25052018 - BENUE KILLINGS: ETHNIC CLEANSING OR JIHAD? Soyinka, Northern leaders tango

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2018—9
:Vanguard :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
By Dirisu
Yakubu
ABUJA—The
Vice
President, Professor
Yemi Osinbajo, has charged
federating states to devise
innovating ways of boosting
their respective economies to
improve the standard of
living of their people.
Osinbajo, who was keynote
speaker at the Leadership
Newspaper 2017 Awards
ceremony, yesterday, in
Abuja, also advised
governors to build solid
economic foundation upon
which their predecessor
would build to drive
development process.
Speaking on the theme,
“Towards Financially Viable
State Governments,” the vice
president said federating
states must take cognizance
of what works for nationstates,
adding that in most
instances, national blueprints
were equally implementable
at sub-national levels.
He said: “We are heading
towards a time when our
states will be competing very
actively with one another for
big ticket investment as is
already happening
elsewhere in the world.
"When companies make
important decisions about
citing their offices primarily
based on how easier it is a
state makes for people to do
business in it; states that
make it easy for investors to
acquire land, to register
property, to pay taxes, to
access broad band internet
would be the clear winners.
While states that make these
things difficult or impossible
will languish as the world
carries on without them.
“Indeed, the problem of the
state is the same as that of the
Federal Government. The
complete reliance on the
source of revenue that is
extractive requires no
creativity or productivity
whatsoever.
"Most resource-rich nations
and sub-nationals in the
developing nations end up
being poor and financially
unviable, because making
easy revenues from the
extraction of resources is habit
for them; habit of easy money
without efforts. Few jobs are
created because there is no
value added.
‘’Why is that so? It is because
financial viability is based on
innovation and productivity.
Productivity means adding
value. Not necessarily
possessing the resources but
adding value to whatever
resources, even if you have
to import the resources.
“So the consumers of crude
oil, like those countries that I
have mentioned, earn more
than producers of oil because
they add value to the crude
oil that they import by
processing it and converting
it to petro-chemicals in some
cases and often selling these
improved products to the oil
producing countries
themselves at more profit.
‘’So, the prescriptions will
AGM: From left: Mr Tunde Lemo, Independent Non Executive
Director; Mr Edmund Onuzo, Chairman; Mr Uche Uwechia,
Company Secretary & Legal Director, and Mr Kareem Hamdy,
Finance Director, all of Glaxosmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, at
the 47th Annual General Meeting of the company in Lagos. Photo:
Akeem Salau.
Be innovative to be
viable, VP tells states
always be similar. Most of the
principles that work for
national governments will
also work for a sub-national
government.”
In what appeared an
indirect reference to states that
pay little or no attention to the
prospect of agriculture as a
means to financial viability,
Osinbajo lauded such states
as Kebbi and Jigawa, saying
both have witnessed
tremendous improvements in
earnings by their farmers.
Learn from
Awolowo
The Vice President took a
trip down memory lane to the
developmental strides
recorded by the sage, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo (of blessed
memory) in the then Western
Region.
According to him, Awolowo
as Premier of Western Region
relied on agriculture and
income taxes to deliver on his
economic blueprint spanning
education, infrastructure and
commerce.
“Recently, I had cause to
refer to the remarkable
achievements of Chief
Obafemi Awolowo as the
Premier of the then Western
Region of Nigeria from 1954
to 1960. The Western Region
is what today constitutes Oyo,
Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun,
Ondo, part of Kwara and
Kogi, part of Edo and Delta
states. The six year period of
the Awolowo's government is
often cited as one of the most
progressive of any
government in the
developing world.
“Some of the
accomplishments of that
government include the
University of Ife (now,
Obafemi Awolowo
University), the 26-storey
Cocoa House in Ibadan, then
an architectural wonder, the
Western Nigeria Television
Authority, the first in West
Africa and in fact, the first in
many parts of Europe.
Belgium did not even have a
television when the Western
region had its own. There
were various networks of
roads across the region.
“By far the most significant
of those achievements was
the free education, the free
universal primary education.
In 1952 when the scheme
was proposed, 381,000
children (about 30 per cent
of children at the time) were
enrolled in school. By 1955
when the scheme took off,
811,4 32 children were
enrolled."
A word for
governors
Osinbajo who got a
standing ovation with his
delivery, also urged state
governors to think more about
their legacy rather than the
next election. In his words,
only a synergy between a
governor and his successor
would help states consolidate
on their achievements.
He added: “It is clear that
governors have to think
beyond four or eight year’s
cycle. There must be a
commitment to laying a
foundation that our
successors will build on. One
of the challenges with
governance today in Nigeria
is the penchant for
dismantling or dismissing
everything inherited.”
Buhari nominates ex-IGP,
Musliu Smith, as PSC
chairman
P RESIDENT
Muhammadu
Buhari has written the
Senate to confirm former
Inspector-General of Police,
Musliu Smith, as the
chairman of Police Service
Commission, PSC.
He also sought the
confirmation of Clara
Ogunbiyi and former
Assistant Inspector-
General of Police, Lawal
Bawa, as full-time
commissioners of the PSC.
Four other members of the
commission were also
nominated.
Buhari’s request on Smith
and other members was
contained in a letter read
by the Senate President, Dr
Bukola Saraki, shortly after
the plenary started,
yesterday.
The letter read: “In
compliance with the
provisions of section 153 (1)
and 154(1) of the 1999
constitution of the Federral
Republic of Nigeria, as
amended, I write to forward
for confirmation by the
Senate the underlisted
names as the chairman and
members of Police Service
Commission, PSC. I attach
here, with their Cvs.
"Other nominees for the
commission include Justice
Clara Ogunbiyi (full-time
commissioner, North East);
Lawal Bawa AIG retd (Fulltime
commissioner, North
West); Mohammed Najatu
(Member, North West);
Braimoh Austin (Member,
South South); Barr. Rommy
Mom (Member, North
Central); and Dr Nkemka
Jombo-Ofo (Member,
South East)
“While thanking
immensely, in anticipation
of the early consideration
and confirmation of the
above appointments by the
distinguished senators,
please accept, Mr Senate
President, the assurance of
my highest consideration.”
Female senators silent
over rape of Zamfara
women — Marafa
•Says they protested when Yerima
married a 13-year-old girl
THE senator representing
Zamfara Central, Kabir
Marafa, yesterday, expressed
surprise about the fact that
female senators have been
silent over the plight of
women in his state, noting
that they protested when
Ahmed Yerima, a former
governor of the state, married
an underage girl.
Yerima’s marriage to a 13-
year-old girl in 2010 drew
widespread criticisms, as
human rights organisations
said the senator broke the law
and should be arrested.
Marafa while contributing
to a debate, yesterday, on a
motion to commemorate
Children’s Day, said there
was an estimated 5,000 cases
of rape in the state.
He said: “I expect the
women, especially of this
Senate, to stand up shoulder
to shoulder with women in
Zamfara State.
“A situation was raised
where a commissioner’s wife
and her six children were
kidnapped in their house and
three days into the journey,
nobody knows where she is.
“This caught the attention
of the media and everybody
because it is a commissioner’s
wife. But the issue of
kidnapping is a daily thing
in Zamfara State today. There
is an estimated 5000 victims
of rape and we have said it
in this chamber but up till
now, the women have not
stood up to say enough is
enough of this very bad
incident.
“Whereas in the 6th
assembly, when my
colleague and my leader,
Senator Ahmed Yerima,
fulfilled one of his religious
rites by marrying a lady with
the consent of her parents,
almost whole of this chamber
was pulled upside down.
“That he married an
underage girl, which is
nobody’s business in anyway
because her parents
consented to the marriage
and Yerima is a Muslim and
he married the girl according
to Muslim rites. But so much
noise was made in this
country to the extent that they
staged a protest on the streets
of Abuja.”
Buhari never substituted,
smuggled names for APC
convention —Presidency
By Johnbosco
Agbakwuru
A BUJA—THE
Presidency,
yesterday, denied the
allegation that President
Muhammadu Buhari
altered the list containing
names of All Progressives
Congress, APC,
Convention Planning Sub-
Committee by substituting
and smuggling in some
names of members.
Special Adviser to the
President on Media and
Publicity, Chief Femi
Adesina, in a statement in
Abuja, said President
Buhari in his characteristic
nature does not interfere in
the running of the party.
Adesina in the statement,
said: “We are constrained
to deny media reports
alleging that the Presidency
substituted or smuggled in
some names of members of
the All Progressives
Congress, APC,
Convention Planning Sub-
Committees.
“Nothing in the allegation
can be further from the truth
in every material particular.
For the umpteenth time, we
wish to reiterate President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
position that he will not
interfere in party affairs or
matters before the law
courts.
“It ought to have been
obvious by now to
discerning Nigerians that
it is not in the nature of this
President to go against the
provisions of the country’s
constitution let alone his
party’s constitutional
provisions."
“It is, therefore,
disingenuous to attribute
every perceived infraction
in activities of party or
government appointees to
the President’s desk.”
The Presidency’s denial
came on the heels of the
allegation by some
members of a faction of
Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, that left the party in
2014 under the name of
new PDP and joined the
APC to dislodge the then
ruling party in 2015.
The nPDP bloc claimed
that their names were
removed from the
convention planning
committee.
At the inauguration of the
convention subcommittees,
in Abuja, it was
gathered that some of those
whose names were
allegedly dropped from the
committee launched a
protest, accusing the
Presidency of doctoring the
list.