31052019 - Dont withdraw licensed guns, Reps tell Buhari

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30—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019 Obijackson tasks FG on primary healthcare By Polycarp Nwafor THE Founder of Obijackson Foundation, Dr. Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, has called on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to seek innovative ways of providing quality primary healthcare. He said this at a funfair in Okija, Anambra State, to felicitate with children born at the Obijackson Women and Children’s Hospital, Okija. Obiejesi lamented that millions of Nigerian children die from avoidable ailment due to lack of access to primary healthcare. He added that the hospital was set up to provide quality healthcare for children in Anambra and beyond, regardless of the economic status of their parents. China shouldn't be blamed for trade talks failure—Envoy By Chioma Gabriel THE new Chinese Consul General in Lagos, Chu Maoming, has said that the 11th round of China-U.S. highlevel trade talks that ended recently with no agreement reached, cannot be blamed on his country. The Trump administration had labelled China with “reneging on promises,” claiming that it had seen an erosion in commitments by China, accused China of backtracking on its pledges and infringing upon its major concerns. However, Chu Maoming said the claims completely disregarded facts and such false accusation on China is nothing but a lie. According to him, “keeping promises is a moral principle that the Chinese nation has always adhered to. During the last 40 years, China opened its doors for construction and shared the outcomes of its reform and is opening up to the outside world. “The contribution it made to the world economy is obvious to all. The country has always fulfilled its commitments since its accession to the World Trade Organisation, WTO. By firmly supporting the multilateral system, largely lowering tariffs and reducing nontariff barriers, and opposing unilateralism and protectionism, China is showing to the world an image of a responsible and faithful major country.” The envoy added that by 2010, China had fulfilled all of its tariff reduction commitments, reducing the average tariff level from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 9.8 percent. He added that as early as 2007, China had honoured all of its commitments on trade in services and now, the breadth of the country’s openness in this sector is close to the average level of developed countries. According to him, even the Office of the United States Trade Representative had praised China’s performance in the WTO in many of its annual reports, saying the Chinese government had fulfilled WTO commitments. His words: “Since last year, the country has taken a slew of measures to further open up, including the tariff reduction for automobiles and cosmetics, the issuance of the foreign investment law, and widened market access. “Now, the manufacturing sector of the country is open to foreign investment in an all-round manner. In addition to keeping promises, China is doing further. “The major reform measures announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation have won positive responses from the world, indicating that China is advancing steadfastly with full confidence. “China has always promoted consultation and negotiation with utmost sincerity, hoping to achieve an agreement that leads to win-win results based on equality and mutual respect ever since China and the United States started trade talks last year.” MECH TECH 2.0: From left—CEO, Automedics, Kunle Shonaike; graduate, MechTech 2.0, Halimat Adeyemi; CEO, Enyo Retail and Supply, Abayomi Awobokun; first prize winner, MechTech 2.0, Ayeni Akinyemi, and Chairman, MOMTAN, Alhaji Moruf Arowolo, at the graduation of MechTech 2.0 students powered by Enyo in Lagos. Confusion, accusations in Imo over demolition of Akachi Tower •It’s Ihedioha’s first assignment—Okorocha •It must be unpaid contractors; we're focused on better things —Govt By Chinonso Alozie & Dennis Agbo ACCUSATIONS and counter-accusations have trailed the demolition of Akachi Tower in Owerri, Imo State. While the immediate past governor, Rochas Okorocha, said it was a first assignment of the new administration of Governor Emeka Ihedioha, the governor denied any knowledge of the demolition, but suggested that it could be the work of those who have been working around the statue without being paid by the Okorocha government. Okorocha, through his Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemedo, said: “We want to also use this opportunity to inform the general public that 24 hours after inauguration, the new PDP government in the state carried out its first assignment by demolishing Akachi (the symbolic hand of God) Tower erected by the former governor. “This is suspicious. They have also changed the Imo Trade and Investment Centre to Ahiajoku. The former governor had taken certain steps to bring Imo people closer to God. We have also heard that they want to close the Government House Chapel.” Ihedioha’s reacts Responding, Ihedioha through his Special Adviser on Media, Steve Osuji, said: “Imo State government has no hand •It was built on private land—Eyewitness •… as EFCC denies arresting Okorocha in the demolition of Akachi statue. Contrary to reports emanating from Owerri, the government of Imo State has no hand in the pulling down of the gargantuan Akachi statue near Aba Road, Owerri. “At about noon on Thursday (yesterday), a mammoth crowd had besieged the Akachi statue hacking at it and trying to pull it down, apparently acting in pent up anger. “According to reports, Imo people seem to have nursed a loathing for the statue right from the beginning, considering it a monument that portends ominous auguries for the people of the state. “Another version suggests that the contractors who have been working rather endlessly around the statue for some time, but who may have not been paid, may be responsible for the breaching of the giant statue. “If government deems it necessary to pull down the statue or any structure for that matter, it would be done properly and in accordance with the law. “Does it stand to reason that a government that is barely 24 hours old, with no handover notes whatsoever and without an office to work from, would concern itself with an ordinary statue? “Let it be known that the new government in Imo State has its eyes set on nobler goals which includes fast-tracking the rebuilding of Imo State. “It is interesting to note that the Akachi statue is a massive monument of a hand pointing heavenwards and rising about 50 feet into the atmosphere. Not many in Imo quite understand the significance of the baleful legacies of outgone governor, Rochas Okorocha.” Eyewitnesses' accounts Vanguard observed that the demolition started at about 02:15p.m. Meanwhile, security agents have taken over the location of the tower, halting the demolition. While an eyewitness told Vanguard that the demolition was carried out by the agents of the new government of Emeka Ihedioha, others were of the view that the land on which the Akachi Tower was built was forcefully collected from the original owners, who on their own decided to carry out the demolition. According to one Onyenso, “we saw some people in two hilux vehicles last night and some security people. They came, moved round the tower and later drove off. “Just this afternoon (yesterday), as we were working in our site, we saw a group of people with a caterpillar and they ordered the man in the caterpillar to start pulling down the Akachi Tower. “They were shouting ‘a new government has emerged and we are taking what belongs to us; nobody can stop us. There is a new government, old things have passed away and given way for a new thing.” Another, who did not want his name mentioned told Vanguard: “This land is not government's land. It belongs to some people. “It is like some people are angry and they want to take laws into their hands. With the way this thing has started, anything can happen at anytime. “Government must be guided and be careful of those using its name to take actions. This is taking a very bad shape, whether you like it or not.” ...EFCC This is just as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said it did not arrest Okorocha. It added that Okorocha had no invitation from them and urged people to disregard the rumours in the social media. EFCC spokesman, South-East regional office, Mr. Chris Oluka, told Vanguard in Enugu that the commission has been having issues with Okorocha but that the former governor has neither been invited for questioning nor arrested.
Britain, go or stay, stop diverting attention ANIGERIAN genius, Odia Ofeimun asked me a rhetorical question: “How does a minority, which takes control of the majority, retain power?” He answered: “By force or falsehood.” I added: “Or both.” Although he raised it within the context of the ethnocentric power relations in Nigeria, it is also true of Britain. The Vikings from the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark for three centuries from 800 AD, poured out, attacking ships and raiding coastal areas, especially in Europe. They later forced France to cede the northern part of the country to them, which they named Normandy. The Vikings had a sense of entitlement, so when the Anglo- Saxon (English) throne became vacant in 1066 following the death of Edward the Confessor, who left no heirs, Norwegian Vikings led by Harald Hardrada felt they had a right to seize the throne. But the invaders were defeated by the English led by Harold Godwinesson. However, the war-weary English were no match for a second invading Viking army, this time the Normans led by 38-year-old William, Duke of Normandy. William crowned himself, king of England on By Odidi Omoaka IT is reasonable to conclude that whenever the All Progressives Congress, APC, holds up the mirror to look at itself, the image that comes up is that of a once-in-an-age progressive entity created to remedy our national defects. Hard evidence, however, declines to support this distorted image. By June 11, if the ruling party’s desire comes to fruition, the control of three arms of the country’s government will be in the hands of moslems, the first time since the return to democratic rule in 1999. President Muhammadu Buhari is already the leader of the Executive arm. The Judiciary has Justice Tanko Mohammed in place as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, following the chicanery that ousted Justice Walter Onnoghen, a Southern Christian, as CJN. The President of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, like the CJN, are both moslems. Should things pan out as the APC has them planned, the Senate will have Senator Ahmed Lawan as president, with a strong possibility that his deputy will be Kabiru Gaya, who has been everything but coy about his ambition. The House of Representatives, by APC’s design, is expected to produce Femi Gbajabiamila, a moslem, as speaker. The Gbajabiamila camp has already settled for Idris Wase, a moslem from the North-Central zone, as deputy speaker. The design is similar to what the APC adopted in 2015, which had the same candidates for both positions. But it was outwitted by Senator Bukola Saraki and Aminu Dogara, who halted the plan for moslem headship of the two chambers by restoring religious balance. What this indicates is that the APC views Nigerian Christians, especially those in the South, as children of a lesser god, who deserve no more than political crumbs. Hints that the APC was designed as a special purpose vehicle Christmas Day in 1066 and became known as William the Bastard or William the Conqueror. Applying Ofeimun’s theory of how minorities rule majorities, history showed how the conquering Vikings/ Normans established the British monarchy which subsist until today, ruled the majority English, brought Scotland and Wales and part of Ireland under their control and called the new territory, United Kingdom. It also showed how small Britain invaded 95 countries in the world, conquering and colonising vast territories, including India and Nigeria, singing “Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!” and vowing the sun will never set on its empire. But the sun actually set on it as the bruising Second World War saw the demise of the empire called “Great” Britain. A humbled Britain tried to join the European Common Market (now the European Union, EU) in 1963 and 1967, but then French President, Charles De Gaulle vetoed it. His argument was that Britain with its balance of payment problems, devalued currency, tradition of obtaining cheap food from all parts of the world and its “habits and traditions” was unfit to join the rest of Europe. De Gaulle died in 1970, and three years later, Britain under Prime Minister Edward Heath, was admitted into the European Common Market. Forty nine years after De Gaulle blocked Britain, the country itself voted to exit the body in what has become known as Brexit. But in the last three years, Britain which had taken the democratic decision to exit the EU continues to dilly-dally rather than take a principled position. That tells a lot about Old Britain which, to use a trite English expression, wants to eat its cake and have it; it claims to belong to the European Union without wanting to abide by its basic programmes. A major achievement of the EU is a I would have campaigned for the Brexit entertainment to continue, except that it is diverting attention from serious global issues like insecurity common currency, the Euro, but Britain sticks to its British Pound. EU has a common visa, the Shengen, but Britain sticks to its own individual visa. Britain which had through the use of force, falsehood, cunning and unparalleled ruthlessness ruled, conquered, colonised or seized major parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, the Palestine and many parts of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, in Brexit, exposed itself as merely a smart alec with a sense of entitlement. A question on moslem dominance of our politics to foist an Islamic domination agenda on Nigeria were there from when it emerged in 2013 as a fusion of disparate political interests. It could not have been otherwise. The party’s leader, General Muhammadu Buhari (now president), has, in some quarters, been tagged a sectional champion. Early in 2014, an Islamic cleric, Ambassador Yusuf Garba, likened the APC to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and accused it of harbouring plans to Islamise Nigeria. Garba, a member of a group named Religious Equity Promotion Council, REPC, arrived at his position just by looking at the APC Interim National Executive Committee, which was chock-full with moslems. Appointed as national chairman was Chief Bisi Akande, Aminu Bello Masari as Deputy national chairman, Tijani Musa Tumsah as national secretary, Nasir el-Rufai as deputy national secretary and Lai Mohammed as national publicity secretary. The party also appointed Sadiya Umar Faruq as national treasurer, Shaibu Musa as national financial secretary, Abubakar Lado as national youth leader, Muiz Banire as national legal adviser, Bala Jubrin as deputy national auditor and Sharia Ikeazor (a convert to Islam) as national woman leader. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and other groups, particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, also warned that hints of bias in favour of Islam carry the potential to uncouple the country, as they were bound to reboot sectarian tensions. Their voices were, however, drowned out by the powerful APC propaganda machine, abetted by undiscerning Nigerians and power-seeking desperadoes. Further hints of the APC’s indifference to the country’s religious plurality manifested after General Buhari had emerged as presidential candidate and was shopping for a Southern running mate. It emerged that the party was considering Tinubu to run on a moslemmoslem ticket with Buhari, news of which provoked widespread disapproval, including from former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019—31 Although it voluntarily joined a union which logically dictates that it must give up some of its sovereignty, Britain complained it was losing some sovereignty to the EU Executive and wanted it fully restored. While EU law allows free movement of member-country citizens, including the right to live and work in part of the continent, Britain sought to restrict the free movement of citizens from EU member countries, especially from Easter European countries like Romania and Poland. While Britain gets a lot of services from the EU, including subsidy for its farmers, it complains that it is contributing £13 billion ($19 billion) annually to the EU. The Brexit supporters argued that it is better for Britain to directly control and utilize this contribution. So Britain held a referendum on June 23, 2016 based on the question: "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?" The result was 17,410,742 or 51.89 percent voting Brexit and 16,141,241 or 48.11 percent voting to remain. The results showed that the primary force for Brexit were the English who voted 53.38 percent for exit and 46.62 percent to remain. The only minority group that voted for exit was Wales with 52.53 percent for and 47 percent against. Scotland which is trying to secede from the United Kingdom posted an overwhelming 62 percent to remain, while 38 percent voted to exit. Northern Ireland with its restless Irish population who want to have unfettered access to the rest of Ireland, voted 55.78 percent to remain while 44.22 percent voted Brexit. Only 33 percent of Asian voters and 27 percent Black voters wanted exit, the rest voted for Britain to remain in the EU. With the vote, Prime Minister APC back-tracked, picking Yemi Osinbajo, a Pentecostal pastor, and momentarily selling itself as a thoughtful entity. But old habits are notoriously tough to shake. Following its victory in the presidential election, the APC rebooted its agenda, with Buhari at the wheel. Among his first appointments, even while it took him six months to constitute a cabinet, were Lawal Daura, a retired officer recalled to head the Department of State Security, DSS; Hammid Ali, a retired Army officer as Comptroller- General of Customs; and Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff. The agenda proceeded with the appointment of Ibrahim K Idris, an assistant inspector-general of police, to replace Solomon Arase as inspector-general of police. That particular appointment induced, in one fell swoop, the retirement of 21 deputy inspectors-general of police and assistant inspectors-general of police, who were Idris’ seniors. The conduct of the APC in the last four years does not inspire hope that the next four will drip with sensitivity to religious or sectional balance It equally manifested in the President’s decision to replace Dr. Ibe Kachikwu as group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, with Dr. Miakanti Baru, a Northern moslem; and refusal to appoint, in substantive capacity, Mr. Matthew Seiyefa, as DSS director-general, after serving in acting capacity when Daura was sacked by the Vice President. Instead, Buhari appointed Yusuf Magaji Bichi, a moslem from Kano State. The same pattern could be seen in the replacement of Kemi Adeosun, a Yoruba Christian, who resigned as minister of finance. Her replacement turned out to be Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who was said to have been the candidate of Governor Nasir el- Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com David Cameron, who had campaigned to remain, resigned and his hardline Home Secretary, Theresa May who was also opposed to Brexit, replaced him, vowing to implement a programme she campaigned against. On March 29, 2017, her government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, starting a two-year process within which Britain was to exit the EU. That was when the tantrums started. So when the exit date came, Britain remained undecided, with Mrs. May rushing a number of times to European countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels to beg for more time which she got under humiliating circumstances. Although her three years in office has been consumed by Brexit, she has lost all votes in parliament on the issue. Brexit has become non-stop comedy in which Britain not only entertains on the world stage, but also popularises and coins all sorts of words and expressions. These include Brexit, Irish Backstop, Blind or Blindfold Brexit, Hard Border, Chequers Plan, No Deal Brexit, Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Slow Brexit, Leavers, Brexiteers, Brextremist, Brexiters, Lexiters, Brexiter, Remainer and Remoaner. Exactly one week ago, the Prime Minister tearfully resigned. Theresa May wept in May for failing to achieve the Brexit mission she never had faith in; it is not her failure, but that of her country which placed responsibilities on a person who by speech, demonstration and vote showed clearly she was opposed to Brexit. I would have campaigned for the Brexit entertainment to continue, except that it is diverting attention from serious global issues like insecurity, senseless wars, growing mass poverty, hunger and climate change. Rufai of Kaduna State. As such, it was not much of a surprise when el-Rufai, with insensitivity to the tinder-box religious situation in Kaduna State, settled for a moslem running-mate, a decision he said had the approval of President Buhari with whom he consulted. Bad as the situation is, there is a huge chance that it could get worse. Much worse, especially for Southern Christians. The conduct of the APC in the last four years does not inspire hope that the next four will drip with sensitivity to religious or sectional balance. By 2023, Nigerians will have another chance to elect a president. There is very little, if any, chance of Buhari’s successor being a Christian or Southerner. Rumoured to be keen on the job is el-Rufai, whose indifference to the plight of Christians in his state has seen communities explode with violence, one after the other, like firecrackers on a string. Tinubu, the Southerner, who is allegedly being pressured to run, is a moslem. The APC, it is safe to assume, will not hand its presidential ticket to a Christian, Northern or Southern. The chances of a Christian emerging Nigeria’s president in the near future, I believe, are waferthin. The northern political/religious establishment is ceaseless in saying politics is a numbers game. A recent study released by the US fact tank, Pew Research Centre, projects that Nigeria will be home to 9.5 per cent of the global moslem population by 2060. As at 2015, it stood at 5.1 per cent. The projection is that local moslem population would have grown from a little over 90 million (50 per cent) in 2015 to 283.1million (60.5 per cent). Conversely, the Christian population (86.6million in 2015) is projected to climb to 174.2million in 2060. While the 2015 figure (48.1 per cent of local population) gave Nigeria 3.8 per cent of the global Christian population, the projected 2060 figure will have Nigerian Christians making up 37.2 per cent of local population and 5.7 per cent of global Christian population. Islam continues to spread globally. •Omoaka, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.
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31052019 - Dont withdraw licensed guns, Reps tell Buhari

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