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Plateau killings: Military commanders lose their job for going after killers – Kaigama
Ignatius Kaigama, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, has again raised a disturbing dimension to the killings in Plateau and elsewhere in the Middle Belt, saying military officers, were not only being restrained from cleaning up the areas, but actually get punished for going after the culprits by higher authorities.
Appearing on Hardtalk, a Channels Television public affairs programme, the cleric, who spoke against the backdrop of incessant killings in the country and the seeming helplessness of the security agencies to deal with the situation, regretted the absence of sincerity of purpose in the entire operations to eradicate the menace.
Hear him: “We need to be sincere, but beginning with the authorities. When you send security agents there to deal with these issues, you should give them a free hand to do so, but you would most times hear a general or senior police officer telling you they haven’t had directives from Abuja yet, or they’re about to do something and they were asked to stop.
“I conversed with one general who was retired prematurely. I would say, he told me how he was ready to deal decisively with the situation, he was ready to penetrate the nooks and crannies of where these crooks were hiding, and he was doing it, but before you know it, somebody would say ‘Oh this man has come here to kill people of our religion or people of our tribe’.
“Then, an instruction comes from Abuja saying, ‘Okay, he’s not being helpful, so remove him,’ and that is how they go one by one. But is that the solution? Before the criminals came, they (security agents) were better armed and remember it is their profession to kill, so even if you arm yourself, they come better prepared, so what does your arm do?”
The cleric who also spoke on what transpired between the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) with President Bola Tinubu, Kaigama, said it was a big insult to accuse the religious leaders of meeting the President to collect money, adding that the result of the parley, which he said was not the first time it would be taking place, would be evident, regarding if anything had changed.
His words: “Well, we usually have many meetings, and you know that in Nigeria when things happen, you set up committees, and probably that is where it ends. But for meeting with Mr. President, it was not the first time we met him. We met him even before he became President. When he was campaigning, I remember two or so weeks before the elections, we met him and we had a one-on-one encounter.
“We engaged him, gave him a memo and told him what we wanted to see in a new Nigeria. We just went to him to remind him in March. It was the reminder to tell him. ‘What we told you, we still stand by them,’ and those who don’t understand the Catholic church and how we operate, some of them thought, oh, we went there to collect some envelopes.
“It’s a very terrible insult to the integrity of the Catholic bishops. We know how to get money if we want to, and any money we get, goes back to the people; we give it out.
“Well, it’s well known to everybody, the insecurity in the country, the poverty, the hunger, the prices of things, and all that. If they have changed, you would know. I don’t need to tell you, but we did do that, we didn’t go there for our private interests. We didn’t go there to seek contracts or to ask for money or anything.
“Each time we go to the Presidency, remember he’s not the first President we have visited. From the time of (the late Sani) Abacha, (Chief Olusegun) Obasanjo, (Musa) Yar’adua, we’ve gone consistently to speak on behalf of the people. But those who are so worldly minded and very parochial in their thinking believe that when you step your foot into Government House, you have gone to ask for money. I say what a terrible insult.”
Nigeria would not be in the sort of socio-political and economic mess it is currently facing but for the cowardice of the present crop of governors, Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, said on Tuesday, saying the country needed courageous leadership at the state levels to confront the ugly situation.
As chairman at the public presentation of Sule Lamido’s autobiography titled: Being True To Myself, written by Sule Lamido, former Governor of Jigawa State, Amaechi, who later became a two-time Minister of Transportation under President Muhammadu Buhari, bewailed the parlous political situation where governors could no longer speak for the people.
Stressing the timidity of his successors, the former governor, who was apparently miffed at the rate at which opposition governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were defecting to the ruling APC, in spite the parlous economic situation in the country, he said such a crisis would never have been allowed during his own time.
Amaechi, who was chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) during Lamido’s second term, but eventually defected to the APC to lead the campaign for the election of Buhari, told his audience: “I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what is going on currently in the country, in Nigerian politics — would it have happened when we were governors?
“You said no. And the answer is no. We would confront the government, confront the President. That’s how radical we were, that’s how our governors forum operated, that’s how determined we were to change things.”
Dwelling on his relationship with the ex-Jigawa governor, who was in office between 2007 and 2015, Amaechi said their working relationship was strong, despite occasional disagreements — including Lamido’s initial objection to his election as NGF chairman.
“We were quite good friends in government. We had our bad times when we disagreed. I made the mistake of assuming he was as radical as I was. So, he was one of the governors I clung to when it came to radical decisions. The last one before we broke ranks was when we all agreed to go against President Jonathan. We formed a committee of governors and others.
“At the end of the day, he went to find a new party, the SDP. We said, ‘If we go to the SDP, we will lose the election. Let’s hang on to this one called the APC.’ He disagreed and left us. That’s where we parted ways. You must never forget the battles we fought.”
“There is no question that there are huge challenges. But if you look at the balance sheet that this President inherited — massive liabilities arising from the very reckless misuse of ways and means — you’d understand why these steps were necessary.”
These were the exact words of Adams Oshiomhole, Senator, representing Edo North at the National Assembly on the state of the Nigerian economy, expressing confidence that the way the President was going, it would not be long before the parlous situation would experience a marked improvement.
Oshiohmole, former Governor of Edo State and former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was a guest of Politics Today, a public affairs progromme on Channels Television, said on Tuesday, Nigerians were justified to feel unhappy over the rising cost of living and the closure of businesses since the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, but urged them to be patient and maintain trust in the reforms.
He added: “It’s a work in progress. The surgeon has gone to carry out the surgery. He understands that there is a level of pain — there has to be pain. But the good news is that the patient is healing. Maybe he could heal faster, but there can be no question that the patient is healing.”
Stressing on the issue of the exchange rate unification as a painful but critical decision to align supply with demand, he warned that failure to do so could have plunged the country into a Zimbabwe-like economic collapse, adding: “The consequential increase in cost of living was predictable. But if that was not done, Nigeria was on its way to Zimbabwe.
“President Tinubu deliberately chose to make all the difficult but necessary decisions in his first term to pave the way for long-term recovery. He took the right decision by insisting that in the first term, he would take all the tough decisions — prayerfully — so that as we move on, the situation improves.
“There is no magic to governance. I don’t think any Nigerian who understands the macroeconomic environment that was inherited by this government would expect that, in 24 months, everything would be fixed. Truly, this economy was badly mismanaged. This is not to blame anyone, but to speak to fact. I can say the worst is over, and we are going to begin to witness improvements in standard of living.
“As a governor, it took me time to have a holistic view of the challenges I inherited and to decide, in terms of priority, what to do first. As a Nigerian, I live in the community and among the people. I can say that there is a level of hardship, but things are improving.”
“Given where we are today in the economy, Tinubu will still win the presidential election. The President eliminated an exploitative foreign exchange regime that previously benefited only a privileged few. Tinubu abolished the ‘benefit of exchange rate’ transfer to bureau de change. Today, what he gets in exchange rate is what I get. Eliminating that free rate — which was available to a few people connected with the CBN management — took courage.”
Senate on Wednesday brushed aside the objections of Abdul Ningi, Senator representing Bauchi South at the National Assembly to commence acerated hearing on a whopping ₦1.783 trillion statutory appropriation bill for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The bill for the appropriation of the amount, came through President Bola Tinubu to the Senate in charge of making laws for the FCT, urging them to approve the proposal for the 2025 financial year.
Shortly after reading the letter transmitting the proposal, the upper chamber on Wednesday, harkened to the request of the President to give the bill expedited consideration, noting that its passage was critical to ensuring an effective and service-oriented administration for residents of the FCT.
But an attempt by the Bauchi Senator, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to halt debates on it pending when the members were abreast of the details was ignored as the Senate invoked Order 78 to allow the bill to scale second reading the same day it was introduced.
Palpably dissatisfied, Ningi, who was once suspended for questioning the financial integrity of the Senate, had raised concerns about the procedure under Order 77 (3 and 4), pointing out that lawmakers had not been provided with copies of the bill prior to the debate.
Leading the debate on the bill, after the objections were brushed aside, Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Leader, explained that the proposed legislation seeks to authorise the issuance of ₦1,783,823,708,392.00 trillion from the FCT Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund to finance personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures between January 1 and December 31, 2025.
The budget breakdown includes N150.35 billion for personnel costs, N343.78 billion for overhead, and N1.29 trillion allocated for capital projects.
Bamidele underscored that the primary objective of the budget was to drive an effective and enduring service-oriented administration, with a strong focus on completing ongoing projects that have significant impacts on infrastructure and essential services in Abuja.
He noted that the budget prioritises the continuation of existing projects in the FCT, with the introduction of new ones deemed crucial.
It was on the same day that the Senate also confirmed the appointment of five Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) submitted by the President in March for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The confirmation, which followed the receipt and consideration of a report by Simon Lalong, Chairman of Senate Committee on Electoral Matters during plenary on Wednesday, who urged members to confirm the nominees having passed the screening exercise.
The approved RECs are Umar Yusuf Garba (Kano State), Sa’ad Umar Idris (Bauchi State), Chukwuemeka C. Ibeziako (Anambra State), Umar Mukhtar (Borno State) and Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem (Bayelsa State).
Tinubu having his way because today’s governors are cowards – Amaechi
Tinubu almost clearing Buhari’s economic mess – Oshomhole
Wike to get N1.78trillion as 2025 budget *Senate ignores Ningi’s objection
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