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Insecurity: Nigeria drifting towards total collapse – Gani Adams

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... raises alarm over presence of terrorists is Osun, Ogun forests

Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams, has raised the alarm on the worsening insecurity in the country, saying Nigeria is already sleepwalking into a collapse.

Adams, in a statement he personally signed, and made available to the media on Sunday, declared that the somnambulation was caused by a criminal overdose of chronic pain inflicted on the country by the inaction and connivance of those in authority with terrorists and undesirable elements in the polity.

Adams said from the economy to security, the country is already heading for a decline, a situation he said will have ripple effects on sub-Saharan Africa and the black world.

Calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to quickly stop the drift, the Aare Ona Kakanfo said series of serious security breaches in the country in the last few months mean that all is not well with the security architecture of Nigeria.

Full text of the statement:

“On the economic front, it is another sad story. A dollar is now more than N700. This is an administration that met dollar at less than N200 in 2015.

“Economically, if this is not scary enough, we wonder what is.

“We now have a situation in which family members are being forced to raise N100 million naira to pay as ransom.

“The money is delivered to these terrorists to buy more weapons and the government is merely watching.

“After every abduction, the President will summon Service Chiefs to a meeting, a statement will be issued and that is the end of it. What we will hear next is another abduction or series of kidnappings.

READ  Unity is key to development, progress of Yoruba race - Gani Adams

“The insecurity situation has reached its peak with the threat by these terrorists to kidnap the President, governors and lawmakers.

“A Presidential advance team was attacked in Katsina and soldiers guarding the president were attacked in Abuja. Some of them were killed. It looks as if this administration has decided to force Nigerians to seek self-help.

“The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives declared that he read more than 40 security reports from the DSS, warning of an impending attack on Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.

“The attack did not only happen, it led to killings. But pitiably, nobody has been punished for dereliction of duty.

“Painfully, Nigeria is going down because it looks as if there is no government in the country. Millions of Nigerians are in pains, they are suffering.

“In a recent video released by the terrorists attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers, it is heart-breaking to watch fathers, mothers, children being flogged, tortured and humiliated. The terrorists must have data to be able to send the video out. So, what is the job of Nigerian Communications Commissions and intelligence units of security agencies?

“Has it now become a crime for Nigerians to move from one place to the other?

“Mass abductions go on everyday, yet no report of a sigle victim rescued, except when ransom is paid.

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“The horrendous humiliation of Nigerians in their country by these terrorists should stop immediately.
“President Buhari can use his executive powers to allow the immediate establishment of state police with a mandate to flush out all the terrorists stationed in strategic places in the country.

“Nigerians’ silence is being misconstrued for foolishness. By the time President Buhari and other government officials realise that Nigerians can rise like Sri Lankans, it will be too late for them.

“The President has about 10 months left in office. This is the time to redeem his image or whatever is left of it. Nigerians believe, and rightly so, that without high-level conspiracy with these terrorists, the blood-thirsty maniacs will not have the audacity and insolent boldness to be attacking Nigerians everywhere.

“Somnambulation and hate actions from government against Nigerians must stop now.

“Now that Abuja has seemingly lost the battle to terrorists, the south west region has been the next target of these destroyers of hope.

“But we will never allow them to destroy our land. Therefore, we urge the six governors in the south west states to hold an urgent emergency security meeting with stakeholders across the region so as to address the impending implosion.

“We are aware of their plans to strike in Lagos,Ibadan,Oyo state, and Abeokuta in Ogun state, however,I implore all the governors in the south west to recruit local security service structure in their various local government.

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“At least,150 people in each local government. This local security architecture would be given stipend as salaries as their job is to assist and complement the efforts of operation Amotekun that had been existing in five out of the six states in the region.

“However, it must be said also that in case the governors need my help or any kind of assistance or that of Southwest Security Stakeholders’ Group (SSSG) in strengthening our region’s security,I am ready to offer the assistance.

“Nothing guarantees safety in any country or region other than the synergy and cooperation among all the stakeholders.

“I want to also urge anybody with useful information that has any security implication to tell the traditional rulers, leaders in their respective locality or even me for us to intervene and report same to the right quarters.

“For instance, the information reaching me today is that the terrorists are in-between Osu forest and Ile Ife, Osun State, fully armed with various ammunition and they are presently in the forest between Abeokuta and Ibadan planning to attack us in the south west. This is one information that we need to act on in order to avoid possible calamity.

“Yoruba aren’t cowards. So, Let everybody in the south west be vigilant and be watchful in checking this insecurity scourge that is already stiff-necking Nigeria and could not let the nation breathe.”

 

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Tinubu to depart Abuja for official visit to The Netherlands today

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President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja, the nation’s capital, on Tuesday for the Kingdom of The Netherlands on an official visit.

Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, said in a statement on Monday, that Tinubu is visiting The Netherlands at the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

 

He added that the president will engage in “high-level discussions with the Prime Minister, as well as hold separate meetings with His Royal Majesty, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Kingdom”.

“The Queen is the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA),” the statement reads.

“While in the Netherlands, the President will participate in the Nigerian-Dutch Business and Investment Forum that will bring together heads of conglomerates and organizations in both countries to explore opportunities for collaboration and partnerships, especially in agriculture and water management towards innovative solutions for sustainable farming practices.

“There will also be extensive discussions with the Dutch officials on port management operations for which they have world-renowned expertise.

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“After his engagements in the Netherlands, the President will proceed to attend a special World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting scheduled for April 28-29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

 

“At the World Economic Forum meeting, which focuses on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development, President Tinubu and his entourage will use the opportunity of the gathering of over 1,000 leaders from business, government, and academia to engage in discussions in furtherance of his Renewed Hope Agenda for the country.”

 

Ngelale said Tinubu will be accompanied by some ministers and other senior government officials on the trip.

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State police will curb commercial kidnapping, it’s non-negotiable — Jonathan

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan says the state police is crucial to addressing the challenge of insecurity in the country.

Jonathan spoke in Abuja on Monday at a national security dialogue organised by the house of representatives.

 

The former president said the state police should be established on a framework that makes it difficult to be abused.

 

“The issue today is very critical. One thing is that we don’t need to debate whether we should have state police or not. I think that matter has been concluded. The issue is the operations of the police,” Jonathan said.

 

He said security in Bayelsa was epileptic in the late 90s, noting that it was a security architecture in the form of state police that salvaged the situation.

 

“So there is no way we can manage internal security if states would not have their police,” he added.

 

The former president said the concern is how state police would freely operate without the interference and control of governors and other actors.

“But how would the state police function vis-á-vis the national security architecture,” he asked.

 

“When I set up the 2014 national dialogue, during that period we had lots of challenges in the country.

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“People were agitating so many areas but one thing that the almost 500 (people) agreed without much ado was the issue of state police.”

 

Jonathan said state police is not new to the country as it was practised during the military regime.

 

“You know in this country, we operated it before. Why is it that the military scrapped it? It was because of the abuse and that is the area we should concentrate on,” he said.

 

“How do we manage the state police so it would not be abused by state political actors?

 

“If state political actors are abusing the state police and using the state police to harass and make life miserable for people who do not belong to their political parties, would the commander-in-chief sit down and watch or would he order the military to go and overrun the state police? Of course, that would bring crisis.”

 

Jonathan said the state police should be designed in a way that will not make it clash with the national security architecture of the country.

 

“These things need to be done carefully,” he said.

 

“So, if we are talking about state police, we must also rejig INEC and the police must not be used against or to the advantage of any political party.”

READ  We won’t rest until agents of darkness causing insecurity are eliminated - Tinubu

 

He advocated that the conduct of elections should be improved to require minimal participation of the police.

 

“So, the national assembly needs to look into all these. These are the areas that we have to concentrate on,” he said.

“The issue of the need for states to have their own police is not negotiable. There is no way we can continue this kidnapping that is going on in this country.

 

“Commercial kidnapping started around 2006, I don’t want to go into that history. But it started in the Niger Delta. Now it is all over the country.

 

“The only thing that can help us if we cannot stop it completely at least we reduce it to the barest minimum is for states to have their police.”

Jonathan said the state police must be well equipped with sophisticated weapons to be able to combat aggression from criminals.

“Sometimes people say the state police should have limited weapons, that the calibre of weapons they should have should be limited. That is an area that must also be cleared, we must be careful with it,” he said.

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“I am not expecting states to have rockets and missiles, but the conventional weapons if you look at the calibre of weapons criminals use, the states must have superior weapons or at least equal.

 

“If you make the state (police) have weapons that are inferior to the ones that the criminals are using, then you are asking them to commit suicide in the field.

“So we must not even go there in terms of limiting the capacity of the state police. A state that has enough resources must equip the police very well and that state can also assist other states that have challenges.”

 

Also speaking, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said the federal government would support the consensus of the dialogue.

 

“The president is committed to listening to your recommendations and insights invariable to share in the policies that would lead us to a more secure and good society,” Shettima said.

 

On his part, Abdulsalami Abubakar, former head of state, harped on the need for the government to be transparent, honest, and accountable to citizens.

 

Abubakar said there should critical discussion on how the state police would operate.

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FG to sell DisCos managed by AMCON, banks in next three months

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The Federal Government says it would sell off five electricity distribution companies (DisCos) under the management of banks and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in the next three months to technical power operators.

 

Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, spoke in Abuja on Monday when the members of the senate committee on power visited the ministry.

 

The five DisCos include Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), currently under the management of the United Bank for Africa (UBA); Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company, managed by Fidelity Bank, while Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company is under AMCON management.

 

The DisCos are under the management of the banks and AMCON due to their debt burden.

Adelabu said the energy distribution assets are technical and as such, they should be under the management of technical experts.

 

He also said the tough decision on the DisCos has become necessary because the entire Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) fails when they refuse to perform.

READ  We won’t rest until agents of darkness causing insecurity are eliminated - Tinubu

According to Adebayo, the ministry will prevail on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to revoke underperforming licenses and also change the management board of the DisCos if it becomes the solution.

 

“On distribution, very soon you will see that tough decisions will be taken on the DisCos. They are the last lap of the sector. If they don’t perform, the entire sector is not performing,” Adebayo said.

 

”The entire ministry is not performing. We have put pressure on NERC, which is their regulator to make sure they raise the bar on regulation activities.

 

”If they have to withdraw licenses for non-performance, why not? If they have to change the board of management, why not?

 

“And all the DisCos that are still under AMCON and Banks, within the next three months, must be sold to technical power operators with good reputations in utility management.

“We can no longer afford AMCON to run our DisCos. We can no longer afford the banks to run our DisCos. This is a technical industry and it must be run by technical experts.”

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The minister further said it has become necessary to reorganise the DisCos for efficiency.

 

He stressed that Ibadan DisCo is too large for one company to manage.

 

FG TO REVOKE METRE CONTRACT FROM FIRM

Adelabu also dropped the hint that the federal government mobilised a company named Messr Zigglass with $200 million (N32 billion) to supply three million meters that were yet to be supplied to date.

 

“If you held N32 billion for these years, where is the interest,” he asked.

 

According to Adelabu, President Bola Tinubu directed that the contract be revoked.

 

He said the government will bridge the current eight million metering gap in the next four to five years.

 

The minister said the funding for the metre is coming from a seed capital of N100 billion and N75 billion.

 

He added that the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NISA) is coming to the aid of the ministry with the fund.

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