MEET OBA EWUARE THE GREAT : ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ANCIENT KINGS

via: Mudiame Giwa-Osagie facebook's

By Naiwu Osahon




Oba Edoni (1295-1299 CE) and Oba Udagbedo (1299-1334 CE) made no impact on Ubini. Oba Ohen (1334-1370 CE) whose murder of his Iyase, the traditional prime minister of Ubini land, led to a rebellion that brought his reign to an end with his stoning to death. Oba Ohen was succeeded in turn by four of his sons. Oba Egbeka 1370 CE, Oba Orobiru, Oba Uwaifioku and Oba Ewuare the Great who consolidated, developed, and expanded the kingdom through innovative leadership ideas, closely knit, disciplined community organization, warfare, and conquests. He ushered in the period of warrior kings, which lasted into the 16th century CE, traversing the reigns of Obas Ozolua, Esigie, Orhogbua and Ehengbuda.

Oba Ewuare the Great (1440-1473 CE) was himself forced into exile and nearly would not have ascended to the throne. When Oba Orobiru died, members of the Edion’isen (king makers) where uncomfortable with Oba Ohen’s third son’s strong and independent streak and did not want him (Prince Ogun) to become the Oba. When the hostilities building against him over his right to the throne was getting unbearable, with death penalty hanging on his head, he fled into the woods to save his life, taking his junior brother, Uwaifiokun, along with him. He did not know at the time that the Edion’isen favoured Uwaifiokun over him to rule.

After three years of living wild and aimlessly, with the toll beginning to tell on him, he decided to send Uwaifiokun to the city to discreetly find out what the feelings were about the Ubini throne that had been vacant since he and his brother escaped into the forest. When Uwaifiokun arrived at Chief Ihama of Ihogbe’s home, the chief excitedly rushed him to meet with the Edion’isen who enthusiastically received him. Asked about his elder brother, Prince Ogun, Uwaifiokun lied that he had not seen him for a long while. The king makers then offered him the throne which he quickly accepted, thus betraying his brother’s trust.

Prince Ogun was upset by the betrayal and started plotting to take the throne from his junior brother. Ogun’s relative, Azuwa, living in Uhunmwun Idumwun in the eastern outskirts of Ubini, using the Iha divination, told Prince Ogun that he would win his throne. He listed what Prince Ogun had to do to reverse the animosity of the Edion’isen because ordinary Ubini people were routing for him, although thinking he was already dead. Royal ancestors and the gods of the land were angry over the injustice done to him, and many people had begun to leave the city in fear of the wrath of the gods.

Prince Ogun was told that he would meet a pregnant woman, a hunter, and finally an old woman living opposite the market place, who would each influence the process of his gaining the throne. He promised Azuwa great reward if Iha’s predictions came through. News of his visit to Uhunmwun Idunmwun soon reached the Ubini monarch who quickly dispatched troops to the area to try to capture him.

Prince Ogun escaped through Ikpe territory, deep into the hinterland. At Igogogin bush, where he retired to spend the night, he heard the moaning of someone that appeared to be in pains. Obviously, he was dreaming, but it was very vivid. He was shocked that he was not alone in the forest. On investigation, he found that the moaning person (a tree) required help to relieve it of worms ravaging its trunk. Ogun wasted no time in doing just that and as reward, the tree asked him to make a request because he, the tree, was the spirit of Ase that could grant anything.

The spirit placed an object at Ogun’s feet and asked him to pick it up and make a demand of it. Ogun, unbelieving, playfully asked the object to make the tree bothering him, to shed its leaves and die. The tree promptly shed its leaves and died. Ogun woke up and found the object by his feet, and that he had reclined against a tree that had shed its leaves and died. The tree was full of life when he chose to recline on it for the night, he thought. He picked up the object and asked another tree near-by to shed its leaves and die. The tree promptly did.

He went to Ekae village where he lived for a while and gave birth to the Evbo Aigbogun people, then he moved on. In the meantime, the monarch’s troops, acting on reports of sightings, were raiding villages around him. They almost caught him when they trooped past him in a forest were he was hiding. He plucked a large green leaf and put it in his mouth, and in demand of his ‘Ase charm,’ the leaf rendered him invisible, (or looking like a shrub) to the troops. Hours later, when the danger had subsided, he called the leaf that saved his life, Ebe Ewere.

At the base of the tree where he had spent the night, blood had dropped all over him. When he carefully looked up, a leopard was snoozing up a branch of the tree after eating its prey. He killed the leopard with one arrow shot. On the ground by the tree where he had slept, he found he had laid his head on a snake coiled up neatly as his pillow through out the night. He killed the snake too. A little while later, at a blind corner along the bush path near where he had slept, a pregnant woman was approaching him, going to her farm, not knowing someone was there. She struck her toe against a stump and screamed in lamentation, “what bad omen is this? The spirits are angry, ancestors are taking lives. Ogun the rightful heir to the throne must be found to ascend the throne before peace can return to the land.”

The sudden manifestation of Prince Ogun on the bush path startled the woman who did not recognize the prince. After Ogun had introduced himself, she was happy to repeat herself, thus re-assuring Ogun that he was loved by the ordinary people of Ubini who were hoping he was not dead yet. Ogun was delighted with what he heard and promised to declare the area where the woman farmed at Ugbekun, Royal farm land in her honour, with all the labour she would need provided by the state from season to season.

Ogun then decided to head for Ubini. Close to Umelu junction, he heard a hunter who was resting under a tree shade, talking aloud to himself: “I am going home with these killings, but with no one to share them with. O! Ihama and the five Edion, you have put our land in great peril. The ancestors visit the sins of your hatred of Prince Ogun on our people. What shall we do?” Ogun surprised the hunter with his presence, introduced himself, and thanked the hunter for his comments. He named the tree the hunter was sheltering under, the Okha n’Ohue. Source of good omen. Remembering Iha’s predictions about his encounters on the way to the throne, which appeared to be coming true, Ogun decided to head through stealthy paths for the market place in the city.

At Unueru quarters, the Royal army almost caught up with him. He hid and resisted using his ‘Ase charm’ to destroy the army because he reasoned they were his people, his future subjects. Later that night, he retired to Chief Ogieva Nomuekpo’s home, hoping to find respite there from the troops haunting him. The chief expressed fear of the troops and hid Ogun in a dry well in his compound. The chief covered the mouth of the well with leaves and in betrayal left to alert the Royal army about his catch.

While Ogieva was on his way to invite the Royal army to come and arrest Prince Ogun, Edo, the head servant of Ogieva’s household, alerted Prince Ogun about his master’s diabolical plan and helped the prince to escape from the well with a ladder. Ogieva returned with the Royal troops to find that Edo had helped Ogun escape. The troops killed Edo on the spot.

Prince Ogun in the meantime, had found his way to the hut of the old woman opposite the market place in the city. She was a powerful mystic, poor, old, and childless. She hailed from Eyaen village in the present day Oduwawa cattle market area on the Benin-Auchi Road. The name her parents gave her was Uwaraye. As a young woman, during the reign of Oba Ohen, Prince Ogun’s father, she married Chief Azama of Ihogbe district, as his second wife.

Uwaraye was considered indolent by her husband because she could not cook. She could not get pregnant either. Azama’s first wife, Arabe, handled the domestic chores and gave birth to all the children of the household. Azama soon nicknamed Uwaraye, Eke’Emitan, corrupted to Emotan, meaning lazy bones. She had a redeeming feature though. She was good at helping to (nurse) or take care of the brood of the household.

As the children of the household reached the age when they no longer required close supervision by adults, Emotan who could make ‘evbarie’ (a soup seasoning condiment made from fermented melon seeds) and spin threads from cotton bolls, began taking these plus some herbal products to sell at a stall opposite the city market. When her husband died and she could not return to her parent’s home because they too had died in old age earlier on, she set up a hut to live in at her trading post opposite the market place. Her hut soon became a popular make-shift nursery for the children of families patronizing the market. She attended to the children’s health and other needs flawlessly without charging fees and the kids’ parents soon could not have enough of her services.

It was in her nature, therefore, to agree to have Prince Ogun as her guest and to help him take his throne. During Prince Ogun’s first night at the hut, the Royal army raided the market neighbourhood, searching possible hideouts, including Emotan’s hut. He was invisible again. As soon as the army moved their search from the hut to other areas in the vicinity, Ogun sneaked out, avoiding the path of the army, and headed straight for the palace where he killed his brother, Oba Uwaifiokun. The news of his action soon spread around the city. Ordinary citizens were supportive of his action, insisting that it was Ogun’s right to do what he did and expressing joy and hope that the tragedies of the recent past would soon end because justice had prevailed.

Emotan sent word to Ogun to stay put in the palace and consolidate his hold while she continued spiritual work outside to win empathy and love for Ogun. Within a few days, the Edion’isen had come round in support of Ogun, eventually crowning him as the Omo N’ Oba Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare. Iha divination’s title choice of ‘Oworuare,’ alias Ewuare, could not have been more apt because it means, after the heat, the cooling effect of rain.

Oba Ewuare appointed Emotan as the Iyeki (that is the leader of the authorized Ekpate guild) tasked with security matters in the market and with enforcing market rules. Emotan died not too long after Ewuare’s ascension, so the Oba decreed that she should be buried in her hut. Later the grave was marked with an Uruhe tree and her deification as the conscience of justice was ordered by the king. Every celebratory procession in Benin pays homage to the burial site.

The first Uruhe tree (marker) survived for some three hundred years before it fell. The replacement Uruhe tree survived for about one hundred and fifty years before an Iroko tree was planted to support it. A severe storm fell both trees on their, around one hundred years’ anniversary together. Oba Akenzua II, in cooperation with the British Colonial authorities commissioned in 1954, a life size bronze statue of Emotan as a young woman, sculpted by Mr. John A. Danford, in his Chelsea, London, studio in 1951, from a miniature model cast by Igun Street artists.

Oba Ewuare, in continuation of the fulfillment of the promises he made to reward those who helped him win the throne, installed Azuwa as the ‘Iha man mwen’ of Igun, meaning the Ihama of Igun. Oba Ewuare bought the corpse of Edo from Ogieva and had it exhumed. He gave the servant posthumous freedom and ordered his reburial underneath the altar of Ukhurhe Edion at the Aro Edun, the entrance to the palace’s inner tower, an ultimate place of honour.

Then, he invited the people of Ubini to join him in honouring a bondsman who gave his life for him to live. He changed the name of the city, language and kingdom, to Edo. This was later expanded to Edo O’Evbo Ahire, meaning Edo the city of love, in appreciation of Edo’s love that saved young Prince Ogun’s life and gave Edo kingdom her greatest king.

The present day elegant ceremonial costumes of the kings and chiefs of Benin originated from Ewuare’s reign. Ewuare restored the annual cycle of royal ceremonies, the most important ones being Ugie Erha Oba, in honour of royal ancestors and Igue, to strengthen the mystical powers of the king.

Oba Ewuare’s vow to propitiate his head and give thanks to his ancestors with a major spiritual event if he gained the throne, is the genesis of the Igue festival, which started three years into his reign. The Igue festival is the leading spiritual festival of the Edo. It is a two week long thanksgiving festival to the head, as the focal point of anointing and the centre of the human person. The head symbolizes both the sacredness of creation and of the spirit entity in man. To quote the Isekhurhe, “it is to the head you raise your hands, in respect and adoration.”

The Oba goes into seclusion for spiritual purification during the period. Igue activities include Igue ivbioba, Igue edohia, Ugie ewere, Otue igue Oba (chiefs paying homage to the Oba) Igue Oba and Ugie emobo (when the Oba comes out of seclusion.) The incantations used at the Igue festival were developed by the Ihogbe family.

During the festival, Edo people say prayers, cleanse themselves of their sins, bring members of their extended family together to bond, share gifts and blessings, feeding on the food of atonement and thanksgiving. The Ewere leaf that saved Ewuare’s life in the bush when he was nearly caught by the Royal troops, has its day of lavish use, with the leaves taken by youths from home to home around the city. They tear pieces of the leaves and paste them on the heads, particularly the foreheads of people, to show joy. At that moment of sharing, the salutation is ‘Ise Logbe’ (Happy New Year) and the reply or response is ‘Ogbe man vbe dia re’ (Many happy returns.)

Oba Ewuare the great, was the most dynamic, innovative and successful Oba in the history of Edo kingdom. Under him, Edo was completely transformed religiously, politically, socially, physically and militarily. Ewuare re-organized the government of Edo by centralizing it and he set up three powerful palace associations of chiefs. The political elite of the kingdom was made up of titled chiefs and members of the royal family.

The seven highest-ranking chiefs, who were, in fact, descendants of original elders of Edo, were constituted into Uzama with leadership authority next to the king. The brothers of the king who tended to be potential rivals were sent as hereditary rulers (Enogies) of administrative districts. The mother of the king was given the title of Queen mother and set up in her own palace in the town of Uselu just outside the city.

The palace, which did not have a permanent site in previous reigns, was constructed on a massive scale covering several acres of land at its present location and turned into a beehive of activities as the political and spiritual nerve centre of the vast kingdom. The Edo have a saying that in the Oba’s palace there is never silence. The complex includes shrine areas, meeting chambers for a variety of groups of chiefs, work spaces for ritual professionals, royal artists and craftsmen, storehouses, a large wing called Ogbe Ewuare, residential sections for the Oba’s numerous wives, children and servants.

While the expansion activities in the palace was going on, the civil engineering work to dig the City’s inner moat was embarked upon. Oba Oguola’s outer moat, hugging the Ogbe river valley, kilometers away from Okoo village, left the palace rear exposed. Ewuare’s moat was less than a kilometer from the palace’s rear and so provided additional security for the palace.

A seventeenth century Dutch engraving from Olfert Dapper’s Nauwkeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaansche Gewesten, published in Amsterdam in 1668, described the palace thus: “The king’s palace or court is a square, and is as large as the town of Haarlem and entirely surrounded by a special wall, like that which encircles the town. It is divided into many magnificent palaces, houses, and apartments of the courtiers, and comprises beautiful and long square galleries, about as large as the Exchange at Amsterdam, but one larger than another, resting on wooden pillars, from top to bottom covered with cast copper, on which are engraved the pictures of their war exploits and battles, and are kept very clean. Most palaces and houses of the king are covered with palm leaves instead of square pieces of wood, and every roof is decorated with a small turret ending in a point, on which birds are standing, birds cast in copper with outspread wings, cleverly made after living models.”

The city’s houses originally built with poles or palm ribs and padded with mud were rebuilt with packed mud. The city was re-planned and neatly laid out, with roads radiating from the center. It was divided into two distinct segments with Ore ne Okhua, constituting the public sector, and the Oba’s sector (Ogbe) the other. The population of Ore ne Okhua was organized into wards with each specializing in a peculiar craft or ritual services in allegiance to the king. My grandfather’s home shared fence with the palace at a point in Ogbe. He must have had a significant role in the palace to warrant his living so close. I have not investigated this. I am his reincarnation

The arts, particularly brass casting, flourished during Oba Ewuare’s reign. He set up a war machine that extended Edo notion of kingship, objects, aesthetic, ideas and power, across the West Coast of Africa and through dominance lent their name to the Bight of Benin. At its height, the Edo controlled vast Yoruba land with populations several times larger than that of Edo and exerted considerable influence on eastern Yorubaland, maintaining trading connection with Oyo. Owo (Ogho in Edo), Ekiti, Akure, Ondo (Udo in Edo), were all Edo towns. The kingdom established Lagos, where it set up a military camp of occupation which it called Eko and extended its dominance from there all the way to the Republic of Benin, Togo and eastern Ghana.

Edo Empire extended through most of Delta state to Ahoada in the east. Ika (Agbor), Aniocha, Asaba were all in the Edo Empire. Onitsha across the River Niger was an Edo town established by Ogbogidi, an Edo military generalisimo. The kingdom’s dominance cut through Igalla in the north to the fringes of Kogi state. The Edo spread their culture and traditions, particularly their Obaship ideology and system, by sending royal brothers to rule over tributaries, or holding hostage, sons of conquered chiefs to be trained in Edo, or by sponsoring candidates for thrones of conquered territories. Objects such as Ada and brass masks, were introduced to vassal lords as emblems of their authority, and these symbols have endured in virtually all the territories that experienced Edo control.

Even in places outside direct Edo influence, such as parts of the Niger Delta area, the reputation of the Oba of Edo was such that leadership disputes were brought to him for arbitration and the winners took back home, Edo regalia to form part of their leadership traditions. However, the frontiers of the Edo Empire were constantly expanding and contrasting as new conquests were made and as vassals on the borders, rebelled only to be re-conquered.

It was towards the tail end of Oba Ewuare’s reign that the Portuguese first made their visit to West Africa in 1472. Oba Ewuare the great died in 1473. At the actuaries on the bank of what is today known as the Bight of Benin, the local people the Portuguese met there, when asked about the kingdom in the interior, told the Portuguese it was called Ubini. The Portuguese abbreviated this to Benin/Bini because they could not properly pronounce Ubini. When the Portuguese arrived in the kingdom of Benin, they were stunned by what they found on the ground in terms of level of administrative sophistication, social engineering and military activities. They found a monarchy dating back many centuries, with complex structure of chiefs and palace officials presiding over a kingdom that was expanding in all directions and a highly developed kingdom with unique and very sophisticated political, artistic, linguistic, economic, cultural and military traditions in the process of territorial conquests.

Edo kingdom was in the throes of great conquests and had healthy, disciplined citizens; well planned and laid out streets, a palace extending over kilometers of territory and a king and his nobles, civilized to their bones. The Portuguese felt honoured to be accepted by the Bini and quickly entered into treaties of cooperation with Oba Ewuare, exchanging emissaries and trying to trade. There is a hint that they tried to preach Christianity to the monarch but were not rewarded with favourable response. It was taboo to talk about alien Gods in a civilization ruled by vibrant African Gods. It was during Oba Ewuare’s reign, however, that an Aruosa (Edo faith) delegation visited Portugal in 1472 as guests of the Portuguese faith, with mutual respect.

A British adventurer called Ling Roth, was the first to refer to Benin as great, a tribute not only to the extent of the Benin Empire but also to the elaborate, detailed and efficient administrative machinery the people had evolved.

One of the military commanders who made strong impact in Ewuare’s expansion conquests and maintenance of vassal territories to the West and across the Niger to the East was a formidable personage by the name Ezuku. He was probably Ibo, judging by his praise-name: Ogogobiaga. He was merciless, fearless and impartial in dishing out punishment and miseries to opponents. He was set up in camp at Ogan, the village across Orhionmwon River from Abudu town, facing Ika vassal territories. From there he monitored activities including possible rebellion and commercial traffic from eastern flanks and beyond, of the Edo Empire. When Ezuku died, he was deified.

Another very successful military commander of the Edo army at the time, was Iken. He was probably more successful than Ezuku, but was never acknowledged, honoured, or rewarded for his valor by the monarch. His problem at that early stage of Edo’s conquest of foreign lands was probably because he was a son of the soil. Here was a native son vanquishing and beheading alien kings, signing treaties, and turning kingdoms into vassal territories of his monarch. His feats were enough to propel him to the top of leadership in his native land, if not immediately as king, at least, as an alternative voice or a strong contender, challenger, aspirant to the throne, in the eyes of the people. His feats were definitely enough to make him the Iyase, (i.e. leader of all the chiefs, second in command to the Oba) and prime minister of Edo land.

His spiritual prowess, intimidating aura of success, abundant confidence, pride and bravado, were too strong for the chiefs, scared that he would not only be too powerful if made the leading chief or even just a chief, both of which he had earned in war exploits and trophies, but that his influence would almost totally eclipse theirs. The chiefs did not have this problem with Ezuku because Edo people do not give their chieftaincy titles to non-indigenes. Shoving Ezuku to the outskirts of the kingdom with dignity and respect was enough to keep Ezuku happy and in check.

Iken was not only deprived of honour and respect for his military victories for Edo people, he was relatively poor compared to the chiefs, and he had only one wife who unfortunately could not give him a child. The Oba, who routinely dished out lavish gifts, titles, and his daughters in marriage to lesser achievers in the society, appeared not to reckon with Iken, perhaps because no one, not any of the chiefs, would put in a good word for him in such matters in the palace. If anything, they played the devil’s advocate at every opportunity against Iken.

Iken gradually began to worry more and more about how he was being treated by the society he had served so well and was ready to die for. One day, he decided he had had enough. He would no longer go to war for Edo people, socialize with them and their chiefs, or even visit the palace for whatever reason. He began rebuffing invitations from the palace, ignoring entreaties and visits by emissaries, regardless of the quarters from which they came. This was happening at a time when the vassal kings of Akure and Ekiti were refusing to continue to pay due tributes to the Edo monarch, and were even threatening war.

The palace needed Iken to deal with the two rebelling vassal kings so the palace began pestering Iken with messages, invitations, and visits by respectable emissaries, until he succumbed, visited the palace, and agreed to take on the rebelling vassal monarchs. By the time he was ready to go to war, Ekiti Oba had withdrawn his threat and returned to being a loyal vassal to the Edo monarch. As soon as he left Edo with his troops for Akure, Edo chiefs immersed themselves in extensive wizardry, intended to prevent Iken from returning to Edo alive, even if he succeeded in the war against Akure.

Akure battle, laced copiously with witchcraft, was tough. Several lives were lost before Iken could subdue the Akure army. After beheading their king and sending trophies of his triumph to the Edo monarch, he embarked on an inspection tour of his conquered territory, Akure. At the Akure palace, a pretty daughter of the Akure king played on his libido, offering him favours right there and then, and pretending to want to serve as war booty and the nucleus of a new harem. He fell for the bait but had to remove his clothes, including his spiritual war regalia responsible for his invincibility in war, to be able to get down with the princess. As he was about to climb on the bed naked with the princess, her accomplices pounced on him to machete him to death.

When the news reached the Edo monarch, and he found out the role his chiefs had played in the matter, he was sorry. He then created the title of Edaiken (Eda-iken) (meaning holding forth for Iken, or looking after Iken’s household, affairs, and interests) until he returns, as the title for the Crown Prince and Oba in-waiting of Edo kingdom.

Oba Ewuare initially considered adopting the Ogiso succession format of first son inheriting the throne so, he made his first son, Prince Kuoboyuwa, the Edaiken, and appointed his second son, Prince Ezuwarha, the Duke (Enogie) of Iyowa. Ezuwarha was not happy about not being allowed to aspire to rule after his senior brother’s turn. After all, that was how his father became king, he reasoned. In a quarrel over the issue, the two brothers died on the same day. After a prolonged mourning period, accompanied with elaborate rites for the two dead sons were called off, Oba Ewuare consulted the oracle and was advised to blend the bloodlines of the Obas with that of the Ogisos, to ensure stability in the succession issue.

The search for a maiden of marriageable age and descending directly from the last Ogiso, produced Omuwa from Udo town in Ovia. She gave Oba Ewuare, two sons, Ezoti and Okpame. Oba Ewuare had another son, Olua, by a different mother from Omuwa’s children. Oba Ewuare asked his chiefs to do a personality assessment of who would make the best Oba from among his three sons. The chiefs could not recommend any of the children for the throne.

They described Ezoti, the oldest of the three sons, as stingy and likely to plunge the kingdom into prolonged hunger if he became Oba. Olua, the second in line, was described as a spend thrift (okpetu kporozo) who would take less than three lunar months to squander the Oba’s wealth, built up over a number of centuries, on silly and irrelevant programmes just to look good in the eye of the public. As for Okpame, they believed he would plunge the kingdom into endless warfare because his only passion, and things that gave him happiness, had to do with the sword.

Oba Ewuare, perplexed that none of his sons would make a good Oba, decided to stop bothering with innovations and return the kingdom to the “equality of siblings” process, which would guarantee the three sons, ruling in turn.

Naiwu Osahon is a Nigerian historian and academic.

Senate Committees: APC, PDP senators at war

FROM FOLASHADE AD­ETUTU-KOYI, ABUJA
Senate President Bu­kola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekwerema­du have relocated to London, United Kingdom, to compile the list of chairmen and mem­bers of the 57 standing com­mittees of the Upper Legisla­tive House.
Chairmanship of commit­tees in the parliament is keenly contested as those considered Grade ‘A’ are usually given to loyal members of the House leadership.
Sunday Sun gathered that the Senate President left for the United Kingdom shortly after Senate adjourned plenary to September 27.
His Deputy, Ekweremadu reportedly joined him last week.
An aide to the Deputy Sen­ate President, who declined to be named, confirmed that his boss left Nigeria on Tuesday, August 11. “He actually went abroad on holiday with the family,” while another hinted that “he met with the Senate President in the United King­dom.”
A ranking member of the Senate All Progressives Con­gress (APC) caucus told Sun­day Sun that the two presiding officers “relocated temporarily abroad to avoid unnecessary pressures from our colleagues over the composition of the 57 Standing Committees. But, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the chamber is set for a showdown with the ruling APC.
At the moment, there are strong indications that the Sen­ate leadership has concluded plans to share the chairmanship of the 57 standing committees equally between the APC and their counterparts in the PDP.
An opposition Senator privy to the arrangement alleged that the Senate President, “as part of his campaigns during the heady days before the inauguration on Tuesday, June 9, pledged to share chairmanship of juicy committees with members of the PDP as part of the deal for supporting his ambition…”
Before he travelled abroad, Saraki asked Senators to indi­cate their choice of committees by picking forms to that effect from the Clerk of the Senate, Mr. Biyi Durojaiye and indi­cate five committees where they wished to serve as soon as possible.
A senator from the South West geopolitical zone, pointed out that the current plan by the leadership of the Eighth Sen­ate to adopt the provisions of the controversial amendments made to the Senate Rules in the allocation of committee chairmanship to Senators, was a grand design to favour the op­position.
He restated that “the amend­ment was a drastic departure from the Senate tradition, re­garding the allocation of head­ship of more committees to members of the majority par­ty,” and expressed worry that “some APC Senators might lose out in the process, and end up sharing the positions equally with PDP members.”
He continues: “The con­troversial amendments made to the Senate Standing Orders (2015, as amended) have made it mandatory for our leadership to share headship of the com­mittees equally among the six geopolitical zones.
“Specifically, Order 3 (4) of the same orders state that, ‘The appointment of Senators as chairmen and members of Committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to re­flect the six geopolitical zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of sena­tors from a few geo-political zones’.
“This means that the lead­ership of the red chamber will allocate its committees equally among Senators, irrespective of political party affiliation, especially now that Senator Ekweremadu is obviously in charge of Selection.”
Further checks also indicat­ed that each geo-political zone might get at least, nine commit­tee chairmanship seats out of the total 57 Senate committees.
The controversial amend­ments were a radical departure from what was obtainable in the 2011 version of the Senate Standing Order, which made members of the majority party to enjoy juicy committees.
A close observation of the committee distribution in the 7th Senate revealed that former Senate President, David Mark, allocated them in favour of the PDP caucus in the chamber.
For instance, in the Seventh Senate, it was observed that the South-South got 14 chair­manship slots; followed by the North-Central, South-East and North-West, which got 10 each.
The South-West, with many members in the opposition, got the least chairmanship posi­tions with only five seats while the North-East, also with many senators in the opposition, got seven.
The current arrangement, based on the provisions of the controversial Senate Standing Orders of 2015 shows that the majority party, APC which has more members, mainly from the North-west, North-central and the South-west will not enjoy special preference unlike the PDP in the Seventh Senate.
Regardless, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume told newsmen last week that chairmanship and membership of standing com­mittees would be announced in September when Senate re­sumes in plenary.
Already, four committees have been constituted, adhering strictly to the rule on geopoliti­cal spread, with both the APC and PDP Senators sharing the chairmanship slots on equal basis.
The committees are, Senate Services headed by Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC Sokoto East); Rules and Business, which has Senator Babajide Omoworare (APC Osun Cen­tral ) as Chairman; Ethics and Privileges, chaired by Samuel Anyanwu ( PDP Imo East ); and Public Accounts Commit­tee with Senator Andy Uba (PDP, Anambra South) as Chairman.
However, Senate spokes­man, Dino Melaye insisted that chairmanship of the stand­ing committees would be shared with special preference for the APC caucus, as the par­ty in the majority.
“There is no way PDP Sena­tors would have equal number of committee chairmanship seats since they are not in the majority. But we would carry everyone along because the Senate does not belong to any particular party,” Melaye said.

Can Fowler Replicate Lagos in Abuja on FIRS’ Top Job?, By Williams Ekanem

Fowlers’ skills in generating revenue for Lagos State that is said to rely more on internally generated revenue than on federal allocation would be very relevant. This is more so with the dwindling oil price that has seen the nation struggling with lean resources in recent times and trying to make ends meet with accruals from the non-oil sector and tax income.

When the Senators resume from their recess, one of their duties would be the screening and confirmation or otherwise of a string of appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari while they were away.
On that list would be Mr. Babatunde Fowler, the new helmsman at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). His appointment during the week as the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Chairman of the revenue agency will likely increase the rating of the Buhari administration as people around the country consider it a plus for the reform being carried out by President Buhari.
Considering that the FIRS, a first-class federal government agency has not had a substantive chairman since the departure of Ifueko Omogui-Okauru in 2012, the confirmation becomes even more urgent.
The process would indeed be less cumbersome for the Senators because of the credentials Mr. Fowler brings to the table.
Before his appointment, the new FIRS boss, was the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Board of Internal Revenue for about ten years running from 2005 to 2015.
Keen followers of Fowlers’ tenure in Lagos point out it had never been so good for the tax situation in Lagos, as the state recorded an astronomical rise in internally generated revenue, growing from an average of N3.6 billion per month in January 2006, to an average of about N20.5 billion per month in 2013, and over N30 billion by this year.
If Fowler’s appointment is an insight into what to expect in the much awaited cabinet formation by President Buhari, then the nation can be said to be in for a new beginning in the era of change and this can widely be said to be a change that would work.
This is because besides Fowler’s outstanding credential of growing Lagos State internally generated revenue by over ten fold during his tenure, he is also said to have done that in an efficient manner, such that as much as 4.5 million residents now voluntarily pay their taxes on monthly basis, according to reports.
This is largely due to the ease of payment method put in place by policies enunciated during his tenure, in addition to the fact that people could see what their taxes are being used for and are thus encouraged to pay to aid further development.
Now, at a national level, would Fowler be able to replicate same outstanding feat?
This question becomes necessary going by different and bigger challenges at FIRS, especially at a time the federal government is focused on fighting corruption in the country and a time of drop in oil revenues.
Staring the new chairman in the face would be the perennial problem of the agency-insider dealing by staffers who would prefer to connive with tax defaulters to defraud the government of tax income.
There is also the age-long issue of tax evasion in both small and large scale organisations, corporations and even multinational companies, an issue that has seen the nation lose considerable income over the years.
Inadequate funding of the agency, as manifested in its protracted battles with landlords on rent of its scattered offices across the nation as well as out-dated tax laws amongst others, are challenges Fowler would have to deal with to leave an equally good impression at his exit.
With the immediate past acting chief executive staying barely five months in office, there is a baggage that Fowler would inherit and how he manages that to steer the agency forward is without a doubt, an imminent task.
In this direction, Fowlers’ skills in generating revenue for Lagos State that is said to rely more on internally generated revenue than on federal allocation would be very relevant. This is more so with the dwindling oil price that has seen the nation struggling with lean resources in recent times and trying to make ends meet with accruals from the non-oil sector and tax income.
As it is now, the FIRS is said to be the second highest revenue generator for government after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and that means more than ever before, all income is needed and no messing around with figures.
It is not by any means a tea party for Fowler, but if his precedence is anything to go by, it could be said that he is equal to the task.
In assessing the role of the FIRS, Uche Aneke, a public affairs analyst stated that the revenue profile of the agency has grown over the years from billions to trillions. According to him, “In 2009, the FIRS turned in to the national coffers revenue of N2.19 trillion and in 2010, a total of N2.83 trillion was achieved while in 2011, it generated N4.6 trillion.”
The agency which was granted autonomy in 2007 with the enactment of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act (2007) is solely responsible for tax administration in the country. And indeed, the FIRS has undergone several reforms and seen many chief executive directors since its establishment.
Fowler is replacing Samuel Odugbesan, a former Coordinating Director at the agency, who was appointed to the position by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in March this year. Odugbesan took over from Mr. Kabir Mashi, who took over from the last substantive chairman, Mrs. Omogui-Okauru. The FIRS has not had a substantive chairman since the departure of Ifueko Omogui-Okauru in 2012.
Fowler had his higher education in the United States, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Business Administration degree from the California State University. Before joining the service of the Lagos State Government, he worked in the banking sector for about 20 years with long stints at Credit Lyonnais Nigeria Limited and Chartered Bank.
Fowler, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Business Management Association of the United Kingdom.
He will serve as Acting Executive Chairman of FIRS until his appointment is confirmed by the Senate. When he’s finally confirmed, it would put and end to the temporary nature of executives that have headed the agency for some years now and Fowler will no doubt have more strength to act.
Williams Ekanem is a Nigerian Journalist based in New York, USA can be contacted at kayceewills@yahoo.com.

Buhari: Awaiting Chapter Two of the Integrity Story, By Pius Adesanmi

President Buhari’s word is just as important as the aura with which he is scaring the heck out of the goats who ate our yams. The yam eaters are all over the place, pissing in their pants, sending peace committees on nonsensical, poorly-disguised soft landing errands, forming malaria, eczema, dysentery and all kinds of illnesses in foreign hospitals. All because of the aura and body language of one man. This personal capital must be parlayed into institutions to rebuild and strengthen them, especially our mechanisms of discipline and punish, of crime and punishment.

Chapter one of the integrity story is easy to remember. We had become a society of zero consequences for actions injurious to the body politic. Nothing happened if Nigerians died on your watch; nothing happened to Abba Moro. Absolutely nothing happened if you stole. In fact, the man who was supposed to set the course of national ethics and morality instituted a national debate on the finer distinctions between stealing and corruption and unleashed his supporters all over social media to split hairs between the two. That was just before he blamed yams for not doing enough to avoid the mouth of goats.
If you want to gauge just how low we sunk, just how dirty we became, you need not look further than Ibrahim Lamorde, the difficult-to-decipher fellow running the EFCC. During the Jonathan era, Lamorde’s idea of fighting corruption was to roam around Nigeria, looking for anybody who stole five thousand naira or less. The best way to escape his purview was to steal millions. That conferred immunity and untouchability on you. When Lamorde got tired of running after kindergarten pickpockets, he started to harass fishermen for fishing without authorisation in violation of the constitution.
I am not joking o. In case you have forgotten, on September 24, 2014, the EFCC arraigned six fishermen – Adekunle Oshingbosi, Momodu Ibrahim, Idowu Tuesday, Togbosi Christian, Benjamin Eyinle, and Anthony Medoho before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly fishing in unauthorised waters. According to the EFCC, the men were arrested on March 27, 2014 for fishing in Nigerian territorial waters without getting authorised approval, thereby violating Sections 1(1) (2) of the Seas Fishery Act Cap S4, 2004.
It is easy to surmise from the foregoing that had Nigerians not awarded a red card to President Jonathan, Lamorde would by now be harassing roadside mechanics and “forganaizers” all over the country for practicing without a license, contrary to some sections of the Constitution. As for the ICPC, the least said the better. She completely disappeared. I must confess there were times during the Jonathan era when I would have been unable to tell you the full meaning of ICPC because she was so dormant, inert, and invisible: totally useless and redundant.
Now, Lamorde is back in the big league, barking and threatening to bite; ICPC too is staking a serious claim to national attention as a player in the emergent anti-corruption atmosphere. NNPC and other institutions of state are feeling a shake-up. The other day in Ogun state, a civil servant who’d been stealing millions from secondary schools was apprehended. Something’s in the air and people have been hard put to name it beyond abstraction.
Actually, what is happening to the Nigerian body politic, albeit with considerable room for improvement, is not too difficult to name: it is the stirrings of a possible return to the fear of consequences. It is what we said would happen if only there was a modicum of integrity at the very top. We were coming from a place in the darkest pit of hell where the notion of consequence, the notion that punishment is the logical, natural, juridical, moral, and ethical outcome of stealing, had completely disappeared from our lives. That notion is returning – ever so gradually, ever so imperfectly – and that is what is responsible for noticeable changes in the system. And for the perceptible difference in the air you are breathing right now in Nigeria.
This auspicious first chapter of Buhari’s integrity narrative presents two problems. First is the fact that people are mistaking the start of the journey for the end of the journey. People are behaving like we are at the mountain top already. The point must be made and repeated: we are still in the darkest pit of hell and have only just begun the arduous crawl out of it. We are not even at the bottom of the mountain yet, let alone start the hard climb to the mountain top. What Buhari’s integrity narrative has done is to jumpstart the first step out of the pit by reintroducing the elementary fear of consequence into our badly battered national psyche. It is only when we get out of the pit that we can approach the bottom of the mountain to start climbing.
The second problem is that the incipient positive results of the integrity narrative has become a sufficient excuse for heightened intolerance of any scrutiny of President Buhari’s pace. Some will even hound and harass people with genuine and legitimate concerns about aspects of Buhari’s leadership style because “it is still too early to start criticising and distracting the President.” Well, the very day a man becomes my President is the day he starts to owe me explanations. This school of thought will destroy Buhari if he gets carried away by their theory that he is omnipresent and omnipotent, his integrity narrative the be-all, singular open sesame to paradise for Nigeria. I will not dwell on this beyond repeating what I have already stated in multiple fora: those looking for a President who must not be vigorously engaged, scrutinised, and criticised must crossover to the ranks of the career Jonathanians who brooked no criticism of the former President and destroyed him with the most disgusting halleluiah followership I have ever seen in Africa. President Buhari will not – and must not – be rewarded with this sort of followership.
This brings me to the second chapter of the integrity story. The first chapter is about the aura and personal capital of President Buhari which we sold as capable of bringing back the fear and notion of consequence into the system. That side of things is working – albeit in a sole administratorship format that is worrisome. We have been told to wait till September. We are waiting. The second chapter has to do with the word of a man of integrity. I am still studying the outlines of this second chapter. I don’t know where President Buhari intends to go with the idea of his word as his bond so I am just going to point out two early disquieting things he needs to bear in mind as we all struggle to help him return credibility to our system and country.
A leader’s word is a key part of the business of integrity. It is pretty straightforward. Nothing complicated about it at all. Where a leader tells the people that they will find osaka, they must not get there and find osoko; where a leader tells the people that they will find osoko, they must not get there and find osaka. President Buhari’s word must remain an integral part of the narrative of integrity. Something as simple as a promise made openly and nationally to publicly declare his assets is becoming something of an osaka-osoko story and I don’t like it at all. One had been prepared to even overlook this asset declaration matter in the context of the bigger gains we are witnessing on the anti-corruption front only for Femi Adesina to return it to national discourse in an arrogant and dishonest manner.
In a recent interview with Kayode Ogundamisi, Femi Adesina claims that President Buhari did not promise to declare his assets publicly; it was the APC that made the promise! This is a lie. Like Nuhu Ribadu, who abused Goodluck Jonathan and Patience Jonathan, and later ridiculed himself by struggling to claim that he never said any such thing, Femi Adesina appears to have forgotten Google! Candidate Buhari did not only pledge to “publicly declare my assets and liabilities”, he did so in a document he entitled, “My Covenant with Nigerians”. I advise every Nigerian to Google and keep a copy of President Buhari’s covenant if this is the way his media team intends to play the game. A covenant is an even more serious business than a promise or a pledge. Neither the APC nor the Nigerian people forced President Buhari to make this covenant. He did it of his own volition. But it is now his word. It must be his bond.
President Buhari may also want to look into a curious office that is not recognised by the Constitution but is however functioning – and gaining visibility – in the Villa under his watch. It is called “the Office of the Wife of the President.” In other words, Patience Jonathan had six eggs. Nigerians screamed and condemned her for having six eggs. We condemned Goodluck Jonathan for allowing his wife to have six eggs where the Constitution makes provision for none. Our own Professor Soyinka saw and castigated a sheppopotamus with six illegal eggs. President Buhari was part of this culture of national revulsion for Patience Jonathan’s six eggs. He granted an interview to Daily Trust and promised to abolish the six eggs not recognised by the Constitution. However, it does seem to me that Patience Jonathan’s illegal six eggs have been replaced by half a dozen eggs for Aisha Buhari. President Buhari must endeavour to return us to his word in this matter.
In essence, President Buhari’s word is just as important as the aura with which he is scaring the heck out of the goats who ate our yams. The yam eaters are all over the place, pissing in their pants, sending peace committees on nonsensical, poorly-disguised soft landing errands, forming malaria, eczema, dysentery and all kinds of illnesses in foreign hospitals. All because of the aura and body language of one man. This personal capital must be parlayed into institutions to rebuild and strengthen them, especially our mechanisms of discipline and punish, of crime and punishment.
But, above all, this personal capital must sit on the foundation of the President’s word.

Boko Haram terrorists ambush Army Chief’s advance team

Ola' Audu

Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai

One soldier was killed in an ambush Friday during a daring visit by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, to troops currently battling Boko Haram terrorists in parts of Borno state.
The army chief, who arrived Maiduguri first, set out on the journey through Mafa to Gamboru-Ngala border town where regrouping terrorists were dislodged recently.
On the way to Gamboru-Ngala, Mr. Buratai, a Lieutenant General, stopped at Mafa town where he addressed troops of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army currently manning the reclaimed community that is still deserted.
He commended the soldiers for “a job well done” and assured them of improved welfare and allowances. Mr. Buratai said the issue of troops’ welfare was already before President Muhammadu Buhari.
He however informed the soldiers that “there is still more job to be done and we have to do this once and for all so that all of us can go back to our respective barracks and continue with our normal jobs and soldiers”.
As the convoy moved on to Dikwa, a message was sent in that an advance team was ambushed by Boko Haram terrorists and one soldier was killed while  two others were also injured.
The soldiers in advance however subdued the terrorists by killing five of them and arresting five others. Those arrested surrendered their arms.
While the Chief of Army staff’s convoy proceeded to Dikwa, soldiers spotted suspected Boko Haram members in the bush amidst flocks of cattle. Mr. Buratai stopped the convoy and ordered that the group be rounded up for prompt investigation.
An elderly herdsman confessed that four of the arrested suspects met them in the bush and forced them to move together. The four suspects later owned up that they were members of the Boko Haram. They were immediately arrested and sent back to Maiduguri.
In Dikwa, the chief of Army staff was welcome with cheers by over 4000 internally displaced persons from Gamboru and neighbouring towns, who were full of praise and prayers for him and the soldiers.
He addressed them in the local Kanuri language and assured them that they would soon be resettled as his troops were working round the clock to rid the area of all terrorists.
The convoy later moved on to Ngala town where a large number of solders were met celebrating the liberation of the area.
Lieutenant General Buratai addressed the troops and commended them for keeping the morale high. He urged them to be more vigilant and ensure no Boko Haram is left to cause any form of attack on troops and innocent civilians.
He was accompanied on the trip by the GOC 7 Division and other top officers from the Army headquarters, while the Chief of Air Staff also made the trip by air.

REVEALED: How Buhari Confronted Jonathan In Aso Rock With Shocking Evidences

                                                                                                  New Telegraph
 – President Muhammadu Buhari has presented to his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, evidence of infractions committed under his watch in defence of the determination of his administration to probe the previous government. New Telegraph learnt that the president, during a late night meeting with Jonathan at the State House on August 6, showed reports of discreet probes conducted by the new government on the immediate past administration to the former president. It was learnt that the secret meeting between the two major contenders in the last presidential election was at the instance of the diplomatic community to douse rising tension in the country. Multiple sources said Buhari showed Jonathan evidence of infractions committed under him as a president, especially diversion of funds, unwholesome oil deals, arms purchase and several others. It was gathered that the president told his predecessor that he was not playing to the gallery in the fight against corruption as the public was made to believe. He said there were proofs of high-level corruption against some officials who served under Jonathan. Besides, one of the sources said Buhari showed Jonathan evidence of recoveries made so far in terms of assets and funds from some officials of the immediate past government. Of interest was the report of an investigation carried out by a security agency on an aide of the former president from who about N1.5 billion had been recovered from.“The president showed Dr. Jonathan some discoveries made on several infractions by officials of his (Jonathan) administration. He justified why his administration must recover looted funds and prosecute the offenders. It was a frank talk between the two leaders.“President Buhari availed Dr. Jonathan of reports of various discreet probes on oil deals, diversion of funds and unwholesome arms deals. From the reports, there is overwhelming evidence of infractions which the former president could not dispute,” the source said. Buhari stated that he was not out to humiliate Jonathan in his fight against graft and assured him of his highest regards for the former president. He, however, stated that no sensible person would ignore the spate of impunity that was prevalent in the last administration. The source said Jonathan, in his response, feigned ignorance of many of the infractions. He was said to have mentioned some of his aides, including one of his former chiefs of staff, as one of those who could assist the president to unravel the alleged shady deals committed by some top officials of the previous administration. The source said Jonathan gave assurances of his willingness to cooperate with the government if the need arises. “From the evidence so far, it is either the former president lacks the capacity to govern or abdicated his responsibilities. Otherwise, he must have been part of the infractions,” the source said. Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, confirmed this much when he said that Jonathan surrounded himself with questionable characters.“When it comes to the issue of corruption, Jonathan surrounds himself with certain unsavoury characters and that is something you don’t have to do if you are in charge. “There were forces around Jonathan, which he himself did not understand and that is why I stressed that, you’ve got to choose your circle of advisers very carefully, when you are in charge. He was caged; things were going on that he did not know about,” Soyinka said. A source said that while the former president might be spared of ‘direct’ probe, his aides, officials and associates who have questions to answer would be prosecuted. Also, New Telegraph has learnt that the essence of the August 11 meeting between Buhari and members of the General Abdusalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee was on how to ensure the continued existence of the peace committee and to gain more insight into Buhari’s approach to governance, particularly his anti-corruption drive. The peace committee, set up by the Federal Government, played crucial roles in ensuring violencefree 2015 general elections and peaceful handover of power from Jonathan to Buhari. At the meeting between the president and members of the committee, which came a few days after Buhari and Jonathan had met, the delegation asked Buhari if the peace panel should be discontinued, given the fact that it had completed its assignment. Buhari, according to a source, told the peace committee that he was not averse to the activities of the panel and its continued existence. “The president told the committee that as a man of peace, he will still need their services,” the source said. However, it was gathered that at the session, an influential member of the committee complained about Buhari’s strategy to governance, particularly his handling of the anticorruption war. The member said the ongoing probe was heating up the polity and perceived as being selective, especially limiting the inquiry to the Jonathan administration. While the committee members told the president to follow due process in the fight against graft, some others described the anti-graft war as a distraction to good governance. According to a source privy to the meeting, the president pointedly told his guests that he has no apology about his commitment to fight corruption. He told the committee members that what he expected from them is to talk to those who have plundered the nation’s treasury to return their loots, saying this is the only way there can be peace.“The president was emphatic in his response. He told us that while he appreciates our concerns on his approach to anti-graft fight, he would diligently pursue the policy. He gave assurances that due process and rule of law will be observed in the anticorruption war.“The president gave us instances of infractions by officials of the Jonathan administration. He was specific on some cases and even mentioned names of people involved in highlevel infractions. He asked us what we would do if we were in his shoes. “In the end, he told us that the peace panel would do the nation good if they can appeal and persuade some officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to return looted funds. The president said the recovery of the looted funds should be the concern of the committee and not ignoring the infractions by those entrusted with the nation’s commonwealth. The president said nothing would stop him from the recovery of looted funds and prosecuting offenders,” the source confided in New Telegraph. - See more at: http://www.queendoosh.com/2015/08/revealed-how-buhari-confronted-jonathan.html#sthash.EaDPc3GH.tGR9ciI8.dpuf

Catholic Bishops back Buhari's anticorruption battle.

By: Odunayo Ogunmolaon

Most Rev. Gabriel Abegunrin

President Muhammadu Buhari has got the backing of Catholic bishops for his anti-corruption crusade.
The bishops urged Nigerians to cooperate with the Buhari Administration to ensure sanity in the polity by rejecting corruption.
Acting under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, comprising Ibadan Archdiocese, Ondo, Ilorin, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo dioceses, the clerics canvassed a “regime of justice and equity, where merits are respected and the rule of law exalted”.
The call was made in a communique issued at the end of the second plenary meeting of the bishops held at the Jubilee Conference Centre, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State from August 17 to 18.
The communique, signed by the Most Rev. Gabriel Abegunrin and the Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, President and Secretary, with the theme “Choose today whom you will serve” was made available to reporters by Rev. Ajakaye in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday.
The bishops said: “We note the renewed hope for a new Nigeria generated in our country since the last general elections. We thank Almighty God for the relatively limited violence and bloodshed during the exercise.
“We call on our compatriots to cooperate with the current administration to bring sanity back into our country by showing common determination to reject corruption, nepotism, favouritism and to enthrone in our country a regime of justice and equity, where merits are respected and the rule of law exalted.”
Noting that the country had been recognised as one of the most religious in the world, the bishops said: “Our prayers can only truly be answered if we do the will of God as He has commanded.”
Reiterating the Catholic Church’s unmitigated belief in the sanctity of human life and family life, the bishops emphasised the need for the government to ensure that lives are protected from conception to natural end.
They said: “The society must do everything possible to facilitate the growth of family living as a way of promoting responsible parenthood, good upbringing of children and reducing juvenile delinquency.”
Deploring youth involvement in violence, delinquency and sundry misdemeanour, the bishops challenged Catholic youth to strive to become credible agents of change and apostles of God’s mercy to families, the country and to the world through positive engagement with modern media and a deliberate commitment to good morals and behaviours.