News
I knew Tinubu lacked capacity to be President – Amaechi
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State, sank his teeth deeper into the skin of President Bola Tinubu on Saturday, all but dismissing his government as a non-event, giving his dismal outing in the last two years, occasioned by biting poverty and massive corruption.
Amaechi, who resigned as Minister of Transportation, a position he held for eight years, to contest for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in June 2022, eventually lost by a wide margin to Tinubu, who was also Governor of Lagos State at a time and Leader of the Party, before the contest.
Recalling an encounter between him and the President, Amaechi, also two-time Director of Campaigns for Muhammadu Buhari, which made him the arrowhead in the process of enthroning the APC government in 2015 and sustaining it in 2019, through the re-election of the former President, spared no words in carpeting Tinubu’s performance.
In fact, he indicated that he was not surprised at the dismal outcome, since he had issues with the capacity of the President to deliver from the outset, an issue he said he made known to Tinubu prior to his campaign for the number one job.
The former Governor who spoke at an event in Abuja to mark his 60th birthday, told participants including Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, 16th Emir of Kano and Seriake Dickson, former Governor of Bayelsa State, spoke of Tinubu’s government as one where corruption was crawling on its belly.
His words: “I met President Tinubu in Yola and I told him I will not work for you and I will not vote for you. I did not vote for Tinubu. I told him in advance before the election. I am saying this because of people who feel that I do not work for PDP or APC. I had already told Tinubu in advance and why I said that was because of the issue of capacity.
“The current government and their agencies and who work with them, they are not even afraid. You see the kind of houses they are building. If they are not afraid, I am ashamed of them because they have no name. In fact, they say, ‘who did name help?
“The government said it has stopped the payment of about N5 trillion in fuel subsidy, the question is: ‘What did they do with the money?’ If you had put it back into the economy, the issue of poverty would have been reduced.”
Stating how he solved the problem of insecurity and poverty, which he acknowledged remained major issues in the country during his time as governor, having noticed that they were tied to the increase in crime rate, he stressed how he enhanced the circulation of money in the system as a major factor in stemming the tide.
His words: “When I was governor of Rivers State, I told my Commissioner of Finance; he is here. What did I tell you? I said, go and raise money, pay contractors, pay salary, pay money.
“And once you pay, insecurity will go away. So, it’s about poverty. It’s about poverty. But currently, everybody wants to amass wealth and the major problem with Nigerians is that they don’t know how to protest. It’s only during elections that politicians begin to plan in the minds of Nigerians that they are either Christians or Muslims, playing ethnicity cards instead of capacity-building.
“They came up with a Muslim-Muslim ticket and where has that led us to? They should have equally come up with a Muslim-Muslim market. Hunger knows no one whether you are a Muslim or a Christian. I always say, let’s put the country first in all we do.”
Atiku, who accused the President Tinubu-led government of deliberately using poverty as a political weapon, said the government was using poverty as a weapon to hold Nigerians to ransom, in order to run away from its non-performance and not living up to peoples’ expectations.
“You may call me a conspirator; you may call me anything, and that is why we are in this alliance to make sure we don’t allow them to continue weaponising poverty. Of course, one of our star conspirators is Governor Rotimi Amaechi. Therefore, we are here to wish you many happy returns of the day.
“And we will continue to conspire with you to make sure we minimise poverty and we don’t use state machinery to weaponise poverty. I thank you very much.”
El-Rufai on his part also bemoaned the current situation in Nigeria, stating that it had never witnessed the type of trouble that has beset it since 1914 adding that it was for this purpose that every Nigerian must join hands in saving it.
His words: “That is why we are together working and conspiring to build a coalition to take Nigeria back on track because it is off track. Nigeria is in the biggest trouble since 1914. It has turned to this level because we have allowed bandits, not the ones in the bushes but the ones in the urban areas called the urban bandits to take over leadership.
“I believe that the problem that we have, which I think Governor Babangida referred to, is that we just get incompetent people and we hand over leadership to them. Most of them don’t really know what to do. They just know how to grab power but don’t know what to do with it. Nigerians must stand up and vote for leaders that have the competence, capability, capacity, and commitment to move the country forward.”
For Sanusi, who while bewailing the level of poverty in Nigeria, as alarming, argued that he never realised how bad the picture was, the real situation could not be painted in cities like Lagos and Kano, a situation which he said became apparent when he mounted the throne.
Hear him: “It is nothing. You actually have to go where the majority of our people live to know what poverty is. So, the first question I think we have to ask ourselves as leaders, all of us, is, ‘do we actually love the people, or do you just love ruling over them?’
“Do we actually love Nigerians as human beings? You can say, I love Nigeria. What is Nigeria? It’s the people who live there. What are our priorities? I did not know about poverty until I became an Emir, seeing things myself.”
But Seriake Dickson, presented a different perspective to the narrative saying people must be careful about their political decisions, citing how Nigeria eventually turned out after the All Progressives Congress (APC) promised Nigerians change.
His words: “Remember, this was how you people collaborated to remove a good government. Eleven years later, you people are here again, discussing collaboration. I say to Nigerians ‘shine your eyes.”
It was another day of misery in Kwara State, when daredevil terrorists reportedly stormed Yashikira Community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, and as has been the case in many of the attacks, abducting scores of residents including women and children.
But, apparently to register their authority, the gunmen, who were said to have operated for hours without challenge from the security operatives, were said to have torched the palace of the Emir.
The attackers, which reportedly occurred late Sunday night were said to have announced their presence through heavy firing and after storming the palace of the monarch during the period, set it on fire before whisking away their victims, but a similar attempt at the police station in the community, was repelled.
While some of the residents, narrated how the spent hours without resistance, leaving behind destruction and fear in the border community, another account said the villagers were caught unawares as the gunmen invaded the town under the cover of darkness.
However operatives made up of the police and military personnel, were said to have launched a manhunt immediately for the immediate rescue of the victims, including throwing a cordon in the area as part of the mission.
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
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