Pope Francis, Trump and beleaguered Nigeria By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Today in faraway Washington District of Columbia, the political capital of the United States of America, the eyes of the World would focus on Nigeria because the embattled president of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari is a guest of the tough talking President of the United States of America.

Already, presidency officials are singing the praises of the United States administration even as a newspaper reported one of these officials as stating that Nigeria is benefiting more now under president Trump than it did during the administration of Barrack Obama which was obviously a big obstacle to the fight on terror in Nigeria by the then president Goodluck government. With that Presidential statement it appears the blame has now shifted away from the immediate past Nigerian leader to the American President contrary to the litany of lamentations targeting Goodluck Jonathan by the current administration as the regime that did not combat Boko Haram terrorism with vigour.
On the side of the United States, two things have happened with one of it relating directly to Nigeria and the other showcasing the capability of the president of the United States to achieve landmark peace in very troubled area- Korean peninsula.

First the United States of America issued a damaging human rights record indicting the Nigerian administration under president Buhari whom the Trump’s administration had invited on a state visit to the white House.

Secondly, in that same week, the hitherto reclusive president of North Korea Kim Jong UN signed a peace accord with the South Korean president Mr. Moon Jae just as the package includes serious and honest “discussions about denuclearization,” so says Agency reports.

Recall that president Trump may have been responsible for the dramatic shift by the North Korean president who may have realized that president Trump meant business when he promised to detonate the biggest bomb in North Korea which will wipe off North Korea from World’s map. Both the North Korean leader and Trump had exchanged heated verbal threats but the young political warlord from North Korea may have discovered the futility of going to battle with President Donald Trump who is indeed eccentric and unpredictable.

Coming back to the first verbal bombardment of Nigeria in a report on the abysmal human rights record of president Buhari, the United States  State department summed up the American distaste at the poor human right record of their guest Muhammadu Buhari, thus: “There were several reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary and unlawful killings. The national police, army, and other security services used lethal and excessive force to disperse protesters and apprehend criminals and suspects and committed other extrajudicial killings. Authorities generally did not hold police, military, or other security force personnel accountable for the use of excessive or deadly force or for the deaths of persons in custody.”

So it can be deduced that the administration of Donald Trump will today sound out the Nigerian president on what the government has put in place to address all the diverse issues of poor human right status of the administration which is almost winding up its first term.

The development in the Korean Peninsula should also serve the Nigerian leader as a good picture of what the American president can do should the violations widens.

However, the ideology of America first which president Trump holds so dear may remind us that the united states administration may have issued the damning human rights record on Nigerian just to placate critics who may view president Trump as only concerned about the commercial gains he can make from Nigeria notwithstanding the abysmal human right status of the government headed by the ex-military dictator.

Critics are already observing that the concerns raised by America on the speedy infiltration of Africa by China could make president Trump to overlook the available body of knowledge on the extensive abuses of human rights of Nigerians by government just so that Nigeria can do more business with Trump and forget about looking towards the East to China for investments and trades. It is still not clear how this pans out given the fact that the USA is no longer a big time customer of Nigeria's rich Brent crude oil. America is increasingly looking inwards for their energy sources. Also America is speedily working on green cars to take away the pressure of fuelling their automobiles in the next two decades. But the Embassy officials in Abuja posted online that Economy and Security will dominate the discussions between Trump and his guest tonight President Muhammadu Buhari.

So Nigerians are keen on seeing how the diplomatic encounter between Trump and Buhari would proceed even as the blood cuddling violence unleashed by armed Fulani herdsmen have continued to attract international attention to Nigeria.

In faraway Vatican City, in Rome, the Holy Father had last weekend condemned the emerging pattern of mass killing of Christians. News reports from Rome are disturbing. It goes as follows: ‘Nigeria was stricken again with the killing of a group of faithful, among whom were two priests.’
Pope Francis repeated his frequent prayers and plea for peace in Nigeria on April 29, 2018.  His comments came after praying the Regina Coeli with crowds of the faithful in St. Peter’s Square.

“Last week the Christian community of Nigeria was stricken again with the killing of a group of faithful, among whom were two priests,” the Holy Father said. “We entrust these brothers to the God of mercy, that he may help those very tried communities to rediscover concord and peace.”

Two Catholic priests were among the victims of an April 24, 2018, attack on parishioners at St. Ignatius Parish in Ayar-Mbalom, a community in the Gwer East local government area of Benue State.
A local source told ZENIT the murdered priests were Fr. Joseph Gor and Fr. Felix Tyolaha. The source said as many as 20 mayhave died in the attack during Mass at the church. The attackers are believed to be Fulani herdsmen and be part of an ongoing reign of terror by Muslim extremists against Christians.
Nigeria’s Catholic bishops met with Pope Francis on April 26, 2018, in their periodic “ad Limina” visit.

“The government apparatus is completely, as it seems to us, helpless, dysfunctional or deliberately helpless and deliberately dysfunctional,” said Bishop William Avenya on behalf of the other Bishops present, as quoted in Vatican News.
“The world is not hearing us. It started like this in Rwanda; the world did not hear. It started like this many years back in Germany. The world was deaf. This is what is happening to us, and the world needs to know that we are in trouble!”

The Holy Father has repeatedly appealed for an end to violence in Nigeria, which has both large Catholic and Muslim populations.  ZENIT recently published a young teenager’s account of the violence facing the nation.
The news item was titled: "APRIL 29, 2018 19:34 ANGELUS/REGINA CAELI, CONFLICTS, WAR, TERRORISM".

The Pope who recently clocked five in the Papacy has gained global ascendancy in the area of conflict resolution just as his focus on Nigeria must be a consolation to us that the Nigerian government will henceforth face global monitoring mechanisms. This was how The Guardian of London assessed the global pride of place of the Pope so we know that Nigeria may not remain the same given that the Holy See has now shifted focus to the mass killings in Nigeria.
The Guardian reports that Chatham House is one of the most important foreign affairs think-tanks in the UK.

It adults however that on Wednesday its focus will not be a president or an organization like the World Bank, or the future of the EU after Brexit, but a religious leader: Pope Francis. And it will be the third time in recent weeks that Britain has turned its attention to the pope.
Two weeks ago, the Foreign Office-sponsored think-tank Wilton Park took delegates to the Vatican to meet the pope and discuss violent religious extremism, while last week the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, was in Rome to talk with Francis about modern slavery.

This engagement confirms the pope as one of the leading figures of the age. It will be five years on13 March since the then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, following the shock resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Since then, Bergoglio, who on election took the name Francis after St Francis of Assisi, has become hugely popular. Even atheists declare: “I love this guy!” on social media.

Fellow church leaders, such as the Orthodox leader, ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew, and the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, politicians and other public figures flock to meet him. The Chatham House event will explore the Roman Catholic Church’s role in diplomacy, its relationship with the US, and the significance of the first post-western pope, who has diluted the Eurocentrism of the Vatican.

It was quickly evident after his election that Francis was very different from Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned in February 2013, following a series of financial scandals in the Vatican. He had more energy and enthusiasm for meeting people than his diffident Bavarian predecessor, and also responded, as John Paul II had done before him, to the issues of the age. But whereas the Polish John Paul focused on communism and the cold war, the Latin American pope, a child of economic migrants, has turned his attention to the plight of people uprooted from their homes: refugees, victims of trafficking and modern slavery. In 2016, in a defining gesture of his papacy, after a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, the entry point for thousands seeking asylum in Europe, he took home with him on his plane to Rome three families of Syrian Muslim refugees.

He is also deeply aware of the impact of climate change on the planet’s poorest regions and, in 2015, published his green encyclical, or teaching document, Laudato Si, which he subtitled On Care for Our Common Home, urging people to rethink their relationship with God’s creation. Conservative Catholics, especially in America, claimed he was telling SUV drivers that they were committing a sin. It is the document Francis seems most proud of, offering it as a gift to his visitors. Some, such as the Prince of Wales, appear deeply appreciative; others, such as President Donald Trump, far less so.
Francis Campbell, a former British ambassador to the Holy See and now vice-chancellor of St Mary’s University, said: “There is a lack of confidence about the future of society and Pope Francis is occupying a space that few others are. He is speaking to a constituency that is looking for a form of leadership.

“The fact that people who are not interested in religion are interested in him is a reminder of the lack of global leaders. Who else is not retreating into nationalism or isolationism? Who else is reminding us of the big ethical issues?”

As a world leader, Francis certainly appears to have little in common with Trump. During the Obama administration, the US president and Vatican diplomats worked behind the scenes to bring Cuba and the US towards some kind of rapprochement after an icy stand-off lasting more than 50 years. But there appears to be no love lost between the pope and Trump.

The above reports detailing the international strategic place of the Holy Father may be a thing of joy to the suffering millions in Nigeria that perhaps our situation has received global attention.
*Emmanuel Onwubiko is the Head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) andblogs@www.emmanuelonwubiko.com; www.huriwanigeria.com; www@huriwa.blogspotcom

FIGHT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING GETS HOTTER AS TONTO DIKEH PARTNERS NAPTIP

 

Director – General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah – Donli, has called on Nollywood practitioners and all stakeholders in the entertainment industry in Nigeria to develop concept and ideas that will assist the fight against human trafficking adding that they must show concern about the human trafficking situation in the country.
She stated this while receiving a prominent Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh and her crew members who were at the Headquarters of the Agency on a courtesy visit.

The Director – General who commended actors and actresses in Nigeria for their commitment to national development as depicted in their various scripts described human trafficking as a major national issues that requires collective approach in order to tackle it.

She said. “While I wholeheartedly commend our Nollywood practitioners for embarking on movies that border on other aspects of our society, I think attention should be shifted to issues of human trafficking now. Let us develop concept and script that expose tricks and trend in human trafficking.
“Let us come out with movies that are purely enlightened in content so that Nigerians would be fully informed on dangers of human trafficking and how best to protect their children.

“I know that few of the practitioners have done something in the past in this regard, but let us come together and put in more efforts. Let our comedy content be in line with the fight against human trafficking and I can assure you that NAPTIP is ready to partner and support such initiative. Charity, they say, begins at home, let us use the platform of anti-human trafficking provided by NAPTIP to project our various talents to the entire world” the NAPTIP boss said.

The NAPTIP boss who pronounced Tonto Dikeh as NAPTIP Ambassador commended her for the visit and assured her of the support of the Agency in the renewed partnership.
Speaking earlier, the Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, disclosed that she was at NAPTIP to identify areas of partnership in the fight against human trafficking.

While describing human trafficking as a shameful act that must be eliminated in Nigeria, the actress said Nigeria society needs to be healed of all negative vices including human trafficking and called for a concerted effort from all Nigerians to achieve the goal.

She promised to use the available resources at her disposal including her teaming followers on the social media platform and her newly formed Tonto Dikeh Foundation to carry out anti-human trafficking related activities.

Highpoint of the visit was the raising up of the Red Card Against human trafficking by the actress and her crew members.

Adekoye Vincent
For: Head, Press and Public Relations Unit

TWO JAILED FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

A Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has sentenced two persons, 44 years old Abubakar Umar (Abuja), male, and Rukkayya Isa (Nana), female, to one year each and a fine of one hundred thousand naira each for human trafficking.

Abubakar Umar, an indigenous citizen of Sokoto State, and Rukkayya Isa, from Zugu in Republic of Benin, were arraigned by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for assisting and facilitating the activities of persons engaged in the acts of human trafficking from Republic of Benin to Sokoto, an action which contravenes section 13 (4)(C) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administrations Act, 2015.

Delivering his judgment, the presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Rilwan Muhammad Aikawa having listened to the three witnesses presented by the prosecution and two witnesses brought forward by the defendants, as well as other evidences presented in the course of the trial, found both defendants guilty of the charge and subsequently sentenced each of them to one year imprisonment and one hundred thousand naira fine, effective immediately.

Reacting to the news of the conviction, the Director-General of NAPTIP expressed her satisfaction with the judgment, which brings the total convictions secured by the Agency since inception to 343, and further reiterated the Agency’s resolve to stamp out human trafficking in Nigeria. She also stressed the need for members of the public to know that it is an offence to assist or be involved in anyway whatsoever in human trafficking-related activities, and warned detractors to desist from such acts.

Nneka Aniagoh
For: Head, Press and Public Relations Unit.

HUMAN RIGHTS: The American Verdict By Emmanuel Onwubiko

In what has now become an annual ritual, Nigeria has once more scored a not so disappointing low in the observance of respect for the fundamental rights of the citizenry in the latest of the many global reports about the country in the current dispensation.

Mark my words- 'not so disappointing'. This is because the knowledge that the respect to the human rights of Nigerians by successive administrations and most especially the current one has always been abysmal and horrendous is not in doubt. It is a notorious fact that on the average, ten Nigerians usually have their fundamental rights violated in every hour of the day. The general breakdown of law and order in some parts of Nigeria marked by armed attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen and other armed freelance killers is a graphic account that tells Nigerians that their most sacred of human right which is Right to life is violated with impunity and the security forces are so gravely compromised to an extent that it is usually after Nigerians are killed that the supposed law enforcement authorities are woken up from slumber to chase after these long escaped mass killers. So the report on human rights by the US department of state can be said to be so politically correct and too diplomatic to a notorious extent that the writers overlooked and never captured many of the cases of horrendous human rights violations that took place last year. 

The report being talked about is the year 2017 human rights report on Nigeria published by the influential United States department of state. The Department is the Independent Coordinating Institution on all external affairs between the world’s strongest democracy and the rest of the world.

The highlights of this report which came out some few days back stated in black and white that the general climate of corruption that pervaded the Nigerian state in the last decades has not changed and that impunity, lack of transparency and large scale theft of public fund by government officials have become unprecedented. These are factual claims. Not long ago the Secretary to the government of the Federation Mr. Babachir Lawan was indicted of massive multimillion Naira fraud in the administration of the internally displaced people's intervention fund even as the current management of the National Emergency Management agency is accused of the theft of over N19 billion belonging to the agency. NEMA stinks of corruption, managerial incompetence, contract scams and a general climate if inefficiency to an extent that the vehicles and the helicopter hitherto deployed in emergencies have all broken down due to financial misappropriation and gross incompetence. The Nigerian National Petroleum corporation is engrossed in high wire corruption amounting to over $26 billion as alleged by the minister of state for petroleum in a memo he did to the President which has been swept under the carpets. The minister of communications Mr. Shittu has been accused by his ex-media assistant of multimillion Naira theft of public fund and purchases of choice housing estates in the last two years he was made a minister from his hitherto near poverty stricken conditions as a struggling Ibadan based Lawyer unknown for any significant legal clientele. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is selectively chasing after political opponents of President Muhammadu Buhari and has overlooked the crimes committed by members of the political party that produced the current President. These issues are all captured in this 48 pages report of human rights of Nigeria by the American government.

The report also addressed the all-important issue of the notoriety of the operatives of the armed security forces to inflict torture, physical violence and ultimately, the extra-legal executions of suspects in lawful or unlawful custody of these security forces. As the report is being circulated the Army has just destroyed Naka community in Benue state after one of her operatives was killed by armed hoodlums. This destruction led to the death of two persons who were burnt to death when the soldiers went on rampage in the community that they are paid to defend. How can the minister of Justice Abubakar Malami speak against this report even in the face of all these cases? Was the justice minister himself appeared and indicted by the house of Representatives for influencing the recall of a fugitive and dismissed director of pensions back to the ministry of interior Abdulrasheed Maina even when the EFCC declared him wanted?

The trending issues of the unresolved large scale extra-legal murder by security forces of the unarmed members and sympathizers of the now proscribed indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and the members of the hitherto Zaria, Kaduna state based Islamic movement of Nigeria got extensive mention.

The United States department also scolded Nigerian government for the brazen disobedience of binding court orders in the matters involving the erstwhile National Security Adviser- Colonel Sambo Dasuki and the illegally detained leader of the Shiites Islamic Movement Mr. Ibrahim El Zaclzacky. Is the justice minister not a party in the suits which resulted in the handing down of the bail orders by the Federal high courts to the duo who are still being detained against the binding orders of the competent court of law? The American verdict on this sort of governmental rascality and impunity is accurate.

The report then dovetailed into the disturbing issue of lack of independence and the much talked about corruption in the judiciary and focused extensively on the issue of lack of transparency in the administration of state based judicial institutions coupled with incessant allegations of bribery of judges. This is true. The National judicial Council had recently dismissed corrupt judges from service and some are undergoing public prosecution.

On the unending issue of extra judicial killings, the American government rightly stated as follows:
“The most significant human rights issues included extrajudicial and arbitrary killings; disappearances and arbitrary detentions; torture, particularly in detention facilities, including sexual exploitation and abuse; use of children by some security elements, looting, and destruction of property"

The Americans noted that civilian detentions in military facilities were often based on flimsy evidence; just as they pointed out other areas of infringements of rights to include, denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the judiciary; infringement on citizens’ privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and movement; official corruption; lack of accountability in cases involving violence against women and children, trafficking in persons; early and force marriages; criminalization of status and same-sex sexual conduct based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and forced and bonded labor.

Although the US government acknowledged that The Nigerian government took steps to investigate alleged abuses but affirmed rightly that fewer steps to prosecute officials who committed violation, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government were observed.

"Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. The government did not adequately investigate or prosecute most of the major outstanding allegations of human rights violations by the security forces or the majority of cases of police or military extortion or other abuse of power", the report emphasized.

But there is a salient point which this report focused upon which Nigeria has persistently failed to address and this is related to the poor conditions of the Nigerian prisons. So why is any sane person criticizing this well thought out report from persons who have nothing to gain by framing up the Nigerian state?

The year 2017 human rights country report on Nigeria by the American government indeed painted the graphic pathetic picture of the dilapidated nature of the prisons and the high death rate of inmates due to poor environment. Have we not seen photos of prison inmates who were looking so malnourished, sickly and emaciated? These gory photos of terribly maltreated prison inmates trended on the popular social media platform not long ago.

The report by the U.S. government noted that Prison and detention center conditions remained harsh and life threatening.

"Prisoners and detainees reportedly were subjected to torture, gross overcrowding, inadequate medical care, food and water shortages, and other abuses; some of these conditions resulted in deaths. The government often detained suspected militants outside the formal prison system."

Addressing the dilapidated physical Conditions of Nigerian prisons the report noted that overcrowding was a significant problem.

It significantly affirmed that although the total designed capacity of the country’s prisons was 50,153 inmates, as of June they held 68,259 prisoners. These figures are factually correct going by officially published statistics known to most researchers in Nigeria.

The report noted accurately that approximately 68 percent of inmates were in pretrial detention or remanded and that as of January there were 1,225 female inmates.
"Authorities sometimes held female and male prisoners together, especially in rural areas. In 2013 the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) reported there were 847 juvenile inmates in juvenile detention centers, but prison authorities often held juvenile suspects with adults."

"Prisoners and detainees were reportedly subjected to extrajudicial execution, torture, gross overcrowding, food and water shortages, inadequate medical treatment, deliberate and incidental exposure to heat and sun, and infrastructure deficiencies that led to wholly inadequate sanitary conditions that could result in death". 

The report stated that guards and prison officials reportedly extorted inmates or levied fees on them to pay for food, prison maintenance, transport to routine court appointments, and release from prison even as female inmates in some cases faced the threat of rape.
"Most of the 240 prisons were 70 to 80 years old and lacked basic facilities. Lack of potable water, inadequate sewage facilities, and severe overcrowding resulted in dangerous and unsanitary conditions".

The report stated a very notorious fact that disease remained pervasive in cramped, poorly ventilated prison facilities, which had chronic shortages of medical supplies.
It continued thus: "Inadequate medical treatment caused many prisoners to die from treatable illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. In April the Lagos State Controller of Prisons stated that 32 inmates died in 2016 in a single Lagos prison due to lack of access to medical care."
They noted that the House of Representatives confirmed that more than 900 inmates died in prisons across the country in 2016 due to severe lack of drugs and health care.

It says although authorities attempted to isolate persons with communicable diseases, facilities often lacked adequate space, and inmates with these illnesses lived with the general prison population. There were no reliable statistics on the total number of prison deaths during the year.
"Only prisoners with money or support from their families had sufficient food. Prison officials routinely stole money provided for prisoners’ food. Poor inmates often relied on handouts from others to survive. Prison officials, police, and other security force personnel often denied inmates food and medical treatment to punish them or extort money".

“In general, prisons had no facilities to care for pregnant women or nursing mothers. Although the law prohibits the imprisonment of children, minors--many of whom were born in prison--lived in the prisons".
"The NGO Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE)-Nigeria reported children in some cases remained with their inmate mothers up to at least age six. While the total number of children living in prison with their mothers was unknown, CURE-Nigeria’s April survey of 198 of the country’s approximately 1,225 women inmates found more than 30 women with children in just three prisons."

"Approximately 10 percent of survey respondents reported they were pregnant. Results of surveys of women and children in prisons conducted by CURE-Nigeria revealed many children in custody did not receive routine immunizations, and authorities made few provisions to accommodate their physical needs, to include hygiene items, proper bedding, proper food, and recreation areas. According to its March 2016 report, female inmates largely relied on charitable organizations to obtain hygiene items".
Little wonder that the owner of Microsoft Mr. Bill Gates did not shock Nigerians when he noted with regret that Nigeria is the most dangerous places for babies to be born.

The report however left out a great body of the most grievous human rights violations meted out against babies which is likened to slavery. The phenomenon of baby factories have assumed disturbing. Nigerians in their thousands are fleeing from terror attacks by boko haram terrorists and the armed Fulani herdsmen who have combined to kill over 30,000 innocent Nigerians in the last 3 years. This exodus of Nigerians wasn't captured in the American report. Nigeria is in an emergency human rights situations demanding comprehensive solution that must be constitutionally influenced. Those who commit horrendous genocides must be arrested and made to face the full weight of the law. Nigeria is sliding into a state of civil war so the government must never allow this to happen. Sadly, the government officials live in denial of these obvious facts and don't seem to possess the political will to bring about a quick, decisive and effective solutions to these crippling challenges to our human rights.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko is the Head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) andblogs@www.emmanuelonwubiko.com,www.huriwanigeria.com.

IPAA INITIATIVE, OBI LGA

NAMES OF THE TIV COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY NASARAWA ATTACKS

·       Mbatsav

·       Abaagu

·       Kwashir

·       Gidan Ipaa

·       Tse Kuna

·       Apuru

·       Uvirkaa

·       Jangwa

·       Kardarko

·       Gidin Durowa

·       Tse Tsokar

·       Kyertyo

*Please for your donations contact:

08068239232

The IDP

UNENDING KILLINGS: Nigeria Is Becoming a State of Anomie - CAN

In its swift reaction to the killing of two priests and 17 worshippers of St. Ignatius Catholic church, Mbalom, Gwer East LGA of Benue State, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has declared Sunday, 29 April, 2018, as a National Day of Protest against unending killings in the country.

It also dedicates same day for prayers for the freedom and liberty of Leah Sharibu, the remaining Chibok Girls and others still in captivity of the Boko Haram terrorists. We are already at a breaking point and a state of anomie is almost here. ”

CAN urges Christians in Nigeria to hold peaceful protest on the set aside date, in the premises of their churches asking the Federal Government and the security agencies to stop the unending killings and bloodshed in the country.

Christians are to carry placards with inscriptions meant to address issues about sustained killings, attacks and destruction of their property in Nigeria.

The inscriptions on placards could read, “Enough of bloodshed in Nigeria”, “Enough of unlawful killings in the country”, “FG, Release Leah Sharibu from the bondage”, “FG, Stop Herdsmen Killings”, “CAN rejects FG’s poor handling of insecurity”, etc.
“Government should be called upon to perform their constitutional responsibility of protecting citizens now. No excuse should be given for this wicked act again and perpetrators must be brought to book now.

CAN seizes this medium to appeal to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to mount different effective plans aimed towards disarming herdsmen across the northern states and in communities where they have been wreaking havoc across the country in National interest.

It notes that the failure of the government to raise an effective campaign against the killings by herdsmen is the reason they have continued to kill, while there is no visible plan to pacify the aggrieved.

The Association also calls on the heads of the security agencies to wake up to their constitutional role of protecting lives and property across the federation while preventing Nigeria from descending into chaos and a lawless country.

CAN recalls with pains, disappointments, and worries how Nigerians in the North East, Middle Belt and southern parts of Nigeria become visibly endangered with sustained attacks from Boko Haram, herders and armed bandits. It contends that such developments are not only inimical to the progress of Nigeria, they will continue to weaken the unity of the country if left unchecked

CAN urges all and sundry to continue to pray for peace and tranquillity of Nigeria and most importantly, for the parents and relations of all abducted schoolchildren.

Christians across the federation should also not forget to pray for the bereaved families of those attacked by the Boko Haram terrorists, armed herdsmen, bandits and other criminals in the past couple of months in Nigeria.

Lastly, It reminds Christians across the federation the importance of the forth coming general election and the need for them to fully participate this time, by trooping to obtain their voters cards with which to play a role in the emergence of new set of political leaders in Nigeria during next years elections who could guarantee their security and safety.

Signed

Pastor Adebayo Oladeji,
Special Assistant, (Media&Communications) to the CAN President, his eminence, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle. 

Herdsmen Attacks: condemnation not enough: - HURIWA tells Buhari

The latest bloodshed by armed Fulani gunmen in Gwer local government area council of Benue State in which 19 catholic worshippers and two catholic priests were slaughtered has attracted the ire of a human rights group – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which carpeted the lackluster approach of the federal government in containing the menace and punishing offenders sternly.


In the considered estimation of the Rights group the president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is watching whilst the country gradually sleep walks into a full blown civil war due to the mass killings by armed Fulani herdsmen and their hired freelance armed terrorists who have continued to have free reign of maximum terror even when the Fulani dominated command and control security forces watches on.

HURIWA which stoutly condemned the failure of president Buhari to declare armed Fulani herdsmen and the identifiable platform – Miyetti Allah cattle owners Association as a terrorist group has also called on the international community to intervene so the Nigerian government can be compelled to do the needful to check the killings. The Rights group warned that soon refugees from Nigeria will flood neighbouring nations which may create spectacular nightmares for the global refugees commission of the United Nations.

In a media statement signed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said Africa will be destabilized should the international community continue with the apathy and lackadaisical attitudes of 'we don't care whether Nigeria burns' of watching Nigerians as they are slaughtered in their country sides by armed Fulani herdsmen and other affiliate terrorists. "Crimes of epic proportions are going on by armed Fulani herdsmen but the United Nations and World leaders are doing nothing may be because we are blacks. One of the top officials of UN grom Nigeria is Fulani and Moslem".

“Nigeria is at the precipice of an imminent civil war if the coordinated mass killings by armed and motivated Fulani herdsmen and their registered association are not brought to justice by declaring the organization as a terrorist group and the leaders who had made statements in the media directly claiming responsibility for the attacks on farmers arrested and prosecuted.”

HURIWA blamed the Nigerian internal security heads all of whom are of the same ethnicity and religion from the North just like the suspected killers, for not adopting proactive action to stop the killing of the two catholic priests when one of the two priests had raised alarm on his social media page on the imminent invasion of his community by armed Fulani herdsmen even when the nation's intelligence community spends billions of dollars monitoring activities of the 16 million active account holders on the popular social media platform of Facebook".

“We have consistently condemned the lopsided top security appointments by president Buhari -a Fulani from Northern Nigeria who gave all the strategic national security and intelligence gathering agencies to his kinsmen from same ethnic-religions group as against constitutional provision on federal character principles which outlaws concentration of top flight jobs in the hands of just a few ethno religious communities."

HURIWA recalled that the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi had confirmed the killing of two of its priests, Rev Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, in an early hour attack on St Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor, Mbalom in Gwer West Local Government Council of Benue.

HURIWA recalled that a statement by its Director of Communications, Rev Fr Moses Iorapuu, said that the attacks were perpetrated by herdsmen who stormed the Mbalom community and killed the two priests during the morning mass at the church.

HURIWA quoted the Diocese as expressing regret at the nonchalant attitude of the security agencies in containing the killings even as the Rights group said it has confirmed from authoritative sources that the herdsmen, who stormed the community, burnt down houses, destroyed crops and killed people.

HURIWA recalled that the church, therefore, urged the relevant authorities to stop the killings in the Benue valley. Iorapuu said the Diocese had been active in providing food and relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) since the onset of hostilities in the state and wondered why it could be marked as a target of attacks.

HURIWA shares the sentiment with the affected community that “The attack on the priests is an attack on everything that we ever stood for and believed in.”

HURIWA recalled that Rev. Fr. Gor had before the attack written on Facebook; “Living in fear. The Fulani herdsmen are still around us in Mbalom. They refuse to go. They still go grazing around us. No weapons to depend on ourselves”.

HURIWA stated that security forces did nothing but the daredevil Herdsmen in the early hours of the morning attacked a Catholic Church and parishioners who went for 5.30 a.m. mass even as impeccable reports say the bodies of the dead have been taken to St. Theresa’s Hospital Makurdi.

PRESS RELEASE

The attention of the Management of National Youth Service Corps has been drawn to a publication of the Authority Newspaper of Tuesday, 24^th April, 2018 captioned; ‘‘NYSC Introduces Sharia in FCT Camp’’.

The writer in the publication claimed that the NYSC scheme in FCT camp Kubwa has introduced Sharia practice including the banning of sales of alcoholic drinks and non-socialization of male and female corps members.

The NYSC Management views this allegation very seriously and wishes to state that there is nothing like Introduction of Sharia Practice in any NYSC Orientation Camp including the FCT Camp.

 However, Management wishes to state that the scheme runs a prototype policy in all NYSC Orientation Camps Nationwide. The camps are coordinated with a uniform timetable. There is also freedom of worship for both Muslim and Christian corps members.

On the issue of restriction of socialization of male and female Corps Members, this again negates the whole essence of the scheme as it is not possible for any camp management to stop the social integration of corps members in an orientation camp. For the avoidance of doubt, corps members are grouped into platoons and it comprises both male and female and they carry out all camp activities together. 

The general public and especially serving Corps Members should disregard the issue of introduction of Sharia in FCT or any other orientation camp nationwide.

Signed

Management

Soldiers’ burning of Benue community is a crime against humanity:- says HURIWA

Describing it as the most despicable crime against humanity, a leading civil rights body – HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the reported burning by soldiers of 300 houses in Naka, in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue state.

HURIWA has also condemned the reported harassment of civilians by soldiers of civilians in Taraba State and charged them to go after armed Fulani herdsmen launching incessant attacks on farming communities.

The group has therefore tasked the chief of Army staff Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai to fish out the soldiers responsible for this dastardly crime against humanity and civility so they are prosecuted and punished by the competent court of law.

Besides, HURIWA has asked the military high command to immediately carry out comprehensive assessment of The area whereby it's men carried put coordinated and willful arson with the hope of rebuilding the burnt houses and ensure payment of compensations to the civilians rendered homeless and injured by the heartless and horrendous pre-meditated attacks reportedly launched by irate soldiers. HURIWA also condemned the burning to death of a sick old man by the rampaging soldiers. 

In a media statement endorsed jointly by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA which also condemned the reported killing of a soldier which led to the burning of 300 houses in the Benue Community, however stated that the military as an institution created by the constitution cannot resort to self-help measures. HURIWA has therefore asked law enforcement agents to use lawful means to fish out the killers of the soldier so they are made to face the full weight of the law. 

The Rights group regretted that whilst on one hand the hierarchy of the Army seems to be telling the public that it has set up departments for promotion of civil/military relations and human rights, some unruly soldiers lacking professionalism and discipline are involved in the pre-meditated violent attack of a whole community in retaliation for the killing of a soldier.

Wondering why the soldiers did not allow the due process of the law to take place so the properly constituted law enforcement mechanisms are activated to provide redress and justice for the unwarranted murder of the soldier, HURIWA challenged the federal government to ensure that this gross abuse of the human rights of Naka community is rapidly redressed and the soldiers responsible arrested, prosecuted and punished.

“The adoption of self-help measures and the violent setting ablaze of civilian places of habitation because of the dastardly crime of the murder in cold blood of a soldier is in direct confrontation to the rule of engagement and the provisions of the constitution which in section 6 provides that only the courts of competent jurisdiction can bring about civilized sanctions on convicted offenders.”

The Rights group lamented that soldiers have continued to attack communities after every provocation by the civil populace right from the erstwhile president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration till date just as it stated that soldiers must be made subservient to the constitution and the laws of the nation state since no institution is bigger than the law.

“We absolutely condemn this reckless conduct of these soldiers who proceeded to set ablaze a community only because one of the soldiers was killed. What has become the place of law and order? How can a constitutional democracy be sustained as a practice in Nigeria if armed security forces decide to inflict collective punishment on an entire community for perceived offence of some unknown hoodlums who may not even be the residents of the said community?”

HURIWA recalled that Some gunmen in Nigerian Army uniform invaded Naka, the headquarters of Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State, and set over 300 houses ablaze. Also in the early hours of  of same day, armed Fulani herdsmen launched an attack on Agasha, a community near Governor Samuel Ortom’s district and killed six people.

HURIWA recalled that these developments in Benue came even as Governor Dairus Ishaku of Taraba state raised the alarm over the increased harassment of people of Taraba State by military personnel sent to fight killer herdsmen operating in the area. 

HURIWA recalled that the Gwer West Local Government Chairman, Mr. Francis Ayagah, told journalists that the said soldiers stormed the area about 11am and began burning houses. Ayagah could not immediately confirm casualty figures, but said the ‘soldiers’ were on a reprisal over the killing of one of their colleagues near the community on Wednesday. He said: “A soldier was allegedly killed by hoodlums on Wednesday, but I met with the Brigade Commander about 4:30amtoday (yesterday).” Ayagah added that over 300 houses were burnt.

HURIWA quoted the local council boss as admitting that the Brigade commander gave him a list of suspects and that his officials from his local council of Gwer west arrested five of them overnight just as he stated that it was while they were trying to take them to the brigade commander that soldiers stormed the town and started burning houses. 

HURIWA recalled that the local council boss stated thus: “A whole part of the town has been completely burnt down and we are appealing for help and understanding from the soldiers,” the chairman said. He added that homes of citizens were mostly affected rather than those of the suspected killers of the soldier."

HURIWA recalled that the local government Information Officer, Mr. Francis Ugbede, said a 65-year-old man, who was sick and could not be carried when the soldiers invaded the community, was burnt inside one of the buildings. The operation lasted over two hours within which more than 300 houses and property worth billions of naira were destroyed. Naka is about 45 kilometers from Makurdi, the state capital.

HURIWA has therefore tasked the Army's high command which recently launched military rules of engagement that obliges armed soldiers to abide by due process of the law, to set up internal probe panel to determine the identities of the soldiers that undertook the burning of Naka community with a view to bringing justice to them for carrying out this dastardly crime against humanity. "A situation whereby soldiers or police takes the law into their hands and go after perceived killers of their operative and in the process expose an entire community to violence of unmitigated proportions must not be normalized in Nigeria of this 21st century".

Police as attack dogs By Emmanuel Onwubiko

The incredible decline in the standard and quality of policing by the Nigeria police force has reached an unprecedented alarming rate with their naked dance of shame in the political market place.
Apart from the loud cry from majority of the common people about the increasing rate of police extortions on road blocks especially in the South East of Nigeria and the worsening cases of police brutality and extra-legal killings, the expanding frontiers of the involvement of officers of the Nigeria police in partisan politics and their availability for hatchet jobs against political opponents of the president and persons with independent opinion have become very disturbing. The police operatives have literally become PAY- AS- GO police or what is popularly called "money for hand, back for ground. The level of corruption, indiscipline and collapse of professionalism are way beyond what a bureaucracy like the police service commission can handle given the deliberate poor funding of that important institution and the stiffking of its independence status as against constitutional provisions. The rascality of the police knows no bounds especially when they are choreographed to deal with opposition politicians and people protesting against oppression and suppression of human rights.

And so on Monday April 23^rd 2018, a Senator Mr. Dino Melaye was harassed and detained by the police on the orders of the Inspector General of Police on the rebellious charge that a criminal suspect arrested in Kogi state named him as an accomplice. His planned foreign official trip to Morocco was aborted.
In his own words, Senator Melaye said that: “‎Myself and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and others were to be on an official trip to Morocco but while some have gone through the Lagos airport today, others are to depart tomorrow.

“I got to this airport I was checked in and was already in the lounge waiting for departure. Immigration officers invited me that there is a directive from the police that I can’t travel; that I am on their watch list. And I said it was not true, that the INTERPOL said they had not issue an alert on me. I opened INTERPOL’s website and showed them the denial. But they insisted that it was based on the directive from the police.
“I was disembarked and asked me to go to their office (at the airport). They snatched my passport but I snatched my thing back from them. I got it back! I’m still here with them. They circled me and said they were waiting for further instructions from the police.” After some hours he walked out a free man but had already been made to miss his flight.

This Senator from Kogi state has had running political battles with the Kogi state governor Mr. Yahaya Bello who he (Dino) accused of plotting to use the police to rope him into a criminal charge that he is completely innocent of.
Few days after Senator Dino Melaye made the allegation against the police and Kogi state governor, the Kogi state police command reportedly paraded some gangsters whom they said indicted one Mr. Melaye. Two days after the arrested suspects were allowed to disappear only to be rearrested after the serving police commissioner was transferred out of Kogi but the newly posted replacement was reportedly chased back to Abuja by the Kogi state governor.

The Nigeria police is so predictable in terms of setting up innocent persons whose only crime is that they are independent voices from the positions expressed in official quarters inside the presidency which controls the police like rubber stamps. On a smaller scale, most Nigerians are sometimes arrested and frame up just so they can be extorted. The Police unit incharge of anti-crime known as SARS (special anti-robbery squad) has become notorious for arbitrary arrests and false indictments of innocent citizens for monetary benefits. In some cases, innocent persons are arrested and escorted to the Automatic teller Machines so they can make withdrawals to settle the police. Last week in Lagos, a citizen was chased by the police to the bank and told to withdraw money from his account to settle them but the man decided to hide inside the toilet of the bank and made a social media broadcast of the incident but the bank staff walked him out into the waiting hands of the extortion seeking police armed with sophisticated bought with tax payers money. The most worrying development is the harassment of political opponents of the President of state governors.

Another of such independent minded Senator who like Dino Melaye is of the same ruling All Progressives Congress Mr. Shehu Sani has just been similarly invited by the Kaduna state police command on the infantile allegation that a murder suspect listed him as a collaborator.
Shehu Sani who represents Kaduna Central and doubles as Senate Committee Chairman on foreign and local loans is at loggerhead with the Kaduna state governor for turning down the approval of multimillion dollars loan from the World Bank as applied by Governor Nassir Elrufai. The Kaduna state governor does not see eye to eye with all the federal law makers from Kaduna state because they accused him of taking over the party structure in Kafuna as against the legal provisions that allows for internal democracy within political parties.

The interesting dimension in all of these two scenarios is that the state governors are neck deep in the sinister plots to rope in the duo of Senator Melaye and Shehu Sani only because they are outspoken and have refused to toe the slavish party line of the President or that of these self-seeking governors.
Shehu Sani it would be recalled has had several attacks made against his life even as one of his personal aides was kidnapped sometime back.
How come that this irrepressible human rights activist turned politician is being roped into a phantom murder case that he knows nothing about just because of his political differences with his state governor?

There is something fundamentally wrong with a police force whose commissioners are ready to undermine the constitution at the altar of self-aggrandizement for financial benefits.
It is a well-known fact that state governors pay huge amounts of running costs to the state commissioners of police whose duties are not in a lot of ways funded by the office of the Inspector General of police and/or the police department under the ministry of interior. The inspector General of Police is accused of a range of financial misconduct.

A serving senator Mr. Isah Hamma Misau from Bauchi state had recently made earth shaking allegations of corruption and financial misconducts against the inspector general of police but the presidency has conveniently buried these disturbing allegations under the carpets of impunity and has instead charged the whistleblower with raising false alarm. What a banana republic!
Apart from making themselves available as attack dogs of the executive arm of government, the police has become so repressive so much so that they are now grave threat to democracy and are working directly against the provisions of the constitution in chapter four which guarantees fundamental freedoms to the citizenry. Police in Nigeria are substantially working as public enemies.

Year in, year out, human right reports from the state department of the United States of America and that of Amnesty International based in the United Kingdom have always identified the Nigeria police as notorious violators of human rights but sadly, because the presidency and other heads of subnational executive branch of government benefits from these abuses, the thirst for effectively changing the face of the police has remained elusive.
Last week, the police barricaded the Unity fountain in Abuja and physically violated the fundamental rights of non-violent members of the Islamic movement of Nigeria who are demonstrating against the continuous illegal detention of their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zaczacky.

Because of the oppressive and repressive tendencies of the Nigeria police, the members of the Islamic movement of Nigeria who turned out in their thousands were dispersed with tear gas canisters and when some of the protesters threw back pebbles, it was reported that the police were now joined by the army who then opened fire with live bullets which led to the death of some protesters.
What kind of constitutional democracy will the civil right peaceful protests repressed?

These same police operatives shot and killed protesters in Owerri few months back when the people resisted the demolition of Eke Ukwu market by the Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration.
These police extra-legal killings have continued because nobody is brought to account.
Talking about the lack of accountability, one recalls the setting ablaze of a community in Benue state last week by the Army on the ground that a soldier was killed in that community.

These same people of Benue state have continued to go through series of armed attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen who had protested against the passage of the anti-open grazing law by the Benue state house of Assembly. Sadly, both the military and the police seem to have done very little whilst the killing go on.

It is hoped that now that the police have taken their attacks to the members of the National Assembly may be the legislators will use their powers to bring about change in the police force that has become notorious for professional incompetence, indiscipline and grossly corrupt. Last week the police alongside the DSS colluded to allow armed hoodlums to invade the Senate chambers and snatched the mace at gunpoint even after forcefully reinstating the suspended senator ovie Omo-Agege.

*Emmanuel Onwubiko heads the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria and blogs@www.emmanuelonwubiko.com, www.huriwanigeria.com; www.huriwa.blogspot.com.

SAME SEX: Don’t Listen to British PM – CAN Counsels Buhari

The Christian Association of Nigeria has advised the Federal Government not to bow to counsel by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on same sex marriage and never take it serious.
May was quoted saying; “As the UK’s Prime Minister, I deeply regret that those laws were introduce…as a family, we must respect one another’s cultures and traditions, but we must do so in a manner consistent with equality, as it is clearly stated in the Commonwealth
charter. 

The Prime Minister added, “Nobody should face discrimination or persecution because of who they are or who they love and the UK stands ready to help any Commonwealth member wanting to reform outdated legislation that makes such discrimination possible.”

However, CAN noted that the position by Theresa May was ungodly, satanic,
reprehensible, condemnable and should be rejected by all right thinking people globally, especially in Nigeria.
It said that Nigerians had unanimously resolved to do away with same sex marriage and had affirmed that by legislation to that effect. 

It said, Nigeria cannot return to its vomit mainly because of a view canvassed
by the British Prime Minister.
CAN said, “If we may remind the British authorities, the same-sex marriage contradicts the position of the Scripture and any human law that contradicts the Bible cannot stand. 

God is the author of marriage and He stated it clearly that it involves a man and a woman.
In addition, The Bible states: “A man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24).Jesus our Saviour confirmed that marriage should be “male and female.”—Matthew 19:4. 

“The plan of God for marriage is very clear. Men and women are designed to complement each other so they may be capable of satisfying each other’s emotional and sexual needs and of providing children. 

“The Bible condemns homosexuality as an immoral and unnatural sin. Leviticus 18:22 identifies homosexual sex as an abomination, a detestable sin. Romans 1:26-27 declares homosexual desires and actions to be shameful, unnatural, lustful, and indecent. First Corinthians 6:9 states that homosexuals are unrighteous and will not inherit the kingdom of God. Since both homosexual desires and actions are condemned in the Bible, it is clear that homosexuals “marrying” is not God’s will, and would be, in fact, sinful. 

This is the position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and any government that dares to make same sex marriage lawful is not only asking for the wrath of God but that of the Christians and other well meaning Nigerians.
The fact that British authorities or all countries of the world practise or allow it does not make it right. Whatever that is ungodly is unacceptable to CAN and to Nigerians. The British Prime Minister should take a lesson from all animals in the bush. As wild as beasts may be, they never contemplate till today indecent sexual relationship of same sex. Same sex marriage is Sodomy and it was one of the major reasons God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. No human right should set aside the commandment of God. Man cannot be God to himself/herself. 

Same sex marriage is not acceptable in Nigeria because it is human madness and CAN is confident that our government will never contemplate introducing it.

For the sake of emphasis, CAN stands by the moral situations according to the Holy Book. We contend that on no account should our government bow to pressure by making Nigeria capitulate while embracing strange culture that allows barren amorous relationship between same sex, not in tandem with mother nature.

The sovereignty of Nigeria allows it to stick fervently to its good law, morals and values and to reject any influence by strange cultures from other climes that is anti-human.

Signed
Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media & Communications) to
the CAN President,  His Eminence, Rev Dr Samson Olasupo Ayokunle.

DOES BUHARI LOVE NYSC? By Emmanuel Onwubiko

A phenomenal coincidence has just occurred which defied the belief in African cosmology that thunder does not strike twice in one place. In this coincidental phenomena, we can affirm figuratively that thunder struck twice at a place.

This phenomenal coincidence being talked about here are the statement attributed to President Muhammadu Buhari in which he affirmed that sixty percent of Nigerian youths are lazy and uneducated.

The second leg of this coincidence is that in this same week that president Buhari made the statement about some Nigerian youths, the serving Military General he appointed to head the National youths service corps scheme (NYSC) Brigadier General Suleiman Kazaure clocked two years in office.

Whereas president Buhari’s speech about the Nigerian youths has attracted bad blood and considerable consternation amongst the youth, the reality within the current dispensation in the NYSC shows that President Buhari truly loves youth-related initiatives such as the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC). This conclusion is drawn from findings this writer made from impeccable quarters within the NYSC.

As a leading stakeholder in the organized civil society community who has followed developments within the NYSC scheme in the past two decades, I can comfortably state that the current administration has performed creditably in terms of the existence of the enabling environment for the management to implement entrepreneurial and other human development measures and initiatives aimed at turning participants in the National Youth Service into employers of labour and creators of wealth. The focus on improving the standards of facilities within the NYSC's camps has received a pride of place. One big minus however is the poor financial status of the NYSC which if significantly marked up by government and efficiently managed could make the NYSC to become a pride of Nigeria in a very positive way and for prolonged periods of time. The President was once quoted to have told participants of NYSC in Katrina state who visited him over the Sallah break that he has an undying passion to see to it that the NYSC meets its statutory mandates.

The stories coming from both official and unofficial quarters show that the current presidency has shown remarkable disposition to ensure stability in the programmes of NYSC created over three decades ago to promote national integration, peace and unity amongst Nigerians in their rich diversities. The President has also inaugurated a governing board whose membership ate drawn from diverse illustrious fields including the academia, civil society amongst other professional bodies.
What comes out of all these positives, is that it may indeed not be totally correct to rate the current administration as that which derides the youth population because if the president is being credited with progressively ensuring the smooth running of the national youth service scheme, he cannot be judged to hate the youths.

Also, the symbolic celebration of the two years in office of the current Director General of NYSC, has further established the factuality in the claims made by the owner of Facebook and the President of Nigeria last year that Nigerian Youths are gifted with lots of creative potentials and talents. This much has emanated from the results of the many creative and innovative self-development programmes introduced and currently funded by the management of NYSC. This writer only hopes that these great programmes with significant goals for the development and advancement of youth to attain self-actualization will not be abandoned half way. The management needs to improve upon the principles of transparency, accountability and openness. The management must operate a people friendly regime that will open up the agency to the positive partnership of credible civil rights bodies. There is however a point that must be applauded in the area of the aggressive implementation of entrepreneurial skills being disseminated to the participants of the NYSC which to me is a tremendous feat.

Therefore,  it is appropriate to state without equivocation that the consistent funding of vocational and entrepreneurial skills acquisition schemes by the current Director General and the management team at the NYSC and the revival of the cultural festival by youths are clear evidences of what Mark Zuckerberg and President Buhari stated about the Nigerian Youth.

What did they say? You may ask.

The Chief Executive Officer and founder of social networking website, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said he was blown away by the talent and level of energy of the Nigerian youth that he saw at the Co-creation Hub in Yaba, Lagos.

Zuckerberg, who was speaking during a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, added that he was also impressed by the interest and entrepreneurial spirit displayed by other young Nigerians in all the ICT camps he visited.

Zuckerberg told the president that he was in the country to promote the penetration of “fast and cheap” internet connectivity (Express-wifi) that would help people create online businesses and reduce poverty.

President Buhari who commended the simplicity of Zuckerberg, thanked him for sharing his wealth of knowledge with Nigerian youths, and inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Buhari noted that the simplicity and magnanimity of the entrepreneur, who is among the world’s richest men, had also challenged the culture of lavish wealth display and impulsive spending that had become peculiar to Nigerians.

“In our culture, we are not used to seeing successful people appear like you. We are not used to seeing successful people jogging and sweating on the streets. We are more used to seeing successful people in air-conditioned places. We are happy you are well-off and simple enough to always share,’’ he added.
Buhari said the various meetings held with Nigerian youths since his arrival were most timely as the country was already exploring opportunities to spur development through entrepreneurship.

“Nigeria has always been identified as a country with great potential for growth, especially with our youthful population, but now we are moving beyond the potential to reality,” the president said.

Also speaking, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo thanked Zuckerberg for coming to Nigeria.

He said: “One of the great things you have demonstrated is that it is possible to live your dream; it is possible to make your dreams not just come true but come true so fabulously that it will not only influence your environment but you will influence the whole world.

“One of the things you have done is really to create connectivity across the world so that people are really able to interact across tribe, race, countries and feel as part of one family and one faith.”
Osinbajo said that Zuckerberg’s coming to Nigeria had been especially energizing not just for the young people but for everyone else.

“As you can see am on Facebook and the president is also on Facebook; so, we are part of the 17 million”, he added.
The vice president said the country was being built on the energy and the innovation and on the creativity of the young people.
He said: “I believe very strongly that today, young people are included and no one has a choice in that matter. Today, technology has created a level playing field; technology has made it possible for you to seat somewhere, in your office or living room to create wealth, to create connectivity, to create all manner of things across the world.”

After meeting with Buhari, Zuckerberg attended a demonstration by leading Nigerian start-ups, tech executives, business and venture capitalists.
Among the 30 selected start-ups, three were finally selected and each will receive a N2million winning prize. The event was supported by Airtel, Diamond Bank and a host of others.
Addressing the select start-ups, Zukerberg said it was inspiring to see what Nigerian youth have been able to do with technology.

He said: “This trip has really blown me away by the talents of young entrepreneurs and developers in this country, and making a difference and making a change.
“It reminds me of when I wanted to start Facebook. I wasn’t starting a company at the time but wanted to build something to see if it would work. And that is what I see people here do, pushing through challenges, building things that you want to see in the world. You are not just going to change Nigeria and the whole of Africa but the whole world,” he added.

President Muhammadu Buhari on his own in a related development congratulated renowned hip-hop artistes, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, a.k.a WizKid, and David Adedeji Adeleke, a.k.a Davido, on their awards at the Music of Black Origin (MOBO).

In a statement by his media adviser, Femi Adesina, President Buhari joined the teeming fans of the two Nigerian artistes in Nigeria and all over the world to celebrate the highly deserved and meritorious recognition.

WizKid won “International Best Artist’’ award, while Davido picked the “Best African Act’’.
The President affirmed that both singers have showcased the rich talents in the country, and brought pride to the nation through their many songs and performances. He commended their dedication, hard work and charity works.

President Buhari also called on the upwardly mobile artistes to be cautious and mindful of likely distractions to their careers, urging WizKid and Davido to serve as ambassadors of the country and role models to upcoming musicians.

In the award on Wednesday night, Wizkid beat a strong field including Jay-Z, Drake, Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar to net the best international artist prize.
Other artists edged out by Wizkid are Cardi B, DJ Khaled, Migos, Solange Knowles, SZA
Davido, also emerged the best African Act for the year, beating a field of artists, including Wizkid to get the award. The other artists in the pack were: Eugy, Juls, Maleek Berry, Mr Eazi, Sarkodie, Tekno, Tiwa Savage and Wande Coal. Wizkid won the award in 2016.

The MOBO awards, which started in 1996, is Europe’s music award event. It is the most important and influential event for music makers and fans, perhaps Europe’s equivalent of Grammy. It recognizes and honours the artistic and technical achievements of exceptional British and international talent in the musical fields of Hip Hop, Grime, RnB/Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Gospel, and African music.

The President affirmed that both singers have showcased the rich talents in the country, and brought pride to the nation through their many songs and performances. He commended their dedication, hard work and charity works.

I'm convinced that the much talked about enabling environment reportedly created by President Muhammadu Buhari has made it possible for the management of NYSC to implement the programmes that ensure that Corps members are given the opportunity to learn vocational skills of their choice starting from the Orientation Camp and through the service year, to prepare them for self-employment at the end of their national assignment.

A source with vast knowledge of the NYSC told me that the man General Kazaure, through deepening of the existing partnerships between the Scheme and the private sector, expedited the building of integrated skills acquisition centres in the six geopolitical zones of the country to facilitate post-Camp skills training.

The source noted that two of such infrastructures are in Ekiti and Gombe States and tgat they have been completed, while that of Delta State is ongoing. The NYSC must also erect similar facilities in the South East of Nigeria and the Niger Delta region given that these zones produce the largest pool of graduates of Nigerian origin.

Another source who volunteered information told me that the DG further facilitated the provision of credit facilities for Corps members through collaboration with banks and the launching of Job Portal as well as SAED connect platforms which have expanded opportunities and created alternative platforms for training and mentorship of Corps members nationwide.

Asked to evaluate the DG in the last two years, my source said as follows: "A good manager of human resource, General Kazaure’s belief that motivation of staff, through enhancement of welfare provisions, is the surest way to get the best out of them apparently informed his unwavering commitment to evolving confidence building measures aimed at engendering industrial harmony. It is on record that on assumption of duty he immediately cleared the backlog of unpaid staff entitlements and restored other statutory staff allowances. In addition, a greater percentage of staff of the Scheme that sat for promotion exam in the past two years was promoted".

Whilst researching on this piece, i stumbled on another knowledgeable commentator who doesn't work in NYSC but has extensive interest in the affairs of youth stated that: "A monumental achievement recorded under Kazaure’s administration; include the resuscitation and revitalization of vital but moribund projects and programmes of the NYSC. In line with the Federal Government agenda to diversify the economy through harnessing the country’s potentials in the non-oil sector, the Scheme under Kazaure’s leadership has begun resuscitating its moribund agricultural projects through the establishment of Integrated Farm Settlements in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country. Four of them located in FCT, Bauchi, Kebbi and Oyo States are already operational, equipped with modern farm implements, Corps lodges, storage and other facilities required to facilitate optimum yield as a strategic support for the food security initiative of the Federal Government.  These farm Settlements produce various crops including rice, cassava, maize and cowpea as well as poultry. The farms serve the dual purpose of contributing to Government’s objective of actualizing self-sufficiency in food production and training grounds for corps members interested in the agricultural component of the NYSC Ventures programme."

I ran into an official who told me that: "In order to increase the visibility of the Scheme, the NYSC DG has invigorated the existing programmes and collaborations of the Scheme with many Government and Non-Governmental organizations and brought on board new ones including the partnership with European Union and the Pan African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS) aimed at checking, through proper enlightenment, the increasing number of Nigerian youths involved in illegal migration to Europe and other parts of the world in search of greener pastures".

According to her, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has also expanded its partnership with the NYSC to enhance the credibility of her UTME using the services of Corps members for its newly introduced ICT based tests.

"Other new robust partnerships include NYSC/SDGs Champions programme, Great Green Wall project with the Federal Ministry of Environment, Peer Group Education on Financial inclusion project with the CBN as well as Engaging Nigerian Girls in New Enterprise (ENGINE) collaboration with Mercy Corps."

A media consultant stated that:  "Indeed, the NYSC has become a beautiful bride to many Government and private organizations who fall over themselves to partner with the Scheme as a result of the realization that the active presence of the NYSC in all the Local Governments of the Country puts it in a better position to domesticate any programme or project at the grass root level.”

Lastly, my appeal to the President and the National Assembly is to improve the funding status of the NYSC scheme. I also think that since NYSC is in the ministry of Youth and sports, the NYSC should deliberately establish viable sporting clubs in the track and field so talented youthful sports professionals are groomed. The current NYSC management should set up amateur and professional football, basketball, lawn tennis, table tennis teams and Athletics teams who can be sponsored locally and internationally to compete in tournaments eveb as football academies should be established by NYSC to groom and discover talents for exports so the scheme can generate incomes from such financially rewarding and profitable football league's in Europe and America and even China.

Emmanuel Onwubiko heads the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA andblogs@www.huriwa.blogspot.com; www.emmanuelonwubiko.com; www.huriwanigeria.com.