One news story that dominated public discussion in the past few days was the grotesque tale of how a mystery snake consumed the whopping sum of N36 million from the Benue State office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). There are indeed moonlight tales emanating from the offices of JAMB.

The first astonishing story was narrated by a sales clerk in the Makurdi, Benue State, office of JAMB. On interrogation, the woman told the far-fetched story of how a “spiritual” snake consumed the stupendous amount of money received through the sale of scratch cards to JAMB candidates. The money, she said, was kept in the office safe from where the mystery snake took the entire collection.

What an incredible tale fit to be narrated to idiots. But wait, that was not all. Just as everyone was digesting the disingenuous story, news emerged of another dubious tale from the Nasarawa office of JAMB. In this particular case, the sum of N26 million could not be accounted for because another untrustworthy staff of JAMB had claimed that the money, along with the remaining scratch cards, were incinerated inside his car during a road accident that occurred on his way to the Abuja office.    

These two stories deserve a national award for the best fictional thrillers of 2018, if not that they are both serious cases that border on audacious theft of public money. How two staff of JAMB located at different offices could weave such unbelievable tales and expect the nation to believe them is in itself a mystery. Has JAMB become an easy conduit for the perpetration of crimes of extraordinary proportions? While the man and woman await their day in court, what we know for now is that JAMB and the nation have been scammed, defrauded and deceived.

The hare-brained story of a mystery snake that was narrated by a sales clerk is as much a reflection of the stupidity of the woman. The story symbolises lack of standards and moral values in our society. It is puzzling how a public servant could connive with her house aide to rob an institution of government of such a large sum of money.

It is difficult to believe that the woman at the centre of the scandal mustered the courage to tell a lie in the public sphere. The story is so bad you don’t even know how to handle it, whether to laugh or cry. Should the story teller be garlanded or prosecuted? Are we chasing corruption or tracking shadows in Nigeria? What is the fundamental responsibility of anti-corruption agencies in the country? At times like this, you feel like denying your nationality.

Nigeria has since crumbled but, strangely, it is still pretending to be alive, to be standing unsteadily, precariously, and erratically on wearied legs. We live a life of denial. We are bombarded with official lies from the government and from private citizens. There is no one to believe. How could a snake that feeds on rodents and other animals big and small suddenly develop the appetite to consume millions of our local currency? The story teller alluded to a “spiritual” snake with the capacity to swallow money.

This is a reflection of what ill-informed religious teachings have done to our psyche. Here are some related examples. When people die in local communities, their relatives say they were attacked by “spiritual” forces. When a woman divorces her husband, she says she was advised to do so by “spirits.” When a married man is caught having a secret liaison with a married woman, it is another form of “spiritual attack.” When people die in accidents on our bad roads, they are seen as victims of “evil spirits” that ambush road users. No one talks about the condition of the roads or the level of intoxication of the driver of the vehicle.

Someone once asked the question: do people ever die of natural causes in Nigeria? A woman who is having childbirth issues must have had her womb tied up by “evil spirits.” A senior public servant who raids the treasury pleads for forgiveness on the ground that he was in a trance caused by “evil spirits.” Do all these excuses make sense?

Look, N36 million is not a small amount of money. The country can achieve many things if the money is properly invested in genuine causes. The lives of many unemployed citizens can be transformed instantly if the money is allocated to them as small-scale loans. Businesses that are struggling as a result of the poor economic situation can be revived with this staggering amount of money. Many indigent students who could not afford to go to universities and polytechnics could be empowered with the money, which could be given to them as scholarships. In fact, N36 million could be used to do a lot of things for local communities. The money could be used to renovate decrepit community clinics and dispensaries. It could be used to set up medium-scale farms, poultries or other forms of business.

It is deeply troubling for anti-corruption agencies to watch this sordid soap opera playing out in our society and pretend nothing is wrong or morally distressing. The nation deserves to be saved the current embarrassment caused by two staff members of JAMB.

I am prompted to ask some penetrating and uncomfortable questions. Are some public servants trained to lie? Why should the two JAMB staff in Benue and Nasarawa states treat us as gullible people who could be easily fooled? Should they have advanced ludicrous excuses to explain how a total of over N60 million went missing from JAMB’s coffers? Civil society is not that unsophisticated, you know.

Arsenal have announced a new sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines which will run until 2024 and is said to be worth over $56 million per season.

In a statement released on the club website, they call the five-year extension to the current deal “largest sponsorship deal ever signed by the club” as Emirates will continue to appear on the shirts and training gear of all of the teams.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis revealed the reason behind extending the relationship with Emirates.

“Our shirt partnership is the longest running in the Premier League and one of the longest relationships in world sport. This mutual commitment is testimony to the strength and depth of our unique relationship. Emirates are again demonstrating their great belief in our approach and ambition and their significantly increased investment will help us continue to compete for trophies and bring more success to the club and our fans around the world.”

The Gunners also confirmed that their home stadium will be known as the Emirates Stadium until at least 2028, as per the agreement reached in 2012.

Where do Arsenal rank in terms of shirt sponsorship deals?

Manchester United lead the way with their deal with Chevrolet said to be worth over $74.2 million per year, while Chelsea sit in second with a $56 million per year partnership with Yokohama but the Gunners are now alongside their London rivals.

Manchester City and Tottenham are just behind them when it comes to sponsorship deals, while Liverpool’s relationship with Standard Chartered runs until the end of next season.

NBC Sport

Perhaps the most insightful and concise contribution that I have read about the history of the Fulani and their inordinate ambition and insatiable thirst for domination and conquest was provided by Mr. Gbonkas Ebiri.

His research and analysis of this topic is as historically accurate as it is outstanding. Permit me to share his words.

"Kingdoms that accommodated Fulani herdsmen in the past were eventually overthrown by the Fulani. In all situations, these herdsmen took up arms and fought for a Fulani leader to overthrow the kingdoms that accommodated them and their cattle. Examples in history:

The first Fulani Jihad was at Futa Jallon. Fulani pastoralists migrated here in large numbers from North Africa in the 1600’s (they migrated in smaller factions earlier).

Futa Jallon was a mountainous rich agricultural land. Shortly after the Pastoralist migrations, Fulani clerics migrated as well. they were called Ulamas.

In 1726, the Fulani community elected one of their own by the name Ibrahim Musa as their leader and gave him the title of Al – Imam (Leader of the Muslim community). Shortly after his election he proclaimed a jihad against the local rulers of the region and enlisted the herdsmen as soldiers in his Jihad.

His successor after his death and new Al- Iman, Ibrahim Sori completed the Jihad in 1776. The new Fulani aristocracy drove out many of the natives. Those they did not drive out, they enslaved.

Slave trade thrived in the region after the Jihad, this was when the slave castle at Goree Island (Point of no return) was built. They captured mostly the people of the Mandika tribe (this was the tribe of Kunta Kinte).

Another region not far from Futa Jallon was Futa Toro. It was rich in Agriculture and the stretch of the Senegal river passed through it. By the banks of this river was fertile farmlands.

This region was of great important to the Fulani pastoralists who migrated to the region around the same time they migrated to Futa Jallon. They could have the cattle feed and drink by the banks of the river. Shortly after the herdsmen arrived, clerics migrated as well.

They formed the majority of the Torobde clerics. A Fulani cleric called Sulayman Bal was nominated by the clerics as the spiritual leader. in the year 1776, Sulayman Bal launched a Jihad against the Denyanke dynasty and enlisted herdsmen into his army of the faithful.

They were overthrown and replaced with a new aristocracy of Fulani leaders. He died while trying to expand the empire to the regions of Trarzas. His successor, Abd al- Qadir completed the expansion and expanded the empire Southeast.

In our own Nigeria, the Fulani migrated as herdsmen and lived in communities. As at the time Dan Fodio arrived, they had Fulani leaders in almost all the Hausa City states with a large concentration in Katsina and Kano.

These leaders included Moyijo at Kebbi, Mohammadu Namoda at Zamfara, Salihu and Mohamadu Dabo of Kano. Very much like the previous Jihads, Dan Fodio was recognized as the leading cleric and given the title of ‘Sarkin Musulmi.’ (Leader of the Faithful).

He formed a community after his confrontation with the authorities at Gobir and called on the faithfuls to join him, from the community he lauched his Jihad.

Majority of his soldiers were herdsmen and another faction natives that fell for his charismatic leadership. Dan Fodio would eventually give flags of leadership to the Fulani leaders of the various Hausa cities.

By far, the Dan Fodio’s Jihad was the most successful and all Fulani Jihads in West Africa. He would also replace the Hausa kings with Fulani aristocrats, and like the previous Fulbe leaders, the new empire was hostile to the natives.

Their lands were taken from them and they were relegated to second class citizens in their ancestral homeland. Many of them were forced into slavery under an oppressive feudal system and others sold to Arab slave traders.

At Ilorin, the shortsighted rebel Afonja made it so easy for the Fulani to get rid of him. Unlike the other kingdoms where they migrated on their free will and chose their spiritual leader, Afonja personally wooed the Fulani to his kingdom and appointed Alimi as the cleric of the province.

Both vital foundations for a fulani takeover was given on a platter of gold by warlord. very much as in all cases, the Fulani got rid of him and ensured the throne of Ilorin for their kinsman.

So far they have not been able to invade beyond Ilorin. The warriors at Ibadan fought them back as well as Benin warriors. To conquer the south, it is important to have Fulani herdsmen and clerics stationed in the land.

It is important to indoctrinate natives who profess same religion with them to trade ther ancestry for a religious theocracy of a divine cleric.

Among the Yoruba people, they will succeed as they did in the old Ilorin emirates when many natives of old Oyo empire enlisted in the army of Alimi’s descendants to invade villages under Oyo and capture their fellow kinsmen as slaves to be sold to the Portuguese.

All observations of history prove beyond doubt that giving colonies and settlements to Fulani people under the guise of land for grazing is very dangerous.

The Fulani is obsessed to conquer the South and take it from the ancestral owners like they did to the Hausas. The South owns the Ports and oil. It owns the best companies and rainforests. That is what they secretly want and not grazing land for cows.

With scattered Fulani settlements in the south, they will bring their clerics and launch a new phase of Jihads from our base…. Cattle colonies is a plan to conquer the South.

Herdsmen are foot soldiers of the Fulani empire and the demand for lands in the South is a first step in future to take over the ancestral lands of the Southern people". (CONCLUDED).

I commend Mr. Ebiri for his courageous submission and I wholeheartedly concur with his conclusions and findings. He has said it all and there is very little left to say.

It is left for the Nigerian people to either resist the attempt to Fulanise their entire nation by learning from the lessons of history, increasing their depth of knowledge, creating awareness about the formidable challenges with which they are faced and rise to the occassion or they can sit back, act as if there is no danger or threat and be indoctrinated, stripped of all they have and all they are, conquered, dehumanised, enslaved and overwhelmed. The choice is ours.

And if anyone still doubts the assertion that we are in mortal danger I would urge them to read the words of Professor Ango Abdullahi, the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum and a leading member of the Fulani cabal, in a recent interview with the Sunday Vanguard Newspaper where he told us "why herdsmen must kill", where he sought to defend, justify and rationalise the bestial and barbaric acts of mass murder, genocide and ethnic cleansing that the Fulani herdsmen and terrorists have unleashed on the people of the south and the Middle Belt and where he claimed that the British had "granted" what he described as "grazing routes" in the Middle Belt and the south to the Fulani terrorists and herdsmen as far back as 1914!

Never in the history of our country, other than during the civil war, has mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, the slaughter of infants and babies, rape, destruction and the burning and pillaging and violent occupation of other peooles lands and homes been justified and defended in this way.

Professor Abdullahi has proved to the world that we are a nation of bloodthirsty barbarians and sociopaths where human life has no meaning and has no value.

His views reveal nothing but madness in its most brazen form and the truth is that this reckless and irresponsible elderly man is playing with fire and is courting nothing but disaster for his Fulani people. Simply put he is begging for war.

I am disgusted and appauled by his cold-blooded, blood-thirsty and blood-lusting mindset but I cannot say that I am surprised. That is their way and these are their thoughts!

In addition to Abdullahi's absurd and provocative submissions the skeptics shoud also read Professor Umar Muhammed Labdo's insulting assertions about Fulani supremacy and the Fulani being "born and destined to rule" over the whole of Nigeria.

If, after reading the contributions of these two supposedly "learned" Fulani men, some still do not understand what is going on or that we have a major challenge in this country, then such persons are indeed part of the problem and are in dire need of help.

Permit me to end the concluding part of this essay with the following.

To those who say that my words are too blunt, plain and harsh and that suggest that I should be more circumspect and temperate when discussing the powers that be in our country, the state of our nation, the Fulani invasion and our ruling Caliph, I say the following: I am the Servant of Truth and the Voice of the Voiceless.

If I do not speak up and say what others know but dare not say who will speak for the downtrodden, the enslaved, the weak, the oppressed, the slaughtered and the silent majority?

It is a calling and I cannot but do as I do and say as I say. I cannot but speak bluntly and plainly, calling a spade a spade.

In any case bullies, tyrants, conquering foreign hordes and alien invaders neither understand subtlety and restraint nor do they appreciate its nuances.

Worse still they misconstrue gentle words and a kind and generous disposition for weakness and this fuels and feeds their appetite for bestial acts and tyranny and encourages their naked aggression.

Unlike most I fear not the heathan hordes that seek to conquer and enslave our people nor the bloody sword or the mighty roar of the uncircumcised Philistines.

I fear not the armies of Rome nor the occultic Egyptians with their satanic covenants, ancient spells and powerful invocations.

And neither will I bow, quiver or tremble before the Chaldeans or the Amalekites that rule our land with their unelenting display of violence, barbarity and cruelty.

I am led by the Holy Spirit of the Living God and I trust in Him for all. He is my strength, my shield, my glory and the lifter of my head.

I am in the Lord's power and hands and not in that of my adversaries or the enemies of my people. Most importantly I am persuaded that He will never leave me or forsake me.

I am also guided by the wise counsel of our very own Nobel Laureate and celebrated bard, Professor Wole Soyinka, who wrote the following historic and powerful words in his famous book titled, 'The Man Died' many years ago.

He wrote, "the man died in him who remained silent in the face of tyranny".

Today I proclaim, may the man never die in any of us.

Again I am inspired by the compelling, beautiful and eternal words written by the great 19th century author and English sage, Thomas Babington Macauly, in his famous poem titled 'Lays Of Ancient Rome'. He wrote,

"Then out spake brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate: to every man upon this earth death cometh soon or late.

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods.

And for the tender mother who dandled him to rest, And for the wife who nurses his baby at her breast.

And for the holy maidens who feed the eternal flame, to save them from false Sextus that wrought the deed of shame?

Haul down the bridge, Sir Consul, with all the speed ye may; I, with two more to help me, will hold the foe in play".

Today I pray that we be like brave Horatius and hold the foe in play.

Finally I am strengthened and encouraged by the words of King David in Psalm 27 when he said,

"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

President Muhammadu Buhari is a lucky president. Nobody knows what magic he uses. But under his tenure, what used to be seen as abnormal has been accepted as normal with little or no complaints.

For example, for many months now, it has become normal to witness long queues of trucks on different roads in Lagos leading to the ports in Apapa. One of the queues runs from Apapa through Ijora and Western Avenue (now known as Funsho Williams Avenue) through Ojuelegba and reaching as far as Fadeyi Bus Stop on Ikorodu Road: a distance of 12 kilometres.

From these two major queues, there are other queues that run like tributaries. For example, from the Berger junction on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, a queue veers off into Kirikiri Road in Olodi-Apapa towards Tincan Port. From Ijora, another queue veers off the bridge close to the National Arts Theatre and runs to Orile. From the same Ijora, another queue veers off towards Eko Bridge on Lagos Island. Yet, there is another queue that runs towards Lagos Island from Costain before veering off towards Apapa from the bridge at another part of Ijora.

These trucks spend weeks on the road and on top of the bridges before getting to the ports to get petroleum products and other goods or to return the containers with which goods were taken out of the ports. The drivers sleep in these trucks and relieve themselves beside the road day after day until they eventually crawl into the ports.

In addition, other road users bear the brunt of the traffic jams created by the trucks. Police traffic wardens, Federal Road Safety Corps officers, and the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency officials are regularly posted to different sections of these roads to help ease the traffic. There is also the risk that such traffic jams caused by the trucks and the covering the trucks provide present opportunities for crimes like robbery and rape.

One cause of these queues will be the increase in vehicles going to the ports for services. But it is also clear that it is caused by inefficiency in port operations, which has increased the time it takes to attend to one truck, leading to a build-up of vehicles.

In the past, the long truck queues stretching beyond Apapa appeared once in awhile and disappeared again after some days. But since last year, they have become a permanent feature. Interestingly, they have been accepted as part of life with no complaints.

In addition, petrol scarcity that started around November 2017 has persisted, despite the assurances from the Presidency and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. It is only in Lagos and Abuja that people queue up to get petrol at the control price of N145 per litre. In other parts of Nigeria, filling stations sell at different prices, with its peak being during the Yuletide when petrol sold for as high as N300 per litre.

Unlike in the past when petrol scarcity was seen as abnormal, many Nigerians have accepted petrol scarcity and purchase of petrol above the official pump price as normal. There are no strong complaints against the situation.

However, while Nigerians have got used to the killings orchestrated by Boko Haram, other killings orchestrated by the Fulani herdsmen and cult groups like the Badoo or militants continue to occur. Somehow, Nigerians have also become used to hearing that herdsmen killed 70 in Benue or Taraba or Kaduna or Zamfara. It has become like a normal way of life.

It has also become normal that when these killings occur, that President Buhari does not visit the scene of the disaster. In most cases, the governor of the state where people are massacred has to travel to Aso Rock to see the President rather than the President visiting the state to console the bereaved and traumatised. In the case of Boko Haram attacks, one could understand the security risk of the President visiting such spots. But for a place devastated by flood or a place where herdsmen killed people and burnt their houses and disappeared, one wonders why the President usually does not visit.

It is definitely not because of ill-health, as the President has shown that he is strong with his recent visits to Kano and Nasarawa states and other countries. Even if it were because of ill-health, the President should have delegated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to visit such places. But there seems to be a new way of reacting to disasters by the Buhari administration. Such disasters usually do not receive official reaction through words of consolation or physical visits. They are ignored as if the lives of the dead do not matter. We have become used to seeing such as normal.

Curiously, while the bereaved are mourning their dead in different parts of the country, the President is usually receiving the state governors or his classmates or any group that praises him and urges him to contest the 2019 election, with no sensitivity towards those who are bereaved or injured.

The usual practice by elected Nigerian politicians is to make all efforts to satisfy the electorate in their first tenure to ensure that they are re-elected. But in the case of Buhari, it is different. Buhari seems not to bother about trying to listen to the complaints of the people or even trying to worm his way into their hearts with his words and actions. The more people complain about his actions, the more he takes the same actions.

There is an attitude from the Presidency that the feelings of the people don’t matter, that whatever anyone says against the President will not make him not to win the 2019 election.  And one of the reasons for this attitude from the Presidency is that most of the abnormal things that happen in Buhari’s Presidency (that should make the people protest) are treated as normal.

It may be because many people have resigned to fate about the Buhari Presidency, thereby deciding to wait for it to run its course and leave. It may also be that many of those who helped to install Buhari don’t want to be seen as opposing him by criticising him. It may also be that many of those who rated him highly have been surprised at the performance he has given that they don’t want to complain and be blamed, while those who did not believe in his leadership capabilities are not keen on antagonising him, so as not to give him any reason to argue that if he had been given enough time and space, he would have achieved a lot higher.

Whatever the reason, it is dangerous for the abnormal to be accepted as normal. It is not a sign of growth but a sign of retrogression.

The  drama of Mr. Raila Odinga’s “swearing in” as the “People’s President” of the Republic of Kenya, after he had boycotted the country’s last presidential election, would have been funny but for the danger it portends for the country and democracy in general.  By appointing himself a parallel president, he took Kenya to the brink of civil disorder and political instability.  Unless he retraces his steps, he may plunge Kenya into a fresh round of ethnic warfare, if not civil war.  And, he would have done so for no other reason than his personal and selfish political ambition.

The issues are straightforward.  On August 8, 2017, the presidential election in Kenya pitted the Jubilee Alliance led by Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta against the National Super Alliance (NASA) led by Mr. Raila Odinga.  When the votes were counted, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the electoral umpire, declared that President Kenyatta had won 8.2 million votes, (54 per cent) to Mr. Odinga’s 6.8 million votes (45 per cent).  The election monitors declared the election to be free and fair and they included credible organisations like the European Union, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and others. Unhappy with the results, Odinga went to court.  The Kenyan Supreme Court, in an unprecedented ruling, upheld his claims and ordered fresh elections to be held in 60 days.  Odinga began making unreasonable demands on the electoral commission, including asking for a re-constitution of the commission before the election which, given the timeframe, was impossible to do.  The election re-run was conducted on October 17 with Odinga leading a boycott of the poll.  When the returns were computed, Kenyatta won 7.4 million votes (98.2 per cent), while Odinga received a paltry 73,000 votes (0.96 per cent).  Kenyatta was, therefore, declared elected and was sworn-in for a second term on November 28.

We had expected Odinga to accept the verdict of the voters, congratulate Kenyatta and pledge to work with him in the interest of Kenya.  On the contrary, Odinga engaged in politically provocative acts.  On the day Kenyatta was being sworn in, Odinga was addressing his supporters trying to delegitimise the Kenyatta government, and calling for fresh elections.  He said he was setting up a “National Resistance Movement” with the stated intention of establishing a parallel government in Kenya.  The swearing-in ceremony seems to be the actualisation of that parallel government.  Odinga has also reportedly noted on his Twitter handle that he is now the “President of the Republic of Kenya.”

We are not surprised at the reaction of the Kenyan government and its decision to force into exile the Kenyan lawyer, Miguna Miguna, who was said to have administered the so-called “presidential” oath on Odinga.  We are also not surprised, though we are disappointed, by the Kenyan government’s attack on the media, including the shutting down of Citizen TV.

He is manipulating the ethnic cleavages in Kenya, hoping to set off an explosion.  He is goading the Kenyatta administration into a fight so as to set the country on fire.  These are not the acts of a statesman but the machinations of an anarchist.  What Odinga has done is treasonable. 

We commend President Kenyatta for his forbearance and patience. He should continue to avoid picking up a fight with Odinga and continue to respect him as a senior citizen. If he must confront Odinga, it must be strictly by the best practices of the rule of law.  Odinga is begging for crisis and victimhood.  Kenyatta must deny him that opportunity.

Sun

Victor Moses and Asisat Oshoala were the biggest winners in the inaugural edition of the Aiteo-NFF Awards 2018, after winning the men's and women's Player of the Year awards on Monday.

Chelsea wideman Moses saw off competition from Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi and Anthony Okpotu of Lobi Stars to win the Player of the Year award.

Oshoala, the reigning CAF Women's Footballer of the Year, bested Francisca Ordega and Charity Reuben to win the female prize.

At an event held at the Grand Ballroom, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos the duo were named winners in front of an audience including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, FIFA Secretary General, Fatma Samoura, CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and the evening's host, NFF President Amaju Pinnick.

It was an opportunity for past and present Nigerian football dignitaries to be gathered together and honoured in an award ceremony to celebrate the best of the nation's football during the last 12 months.

Coach of reigning Nigeria League Champions Plateau United, Kennedy Boboye, was named Coach of the Year award (Men), and Sikiru Olatunbosun of MFM FC was honoured with the Goal of the Year award for his exceptional strike against Enugu Rangers in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

Other winners on the night were former Super Falcons goalkeeper Ann Chiejine and home-based Super Eagles left back Ikouwem Udoh, who capped a memorable year by carting home the Young Player of the Year award (Men).

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Young Player of the Year (Women)

Rasheedat Ajibade

Young Player of the Year (Men)

Ikouwem Udoh

Fair Play Award

Remo Stars FC

Fans of the Year

El-Kanemi Warriors

Coach of the Year (Women)

Ann Chiejine

Coach of the Year (Men)

Kennedy Boboye

Goal of the Year

Sikiru Olatunbosun

Development Award

Channels Sports

NFF Platinum Award

Gianni Infantino

Legend 11

Ann Chiejine; Austin Eguavoen, Christian Chukwu, Uche Okechukwu, Felix Owolabi, Nwankwo Kanu, Austin "Jay-Jay" Okocha, Segun Odegbami, Adokiye Amiesimaka, Mercy Akide-Udoh, Thomson Usiyan

Player of the Year (Women)

Asisat Oshoala

Player of the Year (Men)

Victor Moses

ESPN

The Independent National Electoral Commission must accept responsibility for allowing persons younger than 18 to get ‎their names in the voters’ register, writes Tobi Soniyi

Penultimate Saturday, videos and photographs of underage voters casting their votes during the Kano State local government election went viral on the social media.

The photographs left many seething with anger. Even though it is common knowledge that underage voting is rampant in the northern part of the country, it is an illegality people no longer want to condone.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, which has the sole responsibility of registering voters for all elections did not help matters with its response. ‎This further infuriated the people. In a statement by a spokesperson, Oluwole Uzzi, INEC said the disturbing pictures did not relate to any election it conducted or had responsibility for, thereby allaying fears over its capacity for credible elections.

No one is in doubt that INEC is statutorily empowered to conduct all elections, except local government councils conducted by the electoral commissions in each state.
Acknowledging the pictures of the underage voters, the commission stated that “as far as we can ascertain, they (the pictures) relate to a local government election conducted at the weekend (in Kano).

“While the commission remains resolute in our commitment to sanitise the nation’s electoral process and deliver free, fair and credible elections, we cannot be held directly or vicariously liable for a process outside our legal purview.
“Our part, INEC assures the public that we are doing all we can to ensure a credible election.”

Since all elections are conducted based on the voter register prepared y INEC, the commission’s attempt to absolve itself of any blame amounts to‎ unnecessary hair splitting. The commission was roundly condemned by stakeholders except the beneficiary of the fraud, the All Progressives Congress.

In its response, the Peoples Democratic Party called on INEC to review and sanitise its voter register, particularly in Kano and Katsina States, to check underage people from voting.

The PDP in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Nigerians had lost confidence in the commission.
Ologbondiyan said reviewing the voter register was the only way the commission could demonstrate its independence to Nigerians.

The PDP condemned the commission for attempting to cover its complicity in the “widespread impunity recorded”, particularly under age voting that characterised the state local council elections.

The party said it was INEC that registered the minors as voters in the first place.

Ologbondiyan said the commission should as such not in any way attempt to exonerate itself of involvement in the electoral fraud simply because it did not directly conduct the elections.‎

The statement said: “Is it not INEC that registered the minors and issued them with Permanent Voter Cards to participate in elections as clearly documented in the Kano council election.

“Can INEC truly acquit itself as the original culprit who set the stage for the eventual participation of the minors and overall rigging of the elections.”

Ologbondiyan said INEC should not give lame excuses or exonerate itself at a time it should be taking decisive steps to protect the sanctity of its sensitive materials such as the PVC.

He said: “Indeed, if this INEC is serious about the sanctity of sensitive electoral materials, by now, it should have ordered the immediate review of its voter register in Kano and Katsina states.

“INEC supposes to be fishing out and prosecuting those who registered the minors and clean up the electoral system in the affected states.”

Ologbondiyan accused INEC of allowing itself to be used for irregularities in favour of the ruling party.

This, according to the party, was witnessed in the last Saturday’s Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency Supplementary election in Katsina State.

He said: “Finally, we want INEC to note, and in very strong terms too, that Nigerians will not accept anything short of credible, free and fair general elections.

“The commission should therefore ensure that it does not allow itself to be used by the APC against the will of the people, particularly in the 2019 elections, as such will be highly resisted.”

In Oyo state‎, participants at a youth summit of the PDP in also on INEC called to revisit the voters’ register of Kano State.

Hundreds of youths from across the 351 political wards of Oyo State who converged in the capital, Ibadan for the 2018 youth summit urged INEC to scrutinise the register and delete all underage voters; as well as guard against future occurrence of such in order to safeguard the nation’s democracy.

In the past, INEC had easily got away with such infraction. ‎With more people taking their civic duty seriously, INEC must rise to the challenges.

‎If the spontaneous condemnation that followed the discovery of underage voters in Kano is anything to go by, INEC should understand that voters can no longer be taken for a ride. Besides, the commission must also be mindful of its reaction to issues of public interest. The response of Oluwole Uzzi to underage voters casting their votes not satisfactory and against the weight of evidence.‎

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu had attempted to clarify the issue. Speaking in Lagos last Friday at a workshop on the implementation of the Election Project Yakubu said the commission could not ascertain whether or not the voter register it gave the Kano SIEC was used or discarded.

He said; “By way of clarification, I wish to state that the commission is aware of the discussion around the Voter Register and the concern expressed in certain quarters on the possible prevalence of ineligible registrants on the voter register. The commission is equally concerned for the simple reason that the credibility of an election draws from the credibility of the voter register. The eligibility for registration as a voter in Nigeria is clearly defined in Section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act. This includes citizenship, residence and the attainment of the mandatory age of 18 years.

“Recent reports of violations by underage persons following the Local government elections in Kano State is deeply disturbing.

“It is true that the State Independent Electoral Commission had requested INEC for a copy of the voter register. I can confirm also that a soft copy of the register was made available to the state. The voter register in Kano State is the one used for the 2015 General Election. In July 2016, INEC used the same register to conduct a State Assembly bye-election in Minjibir Constituency which has 78,210 registered voters spread across 126 polling units clustered in 11 Registration Areas (Wards). In that election conducted by INEC, no single incidence of underage voter was recorded.

What therefore happened in the last Local Government election conducted by the State Electoral Commission? Was the voter register actually used or not?

“We wish to assure Nigerians that the matter will be fully investigated. A National Commissioner from INEC will lead a team to Kano next week involving technical staff of the commission drawn from the Voter Registry (VR), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the Electoral Operations (EOps) Departments for an immediate and comprehensive investigation. We will share the findings of the investigation with Nigerians.

“I wish to assure Nigerians that going forward, we will interrogate the voter register nationwide in order to purge it of any possible ineligible registrants.”

The assurances by the commission’s chairman will go a long way in calming frayed nerves. However, he would be held accountable for the promises he made. Underage voting has become a recurring fraud in our electoral system. Nigerians deserve to know how those who are not qualified get into the register. It keeps happening because no one has ever been punished for the illegality.

INEC chairman also used the opportunity to give an update on the continuous voter registration saying:“Turning to the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, I am glad to report that from July to December 2017, some 3,978,682 citizens were registered afresh nationwide; 135,127 unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were collected; and 166,073 requests for transfers and 334,086 requests for replacements of PVCs were recorded.

For the new fresh registrants, the gender distribution shows 58% male and 42% female. In terms of the distribution by States, Rivers State recorded the highest number of new registrants, followed by Delta and Lagos while Kwara, Gombe and Ondo recorded the lowest. The Commission will be posting detailed information and analysis of the ongoing CVR on our website on a continuous basis for public information from next week”.

ThisDay

State police should be part of the wider conversation on restructuring the federation

Control of police by the states gained more converts last week with critical stakeholders throwing their weight behind the idea that has been variously thrown up as the panacea for the worsening security situation in the country. Speaking on behalf of the 36 governors, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Chairman and Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari said there is already a consensus on the issue that states should be allowed to set up their own police once they can afford it. His intervention came after Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had canvassed similar position. Amplifying the idea further, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, believes it could work the same way states established their own universities.

However, while many Nigerians seem excited that strong voices are being added to the call for state police, it is noteworthy that this is not the first time the NGF would toy with the idea. After one of its meetings five years ago, for instance, the then Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who is now the Minister for Solid Minerals, made the same case on its behalf. “Each of the federating units (which are the states) should have control over their own security apparatus. That is not to say that we still won’t have a federal police which responds to federal issues but in terms of wider knowledge of what obtains in my locality, the best person to use is somebody from that locality who has a much better, much richer understanding and will be faster in response to the immediate needs of that environment,” argued Fayemi at the time.

As we reiterated in a recent editorial, there may be a need for some clarity of thought and the benefit of historical hindsight. The greatest legacy of the post war era in Nigeria is the emergence of a national military and police. The personnel of these federal institutions live and operate alongside colleagues from across the nation in mixed barracks and operational formations. The lines that dangerously divided the polity and threatened national cohesion are thus blurred as the central command takes precedence over regional or ethnic nudging. Therefore, we hope the committee established by the governors will explore all the issues before coming up with its recommendations.

This is important because Nigeria has been on this path before. A more recent effort to delist some of the exclusive functions and add them to the concurrent list suffered defeat in the National Assembly as both chambers killed the devolution of powers amendment bill. What this suggests is that the vice-president and the governors will have to go beyond seminal pronouncements and take concrete actions that would facilitate not only the establishment of state police but also the birth of a more workable federal arrangement that will allow the states to develop at their own pace. That will come within the larger conversation on the need to restructure the country.

Thisday

As a national leader of All Progressives Congress, Mr Bola Tinubu, begins to reconcile warring sides in the ruling party, his wife, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, a senator, has decried that her husband was “trashed” after the party won the 2015 elections.

President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated Tinubu to reconcile aggrieved party members ahead of 2019 general elections, an assignment the former governor of Lagos State has since begun.

But his wife, who is representing Lagos Central Senatorial District at the Senate, on Monday featured on Your View, a breakfast show of Television Continental, where she alleged that Tinubu was sidelined despite his efforts towards ensuring that APC won the polls.

Mrs Tinubu, who disclosed that she was forced to discourage her husband from his continued loyalty to the Presidency and APC, said the party leader was always harping on the development of the country.

She said, “He was campaigning, I did too. We were running three campaigns in my house. And for him to be trashed like that? But I saw somebody who has love for this country. I hate to speak because when I stand in front of God, I don’t want to, because of this man, go to hell.

“Occasionally, I would chip in and I would say, ‘You’re still helping out? Why are you helping out?’ He would say, ‘This country matters to me more.’”

Wife of Mr Buhari, Aisha, had lamented that those who worked for her husband to get into power had been sidelined in the scheme of things under the current administration.

Mrs. Tinubu however pointed out that despite that the Buhari-led administration was now under massive criticisms, the President remained “the candidate to beat” in the forthcoming poll.

She said, “Change takes only one person to champion. And you need leadership. For me, Buhari is still the candidate to beat. Leadership is inspirational. Management is technical. If you have all the degrees and you’re smart and savvy, it is not about leadership. How many people are you inspiring?

“And Buhari, how many years has he been there? I am not campaigning for him. I am not; because I have looked at the dynamics; the poor still trust him. I will tell you: when it comes to integrity, Buhari has it. I don’t know about now.”

Punch

The Catholic faithful began this year’s Lenten season last Wednesday, February 14, 2018, to commemorate and follow the footsteps of  Jesus Christ , who in His ministry, engaged in self-mortifying 40-day prayer and fasting. This is a period of self-denial, ostensibly from food, in order to dedicate oneself to the will of God and to meditate on the moral and spiritual lessons of the Christian faith.

The season began with the ceremonial Ash Wednesday as many Christians of Catholic persuasion thronged to their places of worship to have ashes pressed upon their foreheads to demonstrate their recognition and acceptance of their humanity as expressed by the Almighty God in Genesis 3:19, thus: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

Speaking to Catholic faithful on this year’s Lent, Pope Francis, while celebrating Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel at the Vatican on Friday, February 16, 2018,  said “Fasting weakens our tendency to violence; it disarms us and becomes an important opportunity for growth. On the one hand, it allows us to experience what the destitute and the starving have to endure.

On the other hand, it expresses our own spiritual hunger and thirst for life in God. Fasting wakes us up. It makes us more attentive to God and our neighbour. It revives our desire to obey God, who alone is capable of satisfying our hunger.”

He said further, “Love can also grow cold in our own communities… The most evident signs of this lack of love: selfishness and spiritual sloth, sterile pessimism, the temptation to self-absorption, constant warring among ourselves, and the worldly mentality that makes us concerned only for appearances, and thus lessens our missionary zeal.”

The message of the Pope is relevant to the Nigerian Christian in this season of distrust, mutual suspicion, religious acrimony and open hatred that has spread across the country as a result of multiple social disagreements. 

From the North to the South of the country, bloodshed has become common place and revenge, instead of forgiveness, has become the order of the day. It is high time Nigerians harkened to the Pope’s call for mutual love as this is the way to go if the country must attain lasting peace and unity.

We call on, not only Catholics, but Christians of all denominations, to follow the footsteps of Pope Francis to preach the message of love and peace in this Lent season. This is because in recent times, some Church leaders have embarked to preaching revenge, almost inciting their followers to take up arms against their perceived enemies, instead of encouraging them to work for the peace of the country. Violence and revenge cannot solve the besetting problems facing Nigeria. 

Furthermore, Christians should use this Lent period to pray for Nigeria. There is no gainsaying the fact that the country needs divine intervention. Over the years, our leaders have experimented with ideas proffered by experts in different sectors, but their wisdom has not yielded the desired results. We therefore call on Catholics to pray for the country in this moment that they have decided to humble themselves and seek the face of God.

The Holy Bible is replete with instances of how God intervened in human affairs when they prayed to Him. Therefore, the Catholic faithful should intercede for Nigeria’s redemption from hatred and violence as they fast and pray to the Almighty God in this Lent Season.

Daily Trust