Television Nigerian

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said on Monday the Federal Government had approved a N5 billion bailout to players in the nation’s aviation sector.

The minister, who disclosed this at the opening of a three-day public hearing on the six executive bills put together by the government to reorganise the civil aviation agencies in the country, said the airline operators would get N4billion while other businesses in the sector would receive N1billion.

He said: “The federal government has approved N4bn as a bailout for the airlines and N1billion for other businesses within the civil aviation.

“We are already putting arrangements for the disbursement in place and once we start, it would be transparently done.”

But the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Smart Adeyemi, expressed doubt if the N4billion would be enough to keep the airline operators in business.

Adeyemi said: “If we really want to keep the airline operators in business, and we don’t want them to close shops and go home, the federal government should shore up the amount it wanted to give them.

“For a developing nation like Nigeria, we need to encourage airline operators to remain in business.

“The situation would be worse if we fail to support the operators and force them to cut corners.

“Let’s look at the cost of spare parts for the airlines and duties that they perform. Though, we might argue that the business is a private one, but it is centred around safety.

“The N4 billion approved for the airlines by the federal government is too little to make an impact on the operations of the airlines. ”

Seven Nigerians who protested seeking an end to police brutality using the hashtag #EndSARS would be deported by the Egyptian government, Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said on Monday evening.

Dabiri-Erewa, who disclosed this on her Twitter handle, said the protesters who are still in detention in Egypt would be deported for lack of resident permits.

She, however, said the Federal Government was pleading with its Egyptian counterpart for leniency on behalf of the seven Nigerians.

Eight Nigerians – four men and four women – were arrested in Cairo, Egypt, for protesting against police brutality, extra-judicial killings, and bad governance in their country last month.

Read also: #EndSARS: Northern governors call for censorship of social media

Only one out of the eight protesters possesses a valid resident permit.

He is expected to sign an undertaking not to go against Egyptian laws.

The NiDCOM chief wrote: “Update on the eight Nigerians detained in Cairo for protesting without a permit – Seven of them are to be deported to Nigeria for lack of resident permits. The only one that has a Residency will get final clearance from the Minister of Interior after signing an undertaking not go against the laws of Egypt.

“The Nigerian mission in Egypt is still appealing for leniency on behalf of the seven slated for deportation.”

The Federal Government on Monday explained the reason for the delay in payment of October salaries for workers in some Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

The Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, said in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Olawunmi Ogunmoshile, that the delay was due to the fact that the 2020 Budget was passed into law before the conclusion of negotiation on the new minimum wage and its consequential adjustment.

She added that provision made for salaries of some MDAs based on previous salaries had been exhausted, hence the delay in the payment of October salaries of some workers.

Some of the affected workers had on Monday stormed the OHCSF to demand the payment of their salaries.

Yemi-Esan, however, said a committee was already working to address the problem.

The statement read: “The Federal Government has given reasons for the delay in the payment of October, 2020 salary to civil servants, assuring that necessary steps have been taken to resolve the matter.

“The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan in a statement issued on Monday, November 2, 2020 explained that the delay is due to the fact that the 2020 Budget was passed before the conclusion of negotiation on the new minimum wage and its consequential adjustment.

“She went further to explain that a lump sum was however provided in the 2020 Budget for minimum wage and its consequential adjustment.

“Dr. Yemi-Esan also disclosed that a committee made up of representatives of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Budget Office and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has been set up to determine the shortfalls of Ministries, Extra- Ministerial Departments and Agencies.

“The shortfalls are to be paid from the lump sum already set aside in the budget for the minimum wage and its consequential adjustment.

“The committee is expected to conclude its work by the end of this week so that salaries can be paid.

“While appreciating civil servants for their patience, the Head of Service also informed them that she is in touch with the Director-General, Budget Office, who assured her that salaries will be paid by the end of this week.”

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Monday blamed a previous administration in the country for the continuous strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Adamu, who disclosed this at a Town Hall meeting on security issues in Bauchi, however did not disclose the administration in question.

He added that the government should not have agreed to pay the union N1.3trilion when it knew it lacked the capacity to fulfill the agreement.

The minister said: “I do believe that while they were signing that agreement, they knew that it is not possible for them to implement it. There was just nowhere N1.3trn will come out from.

“I think the basic problem between the ASUU side and the government side has been on what to do about this N1.3 trillion. If a government appends its signature to an agreement, it is an agreement.”

Adamu stressed that the Federal Government was not happy that the strike was still on, adding that an agreement would soon be reached with the union.

“We are not happy that our campuses are closed, we are not happy that the calendar of schools has been disrupted. But the fault is the government that signed to do what it knew it could not do.

“But I assure you that we are on the verge of reaching an agreement and very, very soon, we will reach an agreement with them,” he added.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Monday described the allegation that he ordered military personnel to kill Igbo people in the Oyigbo local government area of the state as politically motivated falsehood.

The governor, who disclosed this in a television programme in Port Harcourt, said a curfew was imposed on Oyigbo to restore calm after members of proscribed Indigenous Peoples Organisation of Biafra killed six soldiers, four policemen and destroyed all police stations and court buildings in the area.

He said the claim that the Igbos were being killed by the military was intended to shift attention from the despicable activities of IPOB in Oyigbo.

Wike said: “I know that this is not the first time IPOB has used Oyigbo as a launching ground. The security agencies are aware. IPOB added a new dimension this time.

“They killed six army officers and burnt one. They killed four police officers. They destroyed all the police stations and court buildings. What offence did we commit as a state?

“I imposed curfew to restore calm. I proscribed IPOB activities anywhere in the state. Don’t forget that the Federal Government had declared them a terrorist group. It is not the entire Igbo that believe in IPOB activities.

“So, it’s not true that I ordered the military to kill Igbo in Oyigbo. When did I become a friend to the military? So, what about the Igbo living elsewhere in the state? Are they also being killed?”

“I have no relationship with the army or the police; I do not command them. They change commissioner of police every time. How would I begin to direct the army that I do not give instruction?”

“I will not fold my arms and watch criminals destroy my state; if those few criminals are Igbo then they should know that I will not allow them.

“They made an attempt to rename a local government in my state. That alone is a signal. I will not agree to that; I know who is doing all these; who has told them to rise, protest against Wike.”

By Daniel Atayi

No fewer than nine Nigerian Americans are on the ballot in Tuesday’s general elections in the United States, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Running mostly on the platform of the Democratic Party, the candidates are bidding for different offices at the federal, state and local levels.

NAN reports that besides the presidential election, governorship polls are holding in 11 states and two territories, in addition to other state and local elections.

Congressional elections are also holding on Tuesday with all the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate up for grabs.

At the federal level, Mr. Oye Owolewa, whose father is from Kwara and mother from Oyo, is aiming for a ‘shadow’ (non-voting) seat in the House of Representatives.

Owolewa, a Ph.D holder in Pharmacy from the Northeastern University, Boston, is seeking to represent the District of Columbia (DC) under the Democratic Party.

If elected, the 30-year-old, whose agenda include fighting income inequality in the U.S., would be the first Nigerian congressman in the country’s history.

Also at the federal level, Mr. Yomi Faparusi, an Ibadan-born native of Ode-Ekiti in Ekiti State, is vying as an independent candidate to represent the state of Tennessee in the U.S. Senate.

Faparusi holds a doctorate in Medicine from the University of Ibadan, a Ph.D. in Health from Johns Hopkins University, and Juris Doctorate from the Widener University School of Law, Delaware.

This is not his first shot at the U.S. Congress.

In 2014 and 2016, he vied for the Republican Party’s ticket to the House of Representatives, but lost in both occasions
Faparusi’s priorities include being a positive voice for all Nigerians in the U.S. Senate, and inspiring Americans of African or Nigerian descent to seek public office in the country.

In Missouri, a Republican controlled state, Mr Yinka Faleti from Lagos is the Democratic Party flagbearer in the election for the office of Secretary of State.

According to Wikipedia, Faleti was in the U.S. Army as an active-duty officer from 1998 to 2004. He served in Kuwait, first under Operation Desert Spring and later as part Operation Enduring Freedom.

The 44-year-old father of four holds a Bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy, West Point, and a Juris Doctorate from the Washington University School of Law.

His goals as a Secretary of State include protection of the “right to vote for Missouri families”, and ensuring elected officials hear the people’s voice.

Also at the state level, Mr Paul Akinjo from Ondo, running for election to the California State Assembly under the Democratic Party to represent District 12.

Akinjo once served as Vice Mayor of Lathrop, California, and in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1982 to 1989. His priorities include housing, immigration and transportation.

In Delaware, a small Mid-Atlantic U.S. state, Adewunmi Kuforiji is aspiring to represent District 34 in the state House of Representatives.

Kuforiji, originally from Ibadan, Oyo, secured the Democratic Party’s ticket on Sept. 15 after defeating his challenger, Robert Haynes, at the primary.

He holds a Bachelor in Accounting and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Delaware State University.

In the 2018 mid-term elections, he vied for the same position but lost to the incumbent, Lyndon Yearick, of the Republican Party, whom he is facing on Tuesday.

Also at the state level, Miss Esther Agbaje, is seeking to represent District 59B in the Minnesota House of Representatives on the platform of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFLP), an affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party.

The 35-year-old daughter of an Episcopal priest and a librarian, both Nigerian immigrants, defeated longtime state Representative Raymond Dehn in the party’s primary in August.

She is one of one of four progressive greenhorns who defeated established Democratic legislators in the primary.

Agbaje has a law degree from Harvard University, a Master’s from the University of Pennsylvania, and has served in the U.S. Department of State, among others.

As a millennial, a “generation that has suffered numerous setbacks”, she seeks to bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to government.

On the ballot at the local government level are April Ademiluyi, Ngozi Akubuike and Benjamin Osemenam.

Ademiluyi, 39, is running on the Democratic Party’s ticket for Judge of the Seventh Circuit Court in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

For her part, Akubuike, a legal practitioner, is an independent candidate for judge of the Minnesota 2nd District Court Position 8.

Akubuike studied law in Nigeria, then worked in the banking sector before moving to the U.S. where she graduated from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

She has served in several capacities, including legal manager for the state of Minnesota.

Osemenam, who moved to the U.S. in 1982, is contesting for a seat in the Brooklyn Park City Council of Minnesota to represent East District.

An engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, he is vying on the platform of National Party.

He is a former president of the Association of Nigerian Engineers in Minnesota.

(NAN)

Salihu Tanko Yakasai a.k.a Dawisu, the media aide of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s has demanded the arrest of Catholic Bishop of Nsukka, Godfrey Igwebuike Onah.

Yakasai made the call in a series of tweets on Monday while reacting to a viral sermon by the cleric which he claimed was inciting.

Onah had decried an alleged discrimination in handling of security cases in the north and in the south, backing up this claim by recounting the clash between IPOB members and DSS operatives in Enugu state.

The clergy also alleged that mosques are springing up in the east, while it is allegedly difficult to get lands to build churches in some states and the northern region of the country.

Salisu in his reaction on Twitter called on security operatives to arrest the Catholic bishop stating that one cannot use a place of worship be it Mosque or a Church and incite violence.

He tweeted thus; “This will be a good scapegoat for security operatives to make example of. You CANNOT use place of worship be it Mosque or a Church and incite violence particularly that of religion in a country like ours, and then get away with it. I call for the arrest & prosecution of this man.”

It would be recalled that Salisu was recently suspended by his principal over comments he made about President Muhammadu Buhari on the same Twitter.

He was only just recalled to his duty post a few days ago.

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants (COD) have absolved the Nigerian Army of any wrongdoing at Lekki toll gate or any part of the country during the EndSARS protests.

In a statement signed by General-Secretary, Kolawole Emmanuel, on Monday, the Oduduwa group said the troops acted in the best interest of the nation.

According to the COD, the intervention of the Army was timely to quell the imminent collapse and save the country from disintegrating into anarchy.

While declaring total support for the troops who they said remain committed to the preservation of democracy in Nigeria, the Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants called on all well-meaning citizens to do likewise.

The group further urged “Nigerians, as well as the international community not to be hasty in passing judgment against the intervention of the Nigerian Army in arresting the violence that erupted in almost 20 states in Nigeria”.

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants, however, warned that criticizing the Nigerian Army is not the best approach that should be employed due to the exigencies of time.

Read the full statement below:

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants in light of the recent happenings in the country wishes to state that the efforts of the Nigerian Army in the restoration of law and order in the country are indeed commendable and cannot be overemphasized.

We are all witness to the wanton looting of public and private properties by hoodlums and other criminal elements. We also witnessed the mayhem that resulted in the burning of houses, ransacking of the Oba of Lagos Palace and a host of other atrocities committed by the hoodlums and secessionist groups who took advantage of the EndSARS protest to wreak havoc in the country.

It is also a statement of the fact that Lagos State recorded the highest casualties, hence the need for the intervention of the Nigerian Army to quell the uprising and save the country from disintegrating into anarchy.

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants having reviewed the whole events in the past weeks states in unequivocal terms that indeed the Nigerian Army acted in the best interest of the country at Lekki and other parts of the country, regardless of the narrative been pushed forward by some individuals and groups.

It is our considered view that, but for the intervention of the Nigerian Army, the level of chaos and destructions would have indeed been of unimaginable proportion.  We must also admit that the activities of hoodlums and other criminal elements indeed threatened our nascent democracy.

We are consequently urging Nigerians to realize that the intervention of the Nigerian Army was indeed timely and was in the best interest of the country hence the peace and tranquillity that now pervades the length and breadth of the country.

Nigerians must come to terms with the invaluable contributions of the Nigerian Army in Internal Security Operations in the country, which by and large is an added responsibility in the event where the city police are overwhelmed as it was in the case with the violence that erupted in the aftermath of the EndSARS protest.

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants is appreciative of the efforts of the Nigerian Army in its various interventions in Internal Security Operations. It wishes to call on all well-meaning Nigerians to extend their support to the Nigerian Army, who by all indication, remains committed to the preservation of democracy in Nigeria.

Nigerians, as well as the international community, must not be hasty in passing judgment against the intervention of the Nigerian Army in arresting the violence that erupted in almost 20 states in Nigeria. If not for anything, Nigerians must in retrospection see the arson, looting and killings by the hoodlums and other criminal elements that hijacked the EndSARS protests across the country.

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants as a consequent state that criticizing the Nigerian Army is not the best approach that should be employed due to the exigencies of time, but rather Nigerians in their generality should applaud the efforts of the Nigerian Army so far.

Nigerians must also devise means to make tangible contributions to an improvement in the involvement of the Nigerian Army in internal security operations which would ultimately be beneficial in our quest for long-lasting peace in all parts of Nigeria.

The Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants is using this medium to call on all Nigerians regardless of our ethnic or religious affiliations to extend their support to the Nigerian Army in its efforts towards addressing the various security threats in the country.

The support of the Coalition of Oduduwa Descendants for the Nigerian Army remains unflinching, and we wish to encourage officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army to stay steadfast in their support for the preservation of democracy in Nigeria.