21022021 - S/N govs. monarchs join forces against killer herdsman,crinimals

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PAGE 4— SUNDAY VANGUARD, FEBRUARY 21, 2021 From right: Former president, Goodluck Jonathan; Chibuike Pius Anyim; Chioma Pius Anyim, wife of the celebrant; Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation , celebrant; Nkechi Pius Anyim and Chisom Pius Anyim during the 60th birthday of Anyim Pius Anyim on Friday in Abuja. WORSENING INSECURITY: S/West govs, monarchs join forces against killerherdsmen ...back NEC in three-point resolution By Adeola Badru overnors of South-West Gstates and traditional rulers in the region have agreed to adopt the National Economic Council (NEC) resolution on forest management, which will put the governors in the position to manage forest reserves in their respective states. The decision was taken during the over three-hour closed-door meeting held in Ibadan yesterday. In attendance at the meeting were Governor Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti). On the traditional rulers’ side were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji; Akarigbo of Remo, Oba Babatunde Ajayi and Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan. The Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, who had convened the meeting, was absent. Also billed to attend the parley but absent were the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Service and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State. Gambari, IGP, DSS DG and Sanwo-Olu’s absence was blamed on bad weather which affected their flights. According to a communique, the meeting supported the NEC decision on forest management, that the nation’s borders need to be fully secured and protected, open grazing must be checked and that the media must assist to end fake news. Miffed by the menace of open grazing of cattle which was recognised as one of the flashpoints for insecurity in Nigeria over the past few years, the Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who read the communiqué, noted that the adoption of the NEC resolution became imperative owing to conflicts between herders and farmers caused by open grazing. The NEC had, during its meeting, last Thursday, resolved that federal and state governments should recommit to “the protection of all residents of all states including non-indigenous communities and religious and ethnic minorities within state jurisdictions”. It also recommitted to the arrest and prosecution of all perpetrators of crime. Similarly, it was resolved that in collaboration with federal authorities, there should be the commencement of “the reconstruction of destroyed •Why Gambari, IG, DSS-DG, were absent homes and payment of compensation where appropriate by State authorities for damage to property and livelihoods sustained during targeted attacks on communities within their jurisdictions.” Akeredolu said: “This meeting was called by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, but, unfortunately, the Chief of Staff and the security heads Let’s assist the poor, Jonathan tells rich Nigerians Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief Former President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to wealthy Nigerians to assist the poor, arguing that their wealth was a gift from God. Jonathan spoke at the launching of the Jennifer Etuh Foundation in honour of the late wife of Mr. Thomas Etuh in Abuja. He said, “Let me call on wealthy members of the society to please assist the poor and the vulnerable. This is important because what we have is a gift from God. If you are rich, it is a gift from God. If you have influence it is a gift from God.” The former president said that there were many Nigerians who could not afford the basic needs of life and that such people would need helping hands to move them from poverty. He eulogised the late Mrs. Etuh, who was said to have lived a life of charity, especially helping poor women and girls, as well as other needy members of the society. Jonathan pledged that his Goodluck Jonathan Foundation would work closely with could not make it here due to bad weather in Abuja. They had to cancel their flights. They called in to tender their apologies. “From the discussion, we had with our Obas here and the security teams are that are present, we agreed that the time is now to support the descision of NEC, that is National Economic Council about forest management. the Jennifer Etuh Foundation in order to fulfill the aspirations of its founders. In his short remarks, Mr. Etuh said that the foundation was established to fulfil the vision of his late wife who demanded its establishment in order to continue the char- And that we believe that all the states should be in position to manage their forests. “By that, it will give enough room for you to determine who and who are there, what purpose have they signed, and where we have people who are there illegally, the state will have to take some steps so that we can preserve our forests. All of us believe that we support that decision of NEC. So all of us here are in support of NEC decision in forest management. “We also debated on a few way in inciting the citizens to take up arms against other ethnic groups settling in their states. “The governors’ utterances emboldened criminals to unleash violence against northerners.” Crisis had, on February 18, ity work she had started. According to him, hospitals and diagnostic centres would be built by the foundation in all six geopolitical zones of the federation to provide world-class services to rural women who ordinarily would not be able to afford them. From left: Sons of the deceased, David Etuh and Daniel Etuh; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Former President Goodluck Jonathan; spouse of the deceased, Mr. Thomas Etuh; former Executive Secretary, Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr. John Kennedy Opara; wife of the Speaker, Mrs Salamatu Gbajabiamila; son of the deceased, Emmanuel Etuh, and his brother Yusuf Etuh, during the first year memorial service and launch of the Jennifer Etuh Foundation, held at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida other things. Our borders have become too porous and that we need to do something urgently to prevent foreigners or foreign herdsmen from coming into this country without any form of caution, because a number of them are coming with their herds or cows and what they do is something of concern to all of us and we belive that our borders need to be checked and that we need to tighten our borders so that all these foreigners won’t come with there herds here and destroy erupted in Sasa following an argument that ensued between a pregnant Yoruba woman and, following the development, some persons were feared dead while houses were burnt. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State Minister describes Ilaji hotels and resort as perfect model Nigeria needs T he Minister for Youths and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has described Ilaji Hotels and Sports center as a perfect paradigm shift for sports development in Nigeria. Dare made this statement yesterday while inspecting the sporting infrastructure at the Akanran-based Resort. According to the Minister who also attended a retreat organised by the South West Group of Online Publishers (SWEGOP) held at the Center, he noted that there has been a gradual shift from the perception that sport is mainly a tool of entertainment to a business oriented one, adding that for sports to fully develop our farms. “We also discussed the fact that the time is now for us to support cattle breeding. There is need for government to support cattle breeding as we are supporting other areas of farming. “We also zeroed in on fake news. You journalists need to assist the country that fake news is played down. You have the duty on responsible journalism. You know what fake news did for us during End- Sars. We must work at it. We must not allow fake news.” Senate President attacks Yoruba governors, says they are responsible for Sasa, other killings By Henry Umoru SSenator enate Ahmad President, Lawan, yesterday, lampooned South- West governors, accusing them of being the masterminds of the killings in Sasa, Ibadan, Oyo State and other parts of the Yoruba dominated region. According to Lawan, the governors are also responsible for the violence and attacks against northerners in the region. Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Lawan attributed the violence to the latest call for the eviction of herders from south-western states, adding that utterances by some governors in the zone were responsible for the killings in Sasa and other violence against northerners in the region. “Leadership failures in the region caused what happened in Oyo State and other things that kept happening in the southwestern states,” he said. “Some utterances by some governors also went a long Bandits, criminal herdsmen are not Nigerians — FG •Seeks amendment of ECOWAS protocol to block them he Federal Government, Tyesterday, addressed the issue of insecurity facing Nigeria, saying some of that the bandits and criminal herdsmen terrorising the country are non-Nigerians. Consequently, the government said it is seeking amendment of the ECOWAS Protocol on free movement of human and cattle within the sub-region. This came on the heels of the spate of kidnappings and banditry across the country, the latest of which was the mass abduction in Kagara, Niger State, last Wednesday. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this when he featured on Channels Television programme ‘Sunrise Daily.’ According to the Minister, bandits and criminal herdsmen coming into the country through the land borders could not be checked because of the ECOWAS Protocol that allows transhuman. “The ECOWAS Protocols allows trans-human between all the ECOWAS countries. That is why we are thinking of seriously reviewing the ECOWAS Protocols in that respect. What we find out today is that a lot of criminalities have been introduced through the herdsmen and trans-human,” he said. According to him, the criminal herdsmen and bandits also have access to sophisticated weapons because of the proliferation and smuggling of small arms and light weapons across the sub-region. “The issue of smuggling of small and light arms is a very serious one and it has to do with border control. If you go and build a house in the slum as a rich man, poor people will not allow you to rest. Nigeria is surrounded by countries that are either poor or land-locked,” Mohammed said. “We say we want to develop our local agriculture to ensure food sufficiency, by encouraging our farmers to grow rice, maize, cassava and stop importation of rice. “But our neighbour, the Benin Republic says no, because they make their living from the duties they collect from their ports. So, when we are charging 70 per cent duties on imported rice to discourage importation, they will charge five per cent. “All the rice smugglers from Thailand and the rest of the world will come to Benin Republic, but the rice is destined for Nigeria market.’ had, last month, issued a seven-day quit notice to herdsmen operating illegally in the state’s forest reserves. Apart from ejecting herdsmen, the governor also banned underage grazing, night grazing, and cattle movement within the cities and on highways. KAGARA: No contact with abductors of students, others — Source By Nnamdi Ojiego ontrary to reports that Ccontacts had been established with the kidnappers of students and workers of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State, Sunday Vanguard gathered that the abductors have not been located by state and non-state actors. Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani-Bello, had said consultations were ongoing between government and some bandits for the purpose of releasing the abductees. He added that negotiations were at the final stage. This was sequel to a visit to some bandits in the state by Sheik Ahmad Gummi and some government officials. But a source who was among those who visited the bandits told Sunday Vanguard that those who had a meeting with Gummi and Niger State officials were not the abductors of the Kagara students and workers. The source said the bandits only promised to assist in identifying the kidnappers, who belonged to another group of bandits terrorising the state. According to the source, “No direct contact has been established with the abductors of the Kagara students. We visited the bandits in the forests, but those people Nigerians saw on television are not responsible for the Kagara incident. They were kidnapped by another group and they have all been taken inside the forest. The bandits only promised to assist in locating them and establishing contacts with those responsible’’. in Nigeria compared to the way it is in the advance countries, there is need to develop the business aspect of it. He added that his office in conjunction with the Sports Ministry has been working on a policy plan that will see Nigerian government taking a total departure from the perception of seeing sports as a means of entertainment alone. His words, “For a while now, I have been working along with the Sports Ministry on a policy which will see us developing the business model for sports in Nigeria because that is the only way sports can be fully maintained and developed. Some of those who received Dare during the inspection of facilities at Ilaji Hotels and Resort
C M Y K SUNDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 21, 2021, PAGE 5 APC MEMBERSHIP REVALIDATION: Furore over Tinubu, Akande, Oshiomhole •We want to return party ownership to members — Akpanudoedehe •Keyamo, Nwoye, Lukman also speak By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor & Omeiza Ajayi THE membership revalidation and registration exercise of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, across the country is being assailed by knotty issues, controversies and crises. Suspicion among leaders, battle for territorial control, alleged attempts to whittle down the influence of some founding pillars of the APC, and weed out disgruntled people from the party among other issues have made the exercise a war of sorts being fought on many fronts. Currently, the exercise has been fraught with complaints and crisis in many states including Kwara, Delta, Rivers and Imo. It was suspended in Delta on account of misgivings over the composition of the committee. The APC secretary of the caretaker committee in Delta, Chidi Okonji, alleged that the chairman of the registration panel, Wilson Anyaegbu, was doing the bidding of a certain leader of the party in the state and that nominees for registration officers came from an Abuja-based politician. According to him, party leaders, including the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo; NIMASA Director, Victor Ochei; founding leader, O’tega Emerhor and Great Ogboru, were schemed out. Indeed, Keyamo, on February 10, alleged plans to hijack the exercise in Delta by an unnamed political leader. He raised the alarm in a protest note to Yobe State Governor and Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Mai Mala Buni; Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo- Agege; Anyaegbu and other top party leaders. In Kwara, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, called for cancellation of the registration over alleged non-observance of APC’s rules and guidelines. Some youths are already in court to stop the exercise in Kwara and Rivers. In Imo, two factions are at each other’s jugular over ownership of the exercise. The faction of the party loyal to Governor Hope Uzodimma said the exercise had started while the rival camp led by Dan Nwafor said nothing like that is on in the state. Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, and Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, who recently left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the APC, cried out to Buni, last week, that the South- East zone was facing scarcity of registration materials. Aside the flaming crises, two former national chairmen of the APC and some leaders faulted the necessity and legality of the exercise and they were countered by some leaders. Thus, an exercise that should have united leaders of the party appears to be causing more division and hiatus as a pitch battle for the soul of the APC rage. Otherwise, the issues of scarcity and hoarding of registration materials, denying some areas the materials, angst over composition of the registration committees, litigations against the exercise, claims and counter-claims among feuding leaders would not be upwelling. A host of APC leaders seem to see the exercise as an election itself. They are in a rat race to get more of their supporters registered why denying their perceived opponents opportunity. The number of members each politician gets registered is expected to count during party primaries ahead of 2023 whether direct or indirect. As seen in recent primaries of the party, those who controlled the party structure determined who emerged as delegates and candidates. ‘’In the past, only a few people controlled the party structures to the disadvantage of most members of the APC. We want to end that and give all members of the party equal footing,’’ a top leader of the party told Sunday Vanguard. Why Akande, Tinubu, Oshiomhole kicked Some said Tinubu said this, Akande and Oshiomhole said that. They know that the party is bigger than an individual Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, who was also a governor of Osun State, described the exercise as a waste of time and resources, which, if not carefully controlled and expeditiously managed, might end up in contempt and disgrace. Reacting to the registration/revalidation exercise in Ila Orangun, Osun State, he said: “I see the present APC membership registration within less than a decade after the original register as an indefensible aberration leading to certain ugly perceptions. “The first major perception is that APC, already having a well-computerised register for an average of 100 leaders of similar ideological orientation per each of the more than 120,000 polling units across Nigeria, might be lacking comprehension and matrix of the modern-day technology. “The APC leadership might be wasteful and unappreciative of the proper use of money in a kind of scanty economy in which Nigeria now finds itself.” National Leader of the APC a n d former governor of Lagos, Asiwaju B o l a Ahmed Tinubu, shared Akande’s views during an interaction with journalists at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos after registering. Noting that he had not heard that the party’s register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, at the time of APC registration had been invalidated, he said: “Since we have a foundation and that foundation is on which the structure up till the present was built at the time of the registration of this party, I will not fault Baba Akande’s position; I will not but endorse it.” There is no revalidation in APC Constitution – Oshiomhole •Akande Immediate past National Chairman of •Oshiomhole APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, also faulted the revalidation of the membership of the party by the Interim Caretaker Committee, saying it was contrary to the party’s constitution. Oshiomhole told reporters after revalidating his membership of the party at Unit 1, ward 10, Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government of Edo State. “APC is governed by a constitution and not by man, the constitution only provides for registration, and I registered as a member of the APC in 2014 under the Interim National chairman, Chief Bisi Akande”, he said. ‘’There is nothing in the APC Constitution that says a member shall revalidate or renew his membership. “Once you registered when you joined the party and you have not decamped, you are a member. “So, revalidation is strange to our constitution. I have only done this because I want peace to reign but in doing this we have to be careful not to create constitutional breach.” •Tinubu Fayemi, Odigie- Oyegun, others counter However, Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and former APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, disagreed with criticisms of the exercise. Fayemi said there was nothing wrong with the exercise since it was being done in compliance with the party’s constitution, adding that the views expressed by Akande and Tinubu didn’t portray the exercise as unconstitutional and illegal. “Baba Bisi Akande is my father. I hope you know that and he is somebody I have the greatest respect for but I also read the constitution of the party. “What the constitution says I believe in Article 9 is that the party register must be updated every six months. So, if this is being done in compliance with the constitution of the party, I really don’t see anything wrong in it. “We don’t want to de-register anybody, let members revalidate their membership, and those who are non-members but interested should also feel free to join us, that is what the exercise is all about”. On his part, Odigie-Oyegun dismissed THE insinuation that the registration/revalidation exercise was aimed at destroying the political base of any party member. “I cannot understand the logic behind such thinking or fear. I also cannot comprehend reason some people started raising dangerous alarm about the exercise when it had already started. “The exercise was on the front burner for over three months and it was postponed twice or more. These people did not raise an eyebrow then until it started. Honestly, I cannot understand why.” Nagging questions The dust billowing from the exercise is raising a number of questions in the polity. Is there a provision for revalidation of membership in the constitution of the APC? What happens to members who could not revalidate their membership within the two weeks window provided for the exercise? Why are registration materials being hoarded? Why is the task being undertaking by the Buniled Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee, whose sixmonth initial tenure was extended recently by another six months? Won’t the scarcity of registration materials, requirement of voter’s card among others affect members who do not have the documents? We want to return APC to members — Akpanudoedehe Speaking on these issues, Secretary of the APC National Caretaker Committee, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, told Sunday Vanguard that the exercise is in the best interest of APC because it would return ownership to members and make the party a disciplined Continues on page 6
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21022021 - S/N govs. monarchs join forces against killer herdsman,crinimals

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