News

By Muhammad Sabiu

Bishop Hassan Matthew Kukah, the Archbishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, has again yesterday berated the Buhari-led administration, saying that the president isn’t ready to deal with terrorists.

The Bishop expressed concerns as to why the Federal Government isn’t ready to expose the elements financing terrorism in the country, stressing that “Nigeria is decomposing from within.”

Delivering a sermon at the Priestly Ordination of Five Deacons at the Holy Family Cathedral, the cleric vented his anger at the terrible condition the country is in.

He was quoted as saying, “Nigeria is a broken country. It is decomposing from within. Our heart is broken and lives are haemorrhaging by the day. We cannot go on like this. The country and people have become so traumatised and sedated by horrible news, that have now become comfortable in ‘this swamp of evil’.

“No number of horrific deaths, murders, sexual violence and kidnapping of children or adults can make us stop our life of debauchery.”

Mr Kukah has been one of the fiercest critics of the Buhari administration, and the Presidency doesn’t take it lightly in replying to the bishop, in what could be tagged as ‘a war of words.’

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmad

MEP Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilisation (ACSM) Officer, Eunice Subair, disclose that 90,000 malaria deaths are recorded yearly in Nigeria at the quarterly meeting of the Civil Society in Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN), held in Abuja on October 3, 2021.

Subair noted that progress is being made to control malaria, with prevalence going down from 42% in 2010 to 27% in 2015, and 23% in 2018 (MIS 2010 and NDHS 2018).

She said malaria was still a significant burden in Nigeria, and that the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC), was ongoing in all the eligible states.

She also requested the media to help in achieving the malaria elimination goal by making the disease a topmost topic of discourse to the public by including malaria issues in their programmes. And educating the public on the importance of sleeping inside ITNs every night to protect themselves against mosquito bites, among others.

Subair stressed the need for pregnant women to visit clinics at the earliest stage of pregnancy, to undergo antenatal care and admonished Nigerians to always go to the hospital whenever they suspect their systems to have malaria symptoms.

The Coordinator of the Civil Society in Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN), Ayo Ipinmoye, said more than three billion people, about half of the world’s population, are at risk of malaria, which is treatable and preventable.

He noted that the recently upgraded customised management information system would save the Federal Government about N293,700,000 in logistics cost, out of the N890m budgeted for the implementation of the malaria Intervention programme.

He further explained that the deployment of technology in data collection would help check malaria commodities, such as the ACT and insecticide-treated net.

He said with the latest upgrade of ACOMIS, data could be collected from the field on a real-time basis across all implementing states.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmad

The story of the bandits’ attack on Saturday evening killing at least three people, including a humanitarian staff nurse working with Medicine San Frontiers (MSF), has been widely reported on social media.

The victims were all travelling within Zamfara State inside a commercial vehicle.

The MSF nurse, Hassan Muhammad, was returning to his work station in Shinkafi town when the bandits opened fire on the vehicle he was in on the Shinkafi – Kaura Namoda road.

The two other deceased identified are Dahiru Scamper and Musa Moriki, the driver of the vehicle.

One of the injured, Shuaibu Buti, is currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Moriki.

A friend of the slain health worker, Usamah Abubakar, confirmed the circumstances of Mr Muhammad’s death.

“Hassan lived a life of service to humanity and God, as a life saving professional. For the much time I knew him, he was a very humble, calm and honest person,” Mr Abubakar said.

Shinkafi is one of the local government areas most plagued by bandits’ attacks in Zamfara State.

By Ibrahim Siraj

There are indications that Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), would zone its presidential ticket to the Southern part of the country. This follows the decision of the party to zone the national chairmanship seat to the North ahead of its national convention coming up later this month. 

Although the party is yet to formally decide on the zone that will produce its flagbearer in the 2023 presidential election, the latest decision provides some clue because, based on convention, the party has never zoned the two coveted offices to the same region.

Announcing the decision Thursday, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, who is also the Chairman of the party’s zoning committee, said the decision was arrived at at the end of his committee’s meeting.

He said his committee was not mandated to zone the presidential ticket. According to him, “The mandate of the committee does not include zoning of the president, vice president and other executive and legislative offices of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.  

The decision of the party to zone the offices, the Governor adds, “is in line with the constitution of the party on zoning and rotation of party and national offices in the interest of justice, equity and fairness”.

By implication, the decision by PDP to push the national chairmanship seat to the North is likely to dash the hope of politicians eyeing the party’s presidential ticket from the North. Going by tradition, it is almost impossible for the party’s national chairman and presidential candidate to come from one zone.

Prominent among those affected by the party’s decision are former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal and former Kano State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso. These four politicians are among many others of Northern extraction who dominated the party’s presidential convention in 2019, with Atiku Abubakar eventually emerging as the winner. However, Mr Atiku was defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling APC to win reelection.

Atiku unperturbed – Campaign Group

Speaking to The Daily Reality on the development, Alhaji Abdullahi Abdulkarim Gama, leader of Atiku Arewa Reporters, a campaign group rooting for the candidature of the former vice president, said his principal remains unperturbed. He said as far as they are concerned, the decision of the zoning committee is not final and only reflects the position of PDP governors. Moreso, he said, the Governor Ahmad Fintiri-led Convention committee is yet to conclude its assignment and submit its report regarding the party’s convention. He maintained that scheming for the party’s presidential ticket would continue until the last minute.

Situation sceptical yet no cause for alarm – Kwankwasiyya leader

On his part, Dr Aliyu Isa Aliyu, a leading Kwankwasiyya member in Kano, warned that the situation remains sceptical even though no cause for alarm as far as Kwankwaso’s presidential ambition is concerned given that the party has not formally taken a final position on the matter. He cited a situation in 2007 wherein late President YarAdua emerged as PDP’s presidential candidate and went ahead to win the presidency even though the national chairman at the time, Col Ahmadu Ali (Rtd), was also a Northerner. Col. Ali was replaced in 2008 by Chief Vincent Ogbulafor following the zoning of the position to the South. 

Agitation for power rotation not in the interest of Nigerian masses – Don

PDP’s decisions came when the North and the South are deeply entangled in a heated agitation for power rotation. The Southern governors have, on several occasions, made it utterly clear that power must shift to their region, and the North must shelve any thought of retaining the presidency beyond 2023. This position was, however, countered by Northern governors who consider it as “foolish”, “unconstitutional”, and “undemocratic” any attempt to dictate to the North who to vote for as president.

At the end of the governors’ meeting earlier this week which other leaders from the region also attended, the governors advised their Southern counterparts to explore dialogue and compromise as against confrontation and undemocratic tendencies if they are really interested in securing the support of the North for power to shift to the South. 

As the political tug of war between the North and the South continues over the zone that produces the next president, a university don has warned that the rotational presidency is undemocratic and thus has no place in Nigeria’s Constitution.  Answering enquiry from TDR, Dr Riyauddeen Zubairu Maitama of the Department of Political Science, Bayero Univerisity, Kano, explains that although so much importance has been attached to the issue of power rotation, what should be more significant for the citizens is justice and development. Of utmost importance to Nigerians, he said, is choosing a leader who will tackle corruption, poverty and widespread insecurity irrespective of the political party or the region such a leader comes from.

Dr Riyauddeen further lamented how politicians from both divides are becoming more preoccupied with zoning and power rotation at the expense of the welfare of the Nigerian masses who voted for them.  He described the agitation for secession championed by the likes of Sunday Igboho as Southern Nigeria’s gimmick to harass the North and to exact political concession ahead of the presidential election. 

Crucial months ahead

With less than a year and a half to Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, the next few months will be crucial as zoning, and other issues are expected to dominate the discourse on the political scene. While the major political parties continue to gear up for their separate national conventions to choose national officers, Nigerians will continue to observe with keen interest how political events will unfold in search of President Buhari’s successor in 2023. The pertinent question for now is: can zoning succeed in ultimately sealing the fate of those presidential hopefuls from the North, or would they be able to come up with something dramatic to turn things around? Only time will tell!

By Muhammad Sabiu

All is set for the launch of the copy of the Nigerian constitution (1999), which was translated into Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba by Prince Ade Ajayi Foundation Centre for Constitutional Literacy and Civic Education.

President of the foundation, Mr Ajayi, made the disclosure to journalists in Lagos on Friday.

He said that the translation work into the three languages, whose launch is scheduled to be held on the 25th day of November, took them six years.

According to him, the task aims to promote unity, national orientation.

He added that a book titled ‘I Love Nigeria, My Country’, would also be launched in the hope that national cohesion would be enhanced.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted him as saying: “Of 4,000 Nigerians randomly sampled in urban areas, over 80 per cent had never seen or read in whole or part, a soft or hard copy of the 1999 constitution.

“Of those who had, more than half could not recall what they had read. The statistics in rural areas are abysmal, largely due to literacy levels.

“We believe that the first step in national orientation is adequate civic education. This cannot take place where citizens do not have access to the one document that can most wholesomely, inform them.”

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Government of Zamfara State has directed for the restoration of telecommunications services within the state capital of Gusau with effect from today, Friday, 1st October, 2021.

According to the State Governor’s Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, Mr. Zailani Bappa, the restoration of the service at the state capital becomes imperative following the tremendous success recorded in the fight against banditry in the state and to ease the hardship faced by both the private and public sectors of the state.

Mr. Bappa further stated that the “Government finds it necessary to ease the tight measure after the recorded success desired of it which has no doubt destabilised the syndicate of criminals terrorising the state leading to the successes recorded against them by the security operatives”

By Muhammad Sabiu

Following the ban placed on telecommunication services and other commercial activities in Zamfara State due to incessant killings and kidnappings, the government on Thursday says about 2000 suspected informers assisting bandits have been apprehended.

Ibrahim Dodara, Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, disclosed this during a press conference in Kaduna.

Mr Dosara was quoted as saying, “The government has set up a situation room where complaints are being received to ensure prompt action.

He added that the terrorists are being eliminated by troops and have been hit by acute hunger due to the ban placed on commercial activities in the state.

“Many bandits have been neutralised by the army. Most of them are forced to eat raw food like millet because they have been cut off from their collaborators in town,” he said.

Based on the reports coming from the state in recent weeks, there has been tremendous success in the area of the fight against the terrorists in north-western Nigeria.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmad

Solomon Ewuga, the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has been kidnapped.

Ewuga, who also served as a Senator, was kidnapped in the late hours of Wednesday in Plateau State.

The former Senator, who represented Nasarawa North Senatorial district from 2011-2015, was returning home when the gunmen waylaid and abducted him.

His abduction is coming after the gruesome killing of the husband of former Minister of Information Prof Dora Akunyili, Dr Chike Akunyili, was reported.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmad

The Nigerian Police Force has reportedly arrested dozens of Shia Muslims followers at a religious procession of Arbaeen in Abuja on September 28, 2021.

The spokesperson of the group claimed that eight members were shot dead during the gathering.

However, Abuja police denied the claim of any casualty.

The police official said they intervened to stop members of the banned Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) from causing hardship to motorists along the Abuja-Kubwa expressway. He added that “57 people were arrested after IMN members attacked the police with petrol bombs and stones.”

“They were promptly intercepted by the security operatives and dispersed to prevent further disruption of public order,” the police statement said.

IMN spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said security forces shot and wounded protesters.

“We were almost rounding up the procession when the police and army came and started shooting,” he said.

The IMN, a pro-Iranian group, had a profession in 2019 that saw their leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky’s arrest when it clashed with Nigerian security forces.

The army killed 350 IMN Shia Muslims during a religious procession in northern Nigeria in December 2015. According to rights groups, many were gunned down and burned alive.

IMN leader el-Zakzaky and his wife, who has been in custody since 2015, were freed last month after a court acquitted them of murder charges involving the death of a soldier.

But the religious leader still faces terrorism and treasonable offences charges, according to prosecutors.

Muslims make up about half of Nigeria’s population of 200 million. However, the Shia Muslim minority have long complained of discrimination and repression.

By Abubakar Ibrahim

A Statement issued by Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Ahmed Ibrahim Matane said the downward review of the tuition fees of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, only affects returning students and the state’s indigene from fifty thousand to forty-six thousand. For the new indigene students, it is ninety-five to eighty-six thousand.

Ahmed Matane revealed that the tuition fee for the new and returning non-indigene international students remain unchanged.

The SSG explained that Governor Sani Bello reduced the tuition fees after listening to representations from the State House of Assembly members, stakeholders, including the Students Union.