Ahead of the planned nationwide protest scheduled to start on August 1 by Nigerians, the President of the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, Dr. Pogu Bitrus has said that hunger will increase in the land if the issue of insecurity is not addressed urgently. In this interview with TVN, he insists that unless the issue of insecurity is tackled and farmers go back to the farm, the 150 days free import duty on grains will not change anything. Excerpts!
The Federal Government recently created a new ministry of livestock to address the incessant conflicts between farmers and cattle herders. Some people have commended the move, while others have kicked against it. What do you think about the livestock ministry?
The name doesn’t matter. The important thing is that there should be ranching, and there should be an organisation that is going to supervise whatever is to be done. Of course, that supervisory body can have whatever name, but the issue is that we cannot have duplicity and multiplicity of agencies, especially ministerial organisations, because we already have many ministries.
So, we cannot just because we want to address the issue of animal husbandry or modern technique of farming, create a whole ministry. That ministry is not supposed to be there; it is a misnomer, and not in the interest of Nigeria. It is creating more bureaucracies, which is not necessary in this country at this material point in time. Our economy is in trouble and to add more bureaucracies to the system is not good for us.
Yes, I support ranching, but such ranching must be community based, so that all the foreign Fulani, who are brought in through the protocol of free movement signed by the former Military Head of State, Abdusalami Abubakar in 1999, will go back to their countries. This will bring about a more peaceful environment; an environment devoid of rancour, and one that is progressive. So, I don’t support things the way it is, that is to have a whole ministry just for ranching.
Are you in any way in support of those calling on President Tinubu to rescind his decision and cancel the creation of the ministry?
Yes, of course. That creation should not stay. It is in our collective interest to cancel it. It is in our collective interest to halt it. It is in our collective interest to stop it. You know, sometimes, things are done for political reasons. We don’t know what political reason prompted Mr. President to do what he did, but I believe he will see reasons and change the whole narrative, so that we can have a department in the Ministry of Agriculture to handle the situation.
Nobody is against ranching, but what we are all crying against is simple; we don’t want our economy to suffer just because we want to address a simple situation. We can have animal husbandry going on without necessarily creating a ministry for whatever reason.
A fortnight ago, the senate raised the alarm over an impending hunger, warning that if nothing urgent is done to address the situation, Nigerians could resort to protest against the government; do you agree with the senate?
Of course, you don’t have to go and ask a witch doctor to answer the question. The issue in the country has now reached a stage where it is in the interest of the government to address the issue of hunger quickly, because a hungry man is an angry man. And unless the issue of hunger is addressed, everybody is in danger. It is not only the presidency or whoever; it is about all of us.
We are all in danger because if there should be any problem based on hunger, it will affect the whole nation. And it is in nobody’s interest that we have such an upheaval coming up. We believe that the President has a listening ear and he will do the needful. But, the senate is quite correct, and there is no reason for hunger to be allowed to linger in Nigeria; it is dangerous.
The senate belongs to the legislative arm of the government; so for the senate to be raising this kind of alarm says a lot actually. Does it mean that they are aloof to the governance of the nation? Are they trying to absolve themselves from the mess; what does their position say about the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government?
I don’t think the senators are exonerating themselves from anything. What I think is that they have seen a danger that could lead to untold repercussions; a situation that could pull the whole country into confusion and to forestall such a thing, they decided to come out openly to say we need to address this issue or else these are the possibilities.
So, by saying these are the possibilities, they are not trying to exonerate themselves. They are also not trying to paint a picture that absolves them from liability as leaders in the country. The issue is that they have seen a clear danger in the horizon and they have alerted the government by saying look, we make laws but some of the policies have created so much hardship that there could be some upheavals or revolts against the system by Nigerians.
I think there isn’t anything that absolves them from their responsibilities, but rather, we need to take what they said in good faith, and try to address them so that we don’t fall into the pit, which they are saying we might fall into if the situation is not addressed urgently.
What is your take on the 150-day free import duty that the FG granted on the importation of such food items as grain; do you think it will have any positive impact on the hunger in the land?
Some of these things are fire brigade approaches to issues. The real issue is that we have got so many policy statements and issues wrong ab initio. You don’t just say, import duties are lifted. Yes, in the short term, you are going to have some relief, but how long will it last? So, the real issue is that we have some fundamental problems, and those problems are better addressed when we look at the issue holistically. Why do we have hunger in the country?
One, it is because of insurgency. Secondly, it is due to policies that came immediately after the deregulation. Thirdly, we have hunger because of the devaluation of our currency. Things you can buy for N10 yesterday, today you have to spend N20, N30 or even more; so all these issues have contributed to the hunger we are now facing in the country. But, while the policies on the removal of fuel subsidy have brought serious strain on the economy, as the cost of moving goods from one point to the other have increased astronomically, the issue is also that, yes here we are importing nearly everything that we need, yet, the cost of those things have skyrocketed because the currency has been devalued. And while this is the case, we sit down and keep on waiting as if we can resolve the problem by waiting.
Unless insecurity is addressed and farmers can go to the farm to properly do their farm works, the hunger will not only persist, but will also increase, and we don’t know what would happen because a hungry man is an angry man, and may God help us so that we don’t get to the stage where there will be anarchy because of hunger.
Recently, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment with regard to local government autonomy. Some Nigerians have commended the judgment, with some others expressing some reservations; would you like to add our voice to that?
It is a commendable effort by the government to have gone this far, but let them finish the job by ensuring that the election into those local government offices is conducted by the Independent national Electoral Commission, INEC. The National Assembly needs to pass laws and to ensure that INEC rather than the State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC, conducts elections into the local governments, otherwise we will find ourselves in the same situation, and that will not be good for us. Victory will be assured when the INEC is the one handling elections in the local governments, and not the SIEC, then we can have true transformation in that regard.
Let the government do something quick and ensure that we succeed, so that it will not be while we are getting autonomy in the local government, the governors are still imposing people to do whatever they want and still control the system and subvert the effort of the Federal Government in this regard.
Recently, we all witnessed the emergence of the Labour Party candidate in the United Kingdom election, how free and fair the elections were, how fast and smooth the handover was and how everything was conducted without rancor. Is there any lesson Nigeria can learn from that?
Whenever a group decides to do things its own way, or to say enough is enough against those who try to do things to favour some people rather than the generality of the public, of course, there will be a revolt. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came in, remember that whether we like it or not, the Conservatives have held power for so long, and they just felt that they could do whatever they wanted.
Unfortunately, that is not how things work, especially over there, and the people have come to tell them that look, you cannot keep deciding things for us, we have had enough, and we are taking back what we feel is ours. So, it has happened in the UK and it can also happen here in Nigeria.
INTERVIEW: Hunger’ll increase in Nigeria – MBF President, Bitrus
INTERVIEW: Hunger’ll increase in Nigeria – MBF President, Bitrus
AC Milan edge Man City as Arsenal beat Man United in pre-season games
Lorenzo Colombo scored two first-half goals and Marco Nasti netted the game-winner to give AC Milan a 3-2 victory over English Premier League champion Manchester City on Saturday at New York.
Nasti lifted Milan ahead to stay in the 78th minute, the 20-year-old Italian striker taking a centering pass from Belgian right wing Alexis Saelemaekers and firing an inside right foot blast into the goal.
Several European sides are playing pre-season tune-ups in US venues ahead of next month’s start of their league campaigns.
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland opened the scoring for Manchester City in the 19th minute, but Italian forward Colombo answered for AC Milan in the 30th and 34th minutes to lift the Italian side ahead 2-1 at half-time at Yankee Stadium.
City equalized in the 55th minute when Manchester hometown winger Micah Hamilton crossed the ball from the left side into the box.
English striker James McAtee headed the ball into the net, setting the stage for Nasti’s decider.
At Los Angeles, Gabriel Martinelli scored for Arsenal in the 81st minute to give the Gunners a 2-1 victory over Manchester United in a friendly at SoFi Stadium.
Danish 21-year-old striker Rasmus Hojlund opened the scoring in the 10th minute for United.
Marcus Rashford lofted a clearing pass down the left wing and Hojlund took the ball and battled Arsenal defender Ayden Heaven into the box, where he got a step ahead and blasted a goal between the legs of Gunners goalkeeper Karl Hein.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus netted the equalizer in the 26th minute, the Brazilian tapping in a centering pass from point-blank range as the Red Devils appealed in vain for an offside call.
Martinelli, who helped Brazil to Tokyo Olympic gold, came in from the left side and flicked in a right-footed shot inside the near post to give Arsenal the winning margin.
– Celtic rip Chelsea –
Earlier, Japan’s Kyogo Furuhashi and Denmark’s Matt O’Riley scored first-half goals to power Celtic over Chelsea 4-1.
Luis Palma and Michael Johnston added second-half goals for the Glasgow side, while Christopher Nkunku averted a shutout for the Londoners with an 89th-minute penalty kick.
Celtic, who beat Man City 4-3 on Tuesday, dominated the match at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Celtic seized the lead in the 19th minute on O’Riley’s left-footed blast from the right side of the box inside the far post.
An unguarded Furuhashi tapped in a left-footed shot in the 33rd minute from point-blank range off a centering pass from O’Riley to give the Scottish side a 2-0 advantage at half-time.
Honduran striker Palma boosted the lead in the 76th minute and Johnston netted the Hoops’ final goal in the 79th.
AFP
Restore fuel subsidy to prevent nationwide protest – Don, Uremadu advises FG
A professor of banking, finance and financial economics, Professor Sebastian Uremadu has advised the Federal government to urgently announce the restoration of petroleum subsidy and removal of multiple taxation, saying that doing these can prevent the looming nationwide protests.
Professor Uremadu who said this during an interview with TVN in Umuahia on Saturday, reiterated his criticism of fuel subsidy removal and blamed the May 29, 2023 pronouncement for the astronomical rise in prices of food stuff and other services in the country.
The Political Economy analyst, who is of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, noted that many Nigerians were presently hungry, suggesting that the best way to discourage them from participating in the proposed protest was to reintroduce fuel subsidy and removal of multiple taxation on goods and services, before August 1.
While acknowledging that President Bola Tinubu has recorded several achievements in nation building, especially with the signing of South East Development Commission (SEDC), Uremadu noted there may be no economic stability in the country unless fuel subsidy was restored and properly managed by a Federal government economic committee.
“I urge my dear President to align with the voice of the people by restoring fuel subsidy and removing multiple taxation which have been making disposable income become useless.
“The negative effects of protests in Kenya should not be allowed to happen in Nigeria. Our dignity, security and life should not be allowed to be tampered with”, Uremadu appealed.
He, however, supported the advice by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo that Igbos should not participate in the nationwide protest, as according to him, hoodlums may hijack the protest to increase their mayhem in the South East, even as he mourned the death of Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
The MOUAU Professor also said that leaders of South South have been more patriotic in the socio-economic development of their region than those of the South East.
He advised the leaders of the South East to utilize the recently signed SEDC to transform their zone.
On the allegations by some persons that Mr Peter Obi could be the brain behind the planned protest, Professor Uremadu rejected the claims, warning that the matter should not be reduced to religious and tribal sentiment.
He further urged African leaders to emulate United States President Joe Biden by respecting the popular wish of the people.
Restore fuel subsidy to prevent nationwide protest – Don, Uremadu advises FG
Simon Ekpa begs Elon Musk to support Biafra independence
Biafra agitator, Simon Ekpa, has appealed to American billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, to support the liberation of Biafra.
Ekpa made the appeal on Saturday while reacting to a tweet by Musk urging Christians to summon the courage to stand for what is “fair and right” to save the religion from perishing.
He told Elon Musk to support Biafra liberation otherwise the manifestation of his fear will start from Africa.
He assured Musk that if the Biafra people were liberated, their bravery would make Christianity not to perish in Africa.
Ekpa claimed that the extinction of Christianity was already happening in Nigeria and Africa.
He wrote: “Dear @elonmusk that is the exact word. It is time you live up to these words by supporting Biafra, otherwise the manifestation of your fear will start from Africa, but the bravery of myself and Biafra people will make Christianity not to perish in Africa.
“The extinction of Christianity is happening in Nigeria and in Africa, and don’t think it is not your business.
“Finally, Biafra government will continue to support Israel.”
Simon Ekpa begs Elon Musk to support Biafra independence
‘Without bravery, Christianity will perish’ – Elon Musk
American billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, has warned that Christianity will perish if Christians don’t summon the courage to stand for what is “fair and right.”
Musk was seemingly reacting to the alleged mockery of Jesus Christ by drag queens at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which he had earlier slammed as “extremely disrespectful to Christians.”
He wrote: “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.”
Reacting to a comment in the comment section, Musk, who is a self-proclaimed atheist, said he believes in some Christian principles.
“I believe in the principles of Christianity like love thy neighbor as thyself (have empathy for all) and turn the other cheek (end the cycle of retribution),” he wrote.
The Tesla boss also reposted a tweet that says, “Wokeness is a threat to civilisation,” agreeing “it is.”
‘Without bravery, Christianity will perish’ – Elon Musk
Protest: You must fulfil all conditions – Wike warns planners
Ahead of the planned protests across the country, the FCT Minister, Barrister Ezenwo Nezam Wike, on Saturday, held an interactive town hall meeting with residents as part of the peace-building process in the Federal Capital Territory.
Addressing the residents during the meeting, the Minister said it was organized to provide an avenue for dialogue with various stakeholders and to allow them to air their grievances, rather than taking to the streets to protest against the government.
The Minister said protests would not solve any problem but would rather create an opportunity for hooligans to take advantage of the situation to foment trouble.
He warned that the FCT Administration will not allow any protest that is geared towards destruction or to overthrow the government and cautioned residents against aligning with those he described as faceless protesters.
The Minister acknowledged that FCT residents have the constitutional right to protest, but cautioned that such protests must be done within the ambit of the law.
He said, “Protests do not solve any problem. Protests rather create more problems because hooligans, hoodlums would always want to take advantage to foment problems and create crises”.
Reacting to the purported written requests for permission to protest at the Eagle Square in the FCT, the Minister said he only heard about the request on social media and television.
He said any request to protest in the FCT must be addressed to his office, adding that certain conditions must also be fulfilled before the requests are granted.
He said, “Who are these people who want to protest? I’m just reading on social media that they’ve applied to me to grant the Eagle Square. Do you apply to me through social media? You will write a letter to the Minister. Who are you? I will see you. What do you want to do? How many days do you want to spend? How much will you pay?
“When people want to do propaganda in everything; I watched them on Channels news telling the IG they have applied. You don’t apply to me through Channels. You must apply properly. You must pay what they call security cost so that if there is any damage with the facilities, we take that security cost and repair.
“We don’t just give people just because you have applied. You will fulfill the condition”.
Noting that peace was necessary for the development of any society, the Minister said everything possible would be done to see that peace is maintained in the FCT.
He therefore thanked the stakeholders in the FCT, including the traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organizations and representatives of youth groups, as well as women leaders for their support to the FCT Administration and for committing to peace building in the FCT and assured of continued dialogue with residents.
Reacting to the requests for inclusion of women and youths in governance in the FCT, the Minister stated that the youth and women have been adequately represented in his cabinet with appointments as Mandate Secretaries and other key positions and assured that they would not be abandoned in subsequent appointments.
He said, “If you check in our cabinet, it’s made of youths too. The coordinator of the Satellite Towns is a Youth. The Mandate Secretary of Area Council is a Youth. The General Council is a Youth. So, if you have an eight-member cabinet, and you have three as youths, then you cannot say the youths have not been carried along”.
The Minister also stated that following the establishment of the FCT Civil Service Commission and the subsequent reforms of the Service, four out of the ten staff appointed as Permanent Secretaries are women.
On the request for the creation of a Youth Secretariat in the FCT Administration, the Minister assured that he would forward the request to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that the Secretariat would be established upon approval by the President.
The Minister, who also noted that the FCT, for the first time, has their son as a Minister in the Federal cabinet, said the appointment of a non-indigene to represent the FCT in the Public Complaints Commission will be brought to the attention of the President for correction.
He said, “As a president, I don’t think that he knows everything. These are appointments, thousands of people submit names; some people can be mischievous; he won’t know until the attention is brought to him. That is the way it is done.
“So, I thank God you did not go to protest on the road. This is what we are talking about in the dialogue. When you dialogue, people will take correction.
“When you discuss, people will say oh this is the mistake we have made. Let us correct the mistake and that is Mr. President for you. He has never told you that he will not make a mistake. He is human. He would make mistakes. That’s why he’s a human being.
“But what is important is that when you call his attention that this is a mistake made, he has that penchant for correcting such mistakes. So, please let nobody bother to go and carry placards or whatever to go on the street. It’s something that will be sorted out”.
Protest: You must fulfil all conditions – Wike warns planners
It’s fake – Presidency disowns statement credited to Tinubu
The presidency has described as fake a viral statement ‘Tinubu Speaks’ that was credited to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a terse statement on Saturday.
Ngelale dismissed the authenticity of the statement-making the round.
“Based on recent inquiries, I wish to reiterate that this is fake and does not emanate from the Presidency,” Ngelale stated firmly.
TVN reports that the statement has been widely shared on social media platforms, purported to be a speech from President Tinubu addressing the nation’s economic challenges.
The statement outlined a series of drastic measures, including a 50 percent salary cut for top government officials, the scrapping of the Office of the First Lady, and the restoration of fuel and electricity subsidies as some measures to ameliorate the current suffering of the masses
It also claimed that the President was planning to reduce the number of his ministers, sell off presidential aircraft, and implement a ban on foreign medical trips for government officials.
This comes amid the heightened tension over the planned August 1-10 hardship protest in Nigeria.
It’s fake – Presidency disowns statement credited to Tinubu
Nigerians donate N1m for ex-inmates wrongfully jailed 24 years
Well-meaning Nigerians have donated at least one million naira on behalf of ex-inmates Ismail Lasisi and Lukman Adeyemi, who spent 24 years in prison for the ritual killing of a woman they knew nothing about.
In an emotional interview with The Punch, Lasisi and Adeyemi shared their harrowing experience. They were arrested and detained in August 2000, they were sentenced to death in 2009.
Adeyemi, who had housed Lasisi after a fallout with the prime suspects, was arrested with his friend when they visited a police station in Oyo State, following police inquiries about Lasisi.
In a surprising twist, the herbalist arrested in connection with the murder was later released by the police. But another suspect who was said to be innocent reportedly died under torture.
“They promised to stop the torture if I confessed to the murder and when I couldn’t take it anymore, I lied against myself to prevent further torture…” READ MORE
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Airtel Africa records $31m profit amid forex crisis
Airtel Africa Plc has reported a profit after tax of $31m for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, demonstrating resilience in the face of foreign exchange challenges.
Despite the Nigerian naira’s depreciation, which resulted in exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses of $80m, net of tax, Airtel Africa’s strong fundamentals and strategic focus helped mitigate the impact.
“Profit after tax of $31m was impacted by $80m of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax), arising from the further depreciation in the Nigerian naira during the quarter,” the report obtained by The According highlighted on Friday.
The telecom operator reported a 19 per cent growth in revenue in constant currency for the first quarter, driven by strong performances in Nigeria and East Africa.
Revenue in Nigeria grew by 33.4 per cent, while East Africa saw a 22.3 per cent increase.
However, revenues from Nigerian operations declined by 16.1 per cent to $1.16m due to currency devaluation.
Mobile services revenue grew by 17.4 per cent, while mobile money revenue was up 28.4 per cent.
Despite the revenue growth, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization margins declined to 45.3 per cent from 49.5 per cent in Q1’24 and 46.5 per cent in Q4’24, due to higher fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the group after the naira devaluation.
The Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Sunil Taldar, said, “The continued revenue growth momentum once again reflects the resilient demand for our services, with sustained growth in our customer base and usage.
“Our superior execution enables us to capture these opportunities, whilst retaining our reputation as a cost leader across the industry.”
Taldar highlighted the company’s superior execution, cost leadership, and opportunities for growth in the enterprise, fibre, and data centre businesses across Africa.
He emphasised improving customer experience through simplified customer journeys and best-in-class network experiences.
The telco CEO also announced a comprehensive cost optimisation programme, which had yielded savings in network and distribution costs.
“We will build on the strong foundation established over many years to deliver on these new business opportunities. Most importantly, our emphasis is on significantly improving customer experience by simplifying customer journeys and providing best-in-class network experience to our customers, whilst remaining focused on driving efficiencies across the business.”
Edo food palliative has no political undertone, says Obaseki
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Saturday said the food palliatives being distributed periodically for the vulnerable in the state has no political undertone.
He called on the federal government to take a cue from its model that gets to real people compared to what the federal government is doing.
He stated this when he flagged off the second phase of distribution of food for the vulnerable through the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Muslims groups and other associations.
Obaseki said, “There is no political undertone in this programme but a genuine interest for the poor. Thank God the people here are not politicians, I don’t have any politician here with me and I am not contesting an election.
“From what you have seen today, the way the group organised themselves, you could see the transparency with which they have run this programme compared to what the federal government claims they are spending on palliatives
“This is like drop of water in the ocean. If we do things properly in this country despite the challenges, things will work well. But with the current leadership, we are not helping ourselves, we are not helping Nigerians.”
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