The thousands of bags that was piled into a pyramid at the city’s civic centre, Ramat Square, was a demonstration of the bumper harvest recorded in parts of the state during the last farming season by farmers who are mostly assisted by government.

The pyramid was realised under the federal government assisted Borno Anchor Borrowers Programme, through the (CBN) Anchor Borrowers scheme.

The scheme is aimed at scaling up the local production of rice in order to reduce over-dependence on foreign import of the staple food.

Organisers of the rice pyramid programme, Wal Wanne and Sons Ltd, said about 18,000 farmers were engaged in the scheme.

The local formers in the safe zones like Jere, Konduga, Mafa, Biu, Hawul and Shani local government areas of the state took part in the scheme during the last wet season during which government availed them with farm inputs and tool. – Premium Times

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The first class traditional ruler made this known in his palace when the Governor Abdulazeez Yari of the state paid a condolence visit on Friday.

The emir expressed shock that in less than a week after President Muhammadu Buhari visited the state and charged security agents to brace up and end all forms of insecurity, insurgents still carried out mass killings.

He said he had lost confidence in the ability and commitment of the security personnel because they had failed in the discharge of their obligations to provide security to the lives and property of the law abiding residents in his domain on different occasions.

According to him, the only hope for the state is to seek the assistance of UN or African Union (AU) in fighting the insurgency in the state.

He alleged that corruption among the security agencies and judiciary was the factor fuelling the security problems in the state, saying he will make available list of all identified corrupt security personnel and judges to the state as soon as it would be possible.

He stressed the need to secure permanent base for security agencies to protect the areas under constant attacks by the gunmen.

NAN

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“Arrest the blood-thirsty maniacs on rampage in Nigeria masquerading as herdsmen, and bring them to justice” – Gani Adams to President Buhari

Leader of the O’Odua People’s Congress and Aare Onakakanfo of Oyo, Gani Adams.

The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has called of the federal government to urgently mandate security agents to “arrest the blood-thirsty maniacs on the rampage in the country, masquerading as herdsmen, and bring them to justice, to avoid a total breakdown of law and order.”

He said this on Thursday in a statement where he condemned killings by armed herdsmen.

“The first fundamental right of a Nigerian is the right to life. It is when you are alive that you can enjoy other rights. Once this right is taken away from you through killings and murder, you cannot enjoy any other right,” he noted.

The statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, said “Nigerians demand Right to Life. More than a thousand Nigerians have been killed in the last one year. Is Nigeria at war? There is more to all these killings.”

Aare Adams described the killing of the officer in charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Saki Unit in Oyo State by suspected herdsmen on Tuesday night as “one killing too many.”

He declared that the spate of insecurity in the country was worrisome.

He said Nigerians must condemn activities of these killers “who are now bold enough to start killing security officers”, and vowed that Yorubaland would resist any conspiracy “aimed at killing our people at will.”

“The diplomacy of the Yoruba on national issues, especially when it borders on security, should not be misconstrued for cowardice. It is part of our nature to accommodate people from other ethnic nationalities. But now, our people cannot go to their farms again because of the fear of the unknown.

The federal government must immediately check activities of these killers to avoid plunging the country into an avoidable war,” he said.

“There is no war in Nigeria, there is no famine, no earthquake, but the number of IDPs in the country is more than what obtains in a country where war is going on. Murder of Nigerians, including pregnant women and children continues every day. What is really going on?

Mr. Adams criticised the federal government’s handling of the herdsmen and farming communities’ violence across the country.

“Perception is everything. The federal government is not helping its own image with the belief by Nigerians that the presidency is always silent when the issue concerns Fulani herdsmen. Let me remind the government that killing and murder remain serious crimes in our law books. No level of politics can change this.”

“Nigerians are being killed and the government seems helpless. Utterances from government officials such as the Defence Minister, Brig–Gen. Mansur Dan–Ali (rtd), and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, are not helping matters. One wonders if we are in the same country,” he noted.

Mr. Adams said he believed that the solution to the various crises in the country is a restructuring of the governance structure.

“I welcome the report of the Governor Nasir El-Rufai APC Committee which also recommended restructuring but what the committee has done is not different from the position of the 2014 National confab.

“If Nigeria is going to survive as a nation, this country must be restructured. This is the time to have true federalism, state police, resource ownership and control, and an entirely new constitution deriving its legitimacy from the people,” he said.

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Nigeria Internal Insecurity: State police is the way to go, Osinbajo breaks silence

Feb 8, 2018: Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has threw his weight behind the creation of state of Police, saying state and community police is the way to go.

Speaking at the National Security Summit organized by the Senate, he said there was no how the current police structure in the country can effectively police the country.

The Vice President who spoke for about 30 minutes said the current number of the police in the country should be tripled.

He stressed the need for the country to step up collaboration with neighbouring countries.

Osinbajo also cautioned various stakeholders in the country not to allow the present insecurity challenge assume religious dimension.

Also, the Senate president, Bukola Saraki said, ” the sharp increase in murderous violence, over and above the relatively manageable level of insecurity that has plagued our country for some time, jolted us out any last vestiges of complacency or denial.

“There can be no denying the horrific reality in many parts of our country today. People who should be neighbours are turning on one another and taking up arms. These attacks and reprisal attacks are an intolerable cycle of hell that must be broken. Killings, kidnappings, mayhem and general lawlessness cannot be the new normal. We must take this country back and restore order,” he said.

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The Nigerian Army said on Wednesday that it will begin Exercise Ayem Akpatuma covering Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Niger states in order to tackle the cases of kidnappings, herdsmen/farmers’ clashes.

The Chief of Training and Operations, Maj Gen David Ahmadu, who announced this in Abuja on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, said the exercise would run from February 15 to March 31, 2018.

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Nigeria’s president has issued directives to government agencies to give preference to Nigerian nationals and companies when recruiting and procuring respectively.

The president who, during his campaign, vowed to end the country’s dependence on oil exports, signed an executive order aimed at boosting the local production of goods and creating jobs in the west African country.

In 2015, months after Buhari came to power in May of that year, the central bank restricted access to foreign currency to import certain goods in a bid to stimulate local manufacturing.

The executive order also prohibits the ministry of interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria.

Presidency Nigeria@NGRPresident

President @MBuhari today signed Executive Order 5 to improve local content in public procurement with science, engineering and technology components. The EO is expected to promote the application of science, tech and innovation towards achieving Nigeria’s development goals.

1:40 PM – Feb 5, 2018

The president has now “ordered that all ‘procuring authorities shall give preference to Nigerian companies and firms in the award of contracts, in line with the Public Procurement Act 2007’, said the presidency in a statement circulated on Monday.

“The executive order also prohibits the ministry of interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria,” added the statement.

The order states that consideration will only be given to a foreign professional, “where it is certified by the appropriate authority that such expertise is not available in Nigeria.”

Around four out of every 10 people in the country’s workforce were unemployed or underemployed by the end of September, according to data released by the statistics office in December.

The country, which has Africa’s largest population and biggest economy, in 2016 fell into its a recession largely caused by low oil prices and militant attacks on energy facilities in the Niger Delta region.

It emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2017, largely fuelled by higher oil prices and non-oil sectors of agriculture, finance and insurance.

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The police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris ordered the arrest of Mr. Afegbua “for making false statements, injurious falsehood, defamation of character and for an act capable of inciting public disturbance throughout the country.”

“He is therefore declared wanted by the NPF and should report at the nearest police station,” Mr. Moshood, a chief superintendent of police, said Monday night.

Mr. Afegbua, on behalf of Mr. Babangida, released a statement on Sunday critical of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Although another statement reportedly emerged from Mr. Babangida that contradicted the one signed by Mr. Afegbua, the former military ruler himself had taken ownership of the version released by his spokesperson.

Mr. Babangida told THISDAY Sunday night that the statement which Mr. Afegbua signed on his behalf still stands.

Reports that the police were moving to declare Mr. Afegbua wanted first emerged Sunday night from sources within the presidency.

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Feb 04, 2018: Nigeria’s former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has debunked media reports that he issued a statement asking Nigerians not to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari. The news which went viral today in leading traditional media and blogs quoted the former Military leader telling President Buhari not to contest the 2019 elections.

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has berated the National Assembly and the Federal Character Commission for failing to check the excesses of President Muhammadu Buhari in the uneven distribution of public offices under his government.

The former President Obasanjo said the ethos of nation building through even distribution of public offices had been abused under Buhari.

He said, “Nation building must be given continued attention to give every citizen a feeling of belonging and a stake in his or her country.”

“For instance, the Federal Character principle, as espoused in our constitution, was to guide the leadership to search for competent holders of major offices to be distributed within the entire nation, and avoid concentration in a few ethnic hands or geographical places, as we currently have in the leadership of our security apparatus”.

“To avoid such non-integrative situation, we have the National Assembly and the Federal Character Commission, both institutions which must raise the alarm or call for correction of actions by the executive that violates the spirit of our constitution.”

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan says the sincere implementation of the recommendations of the All Progressives Congress (APC) restructuring committee will move the nation forward.

The committee led by Ahmad Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, submitted its report last week.

Speaking when Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa, led a delegation to the former president on Thursday, Jonathan said the implementation would also encourage inter-ethnic harmony.

According to Fidelis Soriwei, spokesman of Dickson, Jonathan said the issues which the committee deliberated upon were exhaustively treated during the 2014 national conference.

He said it is a good idea that the APC set up a committee to look into the grey areas which featured prominently in the deliberations of the 2014 conference.

He commended Dickson for playing the role of coordinating the thoughts of the Ijaw people on the sensitive issue of restructuring.

The Nigerian leader said the governor must be appreciated for ensuring that the Ijaw nation did not speak with discordant tones on the issue of restructuring.

“I am pleased with the caliber of people who came with the governor to brief me on the issue of the recommendations of the APC committee on restructuring,” he said.

“I must say that I am happy with the role being played by the governor on this issue of restructuring.

“Ethnic nationalities must not speak with discordant tones on such pertinent issues. I am pleased that Dickson is coordinating the Ijaw nation.

“I am also pleased that the APC set up a committee to look into the grey areas to come up with these recommendations. When we were in government, we came up with a confab and several issues were addressed which if sincerely implemented would encourage relationship in the country. A sincere implementation of the recommendations on these grey areas will make the country to move forward.”

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