European leaders self-isolate after French President tests positive for coronavirus
Plateau Governor, Simon Lalong, tests positive for COVID-19
Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has tested positive for COVID-19.
This was disclosed by the Governor’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr Makut Simon Macham, in Jos, the state capital on Thursday.
Macham said, “The test result indicated that Governor Lalong’s test returned positive while all members of his family tested negative.
“Consequently, the Governor who is asymptomatic has gone into isolation while his close aides are being tested.
“As a result, the Governor will henceforth work from home during the period of treatment”, he declared.
He added that, “All State matters requiring the Governor’s physical presence will be handled by the Deputy Governor.
The Governor urged all citizens of the State to observe all COVID-19 protocols as the pandemic is still prevalent.
He, however, advised citizens to apply all precautionary measures especially during the festive period by avoiding “large gatherings, using facemasks, washing hands with soap and water and adhering to personal hygiene measures”.
Put 2021 budget on hold, lawmaker urges Akeredolu over neglect for Ijaws
The lawmaker representing Ese-Odo Constituency in the Ondo State House of Assembly, Success Taiwo Torhukerhijo, has urged Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to suspend the 2021 budget over neglect for the Ijaws.
Torhukerhijo made this known in a statement he personally signed on Thursday.
Recall that Governor Akeredolu had in November presented a budget of N159billion to the state House of Assembly.
In reaction, Torhukerhijo lamented that the oil producing Ese-Odo Local Government has absolutely nothing appropriated for its people and development.
The lawmaker said Akeredolu has continued to show flagrant disregard and disrespect for the Ijaws who are the minorities of Ondo State.
He, however, called on the governor to correct the obvious anomaly, amend a discriminatory budget and make it an all inclusive budget where what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
Read full statement below:
Any moment from now, a new budget will be passed in Ondo State. The budget with a total appropriation of 159.796 billion has over 56.774 billion as capital estimates.
It is unfortunate and heartbreaking that the present administration since inception in past four years has spent close to 900 billion naira and Ese-Odo Local Government which is one of the two local governments that qualified Ondo state to earn its Oil Producing Status cannot boast of any meaningful development.
In the present scenario, with an estimated 56.774 billion plus, it is highly incredulous that the oil producing Ese-Odo Local Government has absolutely nothing appropriate for its people and development. Worse hit is the Arogbo-Ijaw area where the Paramount ruler, His Imperial Majesty, Pere Zacceus Egbunu and Concerned Arogbo Ibe Citizens on different occasions met with Mr. Governor and made proposals and suggestions to the government on preferred infrastructural projects.
As the representative of the people, I am obligated to express my constraints as all my efforts to ensure that something is done to redress this ugly trend is frustrated by the powers that be and their accomplices in various organs of government.
The Akeredolu led Government for the umpteenth time has continued to show flagrant disregard and disrespect for the Ijaws who are the minorities of Ondo State.
It is infuriating that the Ijaws who abandoned their own son to cast their vote massively for the Governor could be subjected to such a horrifying treatment in their God given land in spite of their contribution to the common wealth of Ondo State.
It is imperative to at this juncture to call on religious and opinion leaders and men of goodwill to come to the aid of the minorities who have a right to co-exist in this state with the attendant engagement of rights and privileges, by impressing it on the Governor and his cabinet to halt their determination to subjugate the peace loving people of Ese-Odo, nay Arogbo-Ijaws.
The Governor is enjoined to put the budget on hold until all segments of the state are adequately taken care of particularly the deprived Ijaws.
It is instructive to point out that this Press Statement should by no means be seen or interpreted to mean an opposition or disloyalty to the government of Governor Akeredolu, or the APC in Ondo state. Rather, it should be seen as a patriotic call to correct an obvious anomaly, amend a discriminatory budget and make it an all inclusive budget where what is good for the goose is good for the gander. The good people of Ese-Odo who voted massively for Akeredolu in 2016 and also repeated same against all odds in 2020 shouldn’t have to regret their decision so soon, so early.
I would like to appeal to the youths of Ijaw land to remain peaceful and law abiding in the face of this apparently provocative and highly vexatious occurrences for our consolation is in the Bible, in the sixth verse of Psalm 103 which says “the Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed”.
2023: Yerima declares for presidency, says he stepped down for Buhari thrice
A former Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani Yerima, on Wednesday declared his 2023 presidential bid.
Yerima, who announced his intention to vie for the presidency at a media briefing in Abuja, said he had stepped down on three occasions to enable Buhari to clinch the presidential ticket on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and All Progressives Congress (APC).
The ex-governor also denied claims that the party leadership had agreed to zone the presidency to the southern part of the country in 2023.
Yerima said: “You see, I don’t think there is anything like agreement. You can ask Mr. President, he led the group, Asiwaju was there, I was part of it, there was no meeting I didn’t attend or any meeting that I attended that there is such agreement.
“(Such an) agreement can’t be verbal; it has to be written. In any case, any agreement that is contrary to the laws of this country is not an agreement. The constitution is very clear, the Constitution of the political parties, the Electoral Act. We are in a democracy and democracy is governed by processes and procedures and by laws.”
He went further to use the United States example to drive home his argument on the purported zoning agreement.
The ex-governor added: “I give you an example of America, George Bush (Snr) was President, George Bush (Jnr) became President. They are from the same family not from the same state, not from the same zone. This is a democracy, if Nigerians decide to vote for Yerima, so be it.”
Yerima, who ruled Zamfara from 1999 to 2007, will be remembered by Nigerians for the controversial introduction of Shariah Law in the North-West state in 2000.
He was elected a senator in 2007 and remained in the upper legislative chamber till 2019.
FG targets 1.8m jobs, to build 300,000 houses
As part of efforts to ensure Nigerians benefit from the 300,000 housing units in line with the National Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), the Federal Government has concluded a plan to provide mortgage guarantees to low-income earners.
With the intent to launch the portal for beneficiaries this week, the plan is expected to generate about 1.8 million jobs.
Already, about 20 state governments have indicated an interest in joining the housing plan.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President in the Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, noted that the portal has invited Nigerians interested either as beneficiaries of the scheme or as delivery partners would be launched by the Family Homes Fund, the agency designated to implement the scheme.
He said in a statement that the first phase of the scheme would be executed in Osun, Ogun, Enugu, Delta, Bauchi, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Plateau, and the Federal Capital Territory.
Some housing units will be offered for as low as N1.8m to N2m, according to Akande.
Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Cross River, Sokoto, Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, and Yobe States would also be added.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has committed an N200 billion facility to the project.
Akande said: “The programme has 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units that will be sold at low prices. The 1-bedroom unit will cost as little as between N1.8miliion to 2 million while financial assistance would be available for Nigerians to pay the mortgage.
“The form of financial assistance will include mortgage loans at low-interest rates. Financing will be arranged through the designation of home warehousing agents that will purchase the homes from the developers. Individual buyers will then purchase homes from the agents.”
TheGuardian
Reps reject bill proposing 70 years as age limit for president
The House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a bill which proposed 70 years as age limit for any individual vying for the office of the president.
The bill also proposed 65 years as the age limit for all persons targeting seats in the National Assembly.
The bill which was sponsored by a member of the House representing Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala federal constituency, Bede Eke, was rejected outrightly by the lawmakers.
Bede said the bill was an extension of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run bill.
He said: “We had some challenges recently with the #EndSARS protests, and we are aware of their demands. Our youths will celebrate this House if we should pass this bill.
“You cannot talk about Not Too Young To Run when people are occupying the places.”
In his remark, the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, said the bill was discriminatory and inconsistent with section 42 of the 1999 Constitution.
Nigeria records daily high 930 COVID-19 cases as second wave reality dawns
Nigeria on Wednesday recorded a daily high 930 fresh COVID-19 cases, confirming the inevitable second wave of the contagion.
It is the most cases in a single day since the coronavirus first entered Africa’s most populous nation in February.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which disclosed this on its Twitter handle, said the new COVID-19 cases were recorded in 21 states of the federation and Abuja.
The country’s previous record daily high cases were 745 on June 19.
It added that the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Nigeria stood at 1,200 as of Wednesday night.
Also, the total number of confirmed cases increased to 75,062.
Meanwhile, 66,775 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from various isolation facilities in the country.
The breakdown of the figure on a state-by-state basis revealed the following: Lagos (279), FCT (179), Plateau (62), Kaduna (54), Kano (52), Katsina (52), Imo (42), Jigawa (42), Rivers (38), Kwara (30), Nasarawa (19), and Yobe (15).
Others are – Ogun (13), Borno (10), Oyo (9), Niger (9), Ebonyi (6), Bauchi (6), Edo (5), Taraba (4), Sokoto (2), and Cross River (2).
“Total confirmed COVID-19 cases: 75,062.
“Discharged: 66,775 AND Deaths: 1,200.”
Appeal Court nullifies Dasuki’s indictment
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified indictments against a former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki.
The former NSA was indicted in a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which convicted and sentenced a former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party Olisa Metuh for money laundering.
But Justice Stephen Adah, leading a three-man panel on Wednesday, ruled in a unanimous judgment that the Federal High Court made damaging comments against Dasuki without giving him a fair hearing.
Justice Adah held that comments made against Dasuki were unwarranted considering he was not charged as a co-defendant in the case or given any opportunity to defend himself.
The panel had in an earlier judgment set aside Metuh’s conviction on the grounds of bias shown by the trial judge Justice Okon Abang.
It, therefore, ordered that the trial be conducted afresh and reassigned to another judge other than Justice Abang.
Abducted Katsina schoolboys alive in Zamfara forest – Masari
Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari has said that the abducted students of Government Secondary School, Kankara were alive and currently in a forest in Zamfara State.
“They (kidnapped schoolboys) are in Zamfara forests, we have got the information,” he told BBC Hausa Service in an interview on Wednesday.
Also speaking during an interview with Channels Television, the governor said efforts were on to ensure that the students returned home safely, adding that discussions were on with the suspected abductors through cattle breeders association Miyetti Allah to ensure the students’ release.
Masari denied the claim by Boko Haram that it was behind the abduction, insisting local bandits roaming Katsina and Zamfara forests were responsible for the abduction.
He said, “It is not true that two students died. I was in school on Saturday and interacted with some of the students who escaped. They did not say any student died.
“I also interacted with the two students who also escaped later; they did not tell me any of the abducted students died or were killed. The news of the death was speculative. The number of students we have yet to account for is 334, although some students have gone to their parents directly.
“We are discussing through the leadership of MACABAN, Miyetti Allah, with those suspected to have carried out the abduction, and I had a meeting with the Commissioner of Police and heads of security agencies two or three hours ago.”
The governor stressed that his administration would not pay ransom for the release of the students.
BUHARI at 78: If only we knew this President
Ask for a President beleaguered from all sides, and I’ll show you Muhammadu Buhari, the ramrod straight man from Daura, in Katsina State, who turns 78 today.
In the build up to the 2015 presidential election, we used to say everything had been thrown at him as projectiles, except the kitchen sink. Permit me to update that expression. Today, everything possible has been thrown at President Buhari, including the kitchen sink. Anything. Everything. Fake news. Hate speech. Lies. False propaganda. Evil thoughts. Malediction. Odium. Opprobrium. Ogbunigwe. Ogulutu.Surface to air missiles. All offensive weapons. But the man trudges on. Calmly, sedately, peacefully.
If only more Nigerians knew this President. If only they knew the essential Buhari, the quintessential patriot and gentleman, they would behave differently, handle him with more care, and show him more kindness. Yes, everyone needs kindness, even Presidents.
Remember that song by Mary Mc Kee and The Genesis?
You’ve got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people, on narrow-minded streets.
Too many people have chosen to believe the wrong things about President Buhari, and have ossified their minds against the truth. But then, those of us who have had the privilege to work with him, studied and known him at close quarters, have a duty to tell what we have seen. And what better day to do it, than on his birthday.
Oh, he eats from the President. What else would he say than to sing his praises. True? False. If need be, I will serve this President for free. I consider it a great privilege to serve a man I admire. Even gratis.
Somebody commented that a blitzkrieg has been launched against Buhari and the government he leads, from all quarters. Some elements in the media, human rights groups, so-called activists, NGOs, Boko Haram, ISWAP, all at once. But is Buhari the loser? Not at all. It’s the country that ultimately loses, just as Eric Donaldson sang in ‘Little Did You Know:’
You think that you are hurting me
But little did you know you are only hurting yourself
Little did you know you are only hurting yourself.
In about two years and five months, with God being merciful as He always is, President Buhari will land safely, and retire to Daura for a well-deserved retirement at 80. And if those engineering distraction against his government continue, it is the country that would have lost. A great deal.
What are the things some people hurl against the President, which shows that they don’t know him at all?
He’s a religious bigot. Really? I’ve not seen a scintilla of evidence in the past five years. Every Christmas and Easter holiday, he calls those of us who are Christians, working with him, and asks us to stay off work, and enjoy the season with our families. That’s not the way of bigots, who would never acknowledge any religion, except their own.
As a military commander, history has it that Buhari would always give soldiers working under him time to go for worship on Sunday mornings, just as he did to the Muslims on Fridays. Yet, bigot, bigot, some people continue to shout.
He’s a Fulani, he rears cows, and all Fulani herdsmen are criminals, that’s why he tolerates them. Really? Some people even say all Fulani are herdsmen, whether they see them with cattle or not. Truth is; every ethnic stock has its deviants, its criminal elements. You can’t just demonize all Fulani, simply because you want to excoriate the President. Did he choose to be born Fulani? Did I choose to be born Yoruba, and did the Ishan, Idoma or Ijaw man choose the ethnic stock he wanted to be born into? It’s a biological accident. You have nothing to do with it. A man then doesn’t go repudiating where he comes from, simply because some people have decided to tar his people with the brush of infamy.
He’s nepotistic. A common refrain, but non-scientific. About three years ago, we did a scientific exercise. We chronicled all the appointments made by the President since 2015, and allocated them to states and regions. The result showed that the Southwest had the largest share. Followed by Imo and Kano states. Then Edo and Katsina. And on and on. But the naysayers ignored facts and figures, and stuck to their false narratives. Nepotism.
One day, the President had given me an appointment to announce in the early days of the administration. By then, some people had started talking of northernisation agenda. So I said, “Mr President, this is the murmur we hear. Why don’t you consider giving this position to another part of the country?”
He looked at me calmly, smiled, and said: “If a search has been conducted for a position, and someone has been thrown up as the best candidate. And I then bypass him because of where he comes from, or because of his religion, haven’t I been unfair to that person?”
Food for thought, indeed.
This is Jubril from Sudan and not Muhammadu Buhari, who had died during the medical vacation in 2017, some people say. You have a clone in Aso Villa, not Buhari. Idiocy, sadly believed by even some intellectuals.
Let me tell you a story. On the day the President finally returned to the country in August 2017, after months of absence, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Abayomi Olonisakin, was giving out his daughter in marriage. I had attended the church service, decked unusually in complete Agbada, with cap to match. From the wedding, I went straight to the airport to join the reception party.
We formed a welcome line, as we usually do. And as the President shook each person, he had one wisecrack or the other to say. When he got to me, he took my hand and said: “Adesina, this is the best I’ve seen you dressed.” We both laughed heartily, and the television cameras captured it. I remember that many people asked me later what had tickled me and the President, that we laughed so uproariously.
Jubril from Sudan? Would he know my name as Adesina? Would he know I rarely wear Agbada? How ridiculous can some people be?
Another story. The journalist Lindsay Barret had been a long time friend of the President. One day, he sent me to give his greetings. When I did, the President said: “Lindsay Barret. I remember meeting him at the war front in 1968. He was covering the war. There was a day he was almost killed in an ambush, and he then described himself as a ‘devout coward,’ who was lucky to be alive.”
Jubril of Sudan? And he remembers Barret, whom he met at the warfront in 1968? Tell it to the marines.
Ask me for a loyal man, who never forgets a good turn, and I’ll show you Muhammadu Buhari. Among the last class of Ambassadors, he had personally picked Justice George Oguntade, who was sent to United Kingdom, and Justice Sylvester Nsofor, who he deployed to America. The latter died only last week, aged 85.
How did the two men gain the favour, loyalty and respect of the President? In his many legal battles after disputed election results in 2003, and 2007, they had given dissenting judgements at both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, nullifying the election results, saying Candidate Buhari had been cheated. The man never forgot, and sought them out in due time. The same also happened to some of us working with him today.
A kind man. I have lots of stories to tell, but let me restrict myself to a few. In December 2015, I had lost my elder sister, a Professor of Dramatic Arts, in an auto crash. While I was crying like a wailing wailer, who was on the phone, consoling and condoling with me? Muhammadu Buhari.
And before he became President, when my mother passed on in 2013, and we had a commendation service for her in Lagos, who flew in all the way from Kaduna to attend? Muhammadu Buhari. He sat through the Christian service. Yet, they say he’s a bigot. I hear. Bigot from Sudan.
And in January 2017, I was to receive the traditional title of Nwanne di Namba of Mmaku Kingdom, in Enugu State. Courtesy demanded I tell the President. This man, who prides himself as ‘very stingy’ gave me a handsome amount of money to ferry my friends and family to the ceremony. How much? I won’t tell you, lest you ask for a belated share.
And in May 2018, I was billed for China for a 12 days course for senior government officials from Africa. He said when the journey was two days away, I should come to see him. I did. You know what he said? “Adesina, I know that you don’t have money. But you are too shy to ask.” We both laughed, and he gave me an envelope which contained foreign currency. How much? You think I’ll tell you? For where?
This President is a patriot. He loves this country dearly. A man of personal discipline. Single minded about the infrastructural development of the country. And he’s succeeding at it. I have loads of stories to tell to justify each virtue. But time and space won’t permit.
However, let me tell this final one, as told to me by a retired Colonel of the Nigerian Army.
He said he was a Major at the Second Mechanized Division, Ibadan, when the then Major General was posted there in early 1983, as General Officer Commanding.
There was a cocktail reception, billed for 8 pm. Fifteen minutes to the time, the new GOC walked briskly in. Only a sprinkle of officers had arrived. He moved round the venue, surveying the place, and at the dot of 8 pm, with the hall still scanty, he went to the gate, and directed the sergeant-major on duty to lock the inner one firmly, admitting nobody.
Nobody.
Yes sir!
The GOC went back inside, held the cocktail with the few officers available. Event over, he went back to the gate, to see the battery of latecomer officers huddled there. He surveyed them, and then instructed:
All of you, see me in the office tomorrow by 8 am.
Yes sir!
The GOC walked briskly away. And you know what? As early as 6 am next day, most of the officers had reported in his office. Once bitten, twice shy.
At 78, the President still scrupulously respects time. Do they make them like this anymore? Doubtful.
Yet, many people are plotting, and engineering all sorts of artifices, to ensure Buhari does not succeed. Who loses? The country!
There is this classic Yoruba film, Saworoide, which I watched years back. Adebayo Faleti, who wrote and starred in the film, looked at the stratagems and underhand dealings of man. And he sang, rather philosophically: Koi ye won, yio ye won lola.
Translated freely, it means: They don’t understand today. They’ll understand tomorrow.
It’s better for a lot more cynical Nigerians to understand this President today, rather than tomorrow, for the good of the country. That would be the best birthday gift they can give him.
*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity