Nigerian Newspapers
Tai Solarin: Prophet who picked corpses from the streets of Nigeria
He was a man of God who, ironically, never believed in God per se. He was a prophet who cried out for justice, equality, righteousness and good governance in Nigeria yet he never accepted the existence of God.
“God is a soporific phantom tossed by people who have nothing to do,” he once wrote, causing shock and outrage all over Nigeria, a religiously sensitive country.
As the principal of Molusi College, he sensationally banned church services and confiscated hymn books and Songs of Praise. Yet I cannot judge Tai Solarin, who in my opinion was still far, far a better man and more righteous than most people proclaiming God, God, and stealing in the name of the Lord in Nigeria today.
Dressed humbly in his famous khaki shorts and shirt, Tai Solarin was a symbol, a national icon that generations of Nigerians should know and revere. For, here was a man indeed. A man for all seasons and for all reasons. A man who devoted all his life defending the defenceless, the hopeless, the homeless and even the dead. He picked corpses from the street when he was alive. This true champion of the oppressed man. The chairman of the poor man’s bank.
The man who devoted all his life to fighting for wrongs to be righted. In today’s Nigeria where everything is going wrong and corruption is enthroned everywhere on our political landscape, we miss him. We miss all the men of conscience, like Tai Solarin and Gani Fawehinmi. We miss this Nigerian hero who was the scourge of bad rulers whom he battled to a standstill. He was never afraid to die for the good of Nigeria. He was the voice of Nigeria, the conscience of the nation, the one-man opposition army who confronted the army of the establishment who threw him in and out jail. When General Gowon was tempted to elongate his tenure in office, Solarin wrote an essay titled, “The Beginning of the End” explaining the foolishness of hanging on to power. It landed him in trouble. And when Gowon was celebrating a big, lavish state wedding when the Nigerian Civil War was raging and people were dying, “Prophet” Solarin came out crying out loud like John the Baptist. Again, it landed him in trouble.
Nigeria’s military President Ibrahim Babangida too wouldn’t forget Solarin, even though Babangida was smart enough to tempt Solarin with the post of the Chairman of the People Bank which he fell for.
Many years ago as a young pioneer editor of the Weekend Concord, there was the “Ebony Magazine” controversy where it was rumoured that the magazine had done an expose on Babangida’s wealth. Nobody had seen the story but Solarin led those who believed in the rumour and was even brought live on NTA where he was quizzed by State Security Service officials. It was a big story in those troubled days. I wrote a piece then entitled “May Your Road Be Rough,” a satiric piece on Tai Solarin, borrowing from his famous essay of the same title. I remember receiving an avalanche of letters, where I was attacked by some Nigerians who read my satire upside down and wanted me crucified for “cursing” this Nigerian hero, this man of the people. Mercifully, those who understood my satire came to my defence, blasting those who criticised me and pointing out how educational standards have deteriorated in Nigeria to the level that people couldn’t decode a simply satire that obviously wasn’t too simple.
Today, as I present my 100 Famous Nigerian Heroes, I invite my senior colleague, the celebrated journalist, Ray Ekpu, to pay homage to Tai Solarin, who happens to be Ekpu’s “No.1 Nigerian hero.”
***
Tai Solarin is my quintessential Nigerian hero. He is a very diligent and practical person. Down to earth, he is not really a Nigerian in the conventional sense. He was so dedicated to causes Nigerians don’t believe in. I didn’t have the opportunity of sending any of my children to his Mayflower School. I would have loved to do that. I didn’t think twice in picking in him as my Nigerian hero. It came from the top of my head. He has contributed to education, to journalism, to literature, to general development. His contributions are monumental. I haven’t seen anyone like him after his death. I have not seen anyone that approximates Tai Solarin in terms of ideals, in terms of commitment to this nation. I can’t find one.
I remember the “Ebony story” during the era of Gen. Babangida, Nigeria’s military President. The fact that the story was not in Ebony does not detract from the greatness of the man. Everybody makes mistakes. He was a man who devoted his life as a crusader to the uplift of Nigeria, to the enhancement of public good. If he made a mistake, it’s just a mistake, I don’t care about that sort of mistake. It’s a mistake that anybody could have made in the course of pursuing a project that he was dedicated to. And for him, he was absolutely dedicated to the good of Nigeria.
He paved the path to the kind of education that Nigeria ought to have: practical education. Any kid who went to Tai Solarin’s Mayflower School came out a better Nigerian. He was not just a theoretician. He had knowledge. He also could use his hands. He enhanced the dignity of labour. He taught the kids that it was good to work. For him, work was a logical necessity. That was what he imparted to those kids. That kind of education, you don’t have it in many parts of Nigeria where children come out of school and they are able to do things with themselves, instead of joining the unemployment queue. If you went to Mayflower School, you could be creative, you would be self-reliant.
He wasn’t a journalist. He was an essayist and a great commentator. Any time he wrote his article, he did a lot of research. He piled facts and figures to convince whoever was going to read his article, that this is his position. He taught a lot of people the art of writing well, using available information, going to the ends of the earth to get your facts and your figures in order to portray your viewpoint.
For me, a hero is somebody whose virtues, whose values you share and you respect—values that ennobles the society. A hero is someone you wish to be like. A hero is someone who sets examples for society. Good examples. Without heroes, it would mean that you don’t have something to look forward to.
When a man like Tai Solarin dies, he leaves a vacuum. And I haven’t seen someone yet who has risen to fill the vacuum. Solarin was a selfless man. He was ready to make sacrifices. A man who goes out in the street and pick corpses of people he doesn’t know and goes to bury, because society has neglected its own functions. No decent society would leave corpses lying around the streets. Because it is a disservice to the rest of people alive. It can decompose and cause an epidemic. A man like that went out of his way to do things that the society didn’t want to do.
He was ready to suffer for his views, he stood by those views and they couldn’t even convict him because a lot of Nigerians shared those views. He spent a lot of his time working for Nigeria. I remember when I was tried by the Uwaifo Tribunal that handled the Shagari case. And the tribunal fined me N20. He was the first to bring out the money and paid. He did what he believed was good for society.
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•Deploy more personnel as army chief vows to wipe out terror group
•Security beefed up at N’Assembly
Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of power, is under a massive security cordon following threats of attacks by insurgents and the increasing wave of banditry in the contiguous states of Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger States, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.
There has been a wave of kidnappings in the outskirts of the federal capital, notably Pegi, Tuganmaje and Kuje among others, which the police have battled in recent times.
The security situation in and around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was heightened by the pronouncement of the Niger State Governor, Mr. Sani Bello, that Boko Haram fighters who he said sacked 50 villages in the state and hoisted the terror group’s flag, were about two hours drive away from the FCT.
Security has also been beefed up at the National Assembly as operatives, yesterday, thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The deteriorating security situation nationwide prompted the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, to warn that the 2023 general election may not hold, demanding the declaration of a state of emergency as well as the convocation of a national conference.
However, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, yesterday restated the Nigerian Army’s determination to annihilate Boko Haram.
But the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Bello Masari, cautioned against declaring a state of emergency, saying doing so isn’t the solution to combat the security challenges facing the country.
The security of the nation’s airports was also in focus yesterday as the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said there was no threat to them.
THISDAY’s investigations showed increased presence of troops, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel and intelligence operatives at the three strategic entrances to the city notably, Keffi, Zuba and Gwagwalada.
More checkpoints were also mounted around Gwagwalada and Keffi.
THISDAY also observed increased intelligence deployment at the entrance and the borders of FCT with contiguous states.
Beyond the borders, there were more deployments and police patrols inside the city and increased intelligence deployments as well.
Security sources told THISDAY: “There are deployments here and there but they are routine. Alertness is key to a secure environment.”
It was also learnt that security agencies were involved in frenzied meetings throughout yesterday.
The meetings, coordinated by the office of the Chief of Defence Staff under the new joint operational strategy of the armed forces, were aimed at coordinating a joint response to possible threats of attack to the FCT.
“I understand the security teams have been meeting for some days now and if you look around you, you will notice that there are increasing patrols and numbers of security personnel. The threats are not been taken lightly,” a source said.
National Assembly workers, lawmakers and visitors also had a harrowing experience accessing the legislative complex due to heightened security in the area.
Security operatives thoroughly screened every vehicle approaching the National Assembly complex in Abuja, impeding both human and vehicular traffic.
The Sergeant-at-arm of the National Assembly and other security agencies supervised the operations, leading to huge traffic build-up inside the complex.
Legislative staff, visitors and lawmakers were seen patiently waiting for their cars to be searched so that they could go ahead with the business of the day.
Some staff and visitors at some point got tired of waiting and were seen alighting from their cars to trek from the gate to the complex.
Meanwhile, the ONSA has said there is no threat to the nation’s airports.
A statement by the Head of Strategic Communication, Mr. Zachari Usman, said the reports of threats to the airports were an internal correspondence of security threat assessment misconstrued as security threat to the airports.
PDP Demands State of Emergency
In a related development, the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, yesterday demanded the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the 2023 general election might not hold if the federal government failed to tackle insecurity.
He called on the federal government to summon a national conference to address the spike in insecurity.
Secondus added that the national caucus of the party will meet today to discuss the state of the nation.
Addressing members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) in Abuja, Secondus said: “We are worried Abuja is not even safe. It is no longer politics. We got alert of plots to bomb and burn down our airports.
“We urge the federal government to declare a national state of emergency in security. There is the need to call a national conference to discuss the insecurity in the country.
“There may not be any election in 2023 in Nigeria due to insecurity. This government must listen to the people. The Buhari government should call a national confab to discuss security and state of the nation. It is no longer politics. This time we are not playing politics. Let’s keep politics aside and move the nation forward.”
He said the country had been grounded, regretting that there had been no matching response from the federal government.
Secondus said in the past, terrorism in the North was confined to the North-east, but with the report of Boko Haram occupying villages in Niger State, terrorism had spread to the North-central
“Herdsmen are also menacing in the West; gunmen causing havoc in the East; and the militants in the South; all killing, looting, raping, maiming and burning down homes. The situation is bad; Nigerians all over are living in fear,” he said.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the problem of Nigeria was outside of the PDP headquarters, while pledging the support of the Senate to the declaration of state of emergency in security.
Abaribe said he deliberately decided not to speak on the floor of the Senate but to allow the APC senators to speak so as to avoid being accused of giving a partisan colouration to the issue of insecurity.
He stated that only electoral reforms would give victory to the opposition party in the 2023 general election and ensure a democratic defeat of the APC-led federal government.
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, commended the NEC and the PDP leadership for their collective efforts at resolving the House leadership crisis.
The NEC meeting adopted the position of Secondus, calling on the federal government to convoke a national conference to discuss the state of insecurity in the country, according to a communiqué read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
Army Chief Vows to Wipe Out Boko Haram
The army yesterday reiterated its commitment to wipe out Boko Haram.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, told reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State that Boko Haram had been defeated in many encounters and would continue to be defeated until it’s annihilated from Nigeria.
“We will take on Boko Haram decisively, and we are committed to the focus of the operations, which is the total annihilation of Boko Haram from Nigeria,” he said.
The COAS, who was visiting the headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri for the fifth time since his appointment four months ago, said the visit was to boost the morale of the troops, reassure them and listen to any issues affecting them.
Earlier, the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Farouq Yahaya, lauded the visit, which he said had continued to boost the morale of the troops.
“We are honoured, we are grateful, we are encouraged by those visits. You provided us guidance, logistics and other things we required. We are most grateful for those visits,” Yahaya said.
State of Emergency Won’t Solve Security Challenges, Says Masari
Katsina State Governor, Hon. Aminu Masari, has, however, said declaration of a state of emergency won’t solve the security challenges facing the nation.
Masari, who spoke yesterday with journalists after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the State House, Abuja stated that he was against the recent call by the House of Representatives for the declaration of a state of emergency in the security sector as it would not solve the problem.
According to him, declaring a state of emergency will not achieve the desired effect as the security structure and personnel to be used to execute the emergency are already overstretched in a bid to safeguard lives and property.
Sourced From: THISDAYLIVE
Tribune Online
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 62 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 165,110. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Friday. “55 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; Lagos-21, Yobe-19, Ogun-6, Akwa Ibom-3, Kaduna-2, Plateau-2, FCT-1, Rivers-1.” YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE COVID-19: Nigeria Recorded […]
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Tribune Online
Sourced From: Tribune Online
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
The people of the South East region have been urged to explore the power of negotiation and mutual settlement in the face of ongoing killings and security challenges in the zone because the east can not afford another war at present.
Stakeholders from the South-East geo-political zone made the remark on Thursday, at the unveiling of the book, “Igbo, 50 years after Biafra,” written by Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Drainage Services, Joe Igbokwe, held at Ikeja G.R.A.
Speaking at the unveiling of the book, the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Cutis Adigba,
urged the people of the South-East to learn to build bridges across the country, so that they can realise their ambition of producing the next president of Nigeria.
Adigba urged leaders from the zone to discourage the move and agitation by some youths in the South East to go to war and secede out of Nigeria.
Also read: Banditry: Disregard viral video, Niger State gov’t urges residents
He said that Igbo have always found it difficult to rule Nigeria because they refused to build bridges across the six geo-political zones that made up Nigeria.
While describing the agitation as uncalled for, Adigba noted that after two decades that Nigeria returned to civil rule, the Igbo has predominantly identified with only one political party.
He maintained that remaining in one party can not advance the cause of the people of South East and cannot make them realise their objective of producing an Igbo man as president.
He maintained that the publisher of the book, Igbokwe played politics outside his state, so that the Igbo race can be integrated with one another race.
Adigba said the failure of the Igbo to reintegrate with other ethnic nationalities politically was responsible for the retrogression of the race in Nigerian politics.
Igbokwe, also addressing guests on the occasion, maintained that the Igbo are not advancing politically because they refused to be integrated into National politics, lamenting that, despite their success in business, they are not successful in playing politics at the national level.
Corroborating Dimgba, Igbokwe noted that there was the need for the Igbo people to stand up and build bridges so that their objective of producing the next president of Nigeria could be realised.
According to him: “I have decided to raise my voice, I hope my people will hear me while trying to quell the effect of the war, our people are spoiling for another war, mayhem is being unleashed in Igbo land, and there is palpable fear.
“Those who could speak have lost their voice, mindful of the consequences of their actions, I am calling on all Igbo leaders to speak up because all actions carry consequences, consequences of the silence will be too dastardly to sustain.
“Those silently supporting the wild wind should be careful or else they hand over to their children,” he said.
Igbokwe urged those spoiling for war to jettison their plan and embrace dialogue, urging them to learn from the South West region that despite the challenges faced after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election, they did not go to war, and the region had the opportunity of producing two of her sons for presidential position in 1999.
“You have to build bridges to become president of Nigeria, but it is unfortunate the Igbo are burning bridges.”
Speaking at the event, Chief Uche Dimgba who is the coordinator of Igbo in All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos, described Igbokwe as “a Frank, fearless and reliable leader, who based his views on issues and stand by his opinions, and we the Igbo have confidence in him and believe he can lead us aright.”
“He is a leader we Igbo believe in and we will follow him. If he can serve all the governors produced in Lagos State since 1999, he is a better man to follow because he possesses all the experience that can be of benefit to Igbo both at home and in the diaspora.”
The post Attacks on S’East: We must explore all options of negotiation — Stakeholders urge Igbo appeared first on Vanguard News.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
The government said that no worker should stay back beyond 6:00 p.m. within premises of buildings undergoing construction.
The post Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
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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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