Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Thursday 11th March 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 11/03/21
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Ivorian Prime Minister, Bakayoko Dies In German Hospital Two Days After 56th Birthday
Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister, Hamed Bakayoko, who was seen as a possible successor to President Alassane Ouattara, has died in a hospital in southwest Germany, two days after his 56th birthday, the government said on Wednesday.
A former media executive who turned to politics, Bakayoko acted as a negotiator and intermediary between warring factions as a prolonged civil conflict racked Ivory Coast from the early 2000s.
A close ally of Ouattara, he was appointed as prime minister in July 2020 following the sudden death of his predecessor Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who had been handpicked by Ouattara to succeed him.
According to France24 and Reuters, he was flown to France on February 18 for medical checks and later to Freiburg in Germany.
The government said in a statement on Friday that Ouattara had met Bakayoko during a visit in France last week, and given the state of the minister’s health, it was recommended that his hospitalisation should be extended.
Ouattara on Monday named his close confidant and chief of staff Patrick Achi as interim prime minister.
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E2%80%94prp-chairman-tells-bandits-boko APC, PDP Elite Are Your Enemies, Not Innocent Nigerians—PRP Chairman Tells Bandits, Boko Haram
Boko Haram
The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Mallam Falalu Bello, has said the leaders of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party are the saboteurs of the security and economy of the country and should be answerable to the bandits and the Boko Haram, and not Innocent Nigerians looking for means of survival.
The PRP chairman added that it was unfortunate that the victims of Boko Haram in the North-East, banditry in the North-West and North-Central and tribal killings in South-West and South-East were poor and harmless Nigerians.
Boko Haram
Bello stated these in an opening address at the Second Media Dialogue of the PRP held on Wednesday.
The dialogue was titled, “Time to reverse the slide into anomie.”
The chairman noted that the majority of Nigerians are being continuously manipulated by the rich to continuously rule and dominate them.
He said, “The victims of the Boko Haram in the North-East, banditry in North-West and North-Central and the tribal killings in South-West and South-East are preponderantly the ‘talaka’; the poor Nigerians that are being continuously manipulated by the rich to continuously rule and dominate them.
“Both the killers and victims need to realise their real enemies; the elite political class that continuously mismanage their public trust and subject them to insecurity, economic woes, unemployment and restlessness.
“We, as your party, urge all to stop wagging war against each other and begin to lawfully engage your real enemies in PDP and APC.
“The ruling class in these parties are the saboteurs and they are your real enemy that you need to dislodge through the political process. Both the northern poor (talaka) in Turunku or Dansadau of North-West, Toto and Bokkos of North Central as well as Sasha in Oyo, Orlu in Imo State and Baguma in Rivers State are victims of these ruling and heartless elite, clashing your heads together so that they continue to rule.”
The PRP chairman lamented that successive Nigerian administrations had over the years failed in their constitutional responsibility to provide good governance to the country’s teeming citizens.
“The resulting frustrations – driven by the increasing pauperisation, enervating mass poverty, ubiquitous unemployment and lack of opportunities as well as decaying educational, health, social and physical infrastructure – are what our country is now harvesting in the form of insecurity, criminal banditry and a progressive and dangerous descent into violent ethno-cultural exclusiveness.
“In our humble view, the solution to the challenges facing the country today lies squarely in finding solutions to at least some fundamental political and economic problems.
“These problems have to do, first, with the manner and mode we employ in recruiting our class of people that are entrusted with the responsibility for managing our political and public institutions,” he added.
Bello continued that a political recruitment system which relied in favour of the money-wielders and plutocrats could only produce political and public managers who worked in the interest of moneyed and propertied classes, both domestic and foreign.
The chairman stated that this orientation among the masses must be changed to have a new socio-political and economic system in the country.
“This is what the Nigerian talaka must change and change urgently if the nonsense going on in the name of governance must stop. The downtrodden must organise themselves to publically take over power of the plutocracy must stop,” he said.
He continued, “This leads us to the second question that needs to be addressed; namely the transfer of power to the citizenry, in real and not theoretical terms. In other worlds, how do we go about transferring sovereignty (political power) to the Nigerian citizenry in concrete terms, so that the Nigerian citizen is empowered to exercise that power on a day-to-day basis to promote and protect things that matter most to him?
“This is where it becomes a matter of utmost necessity that efforts are strenuously made to build and strengthen civil society organisations and institutions throughout the country.
“The formation of virile and viable cooperative societies, occupational and professional organisations and residential groupings are all central to this strategy of transferring political power, in concrete terms, to the citizenry.
“These civil society groupings have to be mainstreamed into our country’s political process if we are going to reverse the present descent into anomie in our nation.
“This institutionalisation and mainstreaming of civil society organisations in the country’s political and public management process are consistent with the programmes and promises made regarding security and community policing by the PRP in its manifesto for the 2019 general elections.”
Bello added that another manifestation of the steady decline and descent into anomie was the increasing tendency towards ethnic cleansings, with certain ethnic nationalities being given quit and marching orders out of sections of the country.
“These developments have led to the killings in Ondo and Oyo states of poor Hausa-Fulani and other tribes of northern extraction trading and doing menial jobs in South-West. Also, the same ethnic identities are being killed in South-East Nigeria,” he stated.
Boko Haram
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Tanker Drivers Block Lagos-Benin Expressway Over Murder Of Two Drivers By Suspected Herdsmen
Tankers
Drivers of petroleum tankers and other articulated heavy vehicles have reportedly blocked the Benin-Ore highway, at Ofosu, a community between Edo and Ondo states, over the alleged murder of two of their colleagues by suspected Fulani herdsmen on Tuesday night.
Tankers
According to reports, the suspected herdsmen carted away an undisclosed amount of money from their victims after killing them.
The angry drivers, who blocked the ever-busy highway at the military checkpoint, refused all plea made to them by other motorists to vacate the road for a free flow of traffic.
They insisted that the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, must address them before they would reopen the road for use.
Insecurity
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E2%80%93-emir How Bandits Killed 10 Miners, Abducted 100 Others In Zamfara – Emir
File Photo
The Emir of Anka, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, says no fewer than 10 miners operating between Anka and Maru Local Government Areas of Zamfara have been killed by bandits.
Ahmad, who is also the Chairman of the state Council of Chiefs, disclosed this when the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lucky Irabor led service chiefs on an assessment visit to Governor Bello Matawalle.
File Photo
CrisisGroupOrg
He added that the bandits also abducted over 100 persons during an invasion of a mining site in the area.
The monarch said the incident occurred on March 2 but was overshadowed by the abduction of Jangebe schoolgirls.
Ahmad lamented how bandits regularly attack miners and steal their money and belongings.
“The bandits have been attacking those involved in artisanal mining and carting away their money and property.
“There is a disconnect between miners and bandits in the state, so we were surprised when the declaration of ‘no fly zone’ was recently slammed on our state over suspected arms supply and illegal mining when the state does not even have an airport.
“We know that there are states with more security challenges than Zamfara and we expected that if such order would be issued, it should also cover such states.
“Our artisanal miners, who are licenced, have been very helpful to the state’s economic growth and they have played significant roles in ameliorating the hardship faced by Internally Displaced Persons in the state by supporting them,” he said.
Insecurity
Insurgency
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Vigilante Members Defend Niger Community, Kill 40 Bandits
Vigilante members in Kutigi, headquarters of Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State on Tuesday repelled an attack on the village by gunmen suspected to be bandits.
SaharaReporters gathered that over 40 bandits were killed by the local security officials.
Also, three members of the group lost their lives in the exchange of gunfire with the bandits.
A source told SaharaReporters that the incident led to pandemonium in the area and residents were afraid that there might be a reprisal.
“The vigilante members mobilised and firmly defended the community, killing at least 40 bandits. Three members of the vigilante group were however killed by the gunmen.
“However, security operatives have been drafted to the community to restore law and order,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
Vigilante groups have been formed across Niger to combat insecurity in the state.
On February 17, twenty-seven students, three staff members and 12 members of their families were abducted when gunmen stormed Government Science Secondary School in Kagara, Niger state.
While one of the students, Benjamin Doma, who tried to escape was gunned down, a member of staff luckily broke loose from captivity.
The armed men were said to have invaded the school around 3 am.
The attackers were reportedly dressed in military uniform in what looked like a premeditated attack.
The incident happened barely three days after 21 passengers heading to Minna, capital of Niger state, were abducted in broad daylight by gunmen.
The students were released after spending 10 days in captivity.
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Herdsmen Attacks: Bayelsa Bans Open Grazing Of Cattle
Duoye Diri
Bayelsa State Government has enacted a law prohibiting open grazing of livestock in the state.
Governor Douye Diri assented to the Livestock Breeding, Rearing and Marketing Regulation Law 2021 on Monday at the Executive Chamber of Government House in Yenagoa.
Governor Duoye Diri
He said the essence of the law is to ensure harmonious living between cattle dealers and other inhabitants of the state and to forestall the violent clashes being experienced in other parts of the country.
He said: “Bayelsa State welcomes all and sundry to eke out a living legitimately. The people of Bayelsa want to have a mutual and harmonious relationship with non-natives and natives. The essence of the law is to avert and forestall any clash between herdsmen, farmers, natives and non-natives as experienced in some states.”
The law, according to him, stipulates that any herdsman found with arms, whether licenced or not, should be arrested.
He also stated that the law establishes a livestock management committee to regulate livestock activities in the state.
Members of the committee include the Commissioner for Agriculture, security agencies, youths and others.
He further said: “From the commencement of the law, no person shall breed, rear or trade in livestock in the state in any other place as may be designated by the committee and approved by the state government.”
The law prohibits movement of cattle on foot from other parts of the country into the state, inspection of livestock and certification by veterinary doctors at entry points into the state among others.
Diri said by assenting to the law, any person found engaging in open grazing of livestock on foot commits an offence and would be arrested and prosecuted with the livestock impounded.
The governor also signed into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law 2021.
He explained that the law was to prevent certain harmful practices against women and children.
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E2%80%93governor%E2%80%99s-spokesperson Oyo APC Leaders Want Makinde To Abandon PDP, Join Them–Governor’s Spokesperson
Mr Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has said that the All Progressives Congress in the state is making moves to bring the governor to the party and abandon the Peoples Democratic Party which brought him to power.
Adisa, in a statement, noted that the “plot to lure Makinde to the APC” did not, however, come as a surprise to the governor.
The CPS added that the opposition APC was scared of a woeful performance in Oyo in the 2023 governorship election and therefore wanted Maknide to join its train.
He said, “Rather than claim that Makinde wants to defect, the truth the APC elements should tell the world is that their party is attempting to lure the performing governor.”
The CPS added that Makinde has not bothered to respond to their criticisms because he is focused on service delivery to the people.
On the farmers/herders’ crisis, Adisa said the governor had remained on the side of the law and always insisted that criminals must be fished out without ethnic profiling
There has been crisis in the South-West PDP in the recent months with former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, believed to be at loggerheads with Makinde over the control of the party in the South-West.
Makinde, the only PDP governor in the region, has come under severe pressure and criticisms from Fayose and his camp, which might reshape Makinde’s future in the party ahead of 2023.
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Despite Kogi Governor’s Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Stand, State Will Take Delivery Of Doses—Commissioner
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
The Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, has said the state governor, Yahaya Bello, is ready to take delivery of the AstraZeneca/ Oxford COVID-19 vaccines given to the state though he had publicly questioned the existence of the virus.
He, however, said the state government will not force anyone to take a jab of the vaccine except for those who are willing.
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
Fanwo said, “The governor has said he will accept the vaccine in the state but he will not force anyone to take it. Anyone who may wish to take the vaccine can come forward and the person will be vaccinated but the governor will not enforce it.
“He had said it already that he will take delivery of the vaccine if they bring the vaccine to the state. We just don’t have any information about when the vaccine is coming in and in what quantity.”
Bello has consistently dismissed the existence of the virus in his state and also expressed reservations about the vaccine for the disease on numerous occasions.
In a viral video, Bello could be seen discouraging a jeering crowd of supporters from taking COVID-19 vaccine.
“They want to use the (COVID-19) vaccines to introduce the disease that will kill you and us. God forbid!” Bello had said.
He had recently said on a live television programme that there was nothing medically wrong with him, adding that he would not allow the people of his state to be used as “guinea pigs”.
Nigeria had on Tuesday received about four million doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine shipped into the country through the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
Some health workers including the first Nigerian to receive the vaccine on the country’s soil, Cyprian Ngong of the National Hospital, Abuja, received shots of the vaccines when the exercise was flagged off by the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, in Abuja.
Also, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as well as some governors have received shots of the vaccines to dissipate vaccine hesitancy amongst Nigerians.
In his reaction to this, Bello said, “COVID-19 is not our business in Kogi State. We have more pertinent issues and more pertinent matters that we are attending to in Kogi State. Insecurity we met, we’ve tackled it and several others. Disunity we met on the ground and we have united Kogi State today not COVID-19.
“COVID-19 is just a minute aspect of what we are treating or handling in Kogi State; there have been outbreaks of Lassa Fever and Yellow Fever and those were handled without making a noise about it.
“The last Yellow Fever (outbreak), we vaccinated our people against Yellow Fever, we encouraged them, we educated them and they felt the impact…If the Federal Government is gracious enough and give us COVID-19 vaccines, we will equally sensitise our people, people who wish to come and take can come and take but I am not going to subject the people of Kogi State to vaccines or vaccination and I will not make them the guinea pigs.”
He added, “Mr President is the leader of this country. I respect him so high; all of us respect him so much. We love him and he is leading by example. If he needs to take the vaccine and he takes it, it is a welcome development.
“As far as I am concerned, I, as a person, don’t need to take vaccines. There is nothing wrong with me, I am hale and hearty. I am 100 per cent healthy…I won’t take any vaccine.”
PUBLIC HEALTH
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Some Corps Members Who Finished 10 Years Ago Yet To Be Employed, Says NYSC
The National Youth Service Corps has urged corps members to take entrepreneurial skills with all seriousness, noting that some corps members who passed out as far back as 10 years ago have not yet been gainfully employed.
The NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, stated this on Wednesday, noting that the lack of jobs for ex-corps members was worrisome to the scheme, but it would continue to intensify the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme to bridge the unemployment gap.
The DG noted that the corps members would be employers of labour, rather than “an army of restive job seekers, trudging the streets of Nigeria in search of scarcely available white collar jobs.”
Ibrahim, in his address to the corps members who began orientation camps today nationwide, also pleaded with them not to embark on unauthorised journeys.
The DG said, “NYSC in the last few years recorded a paradigm shift in the orientation course content, aligning it with the prevailing security and economic realities. The precarious state of national security and shrinkage of white-collar jobs made this phenomenal change germane and compelling.
“This shift witnessed the introduction of Martial Arts training into the course content so as to equip corps members with basic self defence skills. That notwithstanding, the scheme is always in constant touch with the various security agencies to ensure that your security is not compromised.
“A corollary to the above is the issue of financial security. It is quite worrisome to note that a lot of ex-corps members who got discharged from service as far back as 10 years are yet to be gainfully employed. This sorry state of affairs has brought about despondency and dejection on the part of some serving corps members.
“It equally fans the embers of criminality and depravity such as robbery, advance fee fraud, prostitution, drug peddling and abuse to mention but a few.
“In an attempt to stem this tide, the scheme introduced Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme into the orientation course content. Prior to this intervention, the scheme had been in collaboration with the National Directorate of Employment, the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, now SDGs.”
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The Return And Management Of Stolen Assets Recovered From The Former Governor Of Delta State, James Ibori And Associates By Evans Ufeli Esq
It was with dismay that I watched the Federal Executive Council alongside the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Melami SAN signed an MOU with the British government on the repatriation of the looted fund of the sum of £4.2 million which was laundered from the treasury of the Delta State government by former Governor James Ibori which led to his conviction on 10 count charges bordering on fraud and money-laundering in February 2012 in the United Kingdom.
The agreement states that said fund will be received by the federal government and same shall be deployed towards the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja – Kano expressway and the Lagos – Ibadan expressway under the coordination of the Nigeria Social Investment Authority (NSIA)
I have been however reliably informed that based on the agreement signed, the £4.2million is to be returned to Nigeria two weeks from now. I hereby wish to respond to this as follows.
That the aforementioned funds belong to the Delta State government and same cannot be appropriated and/or misappropriated by the federal government to fund projects already appropriated for in the Nigerian 2021 budget.
That the £4.2million was earned by the Delta State government through her Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) scheme, 13% Derivation Funds from the Federal Government’s sales of Grude Oil and loans anf other lawful means before the said funds were laundered by former Governor James Ibori.
That it is the law that state funds are meant for the development of the state and her people but if by any means such funds are diverted for personal use, the said funds if recovered, must be returned to the state account from where it was looted or diverted.
That in 2012 the sum of £5 million recovered from the funds stolen by former Bayelsa State Governor Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha was handed back to the Bayelsa State government. The said £5 million was received from the British authorities and handed over to two government officials from Bayelsa State, who came to London for the transfer . The money was thereafter lodged in the Bayelsa State government account with the London branch of First Bank Plc.
That Nigeria is administered by the principles of federalism where fiscal autonomy is driven through financial autonomy wherein the federal government’s revenues are clearly separated from the state finances (see section 162 subsection 1-4 of the 1999 constitution as amended which says “the Federation shall maintain a special account to be called a” Federation Account” into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the Government of the Federation except the proceeds of personal income tax of the personnel of the armed forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the Ministry or department of government charged with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and the residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. (2) The President, upon the receipt of advice from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, shall table before the National Assembly proposals for revenue allocation from the Federation Account, and in determining the formula, the National Assembly shall take into account, the allocation principles especially those of population, equality of States, internal revenue generation, land mass, terrain as well as population density; Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than thirteen per cent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources.
(3) Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the Local Government Councils in each State on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
(4) Any amount standing to the credit of the States in the Federation Account shall be distributed among the States on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
The above sections of the 1999 constitution clearly addressed the fact that revenues already distributed to states belong to the states. To this end, it is the intention of the law that state revenue remains their exclusive preserve, therefore state revenues recovered anywhere in the world should be returned to the state from where it was stolen and thereafter recovered. This is the most equitable and justifiable application of the law to addressing the above issue
Federalism and Fiscal Autonomy leans in favour of financial autonomy, which include the autonomy of the units to have a sufficient measure of control over resources accruing in and derivable from area of their individual territorial jurisdiction.
The law emphasized on the need for financial independence or autonomy of each of the sphere or constituents units of government in a federal order and their unrestrained liberty to pursue their respective development without depending on the other(s) constituents units for aid.
In view of the foregoing, I hereby demand that the aforementioned revenue belongs to Delta State government should not be deployed into any use as the Delta State government has not given any authorization to that effect.
That the Federal Executive Council alongside the Attorney General of the Federation have no authority whatsoever over that fund and cannot take a decision on it when the Delta State Government has not decided how the resources will be used to develop the state.
I therefore wish to demand that the Federal Executive Council and Attorney General of the Federation reverse their decision to deploy the Delta State Governments funds to any other use order than that directed by the state. If in the next 7 days the aforementioned decision is no reverse and apologies tendered to the good people of Delta State I shall have no other option than to proceed against you in the court of law for redress.
Evans Ufeli Esq is a Lagos based Legal Practitioner and Executive Director Cadrell Advocacy Centre
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