Nigeria News
Nigeria In Crises
By Felix Femi Ajakaye
On Sunday, 12 May, 2013, the Catholic Church celebrated the 47th World Communications Day, with the theme of the Pope’s message, Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith; New Spaces for Evangelization. Pope Paul VI introduced the World Communications Day in 1966 to celebrate the media practitioners and artistes all over the world. Usually, annually, the Vatican releases the message to the public on 24 January, the Memorial of St Francis De Sales, regarded as the Patron of Journalists.
Here is my reflection to the congregation, including the media people and government officials at St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. As you read this, please, let me remark here that on Tuesday, 14 May, 2013, the President declared emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. Yes, the President who had always been saying that he was on top of the situation, opted to be on top of the situation so that the insurgents would not overrun our cherished country, Nigeria.
In his message this year, the Pope considers the development or emergence of ‘digital social networks as helping to create an ‘agora’ (‘marketplace’ in ancient Greece, an open space in a town where people gathered, especially a marketplace), an open public place in which people share ideas, information and opinions, and in which new relationships and forms of community can come into being’. The Pope urges people to make use of ‘these spaces in a wise and balanced way’ in fostering forms of dialogue and healthy and critical debate as we share both ideas and our very selves. The Pope states that ‘in social networks, believers show their authenticity by sharing the profound source of their hope and joy: faith in the merciful and loving God revealed in Christ Jesus’.
Believers are to be consistent witnesses in communicating and sharing the Gospel – the Truth. We are to touch hearts sincerely in our journey of faith with hope and love. ‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal’ (1 Cor. 13:1).
In our celebration too, this year, I would like us to reflect on our beloved country, Nigeria. In the words of Edmund Burke, ‘Evil triumphs where good people keep silent in the midst of moral crises’. Without mincing words, Nigeria is indeed in crises. They are really a legion, and generally, man-made. Unfortunately, we tend not to be addressing these crises practically. We continue to chase the shadows, instead of facing realities. Our security agencies are being over-stretched. Both the armed security agents and harmless civilians are being killed and attacked by the sophisticatedly armed assailants. These assailants seem to be having their way, ruling with their networks, while Nigeria tends to be in ruins. Unfortunately, what we normally hear from the Jonathan-led government is: ‘We are on top of the situation’. Realistically, they are below the action. Must we continue in this madness? To put a stop to the continued bloodlettings and other crises such as corruption, kidnapping, indiscipline, nepotism, abuse of power and deceit in our country, President Goodluck Jonathan, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, and his lieutenants must learn to be on top of the action rather than the situation. Action speaks louder than words.
“Power without control is nothing” (Pirelli tyre advertisement). In this light, I also state here that press freedom without responsibility is meaningless and dangerous. The role of the media is of great importance in the society. This is why the Press is regarded as the Fourth Estate of the Realm. Though coming after the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, the Press is the hinge. It is the bastion. Once the Press derails in its role, it then becomes a subject of derision. Journalism is described as ‘reporting news for the media’. It is ‘the profession of gathering, editing, and publishing news reports and related articles for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio’. Responsible journalism is being accountable and reliable in news-gathering. Therefore, I affirm that, social networks too should be used responsibly for the good of all.
I appreciate the media practitioners for their efforts in committing themselves to the struggle in the sanitization of our society. However, I challenge them to focus more on developmental journalism and uphold press freedom with responsibility so that they can be a force to reckon with. Enough of sensational journalism! Strive to make research and operate objectively. In this way, with your integrity intact, you will also be portals of truth and faith to the people. Indeed, information is power. A well-informed mind is a living and healthy person. He/she is an asset to the society.
I expect the media practitioners to start working together and have a formidable team to save this country from those who do not mean well for Nigeria. For instance, it is sad and criminal that while our country is faced with serious security challenges, certain people are still over-stretching the security agents with limited number to fight their personal and selfish wars of attrition in the name of political power. With this, there is more tension in the land. For instance, the ugly political drama in Rivers State purposely orchestrated against Sir Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Rivers State governor, whether being masterminded by the combination of both the ‘oga and the madam at the top’, their cohorts, or other people, portends a great danger to our society. This is politics of rascality, politics of recklessness, politics of deceit, politics of intimidation, politics of terrorism. This is not acceptable and we must not allow these political rascals and terrorists and their clannish supporters to have their way. I remind these people that nothing lasts forever and no condition is permanent. Today’s president, president’s wife, or governor, or bishop may be nobody tomorrow. This is food for thought. I assure these political opportunists and their agents of do-or-die and turn-by-turn politics that, with or without them, Nigeria, our beloved country, will continue to exist.
Recently, there had been alleged inflammatory statements by Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Mr Kingsley Kuku, and a former self-acclaimed militant leader, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, that there would be a crisis in Nigeria if President Goodluck Jonathan was denied re-election in 2015. What a lazy and illogical statement! In a country faced with many crises such as Nigeria, even the uninformed will want to be relevant and recognised. Basically those who threaten others are deficient. By God’s grace, our cherished country will not fail. Nigeria will not fall. With unity and faith and our individual and collective willpower as a people, we shall overcome. Agents of the light will always overcome agents of the dark. We must learn to do things right so that things will be right with us and for us. May I state here too that politics of turn-by-turn is politics of mediocrity. It is politics of a lazy person’s idea and it is negative, destructive and retrogressive.
In these trying times in our country, the media practitioners must never join the crowd. They must never lose their heads, even when other people are losing theirs. In fact, those who join the crowd lose their focus and identity. Such people are daydreamers. Daydreamers believe in fantasy or hope that is unlikely to be fulfilled. On the other hand, focused people are visionaries. Visionaries have foresight and they are never afraid to take decision. We need to keep identifying visionaries to serve at the local, state and federal government levels. We do not need gatecrashers, thugs, gangsters, looters, riff-raffs and pretenders anymore. We must wage a total war against this group of people, using all the legitimate available means, including the social networks.
May we not be found wanting in promoting justice, peace and development through our God-given talents. Amen. Happy and blessed 47th World Communications Day. With confidence in God, Christ is our strength.
•Most Rev. Ajakaye wrote from Ekiti state.
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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