Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 24th December 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 24/12/19
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House Of Reps Member, Shina Peller, Released By Lagos Police After Arrest
Businessman and member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Shina Peller, has been released by the police in Lagos after being arrested earlier on Monday.
Peller was arrested and held at the Maroko Police Station, Victoria Island, after going to secure the release of some persons, who had visited his nightclub to unwind over the weekend during a special annual show.
The lawmaker’s offence was not disclosed to him at the time of his arrest while his phones were also seized.
However, one of his aides, Shina Popoola, has now confirmed that the lawmaker had been released on bail after the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, Lagos.
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Anxiety Over Deji Adeyanju’s Health After Attack By Hired Government Protesters
Following an attack on human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, and several members of the civil society movement by some suspected hired government thugs, SaharaReporters can confirm that the activist is currently in a critical state.
Adeyanju was brutally attacked on Monday in Abuja during a peaceful protest tagged #FreedomRally in front of the National Human Rights Commission headquarters.
Many of the hired government protesters were seen carrying President Muhammadu Buhari’s posters while disrupting the peaceful demonstration by activists to unleash mayhem. #PressPlay: Human Rights Activist Deji Adeyanju Attacked In Abuja During #FreeSowore Protest @adeyanjudeji @YeleSowore pic.twitter.com/6OV0COOxGm— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) December 23, 2019
When our correspondent visited Adeyanju at the hospital on Monday evening, his condition was still in bad shape.
Apart from physical injuries sustained, the activist was having difficulty breathing normally.
Adeyanju also found it difficult opening his eyes as a result of the severity of the attack on him by the ruthless hired thugs.
Operatives of Department of State Services and policemen at the scene of the deadly assault did little or nothing to rescue victims from their attackers.
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E2%80%99s-wife-condemns-attack-deji-adeyanju Sowore’s Wife Condemns Attack On Deji Adeyanju
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Opeyemi, wife of pro-democracy campaigner and journalist, Omoyele Sowore, has spoken out against the attack on rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, and other protesters in Abuja on Monday.
Adeyanju was attacked by pro-government supporters during a protest at the office of the National Human Right Commission to demand the freedom of Sowore and other politically detained persons in the country.
The protest was going on peacefully until the sponsored thugs invaded the area and pounced on the protesters, picking out Adeyanju for heavy assault.
While speaking on a radio programme on WNYC in the United States on Monday, Opeyemi stated that the level of violence and disregard for rule of law in Nigeria was rapidly increasing as well as frightening.
She said, “There was a protest where they (Nigerian Government supporters) beat up one of the key organisers of the protest.
“The level of violence and disregard for the rule of law has really been frightening.
Speaking further, she said Sowore’s aim was to move Nigeria to a functioning democracy and a country that works for all citizens regardless of ethnicity and social background.
Sowore was rearrested by operatives of the Department of State Services on December 6, 2019 inside the Federal High Court, Abuja, less than 24 hours after he was released on bail after spending 125 days in detention.
He was first arrested on August 3 for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to demand a better country from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The government has accused him of insulting Buhari and planning to bring down his regime.
Despite two court orders directing his release on bail, Sowore remains detained by the DSS and is yet to be told the reason for his rearrest.
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CAN Commends United States For Placing Nigeria On Religious Watchlist
The Christian Association of Nigeria has commended the move by the United States in placing Nigeria on ‘Special Watchlist’ of countries violating religious freedom.
The US in its list placed Nigeria amongst countries whose governments had engaged in or tolerated the severe violation of religious freedom.
CAN in a statement by Special Assistant, Media and Communications, to the President of the organisation, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said it welcomes the move despite the fact that it was not contacted before the decision was taken.
The organisation added that there were enough evidence to prove that the subtle Islamisation agenda and nepotism were real, adding that all key appointments made since the second term of President Muhammadu Buhari followed the same blueprint.
The statement reads, “These are facts and they are violations of some portions of the 1999 constitution (as amended). These include but not limited to Sections 10, 13 (3-4), 15 (2) (d) and (4).
“We are not happy that our country is being listed among the nations where religious intolerance is one of their hallmarks but it gladdens our hearts that at least the global community is not unaware of the fact that Nigerian Christians are becoming endangered species in their land.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Government through Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, rejected the label by the US, accusing America of being misled by disgruntled elements.
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Ganduje, Sanusi And Peace Of Kano By Mariam Mohammed Maktoub
Since May this year, the once ancient and cosmopolitan city of Kano is heaving breathlessly and except the major protagonists tread carefully, something might just give and the consequences are predictable. As a daughter of the soil, as they say, I am wont not to refer to any of those – Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and Emir Muhammadu Sanusi – as antagonists in the struggle for the traditional soul of the city so as not to cast any of the parties in this intriguing but worrying theatre as the agent provocateur.
But the fact remains that since the day Governor Ganduje exercised his executive powers to create four additional emirates to the existing Kano emirate, it was never going to be an easy meat to chew. The issue is not about right or wrong; morality versus the law, rather circumspection, timing and the personality of those involved in the whole process of driving inclusion and creating a sense of equality for all Kano sons and daughters.
Kano, it is generally agreed, is not just any city. It is a conurbation of learning, commerce, grandeur, and royalty. It is not just its elite that are provincial but the commoners and all who sojourn to and through it. Kano has seen the rise of kings and their capitulation; it has also glorified politicians and upended them when they became too arrogant for its liking. Such is the character of Kano. If that is its nature, abhorring the overly pompous and indulgent, why then should anybody, and now for that matter tempt the fates of Kano?
One would imagine that when the governor decided on the creation of four additional emirates which according to him is a response to yearnings of the people of the new royal stools, it would have been embraced by Emir Sanusi II who countlessly have harped on integration and inclusion in the country. Is it a matter of ‘national amalgamation’ but not in ‘my domain?’
Well, there have been insinuations, conjectures and inferences as to why the governor has remained insistent on having additional emirates in the city of over 13.4 million. But come to think of it, is one emir expedient to the rigours and demands of the people of Kano? Would not having additional emirates stifle the development agenda of Governor Gandjue? I am persuaded that the two gladiators in this emirate conundrum ought to carefully weigh and interrogate the issues before them and decide on the lesser evil, if it is one, anyway.
It is instructive to note that the Ganduje administration has done remarkably well in his first tenure and has started brightly with his renewed mandate with the law outlawing any girl being married without first completing secondary school. On the whole, the fact that the state government is incorporating the Almajiri system with modern system of education is what should be making the news. But what do we find making the news and trending; the state government’s emasculation of the Emir of Kano when it is actually in exercise of its executive powers to give a sense of belonging to all segments of Kano society by installing four additional kings.
The reticence of Emir Sanusi II on this matter while he unleashes his tentacles in the media and elsewhere does not brood well for a revered royal stool and a man of grand standing. History is replete with kings who gave up their thrones, drank the proverbial Hemlock like Socrates, and went into slavery to preserve their kingdoms. This is by no means suggesting that our beloved emir should walk the ignoble but heroic path. Rather, the idea that clear and manifest instructions are given and are ignored by the Kano emirate signposts a call to insurrection.
Take the case of Emir Sanusi’s appointment as the Chairman Kano Council of Chiefs since December 9 and further instructions to convene the council. The Emir of Kano conveniently ignored the directive, and a reminder now with a caveat of two days response had to be issued by the Office of Permanent Secretary for Special Duties on behalf of the Secretary to Kano State Government. Without a doubt, such behavior is unexpected from a grand traditional stool such as that of Kano.
Perhaps it needs reminding that as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Emir Sansui would not brook such recalcitrant attitude from any of his subordinates. That is even mild when it is remembered that the former CBN governor showed gross contempt for a sitting president.
While these might look as insignificant, in the power matrix perception is telling and when it becomes a pattern, other individuals in lesser positions could begin to emulate a dangerous example and no sooner it becomes a precedent which would ultimately erode the traditional ethos and values of respect, obedience and deference to those in high office.
It should be sounded clearly that the traditional stool is not a place for political and social activism except one geared towards rewriting obnoxious practices and customs. To this end, Emir Sanusi II should be clear on what he intends to achieve in his reluctance to accommodate his ‘brothers’ the new emirs, The world no longer dances to the alpha male or ruler. Even the Queen of England operates within the boundaries set out by law even when certain matters are not to her personal liking. Take the matter of Her Majesty to prorogue parliament for five weeks on the request of Prime Minister Johnson. If the emir is persuaded that he no longer fits into the constitutional oversight of the state governor, nothing stops him to follow the exemplary conduct of Emperor Akihito of Japan who in April this year after 30-years on the Chrysanthemum Throne abdicated becoming the country’s first monarch to abdicate in two centuries. But that is not my wish for the emir. He can rise above the partisanship of the moment by stooping to conquer by welcoming the Emirs of Rano, Gaya, Bichi and Karaye and galvanized them to work for the greater good of their peoples.
More than that, it is about time that Governor Ganduje tempers down and allow for a slow evolution of the process. While it is conceded that the emirs have been appointed afresh and installed, there is no gain in haste to convene the Council of Chiefs. The governor as a democrat should behave as one and not in fiat. The latest ultimatum to the Emir of Kano to accept his “appointment or otherwise” as the Chairman of the Council of Chiefs within 48 hours shows a growing childish impatience, which should not be. I’m strongly of the opinion that the governor should channel this enthusiasm of having Sanusi accede or otherwise within two days to Kano urban renewal programme. What gain is there if the state, noted for its febrile nature, erupts in brimstone and flares?
It is in this regard that President Muhammadu Buhari as the father of the nation should urge further conversation between the two powerful individuals. The state has witnessed a long period of relative tranquility save for the electioneering period, and this should not be mortgaged on personal egos.
Ms Maktoub is an Abuja-based publisher and Political PR consultant
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Mariam Mohammed Maktoub
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E2%80%99s-early-christmas-gift-and-adesina%E2%80%99s-call-revolution-skc-ogbonnia Sowore’s Early Christmas Gift And Adesina’s Call For Revolution By SKC Ogbonnia
SKC Ogbonnia
SKC Ogbonnia
President Muhammadu Buhari must no longer continue to betray the vision of #RevolutionNow, being the call for protest against bad governance in Nigeria by the renowned anti-corruption and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore. Similarly, the President ought to embrace another powerful call this week for a revolution from no other than his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. But this appeal remains a tall order. The truth is that President Buhari reneged on the revolution agenda we deployed to free Nigeria from the 16-year of gross misrule under the Peoples Democratic Party. As a result, virtually every performance measurement index in the critical areas of social, economic, and politic development have become worse than the situation before he assumed power. Even in the areas where Buhari recorded measurable progress, his style of leadership has been utterly miasmic, enough to cause a saint to wear the look of a Satan. Different efforts however, subtle to point the president to the right direction during his first term by members of the Nigerian media, as well prominent patriots, fell on deaf ears. It was then believed that voters could capitalize on the 2019 elections to sweep him out for good. But that was not to be. Apart from the fact that the presidential election was neither free nor fair, Muhammadu Buhari would become re-elected as the better alternative in an election generally viewed as a binary contest between a devil and the deep blue sea. This hollow re-election victory has done nothing but embolden Buhari to descend deeper and deeper into dictatorship. If his first term record was a dismal failure, his second term in office is trending to become even worse. But critics this time have grown tired. The Nigerian press, which is generally a vibrant and fearless force, had begun to feel surfeited since talking to General Buhari appears like talking to a brick wall. Even the prayer warriors had also begun to lose hope. Then came an early Christmas gift to Nigerians, particularly President Buhari. An unseen power beckoned Omoyele Sowore to say enough is enough, as he called for true revolution towards good governance in his homeland. Buhari and his people recognised that this voice was like no other. After all, the call was coming from Sowore, a rare patriot with a bevy of global networks, who along with his Sahara Reporters, had triggered the fall of many Nigerian corrupt leaders. The unseen power answered once again by goading Buhari to arrest and detain the human rights activist without bail. But Nigeria’s God is far from spent. The glimpse was the audacity of a woman in Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, the trial judge who threatened to jail the Chief of Buhari’s secret police, the Department for State Services (DSS), if he failed to free Sowore in line with court orders.. Though the DSS adhered to the judge’s ultimatum and released Sowore, little did the world know that the worst was yet to come. In less than 24 hours after the release, the same secret police stormed back to the federal high court, wielding wild guns, and forcefully re-arrested Sowore while he was standing trial, as the judge and court staff fled for their lives. The darkest hour has its dawn! The naked desecration of the Judiciary by the Executive branch in the Sowore saga has provoked new attention on Nigeria and has the potential for the long-sought liberation from Buhari’s reign of terror. Accordingly, major local news agencies, most of which were instrumental in bringing him to power, have washed their hands-off the president. In short, the nature of worldwide condemnation trailing the shameless rape on Nigeria’s fledgling democracy has not been witnessed in recent history. And the Buhari people ought to know the consequence. The bee sucks honey out of the bitterest flower! Notable Buhari enablers are beginning to sing different tunes. Some of them are even beginning to use the “R” while damning its phobia. Notice that his press secretary—of all people—did not hesitate to use the occasion of Buhari’s 77th birthday to echo the need for revolution in the country. In Femi Adesina’s own words, “Nigeria must get a new lease of life, and history must record it that the revolution started under one man: Muhammadu Buhari.” Interestingly, the date of Adesina’s publication was December 17, 2019, barely five months after Omoyele Sowore was arrested for daring to utter the word “revolution”. Every cloud has a silver lining! President Muhammadu Buhari has dug himself into a big hole in the Sowore saga, and change has become inevitable. Therefore, unless he prays for the doomsday, now is the time tap from the history and do the right thing. The wise will begin with an early Christmas gift of his own to the Nigerian people by freeing Sowore now! SKC Ogbonnia, Convener of Power To The Masses, writes from Ugbo, Enugu State, Nigeria.
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Man Arraigned In Ondo For Posing As DSS Official To Defraud Visa Applicants
Bolaji Adeniyi, a 48-year-old man pretending to be an operative of the Department of State Services, has been arraigned before a Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State.
Adeniyi was said to have defrauded some persons seeking visa to travel abroad. Adeniyi was accused to have been committing the offence since 2011 but was finally caught and arrested on October 2019 at Ode community in Akure.
SaharaReporters gathered that the accused had falsely been obtaining huge money from his unsuspecting clients almost eight years while also diverting such funds to personal use.
He was accused to have collected N2, 360,000 from Okuepusu Uchenna (m), Elijah Moses (m) and Oluremi Bamidele (f), with a pretence to procure Canada, United States and Egypt visas for them.
The offence committed by Adeniyi was said to be contrary to Section 383 and punishable under Sections 484, 419 and 390 (a) of the Criminal Code Cap 37, Volume 1, laws of Ondo State of Nigeria 2006.
The prosecutor, Inspector Sulaiman Abdullateef, prayed the court for an adjournment to enable him gather his witnesses before the trial begins.
Adelanke Akinrata, lawyer to the accused, prayed the court to admit his client in bail in liberal term since the prosecutor was still gathering witnesses.
Chief Magistrate Victoria Bob-Manuel in her ruling, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N2.5m with a credible surety in like sum.
She noted that the surety must also present evidence of tax clearance for 2019, two passport photographs, while the houses of both defendant and surety shall be verified by the court.
The case was adjourned until January 29, 2020 for hearing.
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Ondo Election: I’ve No Conflict With Akeredolu To Contest, Says Deputy Governor
Agboola Ajayi, deputy governor of Ondo State, has said there there is no dispute between him and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu despite moves by the incumbent to re-contest the governorship election of the state next year.
Ajayi said news that he had fallen out with Akeredolu was being spread by some persons to cause crisis in the state.
He said, “The governor and myself are doing very well.
“We are brothers and are working together for the progress of Ondo State.”
There had been rumours that Ajayi may dump the All Progressives Congress to contest the governorship under the platform of another party next year.
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TY Danjuma And His Dangerous Politics Of Fear By Churchill Okonkwo
Churchill Okonkwo
Churchill Okonkwo
Churchill Okonkwo
Fear pervades Nigerians’ lives and Nigerian politics. Fear has been in the air since President Muhammadu Buhari won reelection. Fear has been surging since he closed the borders and announced a visa-free entry to all African countries starting next year. Nigerians are more afraid today than they have been in a long time. TY Danjuma, a master of fear knows this and is invoking it in concrete and abstract ways for political gains.
Danjuma, a former Minister of Defense, delivered a speech at the launch of a book in Lagos. There, he warned that in Yorubaland, everyone seems to have lost their voice in terms of speaking against “governance collapse.” He added, “If I tell you what I know that is happening in Nigeria today, you will no longer sleep.”
“If you want details, I will give it to you privately.”
Privately? What is going on in Nigeria? Per TY Danjuma, you are free to make a wild guess and any terrible thing you assume is a possibility.
TY Danjuma is not new to making an outlandish attention-grabbing comment with little or no substance. But, as is so often the case in politics, there is a chasm between the messages of repackaged insinuations aimed at generating attention and heightening fear.
TY Danjuma is simply telling Nigerians; look, we ruined Nigeria; I corruptly enriched myself and was “dashed” oil blocks worth $2bn for a chicken $500m. Now, my family is financially settled and we will forever sleep peacefully. But if I tell you what’s going on in Nigeria, nobody will be able to sleep. TY Danjuma then goes home and sleeps peacefully with dozens of heavily armed guards watching over his life and that of his family.
Tribalism was at the heart of that speech delivered by Danjuma at the University of Ibadan. Tribalism is the biological loophole that many politicians have banked on for a long time: tapping into our fears and tribal instincts. If TY Danjuma and the wolves in Peoples Democratic Party still stands a chance to reclaim power in 2023, fear could be the key. Clearly TY Danjuma was banking tribalism by insinuating that the Yorubas are quiet, apparently because of the role of Bola Tinubu and Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in Buhari’s administration.
The typical pattern in tribalism that was deployed by TY Danjuma in his speech was to give the Buhari’s administration and his ethnic group a different label than the rest of us in the Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria, and say they are going to harm us or our resources.
In building these tribal boundaries between “us” and “them,” TY Danjuma and some politicians have managed very well to create virtual groups of people, religions, and ethnicities that do not communicate to hate without even knowing each other: This is the human-animal in action!
When TY Danjuma said “May Almighty God continue to bless this country. But only we can save ourselves from ourselves”, he was leaving the option of acting in whatever form to the economically depressed, lonely and angry Nigerians. The ethnic discord that came out of the mouth of TY Danjuma has the effect of poison. His message of prejudice and conference is meant to pave the way for Nigerians to turn against one another.
It is has been established that the response to fear is the “fight or flight” response. That response has helped us survive the predators and other tribes that have wanted to kill us. By scaring us, the demagogues in the PDP and the opposition in Nigeria are attempting to turn our aggression toward “the others,” whether in the form of harassing them on the social media or taking political action.
Fear as a political force comes and goes, ebbing and flowing in Nigerian history. Politicians have always played to it just like TY Danjuma is doing. People need to displace and project their anxieties, their concerns about their own lives and the lives of people they care about.
Often they are susceptible to politicians who tell them that “the wrong kinds of people are responsible for threatening them or their loved ones. This is the kind of politic TY Danjuma is playing when he claims, without evidence that “If I tell you what I know that is happening in Nigeria today, you will no longer sleep.”
It is strange watching these political dinosaurs that liquidated Nigeria still positioning themselves as the alpha and omegas of our problems. When demagogues like TY Danjuma manage to get hold of our fear circuitry, we often regress to illogical, tribal and aggressive human animals, becoming weapons ourselves – weapons that politicians use for their own agenda.
Nigerians should, together, say no to these seductive whispers that are aimed at making us turn against one another.
May the politics of hope continue to triumph over the politics of fear in Nigeria.
Together, we can.
Churchill OkonkwoOn Twitter @Churchillnnobi
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JAMB Fixes Date For 2020 UTME
The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board has fixed the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination between March 14 and April 4.
Optional mock examination for candidates will take place on February 18.
JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, said this at a stakeholders’ meeting on Monday in Abuja where he met with Commissioners for Education from the 36 states.
Oloyede said registration for the UTME would start on January 13 and end on February 17.
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