NEWS
Insecurity: Ogun Gov, Cleric Preach Peace, Unity
From Kunle Idowu, Abeokuta
An Islamic scholar and Judge of the Shari’ah Court of Appeal, Kwara State, Abdur Raheem Ahmad Sayi, has observed that the access of Nigerians, particularly Youths to the loads of misinformation on the cyber space contributes to the current insecurity in the Country.
He has therefore, urged the Federal Government to devise a technology to regulate access to deluge of misguided information on the internet, particularly those capable of fuelling security and religious crises in the country.
The cleric made his position known, weekend while delivering a lecture at the 2021 special Ramadan Iftar programme by the Ogun State Government.
Justice Say organised that failure by the government to do the needful might spell doom for the unity of Nigeria.
Justice Sayi during the lecture with “Threats to National Security and Unity: Religion as a Panacea or Problem” explained that failure by the federal government to find lasting solution to security issue in Nigeria, could lead to anarchy in the country.
The cleric who observed that internet could be educative, entertaining and informative, however regretted that promoters of hate and disunity had used it to spread messages of discord and fake news among Nigerians.
He noted that the country was sitting on a keg of gunpowder, which could explode anytime, if efforts were not made to check the social malaise.
The judge, appealed to Islamic leaders and their Christian counterpart, to inculcate the core values, tenets and teachings of love and unity of mankind, in the minds of their adherents rather than preaching prosperity.
“You should use religion as instrument to foster unity and oneness, rather than to promote discrimination, hate and disharmony” he told the religious leaders.
The cleric equally charged media practitioners to continue to play a pivotal role in reversing the trend of insecurity, by imbibing and practising responsible journalism, which, he observed would go a long way in preserving societal peace and unity of the country..
Speaking on the occasion, the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, explained that the special programme was a symbolic one, as it was the first, to be hosted by his administration.
He said the programme was to appreciate the prayers, solidarity and support his government enjoyed from the Muslim community in the last two years.
Abiodun urged the people of the irrespective of their religious persuasion to always engage only in acts that promote security, peace and unity of Nigeria.
According to the governor, “neither of the two major religions in the country supports banditry, insurgency, kidnapping or rebellion against the State”.
He further noted that “the leaders and followers; government and people, have the responsibility towards the security and unity of our nation. Otherwise, our actions and inactions without responsibility towards one another become threat to national security and unity”.
Highlighting steps taken by his administration to restructure and reinvigorate security mechanism in Ogun, Abiodun said that the Security Trust Fund was reconfigured and made it private sector led, adding “we made huge investments in patrol vehicles and communication equipment for our security agencies in the state and initiated regular meeting of the State Security Council that had been in limbo before the inception of our administration”.
He also said his administration had created initiatives to fully and productively engage the hitherto restive youth via the development of Ogun State Job portal, a database of unemployed or underemployed youth, Anchor Borrowers Scheme and FADAMA GUYS.
“In my inaugural speech about two years ago, I made a commitment that ours is an administration that will observe all elements of good governance – that we will be fair, just, equitable, open, transparent, accountable, inclusive and obey the Rule of Law.
“Two years down the line, I am proud that even our worst critics will readily admit that we are a promise keeping administration with manifest delivery of electoral promises across the state. It is also generally acknowledged that we have been even-handed in our dealings with all parts of the state and the strata, regardless of religious belief, political persuasions and ethnic affiliations.”
Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has urged President Bola Tinubu to reduce the price of petrol to N300 per litre ,to make things easy for Nigerians during the festive season.
George, the Atona Oodua of Yorubaland, made this plea at an interactive session with newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.
The price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, is currently above N1,000 per litre.
According to the elder statesman,Nigerians are going through hardship, the President should give an order to reduce fuel price, specifying time frame the people will enjoy such window of relief.
He said that the federal government as well as well- meaning individuals and businesses could bear the cost of such price slash , to bring happiness to all Nigerians.
The PDP leader, who noted that December and January are special months , said that such gesture could start from the middle of December and run through January.
“I have been thinking, as a Nigerian, what can we do because the anger and the hunger are almost equal on the streets of Nigeria.
“What am I suggesting is that Mr President should sit down with his managers and give an order that from the middle of December to the end of January, the cost of petrol will be N300 per litre.
“The government can absorb the losses in the interest of the suffering people.
“If they (government) want others to contribute, let us know how much that is going to cost and ask people to donate, to bear the cost.
“We will be sending a lot of messages of happiness across the tribes and homes.
“Everybody in Nigeria will be happy because it will positively impact on this period of the year. It is a challenge and he (Tinubu) can do it.
“We need this in this December and January to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians, ” George, a PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) life member, said.
Advising the President to take further measures to bring relief to the people, he said that the gesture would crash prices of essential commodities and services for the benefit of all .
He said that government’s efforts should be concentrated on reducing high inflation rate, unemployment, poverty and youth restlessness in order to create a better future for Nigerians
Speaking on the recent presidential election in Ghana, George noted that Nigeria’s electoral system needed reforms to guard against electoral frauds and manipulations.
According to him, the nation will continue to grope for development if the system fails to encourage best candidates to emerge.
Stating that election must reflect the wishes of the people and be devoid of religious and tribal sentiments, George said that Ghana election should be a wake up call for Nigeria.
“INEC performance must improve. The commission must make sure that the voice of the people is heard in elections.
“Electoral offenders should be made to face the music and sent to jail. We must be very firm about due process, credibility and transparency in elections,” he said.
Urging the President to revisit resolutions in the 2014 Constitutional Conference, George said that the current constitution was not federal in principle and practice.
“We should not deceive ourselves, the constitution is a problem. It is a military constitution, it is not democratic,” he said.
George called on the National Assembly to ensure devolution of powers and electoral reforms that would do away with manual collation of election results and mandate electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
George disagreed with political watchers saying no vacancy in presidency in 2027.
On the dwindling strength of the former ruling party, George, who noted that all organisations had its ups and downs, said that selfish interests and disregard for party rules remained PDP’s major challenge.
He said that PDP could bounce back and win presidential election if the leadership decided to elevate national interest above selfish interests and adhere to the party’s constitution.
“We will tell ourselves some serious old truth. We messed ourselves up. ” he said.
Stating, however, that the PDP was not dead, George said that lack of justice, equity, fairness and the inability to adhere to the party’s zoning and rotational principle cost the party victory in 2023.
Calling on the party’s founding fathers alive to wake up and rescue the party, George said that Nigerians were still waiting for the former ruling party to take over power and put things right. (NAN)
President Bola Tinubu, is set to perform the groundbreaking of 2,000 housing units of the Renewed Hope City in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, in the next few weeks.
Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, announced this during an official assessment visit, on Wednesday in Lagos
Dangiwa said Lagos would represent the South-west, while the president would do that of the North-West in Kano, before doing that of the four other regions.
“Arrangements is already on ground, we have gotten sites, and work has commenced for 2000 houses in the Renewed Hope City that we intend to build in Ibeju-Lekki,” he said.
Towards achieving the set goal, the minister said the visiting team also paid a courtesy visit to Gov.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu to discuss area of collaboration between the federal and state governments.He disclosed that the federal and Lagos state governments had agreed to set up a Tripartite committee and ensure all the issues of concerns between the parties were resolved amicably for the benefit of all.
Earlier, the Minister embarked on an assessment visit of deplorable Federal Government buildings and assets across Lagos state in a bid to commence rehabilitation on them in a few months.
Dangiwa said the rehabilitation was necessary as the deplorable buildings posed a challenge and security concerns to the Lagos state government. (NAN)
Gov. Hyacinth Alia on Wednesday presented the sum of N550.1bn as the 2025 appropriation bill to the Benue State House of Assembly for consideration and passage into law.
Alia told the lawmakers that out of the total budget size, N175.4 billion is for recurrent expenditure while the N374.
7 billion is for capital expenditure.The governor said that the total estimate represented a 47.
5 per cent increment over the 2024 revised and approved figure of N373 billion.He stated that the appropriation bill tagged “Budget of Human Capital Development, Food Security, and Digital Economy” was to consolidate the gains made in 2024.
Alia further explained that the proposed recurrent expenditure of N175.
4 billion was 13.55 per cent higher than the previous year.According to him, budgeted capital expenditure of N374.7 billion represents a 71.5 per cent increment on the 2024 revised capital expenditure.
“The budget breakdown indicated that the sum of N212.2 billion, representing 38.52 per cent is for administration; N196.6 billion, representing 35.68 per cent is for the economy; law and justice will take N26.6 billion, representing 4.84 per cent while social welfare will gulp N115.5 billion, representing 20.96 per cent.
“We have the vision. We have the will. And most importantly, we have the people ready to work alongside us to turn this vision into reality.
“Together, we will build a state where every citizen has the opportunity to succeed, where food is plentiful, and where the digital economy opens new frontiers of opportunity for all,” he said.
The governor said the intention of the government was to stay within the limits of its recurring revenue to build the state without accruing unnecessary debts for generations unborn.
He, however, said that since the 2025 budget was a deficit one, it proposed a borrowing plan of a conservative sum of N26bn, representing a modest 4.7 per cent of the proposed aggregate expenditure for 2025.
“This is lower than the state’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 8.2 per cent which is within the benchmark of the 25 per cent debt sustainability threshold.
“Despite these favourable debt ratios, I want to reiterate that borrowing will only be considered as a last resort and for regenerative investment purposes,” he added.
Alia stated that the problem of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) remained a challenge, adding that they have reasonably improved their living conditions.
He said the Bureau of International Cooperation and Development has elicited substantial grants from donors, totalling N85bn. (NAN)
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