Aba Power Limited, Nigeria’s youngest electricity distribution, has given out over 22,000 smart prepaid meters since last November when it initiated its Mass Metering campaign.

“Much as our stakeholders are satisfied with our speed since we rolled out the programme”, Aba Power managing director, Ugo Opiegbe, told select journalists in Aba today, “we will do much more in the next six months and achieve a far greater target after that”.

It is estimated that meter installation for some 200,000 registered customers in the Aba Ring-fenced Area will cost at least N32 billion.

Aba Power commenced commercial operations in September 2022 and provides electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State.

To reduce the financial burden on the power distribution company, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) directed it to work in conjunction with meter vending companies which now charge customers between N129,000 and N147,640.01 for a single-phase meter and N227,207.76 and N241,875 for a three-phase meter, from N88,124 and N154,624 for single-phase and three-phase meters, respectively.

“We regret these increases in these difficult times for the Nigerian people, but they are inevitable because of the depreciating value of the naira against the dollar”, Opiegbe explained.

“The good news is that the customers will recoup the payments over 10 years through electricity credit”

The power utility executive disclosed that Aba Power is currently working with two meter vendors., though it is considering increasing the number as soon as possible to end the practice of estimated meter readings completely.

“Estimated bills are a no-no to us because it does not encourage accountability and transparency”, Opiegbe stated.

“They do not give confidence to our customers, so they cannot be satisfied”.

He revealed that some of the vendors Aba Power negotiated earlier but couldn’t hire because of issues of quality and integrity may be engaged now because they have made amends and “are willing to meet our standards, which must be international”.

There are unconfirmed reports that some agents of the vending companies were illegally charging money to individuals and businesses. The Aba Power MD declined to comment on the allegation.

The utility is currently working with Holley Metering Ltd and the KAYZ Consortium to install smart prepaid meters to all businesses and individuals in its coverage area.

The Aba Power MD said that his company has 31 feeders, making it difficult to provide smart prepaid meters to the people on all the feeders simultaneously.

“We are providing prepaid meters feeder by feeder”, he stated.

“We have covered four feeders in the last six months, namely, Aba Township, Aba East, Ehi Road, and the World Bank.

“We are about to start on the fifth feeder, and our chairman, Professor Bart Nnaji, has asked us always to prioritize manufacturing firms because they are the foremost group that brought Geometric Power to Aba, a key industrial city.

“We give them priority so that they can reduce the cost of doing business, which will, in turn, make their products more affordable and thus benefit the common man”.

Dike Ejike, an engineer and electricity consultant in Enugu, commended Aba Power for giving priority to industrialists.

“Manufacturers are going through a rough phase in Nigeria, and they must be encouraged to retain their staff, otherwise their collapse will have a cataclysmic effect on not just the economy but Nigerian society as a whole”.

I have been in hibernation for two weeks, high up in the hills of Wasimi in Ogun State buried in work. As a result, I failed to catch up with some major sports news. I missed Raphael Nadal’s loss in the first round at Roland Garros. I missed Manchester United’s surprise defeat of my favourite team in the English Premier League, Manchester City FC in the FA Cup final. I also missed Nigeria’s matches at the CAF Under-17 AFCON where I am told that, for the second time in a row, the national team failed to win and to qualify for the FIFA World Under-17 Championship.

I asked what the reactions to not qualifying out of Africa to the FIFA championship where Nigeria holds the best records in the world with 5 World Cup victories. I had to ask because, contrary to my expectations should Nigeria fail a second time in a row, the world did not end!

Instead, (as I was told) the country’s football officials are actually toying with the idea of promoting the ‘failed’ coach of the team to a higher age-grade level!

Nigerian football did not shake to its roots? Nobody was fired? Nothing happened? The country and its football have just moved on, unperturbed and undisturbed, when my own blood pressure had shot up in worry and uncommon concern? What is happening? Where has Nigeria’s passion for grassroots football gone to? What is happening at the grassroots level of Nigerian football? Why would the country’s national teams suddenly become cannon fodder for other African teams? Why would the production room of great Nigerian players and squads in the past suddenly become impotent and unproductive?

Yet, even from my humble observatory in the hills of Wasimi, I see global interest for young, strong, athletic Nigerian football players by foreign clubs, exploding.

It must never be true that the head coach of the U-17 is being touted for promotion to a higher age-grade level after failing to take the team beyond Africa. There are too many questions begging for answers.

Let me step back a little and examine the foundations of the grassroots again.

There is a global football competition for Under-17s. Nigeria has won it 5 times.

That means that participants from Nigeria must have come from the millions of boys in secondary schools, with most under the age of 17.

In Nigeria, in particular, for that age group, at around 16 years of age, the secondary school offers the best option for the discovery, development, assembly and authentication of the young, gifted football players that will represent the country. Beyond that, the schools also offer the best opportunity to reduce the incidences of cheating that have smeared the country’s reputation, and slightly affected the integrity of their past U-17 victories.

Using the schools offers the best opportunity to reduce the tendency to cheat. The schools have the numbers, trained and qualified teachers in Physical and Health Education, and some level of basic facilities within them to kick-start ‘something’ in the process of player-development.

There was a time (not too long ago) that a national football competition between secondary schools around the country existed.

It was founded and funded by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, SPDC. For 19 years, the competition, even with its foibles, provided a platform that fed the selection process of players for the Under-17 teams in the various States and at the national level. In a particular year, 11 players were invited from the Shell Cup competition for the national Under-17 team.

The space left by Shell Cup has not been filled since then, even though there are a few emerging football competitions with their sponsors for schools in some States. Unfortunately, these do not enjoy national coordination and so, lose their power to fully harvest the best crop of emerging young talented footballers in the country. Many of the best players may not be caught in the net that the most authentic under-17 players should go through.

Football academies mushrooming all over the country now provide the feed for the national team. Their numbers are limited despite their rapid expansion, and most will not pass the age integrity test with most of their players being out of the school system. Under this arrangement, the vast number of the most gifted and authentic talents remain undiscovered.

The issue of school sports, generally, needs to be looked at microscopically and practically again by both the Federal Ministries of Education and of Youth and Sports. Their partnership is key and critical. A good working relationship between them will make the school the epicentre for the discovery, nurture and development of grassroots athletes for the country’s Under-17 national teams. Essentially, the matter must go beyond irrelevant and endless ‘talk talk’ without action. Some affirmative action is needed. The effort to make sports development at secondary schools level authentic should never fall victim to short-cuts, desperation or frustration.

School sports should be revived, made authentic and promoted as the bedrock of all grassroots sports development.

Even SPDC should be reminded of its contributions in the past, and can still be encouraged to revive that invaluable All-Nigerian Secondary Schools Football Championship for the NNPC/Shell Cup that involved some 60,000 new student footballers every year.

Specialisation of coaches!

Meanwhile, back to the issue of Nigerian coaches at age-grade levels.

Nigeria should have coaches specializing to handle specific levels of football development. The practice of ‘promoting’ coaches from one age-group level to the next can be counter productive.

The requirement for training of players at different age groups varies.

There are coaches that have the ‘eye’ to spot exceptionally talented players from an ‘army’ of children. These are the best scouts for fresh talent. They recommend players to schools, clubs, and even the national teams.

There are coaches that know how to take raw talents, hone and transform them into technically skillfull players with confidence to play freely and the ability to tame the ball and make it do his bidding. They know how to teach players basic skills, to head, to pass, to shoot, to control the ball with different parts of the foot, to dribble, to tackle and so on. These are the essential requirements for mostly Under-17 players.

Above that, some coaches are good at training players to understand team tactics, strategies, formations, discipline and organization whilst developing their physique, strength, flexibility and speed.

At the very highest level, special training skills and knowledge from experience, are needed to blend all the above with player management, psychology and comfortability against the highest levels of opposition.

It follows that coaches should remain within their areas of specialization and experience in order to flourish best, and add the highest value to developing players. Promotion up the rung of age groups may be a ‘wrong’ prescription for coaches.

So, Nigeria’s absence from the net FIFA Under-17 Championship is a great shock. It should be of great concern to football administrators and the people. It is surprising that the failure came and went, and nothing has happened. It is almost like it did not happen at all. Whereas, it is a catastrophe considering where the country’s football was in the world some time ago, and could be now.

1. I have instructions of the President of the All-Africa Students’ Union – HE Osisiogu Osikenyi Enyinnaya to convey the Union’s condemnation of recent spree of attacks on Military Personnel in Nigeria especially the one in his hometown – Aba.

2. To this end, we have learnt with great chagrin, yet another dastardly, unwarranted, outrageous, cruel, and totally condemnable attack on military personnel at a military checkpoint at Obikabia Junction in the Ogbor Hill area of Aba, Abia State – Nigeria, on Thursday, May 30, 2024 which left five soldiers who were carrying out their lawful duties dead. Sadly, similar situations have been witnessed in recent times in Delta State, Anambra State, FCT, and other parts of Nigeria.

3. The President – HE Osisiogu Osikenyi Enyinnaya at this point wishes to join prominent Africans in condoling the Nigerian Military and the families of soldiers, who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident; and condemn the clandestine act of attack on Soldiers under any guise; while aligning with Statements of the Governor of Abia State HE Alex Otti; Chairman of South East Governors Forum HE Hope Uzodinma; Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu; former Minority Leader of the Senate – Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and others.

4. In addition to being the commercial nerve Centre of Nigeria; Aba City also plays host to major Institutions of Learning such as National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Abia State Polytechnic, Havard Wilson College of Education, Nigerian British University among other Vocational Skills Acquisition Centres located at nooks and crannies of the City.

5. Hence we wish to appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Chief of Defense Staff - General Christopher Gwabin Musa OFR; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja to consider disappointing prophets of doom by not unleashing excruciating military action on the thriving commercial city especially in considering high population of formal and informal student in the Aba and environs.

6. Recalling that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is committed to the security of schoolchildren and other learning institutions against attacks within the ambit of Nigeria’s constitution; I trust that safety of students/schools and other innocent civilians will be compromised as seen in other parts of Africa such as Tigray(Ethiopia); Amhara(Ethiopia); Khartoum(Sudan); Mogadishu(Somalia) where even campuses are used as military concentration camps – a situation we always find disturbing.

7. The Union under the leadership of The President – HE Osisiogu Osikenyi Enyinnaya condemns these attacks and calls on the Nigerian Military to consider exercising retrain to guarantee safety of law abiding while also dealing with culprits decisively and professionally.

SIGNED:
Abrhaley Arefaine Hailenchael
Executive Director to the presidency, All-Africa Students' Union (AASU);
Suite 304, 3rd floor Guji Complex, Bole - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Nothing in my adult life has made me more ashamed to be a Nigerian and more inclined to completely divest my emotions from Nigeria than the readoption of “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” a colonially created national anthem whose first stanza drips wet with the spit of racist condescension, gender exclusion, and stodgy, ungainly archaisms. 

First, it’s inexcusable national self-humiliation to discard a home-made national anthem, irrespective of its defects, for one that was made by an imperialist whose influence we’re supposed to be independent of. That instantiates a phenomenon that social anthropologists call cultural cringe. 

First propounded by an Australian scholar by the name of Arthur Phillips in the 1950s to describe Australia’s complicated cultural relations with Britain and the US, cultural cringe is the deep-rooted inferiority complex that causes psychologically damaged, formerly colonized people to inferiorize and disdain their own country and its culture and to uncritically valorize cultures and countries that their low self-esteem persuades them to believe is superior to theirs.  

In previous columns, I have called this Nigeria’s national xenophilia, which I have defined as our predilection for irrational, unjustified, inferiority-driven veneration of the foreign and the corresponding sense of low national self-worth that this veneration activates.

A country whose symbolic song of independence is inspired, written, and composed by the appendicular remnants of imperialist oppressors of whom the country has supposedly been independent for more than six decades isn’t worthy of its independence. Such a country has lost the moral and philosophical argument for independence and against recolonization. 

That is why, as I’ve argued in the past, our leaders are routinely infantilized by the West. As a people and a culture, we have internalized a mentality of low self-worth and an unwarranted veneration of the foreign, especially if the “foreign” also happens to be white. Nothing has demonstrated this more than the readoption of a national anthem that was written and composed by colonial British women.

But my worry transcends this. I am mortified that the very first stanza of our national anthem derogates our humanity. I have written multiple articles on what I have called the vocabularies of racial differentiation and exclusion in which I have repeatedly pointed out that “tribe” and “native” are racist words that white people reserve only for people they consider inferior, and that their appearance in Nigeria’s first national anthem was one of the reasons for the anthem’s rejection in 1978. 

I’ll repeat some of the things I’ve written over the last few years on this issue and hope that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sees reason to rescind the readoption of this denigrating British anthem written for Nigeria.

Shorn of all pretenses, “tribe” basically means backward, primitive nonwhite people.  Let no one deceive you that the word means anything other than that in the English language. Even the Oxford Dictionary of English recognizes this fact. Its usage note on “tribe” reads: 

“In historical contexts the word tribe is broadly accepted (the area was inhabited by Slavic tribes), but in contemporary contexts it is problematic when used to refer to a community living within a traditional society. It is strongly associated with past attitudes of white colonialists towards so-called primitive or uncivilized peoples living in remote underdeveloped places. For this reason it is generally preferable to use alternative terms such as community or people” (p. 1897).

I personally prefer “ethnic group” as an alternative to “tribe.” But I am aware that “tribe” has been congealed in our lexical repertory and can even be said to have been resemanticized by Africans, that is, given a meaning that is different from its original one. 

For most English-speaking Africans, “tribe” is simply the English lexical equivalent of the words in their languages that they deploy to denote peoplehood. That may be so, but I come to language from a communication standpoint. To effectively communicate, you have to speak the same codes and share the same meanings. 

Native English speakers would never call themselves “tribes” and understand the word to mean a group of primitive, nonwhite people who are still stuck at the lower end of the civilizational hierarchy.

You may understand the word differently, but if you tell a native speaker you belong to a tribe, you are inadvertently authorizing your inferiorization. That’s why when anybody asks me, “What is your tribe?” I always say, “You mean my ethnic group? I don’t belong to a tribe.” That was, by the way, Chinua Achebe’s attitude, too. He hated the word “tribe.”

That was also why when former US President Bill Clinton visited Nigeria and other African countries in 1998, experts told him to steer clear of the word “tribe” and its inflections such as “tribal,” “tribalism,” “tribalistic,” etc.

An influential American newspaper called Politico contrasted Clinton’s studied avoidance of the word “tribe” and Obama’s liberal use of it. “Keep in mind that the word ‘tribal conflict’ is extremely insulting to Africans,” the paper quoted a scholar by the name of Marina Ottaway of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to have told American reporters who would cover the presidential visit. “Don't write about ‘century-old tribal conflicts in African countries’… Yet, when Obama uttered the phrase ‘tribal conflicts’ at a press conference Friday as he discussed his planned trip to Africa, it went virtually unremarked upon. So too did several references he made in his Ghana speech to battles among ‘tribes.’” “Another president,” the paper concluded, “might have been accused of racism…”

Well, I criticized Obama for this in a Jul 18, 2009, column titled, “The Anti-African Racist Insults Obama Got Away with in Ghana,” which attracted the attention of the White House at the time.

A column I wrote earlier on February 27, 2009, titled “What’s my tribe? None” got the attention of CNN International’s copy desk. After a back and forth with its Chief Copy editor, the organization banned the use of the word “tribe” from its style guide. It came from their admission that no white ethnic group would ever be called a “tribe.”

In my September 30, 2018, column titled, “‘Tribe’ and ‘Detribalized’ are Derogatory Words,” I wrote: “Sadly, in 2018, our elites not only still call us ‘tribes’; they defend doing so. Lillian Jean Williams, the British colonial who wrote the anthem, would be proud.” I had no inkling that Tinubu would take this embarrassing sociolinguistic suicide to the next level.

“Native” is another linguistic marker of racial inferiorization that has no business being on Nigeria’s national anthem. The word was originally used by white colonialists and later by Western anthropologists to refer specifically to nonwhite people. The New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd edition) captures this subtlety well. One of the definitions of “native,” which the dictionary says is “dated, often offensive,” is “one of the original inhabitants of a country, especially a nonwhite as regarded by European colonists or travelers.” 

Lillian Jean Williams was a British colonialist who thought herself superior to the “natives” and reflected that in the first stanza of the anthem she composed for us. 

Notice, though, that in American (and Canadian) English “native” is used widely in a non-racially discriminatory way. When people call a city their hometown, they often say they’re natives of the city, as in “I am an Atlanta native.”  I am not sure how widespread this usage of “native” is in British English, but it appears only 148 times in the British National Corpus.

The New Oxford American Dictionary’s usage advice on “native” is instructive. It says, “In contexts such as native of Boston or New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives, the noun native is quite acceptable. But when it is used to mean ‘a nonwhite original inhabitant of a country,’ as in this dance is a favorite with the natives, it is more problematic.  This meaning has an old-fashioned feel and, because of its association with a colonial European outlook, it may cause offense.”

There is exactly zero reason to revert to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee.” Its readoption symbolizes the starkest evidence of national defeat, national self-humiliation, and national inferiority complex that I have ever seen. If Tinubu doesn’t reverse himself on readopting this national disgrace, the next government should. This is simply unbearably embarrassing!

Donald Trump’s campaign said Friday it had raised nearly $53 million in online small-dollar donations after he was convicted in his New York hush money trial, boasting that the verdict had galvanized his support “like never before.”

The record haul was equivalent to more than $2 million raised per hour, it said.

Senior campaign aides Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in statements that more than a third of the total came from new donors to the campaign and hailed an “outpouring of support from patriots across our country.”

Calling the Thursday court decision a “sham trial verdict” the advisors reported that the “digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support” despite temporary online delays “because of the amount of traffic” from small-dollar donors.

As of Friday evening, the day’s total had climbed to a whopping $52.8 million.

A jury convicted Trump Thursday on all 34 charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal in the final stages of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Prosecutors said Trump had sex with porn actress Stormy Daniels soon after his wife Melania had given birth in 2006, and then paid hush money a decade later to avoid the fallout and deceive voters, before creating false paperwork to conceal the payment.

He is due for sentencing on July 11 but is expected to appeal the verdict.

“Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats with their election interference political witch hunt have awakened the MAGA movement like never before,” LaCivita and Wiles said.

President Joe Biden has been at pains to avoid commenting on the trial and there is no evidence that he or his administration had any involvement in the investigation, which was launched by New York state, not the federal government.

Trump has a long record of turning scandal to his advantage, and his campaign website began redirecting visitors to a fundraising page declaring he was a “political prisoner” moments after he was convicted.

The page crashed for around an hour within minutes of launching, however, as the surge of Trump supporters overwhelmed WinRed, the official Republican Party donation platform.

Trump regularly characterizes his legal woes as a battle against the evil forces of the “deep state” and Biden’s White House, casting himself as a martyr willing to sacrifice his liberty to stand up for his supporters.

In April he compared himself to South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela for the second time, and he has also likened himself to Jesus Christ.

“WITCH HUNT! IF THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ME, IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!,” Trump posted on his platform Truth Social on Friday.

[DailyTrust]

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday, said the conditions for ending the war in Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said Israel’s condition to ending the war is the destruction of Hamas military.

He also reiterated the freeing of all Israeli hostages.

A statement by Israeli’s Prime Minister’s Office, said these conditions must be met before a permanent ceasefire.

“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

“Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place.

“The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” the statement reads.

[DailyPost]

• •Seek expert legal advice from AGF, IGP
• •Calm as Sanusi, Bayero hold parallel Friday prayers

The Kano State Police Command is in dilemma over the number of court orders it has received on the emirate crisis rocking the state.

The command said the conflicting court directives have created a complex situation and consequently appealed to the media for support in navigating the emirship tussle.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Usaini Gumel, made the call during a meeting with the heads of media organisations in Kano yesterday.

The CP revealed that the command had received five different court orders from federal and state high courts regarding the emirship dispute and has forwarded them to the Minister of Justice for interpretation.

His words: “I have forwarded the five court orders related to the emirship tussle to the Inspector General of Police who has subsequently contacted the Minister of Justice for clarification and interpretation.

“We are currently awaiting guidance on which order to comply with as the conflicting court directives have created a complex situation.

“Once we receive the necessary interpretation, we will take appropriate action to resolve the emirship dispute in accordance with the law.”

Gumel lamented a radio station’s unprofessional reporting on the issue, urging the media to verify facts and balance their reports before disseminating them to the public.

He encouraged the media to seek clarifications from the police before publishing reports, to ensure accuracy and avoid aggravating the situation.

Meanwhile, the ancient city of Kano has returned to its bustling but peaceful nature as the 16th Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi and his predecessor Aminu Bayero did not clash during Juma’at prayer.

Governor Abba Yusuf had through a repealed chieftaincy law dethroned Bayero and four other first class emirs and reinstated Sanusi. But Bayero returned to the state to reclaim his position.

While Sanusi is consolidating on the throne, having occupied the main palace, Bayero is waiting anxiously for the decision of the court as he now stays at the Nasarawa palace.

Tension rose yesterday morning following reports that the two contending emirs had made announcements to lead the Juma’at service at the Central Mosque located at the main palace. The people of Kano, divided, were bracing up for the clash that never was.

The Nation gathered it was all rumours as Bayero later denied making announcement that he would lead prayers at the central mosque close to the palace where Sanusi is staying.

Before the prayer time, police advised residents to “disregard the false information circulating on social media that Emir Aminu Ado Bayero would lead Juma’t prayers at Kofar Kudu Central Mosque, Kano.”

The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Gumel, assured that all necessary security arrangements were made for Bayero to observe his Friday prayers in the mosque where he lives at the Nasarawa palace.

Gumel also assured that the police and all other state security agencies would provide adequate security at the palace where Lamido Sanusi, also known as Muhammadu Sanusi II, was expected to observe his Juma’at prayers.

“Members of the public are therefore advised to ignore the false reports and misinformation circulating on social media and to go about their activities without fear of molestation or intimidation.

“The police will continue to provide the necessary security for ensuring that residents observe their Friday congressional prayers peacefully and without threats to their lives and property,” the police commissioner said.

Thus, Sanusi prayed at the Central Mosque, while Bayero observed his prayers at the Nasarawa Palace Mosque.

While Sanusi led the two units Friday service, Bayero only observed his prayers as the service was led by another Islamic leader.

Police Commissioner, Gumel, hailed the two monarchs for their cool headedness, saying the Friday prayers were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere across the state.

“I am very pleased with the orderly manner faithful residents conducted themselves before, during and after the prayers without rancour in all parts of the state.

“This is a testament to the effective collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the community.

“The police command looks forward to continued partnership in maintaining peace and order in the state”, he said, praising residents for their cooperation with police personnel deployed in and outside the metropolis, which paved the way for peace.”

As the emirship tussle rages on, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, has warned against questioning divine will.

He urged his followers to accept divine decisions without question.

Emir Sanusi gave the counsel in a sermon at the Kofar Arewa Central Mosque during Jumma’t prayer yesterday.

Addressing congregants, Emir Sanusi highlighted the significance of belief in God’s omnipotence, especially as the Islamic calendar approaches Zhul Hijja, a month known for its spiritual benefits.

He said: “Whoever believes that Allah alone gives everything must take the decision of Allah wholeheartedly. No one asks Allah’s reasons for anything,” the monarch said.

He further elaborated on the concept of destiny in Islam, stating, “We were told that whoever did not accept destiny is from Allah, his belief is not complete.

“One should be thankful in times of good and bad situations.

“We must believe that whatever happens to us is predestined from God and what we couldn’t have is from Him.”

After the sermon, Emir Sanusi led the congregation in prayers.

The Lagos State chapter of the New Nigeria People’s Party has applauded the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, for his efforts at preserving the cultural heritage of the state.

The party’s state Publicity Secretary, Richard Benson, stated this in a statement in Lagos on Friday.

Benson said that the reinstatement of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the 16th Emir of Kano was noteworthy in keeping the tradition sacred.

Benson also applauded the former governor of the state and the 2023 presidential candidate of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, for his efforts at ensuring the preservation of tradition.

“We, the New Nigeria People’s Party, Lagos State chapter, hereby commend the effort of the amiable Governor of Kano Abba Yusuf, and our indefatigable National Leader Sen.Rabiu Kwankwaso and the entire House of Assembly of Kano in ensuring that the cultural heritage of the people is preserved based on truth.

“This is what was just exhibited in Kano to prove that the cultural heritage of the ancient city of Kano is preserved and the generality of the people are happy to see that their tradition and core values are intact,” he said.

He added that the state is now experiencing a drastic change in governance due to the unwavering commitment of the state governor.

He noted that the development being witnessed clearly shows the pro-activeness of the governor and the National Leader, Kwankwaso.

“We are delighted with the efforts to restore and preserve the values, traditions and heritage of the people as well as the commitment to put everything back in place and restore the lost glory of the ancient city of Kano,” he added.

Benson said that some politicians were playing politics with the core traditions and cultural heritage of the people to score cheap political points.

He said that the chapter was still looking forward to seeing more progress entering Kano, the only state being controlled by NNPP.

He, therefore, urged all the NNPP gladiators in the state including, Yusuf, Kwankwaso and the state House of Assembly to collectively work to make the state an example to other states.

On May 23, the state governor signed the amended Kano State Emirates Council bill into law.

The bill, which was passed by the Kano State House of Assembly a few hours earlier, dissolved the Emirate Council and sacked the five Emirs appointed by his predecessor, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje.

He also approved the return of Sanusi, former Kano Emir, who was deposed in 2020, to the seat.

The abrogated Kano State Emirates Council Law 2019 signed by the then-governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje created five Emirates – Kano, Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye.

Sanusi was deposed by the state government on March 9, 2020, citing insubordination and was replaced by Aminu Ado Bayero.

NAN

We arrested him, 364 others, killed 35, and rescued 565 kidnap victims – Katsina Gov. Diko Radda

When the Katsina State Governor, Dr Umaru Dikko Radda recently described banditry as a business venture for some highly placed individuals in the country, some felt the governor of the Northwestern State was merely exaggerating issues out of context.

But he didn’t stop there as he also said poverty and injustice are major factors fuelling insecurity in the country.

At an interface with Saturday Vanguard sometime in October last year, Dr Radda had said with his newly launched Katsina Community Watch Corps, he was determined to rid the state of banditry.

Recalling how bandits had killed his biological brother, the governor said he wouldn’t spare anyone, including state appointees who connive with Fifth Columnists to destabilize the state.

He said: “In our efforts, we have come up with the intelligence unit within the Katsina Community Watch Corps. This intelligence unit, even the Corps members don’t know them. The reason for setting it up is to check the excesses of the Corps and also to gather information.

“There are some traditional rulers who are identified and those ones are already under scrutiny. So, we are not sparing anybody even commissioners in my regime, we are not going to spare anybody found to be involved in one criminal activity or the other. We are talking about the lives of over 10 million people not one single individual. No single individual is more important than 10 million people or the lives of an innocent person in the village. We are trying as much as possible to gather a lot of information together with the intelligence we are getting from the DSS so that we can build a network that we can arrest and prosecute any person found wanting”.

Seven months later when Saturday Vanguard took him up on the issue, the governor who gave an account of his stewardship in the last year, explained how a village head was paid N700,000 by bandits, to allow free access to his village, and the consequent killing of about 30 of his subjects.

He said his administration was fiercely addressing poverty having discovered how it fuels insecurity. According to him, it was disheartening that for as little as N2,000, some persons would volunteer information to bandits about their neighbours or relatives.

On the village head, the governor said; “I will say yes, that we have arrested a village head in Guga village in Bakori local government of the state because of his involvement with the bandits.

[Vanguard]

But for the ministerial presentations on the achievements of the President Bola Tinubu administration in its first year, christened ministerial sectoral update, which began on Tuesday, May 21 at the National Press Centre in Abuja, many may not have known or appreciate the quantum of work that has been done by the government within such a short period of one year in office. This piece is not really about the re-engineering work that is being done on the economy, which is now recording a gradual growth. For instance, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the nation recorded a 2.98% growth in the first quarter of this year, higher than the 2.31% recorded in the same period in 2023.

The article is also not about the improving security in the land, especially in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, which has engendered increased oil production. Daily oil production has jumped up from barely 1 million to 1.7 million barrels per day including condensate, overshooting Nigeria’s OPEC quota, following the statistics provided by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri. The focus of this piece is also not on the increasing flow of investments into the economy like the $30 billion Foreign Direct Investment commitments already secured during the year to grow the economy.

My focus is about those silent, quiet achievements recorded, thus far, by the administration, which are largely unreported and unsung until now. These achievements are by no means insignificant. They are so concrete and substantial that in some instances, they are ground-breaking, either laying or re-laying the foundation for growth and development in the country or resetting the sectors where they have occurred.

It must be admitted, however, that some ministers have little to showcase in one year. This is evident enough in their presentations, which were drab and lacklustre in a number of cases. The ministerial presentations and inauguration of projects executed by the administration were the only approved activities organised to mark President Tinubu’s one-year anniversary. The president had ordered a low-key celebration.

One defining feature of most of the achievements recorded in the various ministries is that they emerged from the vision or ideas President Tinubu espoused and developed over time, and embodied in his Renewed Hope Agenda as eight priority areas. The President is reform-minded and, like Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, he is the guardian angel of those reforms and the achievements recorded thus far.

It is pertinent to highlight some of these reforms and initiatives across the various sectors. Take, for instance, the laudable projects executed by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Ezenwo Nyesome Wike, the catalyst for those monumental achievements in just one year, is the full autonomy granted FCT by President Tinubu over the resources accruing to the territory.

By removing FCT from the treasury single account, the FCT administration’s resources were unlocked for Wike to deploy in addressing the developmental challenges of the city. Yet that singular action of the president remains unsung and perhaps unappreciated by many. Of course, there are more things done to recalibrate the governance structure of the FCT by the president, including approval for more mandate secretaries and its own civil service commission.

As a result of these presidential approvals, Minister Wike, away from the political turmoil in his native Rivers state where he has been fingered as a central figure, unleashed infrastructure on the FCT, opening up new districts with a network of roads and bridges, and resurfacing arterial roads. The minister has completed the construction of many bridges, refurbished the moribund metro line in Abuja and created access roads to the train stations, which had earlier rendered the stations inaccessible even when it was briefly operational.

Around $15 million was expended on building the access roads to the various stations. The minister also restructured and completed the official residence of the vice-president, which had been abandoned since 2010. Some cynics may ask – how important is that residential project at this point in time? This question would be of no significance when it is realised that the project, valued at N7 billion in 2010, could not be left to waste and to scoundrels at a time when the FCT authorities are working hard to ward off kidnappers and other criminal elements.

The ministry of power also has a remarkable story to share, though many would insist the sector has left much to be desired given its importance as an enabler of the economy. But believe it, a silent retooling, which promises to change the disastrous electricity situation in the country, is ongoing. Indeed, unbeknownst to many, power generation is gradually increasing. For instance, 5000MW of power was achieved this month for the first time in three years. “Precisely on May 3, 2024, we generated, transmitted, and distributed 5,003.45MW of power. This is expected to further rise to 6000MW by the end of this year,” the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, said in his presentation.

President Tinubu did three important things, among others, to tackle the issues in the electricity supply value chain and set the sector on the path to recovery and optimal performance. Number one, in June 2023, President Tinubu signed the 2023 Electricity Act into law, marking a significant milestone in the sector. The new law focuses on enhancing the regulation and management of the electricity value chain with the active participation of the sub-national governments. This, thus far, has resulted in the process of devolution of regulatory powers to three states – Enugu, Ekiti, and Ondo – to set up their electricity markets.

Two, the President gave approval to defray legacy debts owed gas companies to allow efficient gas supply for the sector going forward and payment mechanism to address generation companies’ debts. This, according to Adelabu, will ensure necessary maintenance and evacuation capacity optimization.
Third, there has also been a series of infrastructure upgrades in the last one year. The ongoing Siemens Power project under the Presidential Power Initiative was one of the programmes that ensured improvement of power assets in Nigeria. In December 2023, President Tinubu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz witnessed the signing of an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the PPI to improve electricity supply in Nigeria.

The Minister of Power also disclosed that the government had also put in place the required framework to achieve an injection of 3.5 million meters into the power sector – 1.5 million meters through the World Bank Distribution Support Recovery Program and 2 million meters through the Presidential Metering Initiative.

In aviation, some developments are worthy of note, including the construction of the second Abuja runway, which had been stalled for many years as a result of lawsuits while a second runway in Lagos has been reactivated. Among other things, Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo has facilitated the acquisition of aircraft by local operators under the dry lease agreement to support and empower the indigenous airlines to compete with international airlines on more lucrative international routes like the case of Air Peace on the Lagos-London route. Additionally, discussions have also reached an advanced stage with foreign investors to establish a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Centre in Nigeria through PPP. Ibom Air is almost through with its negotiations with Airbus.

With respect to the food situation in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launched dry season farming involving 118, 651 hectares in 15 states, with Jigawa State alone getting 40,000 hectares. This intervention injected an estimated N309 billion into the economy, according to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Abubakar Kyari. The ministry also supported a total of 107, 429 wheat farmers with inputs resulting in an output of 474, 628 metric tonnes. It has also created about 60,000 jobs across the agric value chain within the first year. As the administration’s substantial investments in enhancing security across the country begin to post concrete yields, this will positively impact agricultural productivity going into the President’s second year in office.

Also, the revenue accruing to the country from the marine and blue economy is on the increase. Minister of marine and blue economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, said the ministry, through its agencies, realised N242 billion within the first quarter of 2024, which represents 92% compared to the amount generated within the same period last year.

Importantly, the nation’s budgeting system has also been rejuvenated to give proper attention to the government’s priorities. The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, who incidentally is also the Chairman of the Ministerial Sectoral Update Committee, said the 2024 budget has two remarkable features. “One is the determination, despite our challenges, to restore budget discipline by lowering the fiscal deficit. So, the 2024 budget targeted a reduction in deficits from 6.11% in 2023 to less than 4% in 2024 and an increase in capital expenditure relative to recurrent spending, which is 39% expenditure, the highest in the country’s history,” he said.

In addition to innovative budgeting, N100 billion fund has been earmarked for Consumer Credit designed to mobilise the manufacturing sector to produce again, which would occur when the people can fund their purchases.

There is also a mortgage fund to support the creation of mortgages. “So with consumer credit mobilising the manufacturing sector, mortgages re-energising the housing sector, and national agricultural development fund mobilising the agricultural sector, our youth and our productive economy will be mobilised. The N130 billion we provided for conversion, for transition to CNG, which is a cheaper form of energy than petroleum, is designed to restore energy competitiveness so that our manufacturing sector, our transport sector, and our economy will benefit from a cheaper form of energy that will support the economic reform,” Bagudu said.

Under the Tinubu government, the projects and initiatives undertaken thus far did not emerge by happenstance or by luck. They are well thought-out and emerged from a vision to reengineer the country and put it on the path of economic recovery and prosperity. One of these landmark initiatives is the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, aimed at revitalising Nigeria’s crumbling infrastructure. This fund has earmarked substantial investments for constructing and rehabilitating roads, bridges, and public amenities. The construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road connecting nine littoral states has already taken off.
There is also the Students Loan Fund for indigent students in tertiary institutions, which registration portal opened about two weeks ago.

The country may not be where it should be at present. There are still challenges; notable among them is the cost of living, which is still high. Food prices surged last month, with inflation rising to 33.69%, according to NBS. The Naira is also struggling to find its level against the Green Back, hovering around N1,400 to N1,500/1$ at the parallel market for a couple of weeks. However, on Wednesday, May 29, it recorded its biggest appreciation in four months to close at N1,173. 88/1$.

The country is gradually turning the corner.

Looking back at how far he has gone since he mounted the saddle, President Tinubu said the journey had been challenging and fulfilling. He promised that his administration would do all it takes for the average Nigerian to feel the impact of governance, stating that governance must be transformative and must address the critical needs of citizens.

Speaking when he received a delegation of the Yoruba Leaders of Thought at the State House, Abuja on Friday, May 24, President Tinubu added that the country is no longer “bleeding”, but moving gradually into prosperity.

“It has been challenging. It has been fulfilling as well. We took over, and we have stopped the bleeding. I can say categorically now that Nigeria is no longer bleeding. And it will not bleed to death, but rather will now move to prosperity,” he said.

“That is the promise that I made to you all, and it is also the charge that you gave to me. We are managing to swim through the pond. The current is not a good one. We will turn the tide. We are turning the bend. This I assure you. I am being very careful. The worst is over for Nigeria. We will prevail.

“I thank the team who have been working really hard. All I can promise is that we will do whatever it takes. We are determined, and we will work so that all Nigerians can feel the impact of good governance.”

Rahman is a senior presidential aide