Federal University of Health Sciences Otukpo Shutdown

Protesting workers have shutdown the nation’s premier Federal University of Health Sciences Otukpo (FUHSO), Benue State. As of press time, neither students nor workers are allowed into the main campus of the university by the protesters who are mainly security personnel. A member of staff who spoke to Nigerian Anchor on condition of anonymity explained that the protest is over non-payment of their salaries. Explaining further, the staff said the university is currently on autopilot as neither the Vice Chancellor, Professor Innocent Ujah nor any of his deputies is on campus to address the protesting workers. Further details to follow shortly…

IGP Egbetokun Rejects Fubara Allegation

IGP assures the public of the commitment of the police to neutrality and adherence to legal directives. The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has dismissed Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s allegations about the police’s role in the recent local government elections.  Egbetokun described Fubara’s remarks as baseless and unnecessary, emphasizing that the police acted lawfully. Fubara had accused the Nigeria Police Force and its state command of attempting to disrupt the elections by attempting to seize materials. The Governor warned Egbetokun to be mindful of his position. In response, Egbetokun clarified that the police only followed a Federal High Court ruling from July 19, 2024, which restricted their involvement in the elections.  He explained that the Rivers State High Court later issued a conflicting order on September 4, directing police to provide security at the elections.  However, the Federal High Court reaffirmed its earlier stance on September 30, declaring the police’s involvement unlawful.  He stated that all court orders were reviewed by the police’s legal team, who advised compliance with the Federal High Court ruling. He urged the public to disregard misinformation and emphasized the importance of political decorum, stressing that the police would not engage in any political disputes but remain focused on their mandate.

Key Highlights From Tinubu’s 64th Independence Anniversary Speech

President Bola Tinubu addressed the nation on October 1, 2024, marking Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary. In his speech, he outlined the steps his administration is taking to tackle current challenges and implement reforms. Tinubu acknowledged the economic struggles many Nigerians face, emphasizing the government’s commitment to finding sustainable solutions. He noted that, since taking office, his administration has reformed the political and defense sectors to foster long-term progress. In the area of security, Tinubu highlighted successes in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings. He announced that over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders have been eliminated, and efforts to completely eradicate these threats are ongoing. The President also announced the approval of a Disaster Relief Fund aimed at mobilizing both public and private resources for faster responses to emergencies, particularly after recent flooding in the country. Tinubu revealed that foreign direct investments totaling more than $30 billion have been secured within the last year due to ongoing reforms. Furthermore, the Central Bank’s policies have stabilized the foreign exchange market, reducing the country’s debt service ratio. Plans to implement the Supreme Court ruling on local government financial autonomy were also disclosed. Additionally, Tinubu reassured citizens that his administration is working on multiple initiatives to lower the cost of living, particularly food prices. He spoke on the government’s push for energy transition, including the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in mass transit, a move aimed at reducing transportation costs across the nation. In conclusion, Tinubu announced the launch of a National Youth Conference, set to unite the country’s youth in shaping policies on education, employment, and social justice.  This 30-day event is expected to foster collaborative solutions for the nation’s future.

Tinubu Makes 7 New Appointments  

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of seven executive directors for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).   This was made known in a statement released on Friday and signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.   They are:   1. Ayo Adewuyi — Reappointed Executive Director, News.   2. Bar. Ibrahim Aliyu — Executive Director, Special Duties – Legal Practitioner   3. Malam Muhammed Fatuhu Mustapha — Executive Director, Administration and Training   4. Mrs Apinke Effiong — Executive Director, Finance. An expert in financial marketing with treasury, management accounting and reporting skills.   5. Mrs Tari Taylaur– Executive Director, Programme. An audio/visual creator, producer and showrunner.   6. Mr Sadique Musa Omeiza – Executive Director, Engineering   7. Mrs Oluwakemi Fashina – Executive Director, Marketing. An integrated marketing communications professional and chartered marketer  

Invincible Bello, his juju man and a pitiful EFCC

“Bello, a fugitive, according to the EFCC, visited the offices of the anti-graft agency in the company of Governor Ododo in broad daylight. They loitered around in the open. They exchanged pleasantries with the operatives and the staff of the EFCC. It was even alleged that they sent a message to the chairman of the EFCC announcing their presence and the desire of the former governor to be interrogated.”  LAST week was draining for many citizens. This opening statement sounds stupid. The question that should naturally strike anyone who has lived fairly consistently in this country for 25 years since the inception, or rather, return of rule by civilians in 1999, is how many weeks these past two decades and a half have we been spared the debilitating and wearisome drama of the absurd? How many times? And the absurdities are carefully crafted and orchestrated by a section of the ruling elite to keep Nigerians chewing their thumbnails in disgust and disbelief. But the joke has always been on us, though we do not get it. It would appear that our mumu (local lingo for collective foolishness) is factory made, or as we say in this clime follow come. If the truth be told, it has not always been like this. Citizens’ activisms against repressive governments from the colonial era to successive military dictatorships have been the fact of our national life. Protests by university students in the 1960s helped to abort an obnoxious Anglo – Nigerian Defence Pact early in the life of an independent Nigeria. There was also the bloody May riots of 1989 or so that moderated the Ibrahim Babangida plot for a wholesale adoption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) prescriptions for economic recovery. We have lost the verve as a people and the younger elements whose futures are more in jeopardy do not seem interested in looking for where the ball was dropped. Many decades ago, flamboyant journalist the now late Dele Giwa wrote two articles which were published about the same period. In one, he titled it: ‘Adewusi’s men can’t shoot straight’. Sunday Adewusi, also late, was the inspector – general of the Nigerian Police Force. Almost 40 years after the provocative headline, police operatives under Adewusi’s successors still can not shoot straight unless they are targeting innocent and unarmed protesters. Two recent examples will illustrate the state of the police – the murderous put down of the August 1-10 #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests, and the show that was put up at the Kogi state government lodge in Abuja last week. In the August protests police killed scores of Nigerians in cold blood while those who survived are currently in captivity facing charges ranging on terrorism, treason, treasonable felony, subversion and attempt to overthrow the federal government. The charges may sound phony, and they certainly do, but they are in sync with the ways of repressive regimes worldwide. However, last week the police/security details of Kogi state governor Musa Ododo and his predecessor Yahaya Adoza Bello, the White Lion, and the police of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), both federal police, shot at themselves in a firefight, shattering the peace of the Asokoro-Abuja night for a considerable length of time. When the dust settled in the morning of the day after, a Thursday, there were no deaths; no reports of injuries; and, there were no arrests. It would not matter that there could have been some residents of that neighborhood with heart and/or other pre-existing health conditions whose situations could have been exacerbated by that night of madness by government security agents. In a sane place, the expectation is that there may at times be collateral damage in the course of an official task by security agencies. But that was not the case in this Abuja ‘shootout’. The EFCC police and those of Ododo/Bello were merely entertaining themselves at the expense of Nigeria. READ ALSO: http://Ganduje Celebrates, Opens Up: How We’ll Use Edo Template To Win Polls in Anambra, Ondo, Others The sorom chia (Igbo for comic display) by the EFCC and their ‘prey’ Bello, will be a box office hit any day, and a classic in later years. Creative Nollywood must have taken note. What’s the genesis? Bello was governor of Kogi state for eight years until last January. Corruption allegations swirled around him even as a governor. He had absolute immunity, so nothing could be done to him. We have conveniently forgotten that there’s an existing court decision that a sitting governor can be investigated but not prosecuted while in office, thanks to the efforts and doggedness of the late Gain Fawehinmi, a renowned and unblemished anti-corruption crusader. Well, Bello installed his relative Ododo as governor. Then the EFCC slapped a charge of N80blllion misappropriation/money laundering on Bello. The former melted away but tied up the case in court through proxies. He did not for once appear in court. At one point he even insisted that only the courts in his Kogi state and the judges he appointed while he was governor had jurisdiction over his matter. He fought his cases up to the Supreme Court. And he lost all of them. Yet he would not answer to the summons of the EFCC for interview nor present himself in court for arraignment and to prove his innocence. In what has now been exposed as a contrived frustration, the anti-graft agency declared Bello wanted and caused his name to be published in the Red List of the International Police Organisation (Interpol) as a global fugitive. Interpol may have taken the notice seriously. But not Nigerians. And now with the events of last week not even the EFCC took their wanted notice on Bello seriously. Nigerians and the EFCC knew that Bello was in this country and enjoying immunity by other means. In April, the EFCC had besieged the Abuja residence of Bello but failed to apprehend him, just as it failed again last week. But this time

Tinubu Mourns 40 Maulud Participants Killed In Auto Crash    

President Bola Tinubu has condoled with members and leaders of the Tijjaniyya Movement in Nigeria over the death of 40 members killed in an auto crash on Sunday.   Scores of others were injured.   The victims were on their way from Kwandari in Plateau State to a Maulud Nabiy celebratory event in Saminaka, Kaduna State when their bus collided with a truck at Lere town of Kaduna State.   President Tinubu condoled with the families of the dead and injured and with the governments of Kaduna and Plateau states.   He prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed.   The President directs the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) to improve highway monitoring and reduce the number of road accidents nationwide.  

We feel Betrayed, Joe Ajaero, NLC President

NLC, TUC Strike Not In National Interest – Presidency

  JOE AJAERO We are filled with a deep sense of betrayal as the federal government clandestinely increases the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS). One of the reasons for accepting N70,000 as national minimum wage was the understanding that the pump price of PMS would not be increased even as we knew that N70,000 was not sufficient. We recall vividly when Mr. President gave us the devil’s alternatives to choose from: either N250,000 as minimum wage (subject to the rise of the pump price between N1,500 and N2,000) and N70,000 (at old PMS rates), we opted for the latter because we could not bring ourselves to accept further punishment on Nigerians. But here we are, barely one month after and with government yet to commence payment of the new national minimum wage, confronted by a reality we cannot explain. It is both traumatic and nightmarish. Yet, when we told government that it’s approach to resolving the fuel subsidy contradictions was patently faulty and would not last, it’s front row cheer leaders sneered at us, saying we did not understand basic economics . But if truth be told, this act of betrayal is consistent with the character of this government. We recall the assurances we were given by the leadership of the National Assembly on the 250% tariff hike, that it had been dealt with and there was no need to openly engage the Minister of Power who was at that meeting. Instead of the promised reversal, the rate has since been jerked up further putting more Nigerians and businesses in jeopardy. The combined effects of government’s ferocious right -wing market policies brought Nigerians and Nigeria to their all-time low and led to the End-Hunger/End Bad Governance protests. Rather than make amends, government arrested and hounded into detention some of those who took part and some of those who had nothing to do with these protests, charging them with criminal conspiracy, subversion, treasonable felony, terrorism financing and cyber crime with an intent to overthrow the government of President Tinubu. The police and other security agencies have since been on rampage terrorising the citizenry in pursuance of government’s agenda of muzzling lawful dissent. In brazen pursuit, they have defamed and libeled not a few individuals. They have gone as far as appropriating the statutory roles of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in resolving trade dispute matters and issues considered outside the jurisdiction of the security agencies. That the government is on rampage in the face of stifling conditions of living is an understatement but we promise Nigerians that we at the Nigeria Labour Congress will not be cowed into submission. Together with civil society, we brought about this democracy when some of the actors in power today were conspiring with the military on how to perpetuate their hold on political power. When the State and the security forces picked on us in a hybrid war, we had our suspicions. We knew they were up to something sinister and needed to distract/divert our attention or possibly frighten or weaken us before they came out with it so that we would not have a robust response. Now that they chickens have come to roost, we were right in our suspicions. However, we want to let Nigerians know that the clandestine/surreptitious increase in the pump price of PMS is the first among the equally sinister policies government has up its sleeve. On our part, we stand resolute with the people and will neither be distracted nor intimidated by the government or its security agencies. We insist that government cannot criminalise protests or basic rights in the domain of the citizenry. Accordingly, we demand the immediate: 1). Reversal of the latest increase in the pump of PMS across the country; 2). Release of all those incarcerated or being prosecuted on the assumption of having participated in the recent protests; 3). Halt the indiscriminate arrest and detention of citizens on trumped up charges; 4). Reversal of the 250% tariff hike in electricity; 5). Stop to the hijack of the duties of the Ministry of Labour and Employment; 6). End to policies that engender hunger and insecurity; 7). Halt to government’s culture of terror, fear and lying. We are guided by our belief in our country and the need to secure and sustain its sovereignty, integrity and welfare of the people. In the coming days, the appropriate organs of the Congress will be meeting to take appropriate decisions which will be made public. Comrade Joe Ajaero is the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)