2019: Buhari, Atiku dangle records, SGF at Southwest

 By: Yusuf Alli, Gbade Ogunwale and Gbenga Omokhunu 

  

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President Muhammadu Buhari is wooing southern leaders in a bid to strengthen his support base ahead of the 2019 poll.

The Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) is in talks with prominent southern leaders and groups, including Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Ijaw National Congress and Middle Belt Forum, it said yesterday.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar is pleading with critics of his running mate Peter Obi’s choice to take it easy.

Atiku is dangling before the Southwest two main items —restructuring and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) slot.

Buhari’s campaigners are relying on the President’s records to fetch him support.

BCO believes that Buhari’s second term will be in the best interest of the country because, said the organisation, he is poised to use the next four years to consolidate on the policies of his administration.

The Director of Communication and Strategic Planning of the BCO, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, noted that the group had been touring the southern states “in the past few weeks”.

According to him, the group’s meetings with southern leaders, including royal fathers, is to get them to re-examine the scorecard of the Buhari administration in the last three years, and realise that he has performed well, contrary to “the falsehood” being peddled by the opposition.

Ibrahim  said: “First, we want to reach out to fellow leaders in the South and convince them to rally round Buhari and support him beyond boundaries.

“If the President is allowed another four years to do what is needed to consolidate on what he has started, within a very short time, the situation will change in Nigeria.”

According to Ibrahim, most of the North’s leaders are leading Buhari’s campaign for re-election because his performance, particularly in agric, and his economic diversification policy was yielding results for the economy.

The group has visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III. “We reviewed President Buhari’s performance in the last three years. The royal father agreed with us that he has done creditably well, Ibrahim said.

On why the meetings with the southern leaders had been going on secretly, he said: “The agenda of the meetings is not for public consumption. We have been meeting and it is not for me to announce the dates of the meetings and venue of the meetings for newspapers. It is not proper. When we circulate notice of meeting, it is for those who are involved only and not to those who are not part of the meeting”.

On the consistent criticism of President Buhari by some opposition leaders, Ibrahim warned that the “divisive” politics being practised by certain politicians won’t benefit the country.

He added: “Let me state here that some so-called opposition leaders should desist from attempts to draft Nigeria into unecessary national opposition and negative narratives on national events by their destructive criticism of President Buhari. Some groups have also appointed themselves as opposition. This is not the right thing to do.

“President Buhari should be praised for fulfilling some of his campaign promises in sectors like security, war against corruption and the economy. He has even done much more in global politics. Nigeria is no more treated with disdain in the international community,” Ibrahim said.

Over  200, 000 members of the Atiku Care Foundation  in the North-West Zone yesterday dumped the Foundation and collapsed into Arewa Media Group Organisation for Buhari 2019 Campaign. Their leader of  Alhaji Abdulmajid Danbiliki Commander.

At a brief ceremony,  chairman of the amalgamated group under the auspices of Atku Care Foundation, Comrade Sanusi Ababai, said over seven affiliates of the Atiku Care Foundation supporters, decided to dump Atiku for Buhari because of unfulfilled promises.

He said: “For several years now, we have been working hard for the development of Atiku Care Foundation. A lot of promises were made when we started.

“They told us that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar needed a platform to reach out to the masses at the grassroot. We were committed because there were programmes from healthcare delivery, education, entrepreneurship, youth and women empowerment.”

Ababai, former Director of Administration and Strategy in-charge of North-West for Atiku Care Foundation, said the group  has decided to pitch its tent with President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2019 re-election bid for his foresight and commitment to redeem Nigeria from the shackles of corruption and poverty.

Worried by criticisms of the choice of ex-Governor Peter Obi as his running mate, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has initiated moves to pacify Southeast PDP governors.

To set the tone for reconciliation, with PDP leaders in the Southeast, it was also learnt Atiku is said to have called Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.

Further talks with Southeast leaders will begin when Atiku returns from vacation this week.

It was gathered that Atiku limited his consultation on the choice of Obi to stave off pressure and reduce friction on his decision.

There were indications that the PDP candidate might disband his personal campaign organisation to pave the way for the take-off of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC)  with Senate President Bukola Saraki as the Director-General.

A source, who spoke in confidence, confirmed Atiku’s reconciliatory moves. He said: “What happened was that Atiku was not unilateral in picking Obi. There was really consultation but restricted to some national and PDP leaders to avoid the search degenerating to conflict in the South-East.

“Following reactions from governors and PDP leaders in the Southeast, Atiku has started reaching out to them. In fact, he has put a call to Ekweremadu whose camp was more embittered.”

Details of Atiku’s discussion with Ekweremadu remained unknown yesterday.

“Atiku is returning from vacation this week and he will embark on more rapprochement talks with Southeast leaders.

The Southeast leaders will want other issues addressed. They include:

• reaching consensus on other posts to concede to the zone;
• finding a meeting point with the zone on Atiku’s idea of restructuring;
• the need to spend one term in office; and
• ceding power to the Southeast in 2023

A PDP leader in the Southeast said: “We need more discussion with Atiku on the fate of this zone. Between 1979 and 1983, the defunct National Party of Nigeria(NPN) conceded the vice presidential slot to the Southeast with the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme nominated as deputy to ex-President Shehu Shagari.

“Within the same power sharing structure, the Southeast also produced the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who was Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke.

“We want a concrete deal with Atiku beyond the choice of Peter Obi. We need to know his plans for us. What other things will the Southeast get, apart from being Vice President.”

As at press time, there were indications that Atiku Campaign Organisation may be disbanded to give room for the Presidential Campaign Council headed by Saraki.

“The PDP candidate is expected back in the country this week and one of his plans is to disband Atiku Campaign Organisation.”

Also yesterday, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the Director General of the  Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, said the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will go to the Southwest, should Atiku become president.

Daniel, a former governor of Ogun State, broke the news at an interactive session with reporters in Lagos.

The PDP initially zoned its national chairman to the Southwest, but  gave the job to Uche Secondus (Southsouth).

Also, Atiku’s running mate, Mr Peter Obi, hails from the Southeast.

“We need to understand that the candidate has control over who becomes his running mate during the election and who becomes the SGF if he wins.

“The decisions on major offices are being given serious consideration and no zone or region will be marginalised.

“The offices of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Reps will be decided after the polls and based on what plays out in both houses.

“Aside major slots, I think what is paramount to the people of the Southwest is restructuring of the country, which Atiku is very serious about.

“So the issue for the Southwest is not personality or slot issue per se because personalities come and go but restructuring Nigeria is significant and more symbolic than zoned offices,” he said.

On Atiku’s manifesto, Daniel said that it would be published as soon as the campaigns kick off.

The PDP said its Presidential candidate was set to revamp the economy through the creation of qualitative employment for the youths.

The party gave the assurance in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan on Sunday in Abuja.

The party added that Atiku would implement the political and economic restructuring of the nation in a manner that would engender unity, inclusiveness in governance and uplift the general standard of living for all.

Ologbondiyan added: ”Atiku will open a system-wide fight against corruption as soon as he is elected into office by strengthening the institutions empowered by our laws to do their jobs.

”He will do this while he also concentrates on the onerous duty of governance and rescuing our people from hunger, starvation, bloodlettings and wanton killings.’’

Ologbondiyan assured that rebranded PDP would ensure that all those looting the national treasury, would definitely face the wrath of the law and go to jail.

He added that Atiku administration would not only fight poverty but will also uncompromisingly fight corruption.”

NIGERIA IS AN IMPOSSIBLE COUNTRY TO GOVERN IF YOU ARE NOT A THIEF*

Michael Sam-Wobo


HOW DO YOU GOVERN A PEOPLE WHO CELEBRATE CORRUPTION AND THEN CRY WHEN THE DAMAGE IS DONE, AS IF THEY HAD NO IDEA WHERE IT CAME FROM.

A COUNTRY WHERE TREASURY LOOTERS ARE WORSHIPED AND THEIR ILL-GOTTEN WEALTH IS A SOURCE OF FASCINATION.

A COUNTRY WHERE EVERYONE BRIBES TO GET  HIS WAY AND EXPECTS TO BE BRIBED TO DO THEIR JOB OR ANY JOB.

HOW DOES A GOOD MAN GOVERN A COUNTRY THAT STILL CELEBRATES A PRESIDENT WHO PRESIDED OVER THE WANTON PILFERING OF IT'S RESOURCES AND SOME OPENLY WISH HE COULD COME BACK TO POWER .

A COUNTRY WHERE PEOPLE  SPEND MORE TIME ON THEIR KNEES THAN THEY DO ON THE JOB. A COUNTRY WHERE WORK SCHEDULE RUNS FROM 7:30AM TO 4:30PM, BUT WORKDAY ENDS AT 12 NOON ON A VERY GOOD DAY .

HOW DO YOU FIX AN ECONOMY THAT IMPORTS EVERYTHING FROM TOOTHPICK TO TOILET PAPER, AND MAKES  NOTHING? AN ECONOMY THAT HAS FOR YEARS AND EVEN DECADES HAD ONLY ONE CURRENCY, _CORRUPTION_.

HOW DOES A GOOD MAN GOVERN A COUNTRY THAT HAS MORE PLACES OF WORSHIP THAN FARM LANDS OR FACTORIES, AND EVERYONE SEES CORRUPTION AS MEANS TO  GOD'S BLESSING.

A COUNTRY WHERE GETTING RICH FROM PRAYER AND NOT WORK IS A DAILY SPIRITUAL DIET, AND  MEN OF GOD OPENLY FRATERNIZE WITH CERTIFIED AND INDICTED THIEVES AND DROLL OVER THEIR LOOT.

A COUNTRY WHERE HARD WORK IS DERIDED AND EVERYONE SEEKS WEALTH AT ALL COST.

A COUNTRY WHERE POLITICIANS HAVE NO IDEOLOGY, AND POLITICS A COMPETITION BETWEEN THIEVING PARTIES THAT ARE ONLY UNIFIED BY  THEIR COMPETITION FOR THE COUNTRY'S RESOURCES .

A COUNTRY WHERE THE PRESIDENT MUST BRIBE THE LEGISLATORS TO GET HIS BUDGET PASSED .

HOW DOES A GOOD MAN GOVERN NIGERIA WHEN EVERYONE HE SEES AROUND CANNOT WAIT TO GET RID OF HIM SO THEY CAN START STEALING, AND THEY ALL SEE HIM AS THE STUMBLING BLOCK TO THEIR DESIRE TO LOOT THE TREASURY.

NIGERIA IS NO COUNTRY FOR GOOD MEN, AND GOOD MEN IN POWER ARE OXYMORONS.

*It took Mahathir Muhammad 22 years (1981-2003) to fix Malaysia.*

*It took Lee Kuan Yew 8 consecutive terms in office for 30 years (1959-1990) to fix Singapore.*

*It took Jerry Rawlings 26 years (1981-2002) to fix Ghana.*

*It took Meles Zenawi 12 years (1995-2012) to fix Ethiopia.*

*BUT THEY WANT NIGERIA TO BE MIRACULOUSLY FIXED IN 2 YEARS.*

*Hmm! NIGERIANS ARE EXCEPTIONAL WONDERFUL PEOPLE.*

FEATURESWIZ KIDS: 3 Nigerians make history building aircraft in the US

By

 Our Reporters 

The world is ruled by ideas, with technology blazing the trail in all spheres of life in the 21st century. Aviation has demonstrated this with the travel world being ruled by fast-moving innovative technology especially in the area of aircraft building where the world has been enthralled by the high technology driven Dreamliner, B787 and others. You never can tell what the next generation of aircraft or aviation technology could be but sadly, all these are coming from the developed world while Nigeria and the rest of the third world countries take the back seat.

However, that may just change in the coming years as three young Nigerian aviators, who are currently undergoing training at the International College of Aeronautic (ICA) in Ojodu, Lagos, are on the verge of making history as the youngest aviators in the world to build an aircraft of any dimension.

The trio of Atinuke Fausat Idowu, 24, David Akinola Opateyibo, 19 and Michael Damilola Fakuade, 21, all of ICA, where the slogan is: Dream, Build, Fly and Fix it, with their guardian, Solomon Kolawole Adio, a pilot and maintenance engineer, who is the president and chief executive officer of the school, left Nigeria in the first week of May unsung and unnoticed to Mexico, Missouri, United States, to commence the tedious process of building a C750 two-seater air plane. They returned to the country on September 30 after spending five months in an aviation manufacturing factory (Zenith Aircraft Company, Mexico, Missouri), that is affiliated to the college where they were supervised by their guardian and supervisors from the company to put together the aircraft from start to finish.

For both the students and the aviation college, it has been a long and tortuous journey according to Adio, whose experience in aviation spans over 36 years, who worked as a pilot and in other areas of aviation in the US before returning to Nigeria. On returning to Nigeria, he discovered a lot of gaps in the industry, especially in the area of general aviation, which according to him, employs the highest number of labour while commercial activities (airlines operations), which appeared to be the only thriving area, employs marginal work force. Determined to change this situation, Adio five years ago set up the aviation college.

‘‘The idea of the school is to help the youth to become entrepreneurs instead of looking for jobs. Most schools nowadays train people and then you are on your own,’’ he says of his motivation for establishing the school. ‘‘In avia- t i o n we have two types of activities, we have commercial activity, which is very popular in Nigeria, the airlines.

There is another branch called general aviation, it is where most jobs are created but Nigerians have not tapped into that. ‘‘When I first came I saw that a lot of our airports are dormant, only about four of them are actually serviceable and the reason is because we don’t encourage general aviation activities in the country.’’

To address this abnormality, he canvassed the introduction of general aviation activities that involve smaller planes. Besides, Adio also discovered the non-existence of air planes in the country. Hence the coming into being of ICA, where he has taken upon himself the task of training Nigerian youths on both commercial and general aviation activities. The school runs a month basic qualification programme after which a twoyear programme is undertaken before moving to the final two years for specialisation.

The trio of Idowu, Akinola and Damilola, in his words, have p e r – formed a great feat and put Nigeria on the global radar in aviation industry. ‘‘They are the first set and the aircraft that we have built is the first of its kind in Nigeria, nobody has done it. It is very historic,” Adio discloses. He further reveals that: ‘‘They were chosen after completing all the statutory requirements to go to that factory and we have already bought the parts and everything; that is why they stayed there for five months.’’

By April next year the young aviators are expected back in the United States to complete the process. According to Adio, the next stage for them include fixing the avionics and the certification process before they can finally fly the air plane to Nigeria. Describing the make of the aircraft, he says it is the type used for aviation training colleges and that ‘‘it can be adopted to other uses such as sightseeing, medical emergency, search and rescue; it can even be refitted to float in water, for news gathering, for shooting of film and even tourism. ‘‘One of the good things about this aircraft is that it has a very short take off distance, it doesn’t need that much distance to take off, it can even take off on the grass and anywhere.

‘‘It can go up to 30, 000 feet, but usually we wouldn’t fly that high. What determines how high the aircraft can go is the engine. If you put a turbo charged engine you could even fly higher. ‘‘But again, there is a regulation, as anytime you fly beyond 15, 000 feet you must have oxygen, so why go up there when all you can see is cloud?’’ Therefore, this particular aircraft, he says has the regular engine.

‘‘It is the regular engine and one of the reasons why we chose this particular engine is that if you go to Nigeria College of Aviation and Technology (NCAT), Zaria, the usual engine they have use special fuel call halfgas ‘‘But halfgas is not in Nigeria, so we have to buy an aircraft that uses engine that can use automotive fuel, which is something that you can find on the streets of Nigeria. That is one of advantages of what we built.’’ Adio is quite elated by this feat, as he states that: ‘‘It is the area of entrepreneurship that we want to introduce. Once we have the craft then we can get the youth to get into this kind of business and get them empowered to reduce the unemployment rate.’’

Getting to this stage of his dream might be very difficult, as he speaks of the major obstacle on the way: ‘‘The aircraft is now built and now we have to bring the airplane to Nigeria. But here is the problem, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) does not have any regulation about building aircraft.’’ Although he reveals that talks are on between NCAA and his college on facilitating this process, however, if the Nigerian bureaucratic process is any indication then this may take years to accomplish. But for the trio aviators, they are in the clouds already, celebrating their feat as no one ever gave them the chance of coming this far. One thing that gladdens the heart about their historic feat is the fact that while unsung in Nigeria, Nigerians living in the US recognised their achievement and celebrated them before they jetted back to the country unnoticed.

DAVID AKINOLA OPATEYIBO

I want to see our country at par with other aviation industries

From Oyo State, he is the youngest of the trio, and appears quite intelligent and sure footed about his ability and the future that he is building. From a younger age, he says, ‘‘I have been interested in aviation for quite a long time. I was fascinated by birds, wondering how God created these animals to fly. ‘‘I used to make use of my daddy’s phone to make researches and so that got me into the building and manufacturing of drones and along the line I started building and flying drones. I was still in secondary school then. He schooled in Anglican Comprehensive High School, Awori, Ipaja, Lagos and during his SSS3, Adio and his team visited the school to give a talk on aviation unfortunately, Akinola, was not at school on the fateful day. But the mother, who was at the school at the time called to inform him of the visit and quickly he made his way to the school where he had engagement with the visiting team. ‘‘I met with the director and other officials from the college but one thing that caught my attention was that one of the instructors from the college had a drone with him and he asked me if I knew what it was and I said yes. ‘‘We spoke at length and he then gave me the opportunity to fly the drone and I flew it. I collected the contact of the school and went to my mum and said to her, ‘mum, this is the school that I want to go to.’ She said fine but you have to tell you dad. ‘‘So when I got home I told my dad about it and he gave his support. I got admitted into the school in late June 2015 and I did the pre-requisite programme, which was the basic aviation technology for one month. ‘‘After I passed the programme, I did a two year diploma course, which is called applied aviation science but because I was interested in aircraft maintenance technology, we had to do the maintenance and fleet specialty. ‘‘Initially I was not interested in becoming a pilot but along the line when we were doing the diploma programme I also became interested in the piloting aspect. ‘‘To meet up I had to enrol in an online ground school for piloting, which is affiliated to the college. So, I have got my Private Pilot ground school certificate and I also got my diploma certificate in applied aviation science. ‘‘At the time we got to the company we were used to some of the tools but at first it was not that daunting but what happened was that the scope of the project was not what we expected as we were used to smaller projects. ‘‘The building was fun and interesting and those that run the company where open minded and they supported us all throughout. Whenever we had problems they gave us all the support that we needed and that made the work flow very efficiently. ‘‘We faced a number of challenges, sometimes we missed up the parts but we had to figure it out ourselves. ‘‘I feel excited, it has been great, it has been interesting and we hope to complete the project next year. ‘‘I look forward to building more airplanes and I want to see our country develop, I want to see the aviation industry of our country at par with other aviation industries in the world. ‘‘My age is not a disadvantage and I don’t feel intimidated in anyway. I am glad pushing my passion and my message to Nigerian youths is that whatever you find to do that is good they should make sure that they do it with commitment, and one thing is that perseverance is key in anything that you want to achieve.” He expressed appreciation to Adio, who he says gave all the push and encouragement for them to move ahead. He is also grateful to his parents for supporting his passion.

ATINUKE FAUSAT IDOWU

I feel so great and excited that I’m making a positive impact

She is in her third year at the college, educated at Ansar Rul Deen Girls High School, Falolu. She holds Ordinary Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology from Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. Her motivation for going into aviation was the magical and enchanting nature of the air plane and her curiosity. ‘‘I was motivated by big plane engine, wondering what can make this big airplane to fly and sustain that ability and carry a lot of people. ‘‘For me to know what gives it that capability I needed to go into aviation to be enlightened and know more about it,’’ she says. The 2015 graduate says: ‘‘I have not been to the airport before but I see aircraft in movies, news bulletins and when I see such gigantic aircrafts, I am always amazed and stunned by them.’’ Idowu as a female could had chosen less tedious and more fanciful aspect of aviation, however, she reveals that: ‘‘I decided to go into Aircraft Building Engineering Technology because I see it as an inter esting area and we don’t have so many females in aviation. I wanted to do something that is different and motivate more females to come into aviation. ‘‘It has been great so far and we had the opportunity to put into practice the theory that we were taught in the classroom. Put into use all the principles, the operating principles behind aircraft making.

‘‘When we got to the factory they gave us the blueprint and materials to couple the aircraft, with the little experience that we had in school it was very easy for us to assemble the aircraft following the guideline. ‘‘The three of us worked together and we had others or supervisors in the factory and whenever we had difficulties we called on them and they gave us assistance. “It was challenging though we had the blueprint and manner. I feel so great and excited because I think that I am making a positive impact. I look forward to continuing to build aircrafts and to make it a source of employment, like entrepreneurship and empowerment in Nigeria. ‘‘My message to Nigerian youths is that whatever we are doing we should be focused and when we are focused, determined and put our minds in whatever we are doing, success will actually come.’’ Although as the only female in the team, she sometimes felt intimidated, she remained undaunted even she confessed receiving tremendous encouragement and support from the two young boys. ‘‘Sometimes they do but because I know what I wanted to achieve I didn’t allow that and I had to push myself and show my ability and skill. It was fun working with them and they made me feel like a male. ‘‘The future is to see the aviation industry becoming a big one in Nigeria and create opportunities for everyone.’’ Her pillar of support has been her parents, Adio and the Lagos Central Mosque, which donated N1 million towards her trip to the US.

MICHAEL DAMILOLA FAKUADE

I am very proud of what I have done

He appears to be the most outgoing and exposed of the trio. He is from Ekiti State and lived in Yaba area of Lagos where his daily encounters with youths engaged in drugs and other social misdemeanours as a result of unemployment, drove him to seek solace in the aviation world. ‘‘Where I reside in Yaba I see a lot of young guys into drugs, with everybody on the streets shouting about the government and no one ready to do anything. ‘‘Therefore, I decided to come into aviation to see what I could do to help Nigerian youths. I finished from Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos.

‘‘I did my one month programme and then went into aircraft building because this will create more jobs for Nigeria. ‘‘It wasn’t a smooth ride because whenever I tell anyone that I am into aviation they will ask if I am going to be a pilot and I will say no, I am building an aircraft and they will express disbelief that no, it can’t happen, that is a lie, not in Nigeria. ‘‘I would say to them that it is not a big airplane but a smaller one but they would retort that whether a big or small- er aircraft it can never happen in Nigeria. And that if you build it nobody will fly it in Nigeria. It has been a very rough road because even people at the airport don’t believe us because we do go there and a lot of them would say that we are crazy, that we are not doing anything and that we should leave the school.

‘‘Then we would go back to Mr. Adio and he would talk to us and encourage us, telling us to apply our minds to what we are doing and that everybody is not going to appreciate what we are doing but that we should remain focused. ‘‘Now I can say I am very proud of what I have done because nobody can come and tell me anything to the contrary now. I know what I went to do in the United States was not just a day job. ‘‘It was easy because they had all the tools and those tools that we didn’t know how to use they gave us the guidelines on how to use them and it was. My parents have been supportive of my training.’’

Kanu’s appearance and my apology to the Nigerian Army

By Charles Mbani


Wonders, as they say, shall never end in Nigeria. I am so ashamed of myself. So much so that I feel like disappearing from the surface of the earth upon watching the video of the “almighty Nnamdi Kanu” of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) praying in Jerusalem for misleading our people and absconding with his ill-gotten wealth. These are indeed lessons to be learned when we wipe up unnecessary sentiments in the polity. And also a reminder to us as a people that we should take our time to study the motives and actions of individuals masquerading themselves as religious and ethnic champions.

The Nnamdi Kanu’s case was quite an unfortunate episode when one realized how he deceived many people into believing he is the messiah they have been waiting for. He became a nuisance, and he is still one, and he gave out himself, not only as an ethnic champion, but he also arrogated himself a spiritual role in the lives of some members of the unsuspecting public.

In truth, I was one of those that fell for his gimmick. I recall that I rose stoutly in his defense when it was speculated that he had either been killed or whisked away by the Nigeria Army when it launched Operation Python Dance to curtail the excesses of armed groups and other vices in South East Nigeria.  But little did I know that the so-called progenitor of the now proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had perfected plans and indeed fled the country. So many questions are begging for answers in my head. And one of them is why he choose the dishonorable path of running away and leaving the people he was leading to their fate?

I am also hurt that his cowardly act left our people in sorrow and pains. He used them to enrich himself and family, and when the time came for him to stand for his people, he fled. What a shame. At this point, it would suffice to state that I indeed owe the Chief of Army Staff, and by extension the Nigeria Army an unreserved apology for my unwarranted and unverified vent of ignorance when it was speculated that Nnamdi Kanu had been whisked away. I also believe that other social commentators that also fell victim of Nnamdi Kanu gimmick and labeled the Nigeria Army in derogatory terms should also tender their unreserved apologies. Why this is necessary, you might want to ask.

It is essential because once upon a time, a certain man named Nnamdi Kanu instigated a national crisis that threatened the continued existence of Nigeria. He sought and received financial gratification from individuals, groups, and even countries that were against the progress of Nigeria. And only for him to flee. And that in itself caused a national crisis when various groups started a campaign of defamation against the Nigerian  Army. I recall that the President General of Afaraukwu, his autonomous community, Chief Ikechukwu Nwabueze, revealed the community’s resolve to sue the Federal Government if they fail to produce their son, Nnamdi Kanu. If this is not the height of deceit and mischief, I do not know what to call it. I do hope he is ready to pay any sum that will be required by the Federal Government as compensation for blackmail.

It didn’t end there, a team of IPOB lawyers, led by Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja praying for an order directing the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, to produce Kanu in court. Because, Kanu was last seen after soldiers invaded the IPOB leaders house in Afara-ukwu Ibeku, Umuahia Abia State, “on a murderous raid, where life and mortar bullets were fired on an unarmed and defenseless populace, leaving 28 persons dead and abducting many”. If this is not the height of deceit, then what else is it?

Also worrisome was the fact that the hypocrisy of IPOB was taken too far and it came with consequences, such that would affect the sincerity of purpose on the people of the South East in the marginalization debate in the future.

I say this because even with the knowledge of the promoters of IPOB that their leader had fled, they still went ahead to issue a statement indicating that the federal government may have killed Nnamdi Kanu. The statement at the time read that “IPOB and its leadership worldwide under the command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wish to bring to the notice of the whole world that the whereabouts of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and parents are still unknown to humanity since the attack in his compound last week. IPOB have been searching for our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and parents nowhere to be found since last week; we are challenging the Nigerian army and police to produce our leader Mazi Nnamdi since it is a prerogative right for him to make statement inform his confidants and teeming members all over the world about his condition.” This was the height of hypocrisy

I now wonder what the next line of action would be for IPOB and its promoters since their leader had resurfaced in Jerusalem instead of one of the detention camps of the Nigeria Army. Would they bury their heads in shame? Would they issue an unreserved apology to their unsuspecting followers whom they had deceived into believing in a cause that had turned out to be a scam? All of these are questions that must be answered if we are sincere with our selves.

Those that also stood as surety for him also lied under oath that the Nigerian  Army had Nnamdi Kanu in its custody. They have committed perjury, and the law must take its cause in my opinion. There is also a new dimension to the whole saga with the fact that he was sighted in Israel after committing crimes against the state in Nigeria. What does that tell us? Does it explain the claims by regional neighbors that Israel trains, arms, and backs terrorists? This is a topic for another day.

With the unfolding drama, it is now evident that the agitation by IPOB was just a smokescreen to exploit his people. There was no iota of truth in all of his public posturing other than the fact that he saw an avenue to enrich himself and he took advantage of it. I am sure those South East leaders and elders under the umbrella of Ohaneze Ndigbo, that fell victim for his gimmick would be hiding their faces as it stands. But even as they do that, I think they should apologize to the Nigerian government, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Nigeria Army for the ignorant campaign of calumny it launched.

Mbani is a public affairs commentator and President of the South East Renewal Group [SERG].

Source:

https://www.thenigerian.news/2018/10/20/kanus-appearance-and-my-apology-to-the-nigerian-army/

On Senator Shehu Sani

*Dr Nura Alkali writes:*

Senator Shehu Sani's experience is a lesson on how not to play politics. Those eyeing political office may please note that:

1. Governance is always a team work.
Sani contravened this rule to fight his State Governor on every front. So much that he denied his own state a $350 million (N126 billion) World Bank loan needed to rehabilitate dilapidated schools and fund other public projects.

2. With leadership comes responsibility. Shehu
Sani's status as a Senator made him a leader, yet he chose to promote anarchy by identifying with the likes of Sheikh Zakzaky and John Dan Fulani whose activities threatened security and peaceful co-existence.

3. Society mistrusts conceited politicians
Shehu Sani was conceited in his so-called activism. While he blamed the FGN for farmer-herder conflicts in Benue State, it was Gov. El-Rufai he blamed for communal conflicts in Kaduna State - which he called "genocide", apparently to curry favour with certain groups.

4. Politics demands loyalty to party.
Shehu Sani fought not only his Governor but also the Federal Executive. He defended Sen Saraki at his corruption trial and rebelled against APC on every policy in a gang-up with PDP Senators. He even opposed PMB standing for re-election.
5. Politics is not student unionism.
Shehu Sani was always on social media writing his parables when he should be on the ground building a political base in his constituency. Unlike Student Union Governments, politicians always seek reelection. Shehu Sani ignored that fact and lost the APC primaries.

Federal Polytechnic Nekede No.1 in Nigeria: NBTE

Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri: ranked No.1 in Nigeria

By Philip Yatai/Kaduna

The Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri in Imo is the best polytechnic in Nigeria, according to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr Masa’udu Kazaure made this known in Kaduna on Thursday, at the end of the Second Regular Meeting of the NBTE Governing Board. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Modupe Adelabu.

Kazaure explained that the polytechnic emerged the best after scoring 85.08 per cent in the assessment of 112 federal, state and private polytechnics in the country, in the pilot ranking of Nigerian polytechnics.

He said that the exercise covered 2015/2016 and 206/2017 academic sessions.

He said that the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun came second with 73.08 per cent, while Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State came third with 72.31 per cent.

(Also read Taraba State Polytechnic the worst

Other polytechnics in the top 10 included The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State, ranked fourth with 67.69 per cent; Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger, fifth, 65.38 per cent; and Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo, sixth, with 63.85 per cent.

Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Enugu State, seventh, with 62.31 per cent. Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Ondo State and Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos State were ranked eighth with 60.77 per cent.

Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra was ranked 11th with 60.00 per cent and Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi, occupied the 12th position with 59.23 per cent.

The NBTE boss also said that when disaggregated by ownership, the Federal Polytechnic Nekede also emerged the best Federal Polytechnic in the country followed by Federal Polytechnic Ilaro and Kaduna Polytechnic.

“The Polytechnic Ibadan, IMT and Rufus Giwa polytechnics were the highest ranked among state polytechnics, while Lagos City Polytechnic is the highest ranked private polytechnic and the 16th in the country.

“Dorben Polytechnic and Heritage Polytechnic were the second and third best private polytechnic in the country.

Kazaure explained that the polytechnics were ranked based on total number of programmes with full accreditation in the last two years and percentage of programmes with full accreditation.

“Other criteria include proportion of academic staff showing the right mix, that is, chief lecturer and principal lecturer down to assistant lecturer; and ability of institution to introduce programme in new and emerging fields.

“They were equally assessed based on capacity building of staff both within and outside Nigeria, teaching quality, including staff /student ratio and ratio of full-time to part-time staff.

“Other areas are availability of current Campus Master Plan, Strategic Plan, and Academic Brief; percentage of academic staff with relevant higher qualification and professional registration; and 70:30
technology-non-technology enrolment ratio.

“Another consideration was the incorporation of entrepreneurship education into the institute’s curriculum and fully established Entrepreneurship Development Centre,” he said.

He said other issues discussed by the board borders on quality assurance, accreditation, resource inspection visits and proliferation of illegal technical and health institutions in the country.

He said that 191 out of the 239 programmes in 41 polytechnics visited for accreditation between June and September 2018 were granted full accreditation while 48 got interim accreditation.

He also said that 117 programmes were scrutinised for resource inspection within the same period and 94 programmes were granted interim accreditation to commence operation, while 23 were denied.

“Four proposed private polytechnics were also visited for approval and licensing within the period under review and only one was recommended while three were asked to remedy some identified deficiencies.

“The governing board also approved a memorandum of understanding with Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria to reduce the burden of duplication of quality assurance visitation and accreditation activities.

“The board also agreed to hold meetings with relevant stakeholders to put an end to proliferation of illegal technical institutions and unapproved private health institutions operating in the county.

“The board particularly commended the effort of the Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Dr Paul Dogo for expressing concern to the board on illegal health institutions operating in the state,” he said.

Kazaure added that the board equally frowned at the conversion of colleges of agriculture to polytechnics by some state governments and agreed to take necessary actions to put a stop to the development.

The full rankings:

President Buhari and the Economy.

This is a clear pointer to the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari has shrewdly and ably managed the national economy well in spite of the monumental challenges and problems he inherited on assumption of office in 2015 . Please read the report below thus:” Nigeria moves 10 places up in global competitiveness index
Africa’s biggest economy has moved up by ten places ranking 115th position globally from its previous 125th position, according to the latest Global Competitiveness 4.0 2018 Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) released today.

According to the WEF annual report that analyzed 140 countries, Nigeria scored 47.6 out of a total score of 100. The new Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 which measures national competitiveness, defined it as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productively of a nation.
The report looked at 98 indicators across 140 countries to determine the overall ranking and to signify how close an economy is to the ideal state or “frontier” of competitiveness.

The indicators which were then organized into 12 pillars are health, skills, financial system, infrastructure, institutions, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, product market, labour market, ,market size, business dynamism and innovation capacity.

Nigeria scored 42 in the institution indicator, 42 in infrastructure, 26 in ICT adoption, 56 in macroeconomic stability, 51 in health and 40 in skills.

In addition, it scored 52, 59, 44, 71, 55 and 31 in product market, labour market, financial system, market size , business dynamism and innovation capacity respectively.

The WEF ,this year used a new methodology to fully capture the new emerging dynamics of what fuels the global economy, which means including some other indicators that were not included before, such as diversity, workers rights, re-skilling, and press freedom.

The new index sheds light on an emerging set of drivers of productivity and long-term growth in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It provides a much-needed compass for policy-makers and other stakeholders to help shape economic strategies and monitor progress.

BUNMI BAILEY

Tags: Nigeria Economy
https://www.businessdayonline.com/business-economy/article/nigeria-moves-10-places-global-competitiveness-index/