Nigerian Newspapers
‘DAWN designed to quicken development’
Mr Dipo Famakinwa is the Director-General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission. In this interview with BISI OLADELE and TAYO JOHNSON, the development expert speaks on the evolution, structure priorities and prospects of the commission.
WHAT is the objective of the DAWN Commission?
The DAWN refers to the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission. I had been in the private sector for 20 years before I started getting involved in development issues. And, primarily, I am concerned about the development of Western Nigeria. my development work led me to believe that Western part of Nigeria has very limitless capability for development. I think it is in the process of getting engaged in proving that reality that I got involved with the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) which is the Yoruba group that comprises individuals, professionals, politicians, technocrats from all walks of life with the primary concern for the development of the Yoruba race. That concern led us to start looking for a frame work whereby the Yoruba people who are more than 50 million worldwide can develop at their own pace. While more than 40 million are living in Nigeria, the rest in other parts of the world, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America. We feel that we need to start harnessing the limitless capability, talents of these people for development. ARG pushed me forward to begin to work along the line of finding the methodology for integrating the states in region, especially integrating their development plans, development programs and finding the mechanism for them to work together, and it is that activity that led us to the preparation of the document that is now called DAWN which we presented to the people of the region at the City Hall in 2012, and since then it has now become a strategic document that everybody has begun to look forward to for development of western Nigeria. All what we have done as a group or individuals, all the governors in southwest feel that the strategic plan put together in that framework will work for the progress of the region.
ARG seems to be the brain behind DAWN. ARG on its own looks like a group with political affiliation. Is there a way DAWN intends to create a platform for all Yorubas, irrespective of their political lineage, to participate in this group’s effort to develop the region?
ARG played a role in putting this document together. It is actually a document that consolidates what we can describe as the aspiration of the whole Yoruba people. It is not colored in any political or ethnic shade. It is just to fix the language of development, it is just talking about the development of the Yoruba people. It will interest you to know that in 2010, the ARG along with some self determination groups in Yoruba land and the Diaspora, organised what we call the Yoruba Development Summit. at that time the current governors of Osun and Ekiti states were not yet in power, and it was from that summit that the idea of regional integration came in. The aspiration was that whoever came into saddle of governance in the region would have a strategy road map that will speak to the integration of the region, especially integration of our economy and development of infrastructures. So, it was not meant for a political party. It is part of the Yoruba desire to develop their region.
How do you intend to collate ideas across the region to form the basis for accomplishing your agenda?
Let me start by giving you the trajectory of this project. When the desire became very strong, the realization that we need to begin to do thing differently dawned on everybody. The Afenifere Renewal Group then gave the Yoruba Academy Group a remit to do a study of the feasibility of what we are talking about. Is it possible for us to integrate our economy? Is it possible for us to integrate our development plan and our development programs? Is it possible for us to integrate our aspirations as a region? And the Academy did a study of the feasibility of that process and it was proven the group, but we need to put another a dimension into things that can be done and not things that are hanging in the air. A group of Yoruba technocrats and professionals from all walks of life, most of them not politicians but those who have worked in the development sectors, then had a retreat in University of Ibadan and it was from that retreat we came up with DAWN strategic document, and in putting together that strategic document, all views from everywhere, from the street level, policy level, political level, all views were put together to form the basis for preparing the strategic document.
What structure are you developing to achieve your aim?
The governors of the region are very committed in the development of this region and they have expressed this commitment in many areas and dimensions. The first meeting they had regarding the regional integration agenda was held in Ekiti State. All the governors were present except Osun State governor who was represented by his deputy and they expressed a very strong desire and intent to work together as a region to achieve their development plans and program. It was at that meeting they made their desire to do that. Also follow-up meeting held at Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was at that meeting they agreed that they would put together a technical committee, that each state would send members into a technical committee that would then midwife the process of ensuring that we have an institutional structure and foundation for advancing the development agenda. In May 2012, the technical committee was inaugurated by the Ekiti State governor in Ado-Ekiti. The technical committee comprise a representative of each state in the region and it was also at that meeting in Abeokuta that they said that there must be a commission to ensure that this is not just an express desire but to move it from the level of desire to actualization. So when the technical committee met, they highlighted the areas that are needed to be focused on to be able to give life to this agenda. They went round all the states of the region, met all the governors and had different technical strategy sessions, and came out with the final implementation document. It is like a light plan for guiding the activities of the commission. All the governors also expressed their desire to have an institutional framework to ensure that this document doesn’t just go off, they decided to put in place a commission which is now called DAWN. If you recall at the presentation of the DAWN strategic documents at the City Hall in Lagos, the governors announced that they have secured a space at 10th floor Cocoa House for the office of the commission and it is very historical for us as a people, that we can even use Cocoa House for our office is very commendable, and we the Yoruba race should be proud that Cocoa House is still standing and it can still continue to function for a dedicated centre for Yoruba development.
Let’s look at the main focus of DAWN. What areas of development are you focusing on; economic, cultural, political?
In putting together our framework of action, we anchored them on what we call some strategic pillars, and part of what informed the construction of those pillars was the realization that we needed to be very focused. We, therefore, sensed that if we get things right in some areas, we can move development forward in Yoruba land. We have five critical pillars. One of them is economic competitiveness. We want to compete with the rest of the world. We believe that an economy where you have more than 40 million people , bigger than most countries in Africa and Europe, very vibrant, dedicated people who are forward looking to development, we must build a pillar for economic competitiveness that would enable us to continue to compete with the rest of the world. We must go back to agriculture, which is very crucial, not agriculture in the way that it has been done before. We need to look at the critical value chains in agriculture, look at agriculture as business. How do we find the link to do agriculture business like the rest of the world? How do we find the funding? How do we find the finance? How do we build the institutional and infrastructural support for agriculture? We are looking at Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. The idea is that we must build an economy that employs our people. We must build an economy where our young ones can explore their talents. For instance, youths all over the world are doing fantastic things in ICT, we need to look at ways we can leverage ICT, develop our economy and employ our people. We need to look for means to reform our commerce and trading system and critically attain revenue dignity, because we believe as a people it is an insult for us to continue to go to Abuja every month to go and be asking for allocation. How do we generate our own revenue?
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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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