First Word: There is hunger in the land. Prices of food items are skyrocketing daily resulting in increased number of Nigerians who cannot afford food. The Nigerian government needs to act beyond providing food stamps. Short term measures should be replaced by longer term approaches to solve the hunger problem in Nigeria which in part is caused by food terrorism nuanced with the present insecurity experienced in Nigeria. To stem the tides of insecurity as a long-term approach to solving hunger, there is need for the government and law enforcement to clamp down on those who make inciteful statements that have the tendency to stir up violence.

A Crime Punishable by Law

Recently, a video of an Islamic Cleric speaking in Hausa against Nigeria's First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu for being a Christian went viral on social media. In the video, the cleric declared that the First Lady deserves to die for not just being a Christian but also a pastor. According to him, the First Lady is not the kind of “people of the book” that Prophet Muhammed said a Muslim man could marry. In Hausa, he said: "Now, Tinubu, his wife is an infidel. As an infidel, she is a leader among the infidels. “God's judgement says she must be killed. She's a pastor . . . a leader of infidels (Christians); Allah says they must be killed . . . " Publicly calling for the assassination of a First Lady is a crime punishable under Nigerian law which prohibits any threat to kill or do bodily harm to a public official - in this case the President - or his family. This is not only an issue of religious intolerance but of public order and national security. Although the cleric in a subsequent video, has offered an apology for his incendiary remarks, the reality is that the brazen disregard and levity with which the lives of Christians are treated in Nigeria is a serious threat to national unity and internal security. It is strange that Christians who believe in God and are followers of Christ, something recognized in the Koran as people of the book will be referred to as arne or infidels by some Muslims. In reality, prescribing death warrants on innocent people in the name of religion is anti-religious and goes against the grain of any godly belief system. This manifestation of religious bigotry and intolerance are hallmarks of radical extremism. It MUST be stopped through constitutional/legal means. Our collective silence on such matters is our collective doom as a nation and we become a laughing stock of nations.

Why the Silence?

The recent threat on the life of Nigeria’s First lady for the singular reason that she is a Christian, married to a Muslim, who is moderate and a nationalistic leader should be condemned by all well-meaning and progressive Nigerians. The Muslim community and leaders in particular cannot afford to remain silent. There needs to be a major release by the Sultan, who commands the respect of many both Muslims and Christians. Why is there yet to be a word from MURIC which claims to be fighting for justice. Why has there not been total condemnation by JNI? Even though notable Muslim voices such as Hon. Mohammed Bello El-Rufai and Sen. Shehu Sani have condemned the cleric’s pronouncements and called for his prosecution. Is it a crime for her to be a Pastor? Recall that this dignified citizen of Nigeria, our First Lady, was at some point a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. How audacious for a cleric to resort to such deadly tactics, dressed in religious bigotry, to intimidate a public official of such high standing! The cleric is also heard saying the Muslim-Muslim ticket that brought President Bola Tinubu to power was a scam. Furthermore, he accuses the President of not being able to convert his wife. And so, what? Is the ability to convert a non-Muslim wife to Islam a qualification for becoming President of Nigeria? Is that what the Muslim-Muslim ticket is all about? Well, I have had one or two occasions to listen to both the President and the Vice President speak and they sounded both as if they want to work for a better Nigeria. They claim to be ready to serve this nation and we need to give them the chance to prove themselves. Religious extremism exhibits ignorance and selfish ambition, and will lead us nowhere, except towards anarchy and chaos.

Therefore, as a Social Justice and Peace Advocate group, we condemn this unprovoked call for the death of the First Lady in its entirety. Such flagrant threats to public safety should not be ignored, or there will be no Nigeria as we know it. Clerics who resort to such extremist ideologies and tactics should be condemned within Christendom and more frequently within the Muslim community where such has been rampant. In this instance, it is the responsibility of Islamic leaders not to allow such voices to go uncensored within their fold.

An Affront to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB)

Many problems are currently plaguing Nigeria. One is the total disregard for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Due to Nigeria’s multifaceted complexities, the disregard for FoRB has ripple effects that have resulted in violence and have a tendency to spiral out of control, if care is not taken. Consequently, we declare that the Federal Government must take this threat seriously and deploy its legitimate instruments to ensure that nothing happens to Senator Pastor Oluremi Tinubu.

Our country is currently battling a protracted insurgency that has lasted for over a decade. FoRB issues such as this must be handled within the full ambit of the law. Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right which Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees everyone. Chapter 4, Section 38 of the Nigerian constitution also gives every Nigerian the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. To protect the rights of everyone, the government must be seen upholding the rule of law without prejudice or preference. In doing so, government must be bold enough to call a spade a spade. Failure to do so had caused impunity to abound. When religious clerics like the one in the video make such outrageous public remarks, they promote disaffection and ill-will, and give their followers reason to perpetuate mayhem and violence in total disregard for FoRB. Their hate speech and politically-motivated religious rhetoric is a threat to social cohesion and peaceful coexistence because it breeds religious intolerance and disregard for human dignity and life. Such religious leaders are not patriots, as they do not have the interest of the nation at heart.

Recommendations

1. Leading religious leaders, through NIREC, should meet over this threat to the First lady. This should be addressed and tackled in the open and not through a back door approach.

2. Mr President should give priority to peace building and conflict transformation approach on a national scale.

3. A National Peace and Reconciliation Commission should be set up to promote peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.

4. Respect for Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) should be elevated to the level of national discourse and social action as a conversation, practice and structural framework.

5. The public use of words that depict religious intolerance such as arne (infidel) and kafir (pagan) amount to hate speech and should be outlawed not only in our Criminal and Penal Codes, but also in our Constitution.

Conclusion

Religious diversity should not be a source of grief for Nigerians. True religion should be an instrument of peace not destruction and death. Like Maya Angelou said, “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” She added: “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” And as the current UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, said: “We have to transcend our differences to transform our future.” Nigerian religious and political leaders need to instill these social and religious truths into our national consciousness and discourse in word and practice. The Revd Dr Gideon Para-Mallam (President and CEO

…As EKSG moves to support households, formal and informal sectors

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, has approved a set of carefully designed relief programmes to alleviate the hardship being experienced by the people of the state in the face of the current global economic downturn.

These programmes include the payment of one month salary arrears to State and Local Government workers totalling over N2.7 billion. With this payment, the Government has cleared the salary arrears owed to State Government workers, and will ensure the arrears owed Local Government workers are cleared this year.

The Governor also approved an increase of N600 million per month in the subvention of autonomous institutions including the Judiciary and all tertiary institutions. This is to allow the institutions implement the wage award being implemented for State and Local Government workers.

In the same vein, Governor Oyebanji also approved the payment of two months pension arrears owed State and Local Government workers totalling N1.5 billion, as well as N100 million monthly gratuity payment to state pensioners and an increment of the current N50 million monthly gratuity to local Government pensioners to N100 million. (This brings total monthly gratuity payment to N200 million).

The State Government has also committed the sum of N1 billion to improve food production, especially to embark on land preparation, driven by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s tractorization subsidy scheme, and an input supply programme to support small scale farmers. Similarly, the Government is also committing a whopping sum of N1.2 billion it recently got as first tranche of the World Bank-financed Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support ( L-PRES) Project to transform the livestock subsector.

The money would be spent on empowering livestock farmers, boosting livestock productivity as well as creating a conducive environment for youths and private sector involvement in livestock businesses. This will include revamping all veterinary clinics across the local government areas and the state veterinary hospital; development of poultry sector across the value chain from production to processing; Feed formulation and artificial insemination (AI) training and support, among others.

Additionally, the State is also launching a N500 million loan programme in partnership with Access Bank to support medium and small scale businesses. This is in addition to N1 billion cooperative fund to provide low interest working capital for cooperatives and members. These programmes will ensure that small scale businesses, a critical part of the State economy, also benefit from the relief programme, and help kick start the economy.

The final set of the programmes include a continuation of the conditional cash transfer to low income households as well as the CARES programme which among other focuses on livelihood support, labour-intensive support, technology support for small businesses and support for agric produce and for which the sum N3.5 billion is earmarked.

It also include the free bus service for students and workers within Ado-Ekiti and Ikere-Ekiti, which will now be extended to Ekiti State University (EKSU) and other major towns; and the distribution of food items to the 177 wards of the State being coordinated by the Local Government Councils and Community Development Associations.

All these are in addition to ongoing infrastructure projects across the State, boosting power supply to critical areas including connecting the EKSU Campus to the IPP; which will also help lower the cost of logistics- a big driver of commodity prices; the free malaria treatment for elderly citizens and children as well as free delivery for pregnant women at all primary health care centres across the state.

Governor Oyebanji assured the people of the state of his administration’s commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of the citizens, urging them to cooperate with government at the local, state and federal levels as concerted efforts are being made not only to cushion the effect of the economic situation, but to grow the economy in line with the shared prosperity agenda of the administration and the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Olayinka Oyebode
Special Adviser, Media to the Governor
26-02-2024.

A mass protest is ongoing on the streets of Benin City, the capital city of Edo State, organized by Civil Society Organizations (CSO), over the prevailing economic hardship in the country.

Naija News understands that the members of these CSOs stormed the streets displaying various placards, including ones that read “Put an End to Economic Hardship” and “Federal Government, Address the Hunger Crisis in Nigeria Immediately.”

The latest demonstration in Edo follows a similar protest by residents of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, who also voiced their concerns regarding the economic challenges they are facing.

Earlier, a human rights group known as the “Take It Back Movement” also organized a protest in Lagos State to denounce the exorbitant food prices and the overall high cost of living in the nation.

It is worth noting that this protest in Lagos occurred despite the warning issued by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, on Sunday.

Naija News reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has reiterated its commitment to organizing a protest starting tomorrow (Tuesday).

The NLC made the announcement on February 16, stating that the protest would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The reason behind this protest is the alleged failure of the government to fulfil the agreements made on October 2, 2023, after the removal of the fuel subsidy.

This decision comes after a 14-day ultimatum given to the Federal Government to address the prevailing hardships.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has told the federal government to put aside the national pride of striving to achieve local food sufficiency and immediately begin importing food.

The TUC stressed that it is a population that is alive that can celebrate the gains and beauty of any government policy.

Speaking on behalf of the congress, the TUC President, Festus Osifo, during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, said Nigerians are hungry and battling economic hardship, so it is time for the federal government to begin the importation of food in order to mitigate the soaring prices of food across the country.

According to him, Nigerians have never witnessed this level of hardship before, even during military regimes, adding that it is time for the government to jettison policies that are not effective and get capable hands to man the affairs of the country.

“Nigerians must live to see tomorrow before we can understand how beautiful a government policy is. The national pride of striving to achieve food sufficiency locally should be temporarily relaxed. Governments at all levels should immediately purchase sufficient quantities of food items from different parts of the world and share them with vulnerable Nigerians.

“Importing food abroad at this point will assist to reduce the hyper-inflation of food in the country. FG should allow importation of food items for Nigerians consumption within the next two weeks,” Osifo submitted.

The TUC President further called on President Bola Tinubu to, without considering partisanship, ethnicity or tribal issues, strengthen the economic management team of his administration and get them to develop homegrown solutions to the hardship facing the country.

The National Examination Council, NECO, has released the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, external results with a total of 50,066, out of 74,342 candidates, representing 67.35 per cent, scoring five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics.

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi disclosed this while releasing the results/launching of the Automated Annual Posting Calendar at the Council’s headquarters in Minna, Niger State.

He said about 74,950 candidates registered for the exams, out of which 74,342 participated.

The NECO registrar added that about 62,530 candidates representing 84.11 per cent scored five credits and above, irrespective of English Language and Mathematics, adding that a total of 29 subjects were examined by the candidates.

The registrar also disclosed that two supervisors, one each in Oyo and Lagos states, were blacklisted for poor supervision, inability to control the candidates and for aiding and abetting examination malpractice.

He also revealed that one centre in Borno State was blacklisted for aiding and abetting malpractice by sharing WhatsApp messages to candidates.

Wushishi added that a total of 8,518 candidates, as against 11,419 in 2022, were booked for various forms of exam malpractice.

President Bola Tinubu has created an economic advisory committee comprising the federal government, sub-nationals and the private sector.

This resulted from talks between the President and key stakeholders at the State House, Abuja, on Sunday evening.

The development came as the falling naira exchange rate, rising inflation and other economic headwinds have continued to worsen the cost of living crisis.

Some of the prominent members of the private sector that made the list include the Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Mr. Tony Elumelu, and the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.

Speaking at the meeting on behalf of the federal government, Tinubu said the goal “is to provide additional efforts” in stabilising the economy and ensuring the “best economic future” for Nigerians.

He said, “Let’s look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy. As I have said many times, the people of this country are only the people we have to please.

“And we are very much concerned from students to mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders and realising that everyone of us will have to fetch water from the same well. We’re looking for additional efforts that’s might help the downtrodden Nigerians and we will provide hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on its way.

“We are not saying that we have all the answers. But we will not be blamed for not trying. We assure Nigerians that we will do our best to get our marshall plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country.”

At the meeting, Tinubu discussed food security, job creation and the exchange rate.

Dangote, who was part of the private sector delegation on the committee, said Sunday’s gathering stakeholders the opportunity to clarify the specifics of their roles in President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He explained, “I think we had a very good meeting. What we discussed is generally about the economy, food security and security of the nation. We discussed everything in detail.

“The economic presidential advisory committee which has been set up…will look at all the issues and address them, coming from job creation and food security.

“So, all these things have been discussed in detail. I can’t give you all the details right now, but we are hopeful and we’re a great nation. We have what it takes to turn around the economy and we’re going to do that.”

Meanwhile, Elumelu noted implementing the decisions made that the gathering “will have propel our economy and help alleviate the poverty in the land, help create employment and help put food on the table of Nigerians.”

The Chairman of the BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, revealed that the committee held frank and exhaustive discussions with the President on the foreign exchange rate.

Citing the recent volatility of the naira against the dollar, Rabiu said, “We discussed on how to bring the foreign exchange rate down because we all know that what is happening as regards the foreign exchange is artificial. It is manipulative and thank God the CBN is doing quite a lot.”

Meanwhile, states have expressed readiness to partner with the federal government’s welfare interventions to alleviate the hardship on Nigerians. They said the advisory committee’s decision would only yield results when execution is prioritised.

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State said, “As a governor, I can assure you that all hands on deck. All governors have resolved to join hands with Mr president to ensure that he provides the necessary intervention to cushion the effect of what we’re going through while we are waiting for the implementation and the evidence of the fiscal and monetary policies already in place.

“In my state and other states, we are bringing in rice, we’re bringing food items and selling at rates that can be obtained before the downslide of the naira. So we are going to be doing all these to bring succour to the common man until we begin to see the evidence of the fiscal and monetary policies.”

On his part, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State said the tripartite committee “will be meeting from time to time to evaluate how things are going and make recommendations to Mr. President and the nation as well.”

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, affirmed that the private sector “will play a very significant role” in promulgating workable recommendations to the President on economic matters.

A former Chief Whip of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, has alleged that the outcome of the 2023 general election was manipulated under the watch of the then-governor of the state, Nyesom Wike.

Bipi made the allegation in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, while speaking at a solidarity rally for the state governor organized by women groups across the 23 local government areas.

He specifically alleged that the Labour Party, LP, “won all their elections” in tge stage.

A trending video clip from the event captured the former Chief Whip reacting to a recent outburst by Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

DAILY POST recalls that Wike, who has been at loggerheads with his immediate successor, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, recently claimed that nobody would challenge him and his allies in the next general election.

The former governor was apparently assuring his supporters that Fubara would be evicted from the Government House in the next governorship election.

Reacting, Bipi, who represented Fubara at the rally, said with the level of mobilization by the women, Fubara would win convincingly in any election.

He further alleged that Wike and his allies did not win any seat in the 2023 elections.

He said, “It is written in Exodus 14:13 that the Egyptians you see today, you shall see them no more. Last weekend, they went to a thanksgiving party and bragged that they wished tomorrow was 2027.

“With you, can they win 2027? They are bragging about 2027 as if they won in 2023. The Labour Party won all their elections. We know how we did it. Chijioke told us that he was one of those who assisted them.

“We also wish that tomorrow is 2027 so that they can see our performance.”

Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed March 19, 2024, for ruling on a fresh application by Nnamdi Kanu seeking to be admitted to bail in the terrorism charges against him

The trial judge fixed the date after hearing submissions from Kanu’s lawyer, Alloy Ejimakor, praying for bail for his client, and Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, who stood in for the federal government and vehemently objected to the bail application.

Kanu predicated his request for bail mainly on the fact that he may not be able to put up a good defence unless admitted to bail to have unfettered access to his lawyers.

He also claimed to be suffering from acute hypertension and acute heart disease, among other ailments.

The federal government, however, objected to the bail bid on the ground that Kanu was once granted bail but jumped and fled the country.

Government asserted that all the bail conditions set by the court were breached and violated and pleaded with the court to dismiss the request.

The leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) also argued another motion where he asked the court not to allow continuation of his trial until certain conditions were met by the federal government.

Among others, he requested that DSS operatives be barred from interfering with his lawyers during visitation.

He also asked that the court should compel the federal government to allow him wear the clothes of his choice.

The federal government, however, objected to the requests on the ground that he has no right under any law to dictate how his trial should be conducted.

Awomolo, while seeking the dismissal of the request, said that it was a gross abuse of court process that must not be allowed.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, said President Bola Tinubu has the right team, but his economic policies are not suitable for Nigerians.

Adebayo stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

The SDP presidential candidate said the method of the Tinubu government was not correct.

He said, “He (Tinubu) has the right team but what he wants to do is not correct.”

“If I were to be Nigeria’s President, I wouldn’t remove petrol subsidy from day one as President but would have approached the National Assembly to amend the 2023 Appropriation Act to allow subsidy for a while.”

Adebayo said, “These policies are not good, not because of the party that is announcing them but because they are not suitable to us.”

He added that any of the presidential candidates in the last poll who adopted the policies of the incumbent would have gotten the same results evident in the country at the moment.

“It doesn’t matter whom you put there, this will be the outcome once you adopt these policies,” he said.

The SDP former flagbearer said the three major issues confronting the Tinubu administration were cost of governance, the issue of subsidies and forex.

Adebayo noted that the reforms of the incumbent come with some benefits such as more income to the government and more income to the foreign exchange, adding that, but the country was “not structurally prepared for the advertised benefits.”

He said the gains of the policies were less to the pains, noting that the Tinubu government should be “less arrogant” to do the right thing to provide succor for suffering Nigerians.

Recall that Nigeria has been faced with the challenge of rising inflation, food inflation, forex crisis, economic hardship and high cost of living occasioned by the removal of petrol subsidy, attracting protests in parts of the country.