and counterterrorism, and “how we can be helpful in addressing some of the corruption issues that have held Nigeria back, and unleashing the incredible talent of the Nigerian people.”
Following that meeting, the White House issued a readout on July 21 which said, among others, that Mr. Obama “made clear that the US is prepared to increase support for a holistic effort by the Government of Nigeria to counter Boko Haram; one that protects human rights and brings together security and development tools to defeat Boko Haram and eliminate the factors that fuel extremism.”
Buhari also met with other top officials, notably the then-Vice President, Joe Biden, and they spoke about Vice President Biden and President Buhari spoke about the “…ways in which the US and Nigeria can partner to overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities. President Buhari and the Vice President agreed on the importance of rooting out corruption in order to unlock the full potential of the Nigerian economy and ensure stability.”
This is the context in which Buhari’s meeting with Blinken last week must be evaluated for the embarrassment and shame that it was. As much as I criticise President Olusegun Obasanjo, for instance, he would have requested, and obtained a meeting at the highest levels.
Think about it: Buhari, a man who was celebrated in the White House in 2015, could not get a meeting even with Vice-President Kamala Harris, let alone Mr. Biden. He could not speak with either official even by telephone, although they had in March spoken to the leaders of Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In November, Biden had also called President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
From the rooftop of Buharimania in Washington in 2015, Buhari had become indispensable, inconspicuous and irrelevant, because of his policies at home and abroad, including nurturing some of the problems he had claimed he would solve. And of course, Buhari sent to Washington DC for five years a man who was so old it was unclear he knew where he was let alone why he was there.
Last week, if Buhari loved Nigeria, he should have resigned. Indeed, it is over three years since I first called on him to resign. Now completely out of his depth, with his incompetence and insincerity spilling grave insecurity into every family and every street in Nigeria, Buhari was last week begging Blinken to beg Biden to send the exact same help the US offered him directly six years ago.
It was the same week that the inaugural Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI), ranking countries according to government capabilities and outcomes, placed Nigeria as the third worst on earth, ahead only of Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
Buhari’s response was to hold out his hat, saying that unless the US and other “strategic partners” came to save Nigeria, the consequences would spillover to all countries. It was a reminder of his July 2015 visit, when at the US Institute for Peace he charged that by not selling weapons to Nigeria, the US had “aided and abetted” Boko Haram.
This was about the A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft Nigeria had sought to buy from the US for which the Obama administration, citing concerns about Nigeria’s human rights record, had placed a hold. That would get worse after the Nigerian Air Force ‘mistakenly’ bombed a refugee camp in Rann, Borno State, in January 2017. Over 100 refugees and aid workers were killed.
The core of the matter is simply that the Buhari administration has never demonstrated commitment to the task, or competence in implementation. He did not read the papers he signed, and never took seriously the subject of human rights. And as he nurtured corruption and nepotism at home, he somehow hoped that everyone around the world was also deceived.
But everyone has seen the past couple of months for instance when he finally changed his service chiefs, he moved swiftly to protect them from being indicted for war crimes by converting them into “ambassadors.”
Similarly in 2018 as the herdsmen violence began to expand, he told the United Nations General Assembly that the insurgencies in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin featured “runaway fighters from Iraq and Syria and arms from the disintegration of Libya.”
Earlier, in April that year, he told Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that the killer herders had been trained and armed by former Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi, and subsequently “escaped with their arms.”
And yet it was the same killers, who had, among others massacred over 70 Nigerians in Benue State on New Year’s Day three months earlier, with Buhari urging the leaders of that state to “accommodate your countrymen” (the killer herders); and “restrain your people” (the victims).
Three years later, Buhari is begging the world to send the calvary to rescue his government from the same mess he has nurtured for six years.
The truth is that while relocating the AFRICOM Headquarters to Africa might help to put out one or two brushfires, and while friends and partners may send other resources, the real problems (and solutions) are in his hands. The cynicism and duplicity of Buhari’s government has proved to be Nigeria’s biggest challenge.
Every society needs a leader who can think beyond himself, and for the public good. Buhari thinks in indecisive fragments, pandering to hidden agendas.
It is his contradictions and arrogance that are responsible for the chaos and insecurity in Nigeria. For Nigeria to slide back from disintegration, it must have a leader with a national vision and focus: a leader who is persuaded and led by the mammoth challenge of justice, poverty and accountability.
In essence, that is what Blinken was saying to the African media after his meeting with Buhari. Perhaps Buhari, because he ignores the local press, did not read that encounter.
And that is the point.
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Sonala Olumhense is a Nigerian columnists.
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Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai was conspicuously absent from The Platform, an annual conference organised by the Senior Pastor of the Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos, Poju Oyemade.
The Governor had been invited to speak on the theme “Is Devolution of Powers The Solution To Nigeria’s Problems” alongside Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah; former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka; ex-President of Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba, and others.
However, the invitation did not go down well with Nigerians who questioned the integrity of the program as well the sensitivity of having the rather controversial Governor on the bill. They cited the fact that last August, the Nigerian Bar Association had withdrawn its invitation to El-Rufai, following protests by lawyers who cited his alleged poor human rights record and his inability to stop the killings, particularly in southern Kaduna.
NewsWireNGR however noticed that The Governor was absent at The Platform on Saturday even as other guest speakers who could not be physically present, participated virtually.
As at the filing of this report, the organisers of The Platform did not give any reason why El-Rufai was not present at the event.
Ekiti state Governor Kayode Fayemi has advised Nigerian youths against relocating to Canada for greener pastures.
The governor urged the youths to stay and actualise the Nigeria of their dream, adding that there is also a glass ceiling in Canada.
Fayemi said this while at the 2021 edition of The Platform, an annual conference organised by the Senior Pastor of the Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos, Poju Oyemade on Saturday.
Advising the youths not to give up on their country, Fayemi said there is a lot to hail in Nigeria, saying there is also a glass ceiling in Canada.
He said, “Don’t succumb to despondency, there is a lot to hail in this country. There is a lot to frustrate you, a lot to want to make you give up and pick that visa and go to Canada. I know it is a popular destination?—?Canada?—?but you know what? There is also a glass ceiling in Canada. When you get to the top of it, you will now discover there is a glass ceiling there. This (Nigeria) is the place where there is no glass ceiling, let us work towards making it a better place.” he said
The governor said he won’t “discourage anyone who wants to leave this country in search of greener pastures, education, health care and what have you” because he once “lived outside this country for 15 years” to study and work. The ex-senator, however, urged youths to stay in the country and organise for political control rather than agonise or resort to violence”.
He further said, “What I am saying in essence is that we have a duty of mentorship to younger people to say to them that sometimes, you don’t always get what you push for but that not necessarily mean that is the end of the road, you keep knocking on the door, banging it and inevitably, it will open. How long it will open for will depend on your capacity to organise.”
“At the risk of sounding immodest, that’s what got some of us into politics. We believe that another Nigeria is possible, a better Nigeria is possible and we should not stand by the sidelines in pushing for that Nigeria of our dreams, we are not there yet but that does not mean we will give up.” he further stated.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has proceeded on a 21-day vacation, from April 29 to May 19.
The governor’s spokesperson, Isa Gusau, in a statement, said the House also approved Deputy Governor Umar Kadafur to serve as acting governor for the period.
According to the statement, Speaker of the Borno state Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, conveyed the approval in a letter dated April 26.
“The governor also requested that in compliance with provisions of section 190 (1) of the constitution, which made him notify the House, the Assembly should approve the Deputy Governor to serve as acting Governor throughout the 21 days, to constitutionally give him the full powers to handle Borno State’s affairs without resort to the Governor,” the statement added.
Mr Gusau said all government officials and institutions were directed to fully comply with the ‘transmission of power’.
Meanwhile last week, Jihadists from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) had rolled up in a dozen gun trucks at the garrison town of Dikwa late Sunday and dislodged troops of the Nigerian army after a lengthy battle.
“The terrorists in their numbers… attacked the town… just as the locals prepared to break their Ramadan fast for the day,” the military had said in a statement.
Groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province have terrorised Nigeria’s North-east for more than a decade.
Despite repeated attacks on troops and vulnerable citizens, the government has continued to claim that the terrorists have been defeated.
The Federal Minister of Power, Sale Mamman on Friday said there is no plan to significantly raise electricity tariffs across the country.
The Minister made the announcement in reaction to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission said it was ready to conclude the “Extraordinary Tariff Review process” for the country’s 11 electricity distribution companies.
Recall that in a notice posted to its website on Monday, the Commission expressed its readiness to commence the processes for a minor review of the tariff in July, based on “changes in inflation, foreign exchange, gas prices, and available generation capacity” among other factors.
However, Mr. Mamman said NERC’s action is in accordance with Section 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.
“The tariff for customers on service bands D & E (customers being served less than an average of 12hrs of supply per day over a period of one month) remains subsidized in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government,” he said.
“Section 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 provides clear guidelines for the periodic review of tariff (based on market data and submissions from licensees).
The guidelines include the provision that the Commission shall give notice of activities related to tariff.
“The Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) per NERCs regulation obtains inputs from operators in the market every 6 months to perform minor reviews and a major review is required every 5 years. Thus, as in January a minor review will occur in June. Given the timing for the Extraordinary review has also elapsed, a review will occur for consideration in January 2021,’.
“The Buhari administration remains faithful to the adopted resolutions from the Joint FGN-NLC/TUC Technical Committee on Electricity Tariffs which makes recommendations for “NERC to conduct an extraordinary review of the MYTO to further review factors and align them with current evolving realities.
“The reason this recommendation was posited by the Committee was to ensure that efficiencies could be derived from an extraordinary review to further reduce tariff.” he further stated.
The review planned by @NERCNG is in accordance with Section 76 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005. The tariff for customers on service bands D & E (customers being served less than an average of 12hrs of supply per day over a period of one month) remains subsidized
The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, has embarked on an indefinite strike over unpaid four months salaries of some members.
Dr Temitope Hussein, who spoke with journalists, on Saturday in Ibadan, said the strike was to protest non-payment of January, February, March and April salaries of some members of the association.
Hussein said other issues also included the non-enrolment of some members into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, (IPPIS), which was affecting payment of their emoluments.
The the national body of the association, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), had in April suspended its indefinite strike after ten days.
NARD had cited “new agreement reached with the Federal Government” as the reason for suspending the strike.
The doctors had demanded, amongst other things, payment of all salary arrears and review of the current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries for all health workers
The organised labour in Cross River State, today shunned the celebration of the 2021 Workers Day, saying there is nothing to celebrate as civil servants in the state live in fear of their lives and those who have retired since 2014 have not been paid their gratuity.
In a release made available to journalist and signed by Comrade Monday U. Ogbodum State Chairman, Trade Union Congress and Comrade Lawrence Achuta, Vice-Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, the group said it needed government to show a commitment that it takes seriously the plight of workers.
“Today we should have been celebrating in our traditional fashion, but here we are, gloomy, sad helpless, hopeless, desperate and utterly flummoxed at the way things have turned against the workers of this State.”
“As you know, gratuity which is the legal entitlement to every retiree from the State service has remained unpaid from 2014 to date in the State Service and 2012 to date in the Local Government.
“We find this situation quite appalling and therefore unacceptable. Retired civil servants are dying in their numbers from preventable causes by reason of the penurious situation they been have thrown into due to non-payment of gratuities.”
Labour also charged the government to intensify efforts to ensure the release of the State Chairman of the NLC, Ben Ukpkepi who was kidnapped on the 21st of March, 2021.
“Comrade Ben Ukpepi was kidnapped on the 21st March 2021 from the Civil Servants Estate in Akpabuyo by a cruel and unrepentant gang of perfidious criminals. The NLC Chairman, a man with a humble mien, who put the welfare of others before his own, a man who cannot hurt a fly has been in the hands of his abductors for more than one month now.”
“I want to use this occasion and in this very sombre mood to charge the Government and the security agencies to do all that is necessary to ensure the safe return of our Comrade the NLC Chairman.” The statement reads.
