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2023 polls: Thank God Nigerian military have learnt their lessons – Kukah

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The fact that the Nigerian military have decided to remain in the barracks despite all that have been happening in the polity with its skewed elections, is a development which must be celebrated, Mathew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto State, has said.

“Having lived in this country, we know that there are many things that have happened that if they had happened 20 years ago, we would be under military rule. But the fact that even the soldiers themselves have decided that they will keep their hands behind their backs and that no editorials have been written calling for the military to take over suggests that Nigerians are committed to a democratic culture.”

Kukah, one of the conveners of the National Peace Committee (NPC), the body that engages politicians to play by the rules by signing documents committing to shunning violence during elections, was speaking on Wednesday as a guest on The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on Arise Television. Clarifying on the import of the accord politicians were being enjoined to sign to avoid electoral violence, he emphasised the need for a realistic perspective, arguing that Nigerians had mainly misunderstood the argument.

Hear him: “I think there’s a total misconception on the work of the peace committee, and we continue to hear people say, ‘I’ve signed this agreement and nothing has happened. What is the peace committee doing about it?’ I repeat what I’ve always said in response to all this: the promises that we all make are subject to all kinds of circumstances and conditions.

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“Merely making the promises does not guarantee that life is going to be hunky-dory. But as the problems emerge, people have to find a way of resolving those problems while keeping their eye ahead of what stability ought to be.

“Similarly, when we call people to sign this accord, we also have a duty and responsibility to engage them. That means ordinary Nigerians should acquaint themselves with the contents of the peace accord that is being signed. We must continue to hold the feet of these people to the fire.”

Quoting former British Prime Minister John Major’s speech, highlighting that challenges and contestation were inherent to democratic processes, he emphasised the importance of strengthening democratic institutions, saying: “It is natural that we’ll have this contestation.

“The question is for us to grow the institutions around which democracy functions, to radically struggle to ensure that the hands of the judiciary are tied behind their backs and they have nothing to do with electoral outcomes. That means academics, intellectuals, and civil society groups must debate the issues with the National Assembly and hope that we can mend the laws because it is the nature and quality of the laws that is eliciting this kind of reaction.

“We are relatively new to this game, and we are not getting what we deserve, but we must keep our eyes on the ball and ensure that the next election is better than the next election. It is long coming, but we must continue relentlessly because it’s the only guarantee against war.”

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Kukah also assessed the six month administration of President Bola Tinubu, expressing concerns one of the challenges was the absence of clear-cut communication with Nigerians clearly explaining the direction of the government on its policies and programmes.

He said: “I think one of the biggest challenges this government has faced is the quality of its communication and the quality of the types of strategies it has adopted in trying to communicate with Nigerians. I think that people’s hearts might be in the right place, but the quality of decisions that have been made, whether it is fuel subsidy removal or certain policy decisions that have unleashed untold suffering on ordinary Nigerians, everybody can see it. But I think the government needs to have a conversation that suggests to Nigerians that look, we are on the road to Golgotha, but there is going to be redemption, and we need a sequencing of outcomes.

“That is okay if we do this; there will be suffering for this amount of time, and this is what we are supposed to see. I think that hasn’t come out and is largely responsible for the anxiety and the frustrations that ordinary Nigerians now face. I think it’s a little too early for us to say things are one way or the other, but given the volatility in the market and its impact on the lives of Nigerians, this government’s intentions need to be more properly calibrated and articulated. Otherwise, people are going to get very despondent sooner than later despite the good intentions.”

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BREAKING: Entire PDP structure in Delta empties into APC

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Sheriff Oborevwori, Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, his predecessor and all members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, on Wednesday emptied into the All Progressives Congress (APC), ending months of speculations about the political development in the oil-rich state.

James Manager, Senator formerly representing Delta South at the National Assembly, who announced the move in Asaba, the state capital, shortly after a meeting that lasted over six hours at Government House, Asaba, said the state could not afford to allow itself drift away.

“All PDP members in the state, including the governor, former Governor Okowa, the Speaker, the state party chairman, all the local government chairmen and others, have agreed to move to the APC. We cannot continue to be in a sinking boat,” he said.

Aniagwu Charles, Delta State Commissioner for Information, who confirmed the development, said the defection, was a collective decision of Delta PDP leaders and stakeholders, adding: “There is a need for us to adjust our drinking patterns. And in adjusting that drinking pattern, we needed to make a decision that would further help to cement the development in our state, to build the court of law that has existed in our state, to further advance the cause of security and the welfare of our people, and, to a large extent, ensure that development in Delta is not truncated.

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“In taking that decision, we concluded that leaving the PDP was very necessary for us to be able to collaborate and build a state that every Deltan will be proud of. We believe that what is happening, and the state of the PDP, is akin to that palm wine whose taste has changed — and there was a need for us to change the drinking party. By the grace of God, on Monday next week, we will be able to make a very big statement confirming that we are moving into the APC.”

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Edo community in protest: Fulanis still killing, raping, destroying our farms

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Agbede community in Etsako West local government area of Edo State, rose in protests on Wednesday, complaining of continued kidnapping and killing by Fulani herdsmen, who they say have taken over their bushes and those of the surrounding neighbours.

Accusing the alleged marauders of killing and maiming those who could not pay ransom, as well as raping women and dislodging farmers from their farmlands, the community, who took to the streets in demonstrations, lamented that help had refused to come from anywhere including security agencies.

Agbede, and surrounding villages, including Odighie, Egono and Awain, they said, had been under siege in the past two months while efforts to get the assistance of the police in the area had ended in futilities, accusing them of complicity, with senior police officers from the northern part of the country covering up the criminals.

“Farm destruction, killings, rapes, and kidnappings for ransom have become disturbingly common and the police, instead of protecting the communities, they seem to be aiding and abetting the Fulani herders against the aborigines.

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“The DPO at the Agbede Police Station, the Police Area Command in Auchi, and the Zone Five Office in Benin are not helping matters as we are suspecting them to be backing the herders with lining orders which is now creating fear amongst the people over their genuine protection and safety.”

Vanguard quoted a member of the community who did not want his name on the print as accusing the police of using blackmail, harassment, and detention to intimidate vigilantes and hunters who dare to challenge the Fulani invaders, while forcing the locals to sign undertakings not to confront the herders.

Still maintaining the allegation, he also claimed that those arrested in connection with the atrocities were usually promptly released within a few hours of arrest, adding: “Mamudu Momoh was attacked on his farm after he met some herdsmen taking over the farms, uprooting his cassava to feed their cows and in the process, he was attacked and injured.

“He went to the Agbede Police Division to report the case. The case was later turned against him, he was arrested and taken to Zone 5, where he was detained, and the community spent a lot of money to secure his release.

“There is another farmer in the community, Idris, who has been kidnapped by the herdsmen for over a month now and ransom has been paid, the man is yet to be released up till today. We are asking the inspector general of police to withdraw the DPO of the Agbede Police division who is a Northerner without which the Agbede community will never know peace in the hands of the herdsmen who are everywhere in our bush claiming to be hunters.

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However Moses Yamu, Chief Superintendent of Police, and spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, was quoted as debunking the allegations, saying that the officers and men of Agbede Police division have been working round the clock to deal with the herdsmen situation in the area.

Narrating how the police from the division, with a backup from Auchi Area command, had already arrested over 10 suspected kidnappers in that axis who were currently being investigated, he said the community were not fair to the police in their protest, especially to the zone 5 Command.

He was quoted as saying particularly that the protest coming less than two weeks after the Inspector General (AIG) in charge of the zone had just assumed duties, was not a good welcome package by the community for him, especially with the allegation of abetting the said crimes.

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Benue: Alia wants Fulani chased out from seized land, rejects emergency rule  

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What Benue State needs now is to secure its boarders with its neighbours and to assist it in flush out Fulani herdsmen and bandits from the land they have taken over after chasing away the original owners, who are now in various Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) camps.

Hyacinth Alia, Governor of the state, declared this stance on Wednesday, while appearing as a guest on The Morning Show, the breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS Network.

The governor, who spoke on a range of issues regarding the attacks with close to 100 persons slaughtered by invading armed groups, he identified as Fulanis from foreign lands, Alia, a Reverend Father of the Catholic Church faith, rejected the idea of imposing state of emergency in the state, saying what the people of needed at the moment was help from the Federal Government.

Stating how he was able to contain the activities of the killers in the state from 17 to just six local government areas, he said his administration had the capability to end the killings, if only it could get the needed support to further deal with the situation.

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He said: “What we need is emergency help for now. We need absolute support. The federal government is supported. They sent two armoured tanks that came in. Our situation had changed. We had a better narrative, but what we need to do is to get our people back home, to drive out the invaders, the armed invaders who have brought in people who do not even speak the Nigerian languages we speak. Let them move back to wherever they came from and allow us farmers to go back to our ancestral land. Calling for any emergency does not occur here.”

Dismissing the contention that the situation had overwhelmed him, he said his ability to scale down the spread of the attacks, was indicative that he had the capacity to tackle the incessant killings and destruction of properties in the state by killer herders, some of whom he believes are not Nigerians.

“We couldn’t have trimmed it from 17 local governments in the front lines of the attacks to nine and then now to six, which means we have the capability to do this, but we need help. And that is a fact,” he added.

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