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NDLEA Allegedly Arrests Jaruma In Abuja Over Drug Abuse
ColumnsFeatured PostsTimeless

Jaruma – Five Reasons She Is Just An Entertainer

by Anaedo Gurus
written by Anaedo Gurus 4 minutes read

By Grace O

Hauwa Saidu Mohammed, known on Social Media as Jaruma, is the owner of the Jaruma Empire, she makes love potions that are not just aphrodisiac the enablement of sexual desire and enhancement, some women come for these potions in order to charm their husbands or lovers or crush. This potion is called “kanyamata”, a Hausa term for “women things”.

Now, the original “kayanmata” from the north is said to be used to prepare a would-be bride for her husband, in other to satisfy him sexually and it consists mainly of herbs. Jaruma’s “kayanmata” is a love potion.

Jaruma’s “goods” is a rave on Social Media. Outside Social Media, in the real world, Jaruma is just a brilliant Social Media influencer who is selling something hot. But it is not the kayanmata that is hot. It is her art, her comedy. We took a long look at her and we have come to the point-by-point conclusion that she is an entertainer.

Her practices is an exercise in a diabolical zombie-ism 

What Jaruma’s “kayanmata” says it does is make a man fall in love with you. In reality, how it unfolds is that it seeks to overcome the senses of your lover, making the person become unaware of his senses. Whatever you bid him do, is what he would do. human being into a zombie is not an honorable act.

Jaruma is selling products that seek to turn a grown-up man, someone’s son into a zombie with the remote control in the woman’s hand and she’s calling it love.

It is nefarious, it is stupid, it is also funny.

Jaruma is out to make money

Due to the fact that her customers are mostly famous and highly placed people in society, according to her, her products are sold at exorbitant prices. All she does is invite people to patronize her by doing radical marketing on her social media account and demonstrating how effective her products are.

Abracadabra. The more you see, the less you understand.

Read this –

This in turn makes them rush to get what she is selling and they are ready to get it at any price as long as it is working and will work for them. Most young ladies go for it in order to trap someone else’s husband or a man they lust for or a man whose bank balance they can’t want to put their thin fingers on.

So they go to Jaruma for love potions.

Hahahaha.

Her charm is fake. Fake

If anyone tells you you can actually use “kayanmata” or any form of juju to get someone to love you, it is a sign that their head is not correct. If you believe them, you need screwdrivers. Charm does not exist. Or else why is Dangote single? Why is David unmarried? Why are Wizkid, Don Jazzy, and a sea of rich, fine, and eligible bachelors untaken?

Jaruma herself confessed that many girls contacted her to make “kanyamata” for them to get Obi Cubana, a wealthy business mogul in Nigeria, fall for them but she failed. According to her, Obi Cubana is protected spiritually.

She is basically saying her charm works with men but not everyone, she is saying that it works for men who have no soul, no spirit, who are practically “efulefus”.

Is this “spiritual” excuse not a move of clowns?

She exposes her clients after patronage

Most people who patronize her, do this in secret because they know how much such matters are frowned at by society. They purchase it from her discretely but she ends up exposing them as a way of making people believe her potions are potent that is why celebrities are coming to buy from her.

Some of them are confronted by their fans after she exposes them. Some are forced to admit they did buy her kanyamata products.

Clowns everywhere.

She doesn’t keep her words

Like every stand-up comedian, Jaruma doesn’t keep her to her word. It is called performance for the reason that it is make-believe. There are many examples to back this up.

In 2019, when the popular Big Brother Housemate Tacha was disqualified after she had an altercation with Mercy, Jaruma shared a video clip on her Instagram account where she promised to give the disqualified reality star 50 million naira (don’t laugh).

She became a buzz on social media, but she never kept her promise as deleted the post and other photographs of Tacha from her Instagram account before unfollowing her afterward.

Are you not entertained?

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JUST IN: IPOB Member's, Security Operatives Clash At Federal High Court
ColumnsEditorialFeatured PostsMETRO

Sit-At-Home: IPOB Is Playing A High-Risk Little-Reward Game, But Who Will Tell Them?

by Okechukwu
written by Okechukwu 7 minutes read

When IPOB mandated that there would be a sit-at-home every Monday until their leader Nnamdi Kanu is released from detention, I saw blood. I knew it wouldn’t be as peaceful as the ones held every May 30th. After the events of yesterday, burning a passenger alive, wasting the lives of this duo, etc., I hate myself a little for foreseeing this.

The May 30th sit-at-home is for a higher cause, reflecting on the lives lost during the civil war and mourning them. This Monday sit-at-home is about one man, no matter how symbolic he can be, he is one man. Nnamdi Kanu is not the only IPOB member in prison. There are hundreds of them in prison.

The fact that it is okay for IPOB to ignore all their incarcerated colleagues and fight, maim, kill, and die for one man doesn’t sound like a group trying to create an equal society. We are all equal but Nnamdi Kanu is more equal than the others in prison and he is more important than the people who would die, they seem to be saying.

But it is their right. They can say and do whatever they like, but I have a problem with forcing people to follow your ideology.

Pictures, they say don’t lie but the images of the compliance of the sit-at-home order do not tell the whole story. A lot of people are afraid of being violated by IPOB members and a lot more do not want to be caught in the middle of the fight between security operatives and IPOB.

The way yesterday’s sit-at-home unfolded is a pointer to my point.

On Sunday, a news item emerged that IPOB has called off the sit-at-home until further notice. I thought reason has ruled and even Ohanaeze lauded them for this. Then IPOB’s Emma Powerful denied the report and affirmed that the exercise must go on and threatened violators. It is the arrogance for me. And the irony.

Let me spell it out.

You do not fight for freedom because you hate injustice and then deny people the just right to be free.

You do not complain of exclusion of Ndigbo then exclude millions of Ndigbos from deciding whether or not they want to earn a living every Monday.

Comparing Sit-at-home compliance between IPOB and MASSOB Eras

You do not lock down the South East and wound or kill people breaking the order hundreds of miles from Abuja in order to impress a man in Abuja so as to release your man held in Abuja. If the whole of South East burns do you think that Buhari will lose sleep? So why are you undertaking an experiment with people’s freedom, livelihood, and lives?

Why don’t you take the battle to Buhari’s backyard in Abuja?

When we did EndSARS, we took the battle to Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, government houses, parliaments, police units, etc. (Then Lekki Massacre happened and hoodlums took over). And no one was forced to be on board.

When El Zakzaky was imprisoned in Abuja, his followers went to the capital to protest. I don’t think they would have found a lot of sympathy disrupting movements and business in Zaria and Kaduna.

When Trump’s supporters felt (erroneously) that the election was stolen, they marched to Washington where the results were being certified. They didn’t hold people in Texas, Florida, Alabama, and other Trump stronghold ransom.

So why is IPOB not marching to Abuja? Why does it seem like they are willing to throw innocent Igbo people under the Free Nnamdi’ Kanu’s bus?

It is a dangerous business and the reward is so low, non-existent even. It is not just a high-risk low-result approach, it is a high-risk no-result approach. The only result that IPOB can get from their Monday-Monday ritual is sentimental and symbolic.

They won’t get a practical release of Nnamdi Kanu. Not while Buhari, or Jibrin as they tag him, is still in power. And most of them know this. So why are they hell-bent on disrupting schools, markets, and business and making the South East a four-day-a-week economy?

I know a lot of shops that didn’t open today and students that stayed at home Tuesday because of what happened Monday. We may end up working only two to three days every week in the East. Do IPOB members understand this? Do they care?

I have no clue.

Perhaps they just want to be seen to be doing something. Perhaps, they just want to constantly be in the news, no matter how ill-advised their action. Perhaps it is the wish of Nnamdi Kanu who is in prison and may not understand or/and does not care about the repercussions of such action.

The fact that many people are afraid to speak out against this wrong move is a testament to the kind of nation IPOB is trying to be. I don’t think there would be freedom of expression under whatever government they would end up forming. I don’t think there would be a free press and an entertaining ear for contrary opinions.

Sabo, they would call you as you may be calling me now. You know, it is easy to dismiss someone as a saboteur, a betrayer when you have no reasonable response to their charge.

What I am saying is that shutting down the South East every Monday is too much of a loss and too much of a risk. I need someone to write back and explain how shutting down this region would help get Nnamdi Kanu out. I am waiting. I fear I may wait in vain.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years before South Africa defeated the Apartheid system. Nnamdi Kanu has not stayed 27 weeks behind bars and he is willing to watch the East burn. IPOB are better off working to build their allies’ base and they can’t expand their friends network by sending thugs into the streets and roads of South Eastern towns and cities to harass, humiliate, rob, and possibly lynch fellow Igbo men and women.

In chess, when you overextend your pieces, it would be hard to defend them. IPOB is overextending their sympathy and goodwill and testing the people’s patience/tolerance.

The order to sit-at-home every Monday, plus the killings that follow it, is too dangerous and I struggle to see a practical reward at the end of this thoughtless tactic. I usually sign off my writings with “it’s well”. Today, I am not sure.

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Anaedoonline Lectures
ColumnsEditorialMETRO

AnaedoOnline Lectures Grace Nnewi As Peter Obi, Innoson, Others Set To Speak

by Okechukwu
written by Okechukwu 3 minutes read

Freshminds Communications, the owners of AnaedoOnline and Anaedo TV and a media force domiciled in Nnewi with strongholds in the South East has announced their annual lecture billed for 27th, August 2021. This year’s event tagged “Southeast Nigeria: An Untapped Investment Hub of the Next Decade” will attract some of the biggest names among economists, captains of industries, entertainers, start-ups, and governance.

The event would hold on the 27th of August with the Former Governor of Anambra State as the keynote speaker. Innoson Motors founder and chairman, Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma would chair the occasion. Other speakers include Kene Mkparu, founder of FilmHouse Cinemas, Dikanna Okafor, MD of Chicason Group, etc.

Here’s the press release in full:

Freshminds Communication Ltd the publishers of Anaedoonline and Anaedo TV is glad to announce Anaedo’s Third Anniversary Lecture. The most anticipated annual event in Nnewi and Anambra State will hold its annual event on Friday the 27th of August, 2021.

The theme for this year is “Southeast Nigeria: An Untapped Investment Hub of the Next Decade”. This theme is a key issue of the moment, it is a long-overdue discussion. Statistically, Igbo entrepreneurial activities have been observed to be the economic backbone of the country.

According to records made available by the National Bureau of Statistics, The collective Internally Generated Revenue of South Eastern States has collectively increased by 281% from 2010 to H1 2020. Other development indexes attest that its innovations will be highly beneficial to the country’s economic growth through many fronts. It is projected to continually create tens of thousands of indirect and direct job opportunities.

This is not surprising, the region houses over 50 large-scale production industries, over 20,000 medium-scale businesses (about $10 Million worth), and over 200,000 small businesses, etc.

The Five Igbo Learning Apps To Consider

It is against this backdrop that Anaedoonline Third Anniversary Lectures will dissect the role individuals, corporate organizations, politicians, foreign investors, and all will play to harness the unending potentials of the Southeast.

2030 will mark the end of a decade and the beginning of another. Only brands, businesses, and investments that are well-positioned will reap the harvest.

As an Igbo-centric brand, charged with the responsibility of promoting the region, we bring this conversation to the fore at the anniversary lecture. This anniversary will see the most brilliant minds from across the world discuss practicable solutions that will position the South East to become the investment focus of the next decade.

The anniversary lecture will be chaired by Africa’s established industrialist,
Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma OFR, Chairman/CEO Innoson Group

Keynote Speakers include:
His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi,

Fmr Governor of Anambra State and vice presidential candidate of the PDP to the 2019 elections

Chief (Engr) Obed Monago,

Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Americas

Guest Speakers include:
Dr. Okechukwu Mbonu, Chairman Lion Business Park (Enugu Industrial Park Free Trade Zone)

Kene Mkparu,
President/CEO KOMWORLD Cinemas & StudioKOM/ Founder Filmhouse Cinemas

Anayo Nwosu,
Head of Retail Banking Keystone Bank

Dikanna Okafor,
Executive Director, Chicason Group

Endi Ezengwa,
CEO Innoson Kiara Academy

Ifeanyi Aniagoh,
DG Digital Entrepreneurship Office, Anambra State

Host: Swanky Jide Kene,
Award-Winning Nollywood Actor

Date: Friday, 27th August 2021
Time: 10:00 AM
Venue: Martina Chukwuma Plaza, 78 Owerri Rd, Nnewi

The Event is opened for both physical and virtual participants.

Who to Attend and How to register

Students of tertiary institutions,
Aspiring entrepreneurs,
Startups and young entrepreneurs,
Young career workers
The informed general public.

Register now via Freshminds.ng/register

Signed
Kingsley Okechukwu,
Editor and planning committee chairman

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Sexiest girls in Poly/Uni
Campus DigestColumnsFeatured Posts

Poly Vs University, Who Has The Sexiest Girls?

by Anaedo Gurus
written by Anaedo Gurus 4 minutes read

Girls are universally and commonly sexy across various institutions of higher learnings, whether polytechnics or universities, etc. It is near impossible to isolate the set of institutions that parades the sexiest girl. You ask again, polytechnic vs university, who has the sexiest girls?

This question often raises dust and it is not an argument that is done with utmost objectivity. Some will speak for their institution or for their lover’s institution. And there are many who would never see anything good with their school because they are wired to love what is afar. Nay, to loathe whatever they are involved with.

What we would do here is try an analysis done with a cold head, with zero sentiments.

Generally, sexy girls are everywhere, you cannot just walk past a street without meeting an elegant creature or two, their curves and endowments, and grace taking the whole space, consuming air, leaving sons of men breathless.

Nigeria is blessed.

These beauties are resident in various states and definitely studying in different institutions of higher learning across the country; they may be in polytechnics, universities, colleges, and at home or doing sales girl somewhere. The campus of most universities has become a rendezvous for many young men, drawn by the promise of love, romance, and fun.

Some polytechnics have this distinction. We may count, if you insist, but you would run out of fingers. Visit Oko Poly or Nekede. Or ask someone.

It is true that every higher institution has sexy girls but some are known or considered to have more sexy ladies than others.

The Universities With the Beautiful Girls in Nigeria Exposed

Being sexy means that one has the ability to attract or arouse more than another. It is the quality of a person that makes her interesting, attractive, and appealing.

We can make this our working definition and we can make a ruling now, both university and poly girls are sexy. Who has the sexiest girls is a matter of mathematics and many of us can’t count.

Many have continued to confuse the term “swag” and “sexy”, to be sexy means to be attractive, attractive in the sense that you don’t need to spend your time on the make-ups as your body enough shows that you are hot.

When one says she someone has swag, it means that she has got all the necessary tools to slay and bring out the hidden beauty in her. It means that she is trying to make herself belong and brace up with the ever-growing trend.

From these two, it can be deduced that Poly girls are number one when it comes to swag. It seems they have the body, mind, and, don’t throw anything at me, enough time to do the swag, the good thing about them is that they know how to combine makeups and attires to maintain the train, they are simply called “happening babes”

They do all it takes to belong, and this is not saying that every Poly girl has swag but on a general level, they own this.

University girls, you may call them “varsity babes”‘ or any other slags you feel like and it won’t change the fact that they are hot, steaming hot. They have the swag but not compared to their poly counterparts who of course have enough time for the doings.

But University babes are beautiful, hot even; just take a stroll into the nearest campus. You may not return that day.

You may become prey in the hands, or claws of most of them who do not even need make-ups to show that they are sexy plus many many school authorities limit beautiful expression in the guise of forbidding “indecent dressing”. Despite this restriction, university girls still remain sexy and attractive. It is natural.

Perhaps because there are more universities than polytechnics, perhaps because universities are usually the first choice, we are leaning towards universities having an edge. If four out of 10 girls are truly sexy and universities have 1000 girls and polytechnics have 400 girls, by the law of bigger numbers (assuming there is something as such), there would be more sexy girls in universities. But trying to prove the institution with the sexiest girls per capita is impossible.

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Ifeanyi Ubah for governor
ColumnsEditorialMETROPolitics

Anambra 2021: Does Ifeanyi Ubah Stand A Chance?

by Okechukwu
written by Okechukwu 8 minutes read

When the primary fever started, there were dozens of Nnewi people vying for the flags of the major parties in Anambra State. The primaries are over, the wounded are still bleeding but the road to Agu Awka is less crowded and Ifeanyi Ubah is the last Nnewi man standing.

But getting to the final is no athlete’s ultimate goal, winning is. Ifeanyi is here to win, but can he? No one can say for sure. Does he stand a chance? He does. What are his chances, what are the odds that Ifeanyi Ubah would win the November 6th election?

This is supposed to be an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ifeanyi Ubah candidacy but questions are slowly taking prominence and perhaps they could help us understand better. Firstly, is Ifeanyi Ubah Nnewi’s consensus candidate?

Is Ifeanyi Ubah Nnewi’s candidate?

Before the primary elections, the consensus in Nnewi was that it must be Nnewi or no one else for governor of Anambra 2021. Nnewi has not governed the state in full capacity since 1999. Etiaba was in the saddle for less than four months.

None of Anambra’s principal towns has produced a substantive governor – not Onitsha, not Awka. Nnewi was poised to break this jinx. But after the primaries, Nnewi’s resolve seemed to have gone cold. Even before the primaries, two of Nnewi’s biggest sons, Ibeto and Innoson, endorsed or appeared to have endorsed the candidature of Soludo.

So even if Ifeanyi Ubah is Nnewi’s candidate, is there a strong resolve from Nnewi to ensure that he wins the election? It doesn’t just end at saying someone is your candidate. What can you do to ensure that they get the needed support? It is the support, and not the show of solidarity, that counts.

Five reasons APGA may win Anambra Election

So even before we decide whether Ifeanyi’s candidature is consensus in Nnewi, we have doubts about Nnewi’s support. Everyone in Nnewi may as well vote for Ifeanyi Ubah and he will still not win. He needs other areas in Anambra Central, in Anambra North and the Aguata and Ihiala axis of Anambra South.

Ifeanyi Ubah doesn’t seem to have the support of Nnewi, both rank

and files. There are Andy Ubah supporters in Nnewi; there are PDP supporters in Nnewi, and of course, there are Soludo die-hard supporters. This is the curse of a big town, a lack of consensus.

Ifeanyi Ubah may not even win Nnewi.

Where is Ifeanyi Ubah’s stronghold?

If Ifeanyi Ubah doesn’t have Nnewi under lock and key, where can he beat his chest and claim as stronghold? For Ifeanyi Ubah to be the candidate to beat, he needs to come to the table with at least five local governments he will win massively. He can then fight for plurality in other local government areas in the state.

Ifeanyi Ubah should be coming to the table with a solid backing of Nnewi North and South and Ekwusugo council areas. Then any two from neighbouring Idemili North and South, Ihiala, and Anaocha.

From what we can see, none of these areas is even leaning towards Ubah.

So if Ifeanyi Ubah is not the Nnewi candidate and is not assured of their economic force behind him, if Ifeanyi Ubah doesn’t have clearcut strongholds, what can make him governor?

What can go right for Ifeanyi Ubah?

1. If everything goes wrong for APGA, PDP, and APC

At the time of writing this, INEC published the names of candidates for Anambra 2021 and the names of PDP and APGA candidates were missing. This is due to pending court cases against the parties. November is far away and we don’t see an election in Anambra without PDP and APGA.

But this is APC’s Nigeria and anything is possible. Should INEC conduct an election without these top two parties, Ifeanyi Ubah’s winning odds would skyrocket. But he would still not be the favourite. Andy Uba would be in a pole position to win.

Of course, Ndi-Anambra would vote for any party before APC, but the people’s will won’t be the decider. Andy Ubah has federal support and APC has stronger structures in Anambra State than the rookie YPP.

And Uba has a deeper pocket than Ubah. Ubah would never outspend Uba. We just can’t see Ubah beating Uba on a two-horse race. If it comes to the dirtiest fight and what money can buy, Ifeanyi Ubah will not best Andy Uba.

But you would say, didn’t Ifeanyi Ubah beat Andy Uba in the senatorial election of 2019? Yes, but the circumstance was completely different. Only 7 local governments were involved and Ifeanyi benefitted from protest votes from APGA, and it was only one out of fifteen elections taking place that day in the state (one of hundreds in the country), including the presidential election where Andy Uba was sharing a party with the loathed Buhari.

In November, it will be just one election in the whole state (and country) and Abuja can have a say. And if Abuja can put APGA and PDP out, it won’t be for the benefit of Ifeanyi Ubah.

So for Ifeanyi Ubah to win, something must go wrong for APC as well. Andy Ubah has to be disqualified or something.

Update: APGA is back on the ballot which further narrows Ifeanyi Ubah’s chances.

2. If a miracle happens

Before the US Presidential Election of 2016, everyone ruled Donald Trump out. The media, think tanks, pollsters, everyone (nearly everyone) with informed opinion was sure the election would go to Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump had a mere 15% chance of winning and this was quite generous.

Then a miracle happened on November 8th, 2016 and Donald Trump won.

Another November is in play here. On November 6th, Ifeanyi Ubah has to bank on a miracle in Donald Trump’s proportion.

In fact, Ubah needs more than Trump’s miracle. Donald Trump lost the election by nearly 3 million votes but somehow won because America’s system of voting presidents counts state electoral votes and Trump managed to win three important states Hillary Clinton was expected to win and the winner-takes-all approach gave him the needed electoral votes.

There’s no electoral college in Anambra State, so to win, Ifeanyi Ubah has to win the highest number of votes. It is actually a plurality so Ifeanyi Ubah can become governor by winning just 30% of the votes if the rest of the field share the remaining 70 percent without anyone reaching 30.

There are whispers that the APC faction that doesn’t want Andy Uba may adopt Ifeanyi Ubah and work for his victory with the hope that he would win and then defect to their. Here are the problems with these:

One, anyone in APC capable of giving Ifeanyi Ubah the governor’s seat could have been able to win the APC primary for his candidate. If you can’t even stop Andy Uba from posting ridiculous results to win the primary, how can you claim to have the power to influence the general election?

Five reasons PDP will win Anambra Election

Two, this is not APC’s election to win. APC is a distant third favourite. The only reason APC is in play is that free and fair elections in Nigerian elections are not given. And APC doesn’t have the machinery to steal the election. It is nearly impossible to then expect them to steal it for a proxy.

Ifeanyi will need a miracle for this APC angle to work.

Ifeanyi Ubah chances: The conclusion

If everything stays as it is, Ifeanyi Ubah will not win the election.

If PDP is not on the ballot come November, Ifeanyi Ubah’s chances will improve but he will still not win.

If APGA is not on the ballot, Ubah’s chances will improve but he will not win.

If APGA and PDP are not on the ballot, Ubah’s chances will improve but he will not win.

If APGA and APC are not on the ballot, Ifeanyi Ubah’s chances will improve but he will not win.

If APGA, APC, and PDP are not on the ballot, Ifeanyi Ubah’s chances would improve drastically and he may win. But for this to happen, he needs a miracle. If this does not happen, he will need a bigger miracle to win the election.

We may be wrong, we hope not – or we hope so. Your choice.

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Innoson GTB
BusinessColumnsFeatured Posts

Innoson Spokesman Shares Insightful Details Of The Origin Of The Dispute With GT Bank

by Okechukwu
written by Okechukwu 12 minutes read

The Innoson vs Guaranty Trust Bank Saga is heading to its fifth year in the battle arena. There have been court rulings upon court rulings, appeals, counter-appeals, press statements, social media uproar, bants, and malice. It is easy for the truth to be lost in this sack of many narratives. It is easy to have more than one version of the truth.

But time never changes it, the truth. It may be trampled upon, dismissed, and barred but like a force of air, the truth cannot be buried under the sea forever. Time reveals the truth. Today, in our quest for the truth, we elected to begin from the very beginning, to hear from the spokesman of Innoson, Cornel Osigwe.

He was there when the whole issue began, he was there when it became a full-blown saga. You may accuse him of speaking from the perspective of Innoson, but closing the argument and refusing to hear his exposé breaks every rule of fair hearing. It is a lazy way out.

Read this.

In case you are persistent against reading this, here’s our summary: His remarks are credible. An attempt at a more descriptive summary would do injustice to the piece, distort it even, thus, we have published the whole thing here. Take your time, devour this, be the judge, and may the truth be the winner:

Less We Forget and For Posterity Purpose

Facts Behind Figures: How The Battle Between Innoson and GT Bank Started

The perfection of a man is based on his ability to distinguish between facts and fiction through deductive reasoning. Socrates

There have been many counter-narratives on the reason why EFCC arrested Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, the Chairman and founder of Innoson Group and equally, we have seen GTB’s response on its ongoing battle with Innoson and his company Innoson Nigeria Ltd.

According to C.P Scott “Comments are free but facts are sacred”. Now that this fight has become an open issue and the public is yearning to know the truth concerning the issue Innoson has with GTB, I will in a three (3) part series of articles reveal to Nigerians and the world what really happened.

In a saner society, the company secretary of GTB should have resigned by now and apologize to the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of the bank, because every legal advice and decision it gave to GTB backfired, thereby putting the bank in harm’s way.

The battle between Innoson and GTB started from a dispute between Innoson and customs when GTB decided to cry more than the bereaved by appealing a valid court ruling ordering GTB to pay Innoson judgment debt of N2.4B being the cost of his goods unlawfully seized and auctioned by The Nigerian Customs.

The Genesis of Innoson Vs Customs Court Case

Innoson established the first indigenous motorcycle assembly plant in Nigeria and based on this effort, the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Finance gave a concession to him to pay 5% on his imported motorcycle CKDs. The approval is in the form of a certificate. The certificate runs for 12 months after which it is renewed.

Between October and December 2004, Innoson imported about 40 containers of motorcycle CKDs, his certificate was yet to expire. The certificate expiration was on 12th July 2005.

When the goods arrived in Nigeria, Innoson made efforts to clear the goods. He paid the required duty as calculated by COTECNA- the inspection agent and he was issued a Clean Report of Inspection (CRI) which showed the duty he was expected to pay.

READ ALSO: Court sets to unrecognize GT Bank as a financial entity

After receiving the CRI from COTECNA, he paid the duty by issuing a cheque to be drawn in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria. His bank, GTB, paid the money to the Federal government. And then he was issued with a Customs Revenue Receipt. The Receipt was issued by GTB that made the payment. The original copies were handed over to the customs.

After the payment of the duty, Innoson submitted all relevant documents to the Nigerian customs but the customs failed to release the goods. The goods were not released because they alleged that Innoson underpaid the duty. The Customs said he was to pay a 30% duty rate. When Innoson learned of this, he referred them to the concession certificate which allowed him to clear his goods based on 5% duty rate.

In spite of showing the certificate to them, Customs refused to release the goods and showed his clearing agent a circular which didn’t mention the name of Innoson among the list of companies enjoying such concession.

Upon receiving the letter, Innoson protested by sending a written protest to the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance gave a directive through a letter to The Nigerian Customs to allow Innoson to clear its goods. The Nigerian Customs then instructed their officers to allow Innoson to clear its goods at the concessioned rate of 5%. The directive was also done in writing via a letter dated 13/12/2005.

With the letter from the Minister of Finance as well as The Nigerian Customs, Innoson re-submitted its documents to the Nigerian Customs officials to enable him to take delivery of the goods.

After the submission of the documents, they were still delayed in processing the documents. After the delay, Innoson was given the approval to take its goods as overtime cargo through a written approval dated 1st Feb 2006, 2nd Feb 2006, and 9th Feb 2006 for the three bills of laden respectively.

After receiving the written approvals, Innoson made attempts to clear the goods. After customs had passed the entry, Innoson could not locate the goods at the wharf. His clearing agent continued searching for the goods at the wharf until the 1st of March, 2006 when they learned that 18 of the 25 containers had been sold by the customs.

Upon hearing that the goods had been sold by the customs, Innoson contacted its solicitors to write to the Ministry of Transport, Finance and the Comptroller-General of Customs which they did.

After sending the letter, the Minister of Finance invited Innoson to a meeting. At the meeting, Innoson was referred to the Chairman of the Presidential Special Committee on Port Decongestion and the Comptroller-General of Customs, the meeting between the three parties was held on 12th May 2006 at the Customs office in PZ Complex, Ikorodu Town, Lagos.

At the meeting of 12th May 2006 with the Hon. Minister of Finance, Transport, and the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs and other stakeholders, the Chairman of the Presidential Special Committee on Port Decongestion referred Innoson to the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs. The Assistant Comptroller-General directed Innoson to forward all relevant documents to his office so that he can be compensated.

On 18th May 2006, Innoson forwarded the documents requested by the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs through his solicitors.

The Customs ignored the documents that were forwarded and sold the remaining containers. Innoson is yet to come to terms on why customs sold his containers. First of all, he was not notified that his container was seized. He was not informed that his containers were to be sold.

His containers never contained any contraband goods but contained motorcycle CKDs. He did not at any time abandon the containers containing the motorcycle CKDs at the port. He was never taken to court. Innoson was not aware that there was a court order to sell his goods. The Federal Government gave him the concession to pay less duty because he owns an automated assembly line and as a result of the promise to increase the local output. The assembly line had a workforce of about 750 workers.

The questions that remained unanswered include:

  • Whether the Customs has the right to refuse the release of the goods as stated in the CRI? The CRI reflected the 5% concession.
  • How long do goods stay before it is declared as an overtime cargo? Do goods stay in the port for 3 months and thereafter become overtime?
  • Were the Customs Officials actually carrying out their official duties or was there a conspiracy to destroy Innoson by some people?

There was a time-lapse between the period the goods were to be cleared. Innoson never applied for an overtime clearance at any time. His goods were never gazetted before they were sold.

Innoson tried without success to pay the duty stated on the CRI but was rejected by the customs. The customs insisted that Innoson must pay 30% but Innoson still referred the Customs to his concession certificate.

Innoson was not given any notice to the effect that its containers were to be sold as overtime cargo after the approval granted to him to clear the containers as overtime cargo.

Even as an overtime cargo, there are procedures to be followed in selling it. These procedures were not followed. The usual procedure is when there is a conflict of figures for payment, a protest is lodged.

Innoson is not aware that any committee was set up to sell his containers. The customs equally did not advertise the sale of his container in any newspaper.

The procedure of the presidential Special Committee on Ports and the Customs for selling goods by auction is as follows;

(a) To notify the owner of their intentions to sell the goods by auction

(b) To give notice of the intended auction sale to the public through newspaper publication

(c) Set up a joint disposal committee to sell the goods by auction.

None of these provisions of the law was adhered to in auctioning his goods for sale. Therefore the Presidential Special Committee and Ports decongestion had no basis for auctioning Innoson’s goods after all genuine efforts by him to clear its goods.

Based on the damages that were incurred by the seizure and subsequent auction of his goods by the customs, Innoson through his solicitors sued the Nigerian Customs to the Federal High Court, Ibadan division with the following pleas;

1. Judgment for the sum of N1 billion

2. 22.5% interest for the sum of N1 billion

3. 22.5% on Judgment debt from the date of judgment until the liquidation of the debt

4. Judgment for any other claim as per the amended statement of the claim.

The Court Victory

The legal tussle between Innoson vs Customs lasted for some years. After Innoson had presented his case to the trial judge by providing all available facts and evidence to the trial judge and having the Defendants presented their own arguments and defenses.

RELIVE Moment Innoson Took Over GT Bank Over Unpaid Debts

The trial court, therefore, ordered the Custom to pay Innoson the sum of N2.4B being the cost of his goods and damages incurred.

Furthermore, Innoson got a garnishee order from the Court ordering GTB to pay the judgment debt of N2.4B to him. GTB refused to pay this money.

Innoson had a loan he was servicing with GTB at the time he got the judgment. Innoson had expected that GTB would deduct their money and pay him the balance. The reason why GTB refused to pay Innoson his money to ease him off from the damages and loss he suffered was unclear to Innoson.

GTB decided to cry more than the bereaved by appealing the court ruling on the garnishee to the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.

However, in a unanimous judgment, delivered on 6th February 2014, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial Court and ordered the Defendant (GT Bank) to pay the said sum of N2.4B to Innoson.

Still aggrieved, GTB appealed to the Supreme Court. As fate will have it, in a landmark decision on February 27th, 2019, the Supreme Court of Nigeria dismissed GTB’s appeal – SC. 694/2014- against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division.

Remember that the Court of Appeal, Ibadan division had in its decision of 6th February 2014 dismissed GTB’s appeal against the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division. Thus, the Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division which ordered GTB by way of Garnishee order absolute – to pay N2.4 Billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment sum until the final liquidation of the judgment debt. Rather than obey the judgment of the Court of Appeal, GTB approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision.

However, in a ruling delivered by Honourable Olabode Rhodes-Vivour JSC on Wednesday, February 27th, 2019, the Lord Justices of the Supreme Court (JSC) dismissed GTB’s appeal and thus affirmed the concurrent judgment of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, Ibadan Division which ordered GTB by way of Garnishee order absolute – to pay N2.4 Billion to Innoson with a 22% interest, per annum, on the judgment until the final liquidation of the judgment. The Judgment debt of N2.4B with its accrued interest as of today is about N10B.

The questions Nigerians should ask GTB

1. Why did it not pay Innoson the Judgment debt as ordered by the court?

2. Does The Customs money ordered by the court belong to GTB?

3. With N10B of Customs money in GTB, why did GTB not pay this money, why did they decide to appeal the judgment since The Customs never protested the judgment?

The concluding part of this exposé will be shared next week.

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Supplementary Senatorial Election: APC Gets Four, PDP Takes Three (Full List)
ColumnsPoliticsTimeless

Southeast Senators That Have Shown Courage Under Buhari

by NwanyiAbia
written by NwanyiAbia 8 minutes read

The courageous southeast senators under Buhari led government are worthy of recognition as the government has been characterized by bullying, harassment, and outright dictatorship.

The responsibility of senators in Nigeria is blurry. Often people are heard saying the senator in their constituency did not build roads or pipe-borne water. Some even complain the senator did not attend their daughter’s wedding or share money or facilitate appointments. 

This leaves us with one question, what are the responsibilities of the men and women of the red chambers?

A senator is voted to debate and vote on bills (proposed laws); represent the views of people in their constituency, work on parliamentary committees to examine important issues; attend parliamentary party meetings to decide on party policy; scrutinize and closely examine the work of the government.

To break it down, this means that a senator representing Abia south which Aba falls under should pass bills that will attract and favor craftsmanship, entrepreneurial grants, facilitate “motorability” of the roads so that his people at Ariaria shoe production can benefit from these things.

A senator will also vote on bills passed by other senators. For instance, if a senator from Jigawa sponsors a bill that reduced tariff on the importation of cars, the senator representing Anambra South where Innoson motors is, will not only vote against it but lobby other senators to vote against the bill thereby representing the interest of his people who are both manufacturer and employees of IVM.

A senator can chair committees on non-constituency-related issues and make decisions that are best for the country. 

The most important of all senatorial duties is to check and balance the executive. A senator is supposed to make sure the executive arm stays through to their campaign promise and does not mismanage resources. 

This glass carpet is difficult for most senators to step on. Since the ruling party has a lot of funds and can influence the election of these senators, they turn a blind eye to whatever decision the executive makes. 

It becomes difficult to see, especially, southeast senators and the House of Representatives members who challenge the executive and keep them on their toes. 

Without much ado, let us look at the thin list of lawmakers who have stayed true to their oats and have been courageous senators under Buhari-led government. We wanted to do five senators but we just couldn’t come up with such an amount.

Here’s the best we could do. And did.

Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP) – Abia South

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is one of the longest-serving southeast senators. He has been a sitting senator for 14 years, he is known for being vocal about his disappointments in the present regime. January 2020 he moved a motion asking President Buhari to resign over the increased cases of insecurity in Nigeria reminding him that he promised to end insecurity if elected, and he has failed. This ultimately caused an uproar on social media and droves of responses from the president’s spokespersons and supporters.

Is Igbo Land (South East) A Conquered Territory (A Must Read)

He was also vocal about his allegiance to the Biafra cause by wearing a DOT nations T-shirt after president Buhari called Biafra a dot nation with which he made a huge statement without even saying a word.

Lagos official attacks Abaribe for wearing 'dot nation' shirt

Most recently, Senator Abaribe charged the federal government to respect Nnamdi Kanu’s rights even as he has been arrested he should be tried as judicially binding.

He has also sponsored bills in the house on the following- 

  • SB 262: Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill, 2016
  • SB 378: NDDC Act 2000 (Amendment) Bill, 2016
  • SB 601: Federal College of Education (Technical) Arochukwu, Abia State (Est. etc) Bill, 2018. (Co-sponsor)
  • SB 602: Federal Polytechnic Aba, Abia State (Est. etc.) Bill, 2018. (Co-sponsor)

He is one of the most courageous senators in Nigeria.

Kalu Orji Uzor (APC) Abia North

Orji Uzor Kalu was a two-time governor of Abia state, and one of the southeast senators since 2019, an elder statesman in 2 opposition parties yet he has been seemingly quiet on a number of issues affecting society he was arrested and imprisoned by the EFCC on the count of embezzlement when he was Governor of Abia State. An activity he maintains is a witch hunt.

After his episode in prison where he was imprisoned for a 12year term and was released shortly afterward, it was said that he did not believe the Buhari-led government would witch hunt him in the manner they did. 

It is no longer a secret that the Buhari-led government had become a shelter for embezzle-ridden public service as soon as they signed up for membership for the APC.

Orji Kalu speaks after release from prison | Premium Times Nigeria

Orji Uzor Kalu was one of those. He moved from PDP to APC in 2016 shortly after the party won the general elections. His meal ticket hadn’t expired before they threw him under the bus. 

After his release, he went full gear on the government by sponsoring his first bill in the house:

SB 465: Administration of Criminal Justice Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Sponsored by:  Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu.

He has also sponsored another bill on the environment – SB 731: National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Sponsored by:  Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu.

Glad prison got someone talking. 

Stella Oduah (PDP) – Anambra North

Mrs. Oduah surprised everyone by sponsoring the SB 07: Protection of Personal Information Bill, 2019. 

This bill is currently at its second reading. It prohibits the government from illegally obtaining personal information, using personal information to hurt the citizens. Also protection from fraudulent activities. 

Comparing The Five Southeast Governors’ Wives’ Initiatives

The Buhari-led government has been bent on having undue access to personal information requesting NIN linked to Sim cards, IMEI which the masses especially on Twitter deemed an attack on personal information.

Stella Oduah - Wikipedia

Some would term this a political stunt by the PDP to attack anything the APC did. Either way, she was quite courageous to go against the ruling party.

Surprisingly she has also sponsored 24 other bills since 2019 till date. This is the highest number of bills she has sponsored since she got into the house in 2011. She is one of the two female southeast senators in the southeast. 

Chimaraoke Nnamani- Enugu East

He is one of the few who have been objective and non-biased in their approach. He tells the truth regardless of whose ox is gored, and the president’s ox gets gored many times.

The latest instance was in November 2019 when he spoke up against the social media bill calling it an attempt to gag the press. 

Chimaroke Nnamani At 61THISDAYLIVE

This is a huge leap from his radio silence during the Endsars protest.

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ASUU Strike: NANS Rejects Proposed National Honour For Adamu
Campus DigestColumnsEducation

Revoking The Old Habit Of Education In Nigeria

by AnaedoOnline
written by AnaedoOnline 8 minutes read

Education means different things to different people. To some, its means wealth, Light or even a blessing while to others it’s could mean the opposite. Devoid of religious values and impacts, education has served over the years, as a medium of integration. Connecting conglomerate of individuals from different works and entirety. It is safe therefore, to opine that Education has become an everlasting life factor that should never be scrapped and can only be strategically negotiated when the need be.

Only mouth shaped in ingratitude will fail to utter the benefits of education. Nelson Mandela once made an aphorism and I quote “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” But this weapon shouldn’t be a rusted and decrepit one. To fight and conquer the vapid insipidity of education, our weapon should be like a serrated arrow with frightening blade sailing violently to its target.

Life as it is noticeable, is evolving which is evident when happenings within two the period of two years are been compared. With each breaking of the day comes new perceptions of doing things. Man comes to the realization of this and naturally makes adjustments to meet up with these changes in order to make advancements.

Unlike the ancient days when man fraternized and adored crude lifestyle, today the world has risen to break the wall of resistance that has shackled their unlimited ability with modernization and technology. This modernization and technology proffers solution to many unfathomable questions threatening the progress of man in various fields of endeavor.

The country’s education system entangled with loopholes is in the complete state of dilapidation, hence the need to raise a vast vaccine against this infection that has eaten up the fabrics of the educational system. The old style of Nigerian education is becoming too primitive and dead, hence the need for revitalization, reconstruction, rehabilitation, revolution and reconciliation of the old habit of Nigerian education bisected with myriad’s of problems.

Hence, there are many ways of breaking the old habit of education in Nigeria and adopting new ones, and these includes:

Stop ceaseless strikes

History tells that in 1978, the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) was instituted to represent the academic staff in Nigerian universities. Since then, there have been incessant strikes almost every year, disrupting the academic calendar to the detriment of students who are the grasses that suffer when two elephants fight.

To curb this menace, the government should exert more efforts in giving huge budgetary allocations to educational sector, the bedrock of every nation and honor agreements signed with the union. As it was seen in 2018, the percentage of budget allocated to educational sector was abysmally low; when only 7.04% of the national budget was given to education. This is far below the UNESCO’s recommended 15%-26%.

Thus, it’s crucial to note that the affairs of the ASUU is paramount to the students and staff of every institutional body that has a link with them. It is expected that they take their assignment as delicate as it demands.

Teachers’ regular training

Evidently, there are no more static set standards for education as the world is rapidly rising from mediocrity to stadium. These has poised as a challenge to the sectors that has a long distance between where they are at the moment and where they shoul actually be.

Hence, an instructor must possess the dogged ingenuity and intuitive drive to inspire and drive a new wave of thinking in the mind of students. Also to inculcate into them the intrinsic skills that would help them harness their inherent potentials as every individual has potentials in them.

Some of the education sector in Nigeria is preponderant of laggard instructors who lack the pedagogical skills to put students through with newest methods of learning to facilitate high quality education. Teachers who are square peg in round hole cannot teach students new ideas, they cannot align them with the latest reformation.

It is therefore recommended as quite pertinent to introduce and engage teachers with regular vocational training in order to revert and avert the old ways of coaching students. By so doing, the education system would move to the peak of functionality and can as supposed measure up to the standard.

Rehabilitation of the courses/subjects Curriculum

The universe keeps advancing as the day goes by, each day brings fresh ideas that have a way of affecting every spheres of life. It is therefore not expected that things should be appropriately done in accordance with the recency effects.

Some school curriculum across the nation have experienced minimal or no change from the subjects taught in the days of antiquity. Subjects taught in most schools are otiose and out-of-date, hence will not provide the basic critical thinking skill necessary for students to succeed in the future in meeting up with some standards.

The subjects taught in school should be in conformity with the modernistic approaches of solving perennial problem of life. Any subject(s) not in line with modernism should be junked.

For educator to make this possible, they must adopt new habit of classroom routine, programs that aims at changing students to be receptive to these new subjects.

Poor and non-payment of teacher’s salary

Remuneration is an inevitable energy to every laborer. Its encourage them to stay dedicated and put to their responsibilities. Also to do more work as there is always a reward allocated to everyone and in accordance to their works and exhibitions.

It is highly lachrymatory to see tutors working like elephants and eating like ants; their monthly salary only make both ends meet. In Nigeria today, teachers work from dusk to dawn without receiving a commensurate compensation.

It’s disheartening to see teachers who bring up leaders/affluent men in the society living in absolute penury due to poor remuneration. Today, teachers are seen as low social class people because of the meagre salary they receive. Poor remuneration/emolument has hampered the progress of education as tutors lose interest and begin to leave the educational sectors for green pastures.

To change the narrative, the government must ensure proper remuneration/emolument. Teachers who are well paid would gladly discharge their duties. The old method of owing teachers and giving poor economic status as alibi must be eschewed.

Setting of committee to look into examination malpractice

Examination malpractice is an academic dishonesty or fraud. Nowadays, students don’t stress themselves in reading/or making research to clarify their obscurantism in any topic(s) they’re taught in the school when they get home, instead, they relax and wait for expo on the day of examination.

A vast majority of Nigerian students have been following this path to excel in their academic pursuits. But this has a very deleterious effect to the future of students and if allowed to continue would breed a generation where social recklessness would found its bosom.

It is therefore pertinent to nip in the bud this menace lashing up the educational system as failure to do so would bring about deterioration of the educational sectors. To make student stand aloof from this mischievous acts, examination malpractice committee must be established to guide student against such detestable activities.

They should nurture and inculcate students with the spirit of “I can do it on my own.” They should reshape the lives of students to ensure they pay a price to win a prize. In order words, reaching the acme of academic excellence by students must be on the basis of one’s industrious calibration (conscientiousness). More so, the committee must penalize any student(s) caught in such academic atrocity.

The penalty must be severe. If possible, the penalty should be expulsion of such student(s).

Erecting well equipped educational structures:

The government has its own huge role to play not to ignore the essence of libraries and laboratories in schools to pace up with modern system of education. Schools in both rural and urban areas of the country have poor and old structure.

Some schools don’t even have a single structure. Students make underneath trees their classroom. This is very outdated. Therefore, the government should spare no effort erecting good structures and renovating old ones for conducive atmosphere of learning.

Classroom should be well equipped with the necessary materials that would aid their daily teaching and learning. The classroom should be infused with technology that can support both teaching and learning. Library should be computerized. Computer and handheld devices that can expand courses and experience should be made available.

Scrapping 6-5-2 system of education:

Before after and 1960 Nigeria independence, the educational system at primary and secondary levels was a picture and adoption of old British system of education. This system of education does align with modernistic system where there is incorporation of innovations of science and technology teachings.

If there will be a total scrap of this system in Nigeria with adoption and practice of 6-3-3-4 similar to American educational system policy the country’s educational sector will witness a tremendous improvements to meet up it with international standard.

Appointment of an educational expert as a minister.

Lastly, in today’s form of politics, appointment of ministers into some sectors are not measured on competency nor qualifications but as a means of political compensation.

The new government should make it as a point of duty to appoint an expert as minister of education, not as a political party lackey. If appointment is given to an expert who has the lens to view that education is the only bedrock for growth and development of the country, the old habit of education in Nigeria will be revoked.

I think if these recommendations are allowed to take preeminence in our education sectors, it would go a long way in thrashing the old style of education in Nigeria.

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Professor Umar Jibia, a northern professor who saw through the hypocrisy of arresting Nnamdi Kanu
ColumnsPolitics

Northern Professor Analyses The Hypocrisy Of Nnamdi Kanu’s Arrest

by Okechukwu
written by Okechukwu 6 minutes read

A professor, Abdussamad Umar Jibia, a well-known scholar and public affairs commentator from Bayero University Kano has weighed in on the recent arrest of IPOB founder and leader Nnamdi Kanu which has come to dominate news circles in Nigeria this week.

In a column, published in Blueprint, the professor pointed out that the euphoria of Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest is misplaced as it would not improve the security of chunks of regions in the north where bandits have taken over and now play lord.

Here’s the report in full:

So What If Buhari Is Arrested?

On Thursday, June 24, 2021, I stumbled on a viral video from Zamfara state. In the four minutes clip, a notorious bandits’ kingpin could be seen boastfully confessing in front of senior security officials of the atrocities he committed against the Nigerian state and its people.

The man, popularly known as Dan-Karami, is said to be one of the senior gang members of the deceased Buharin daji, a bandits’ general who controlled the rural areas of Zamfara until his death in 2018 in the hand of one of his other gang members, Dogo Gide.

Dogo Gide had ‘repented’ and submitted himself to the government of Zamfara state under Abdulazeez Yari and Yari decided to use him to  his boss. Gide had since resumed  and is operating from his base in the vast forest reserve spanning several Northwestern and central states. He and Dan-Karami were among the many gangsters that sealed and breached several peace agreements with the governments of Zamfara and Katsina states.

I watched the video clips several times and upon an enquiry, I came to know that the senior government officials were there to beg him to allow people to go to farmlands in the areas he controlled now that it is rainy season. The areas he controlled, as he stated in the clip, are south of the Jibia-Gusau highway where he claims to be responsible for “any crime you hear of”.

It is noteworthy that a week earlier 53 people were killed in the area. That is many times the number of Nigerians killed due to IPOB activities since it started.

Going by what he stated, the Nigerian government has no other option except to go and beg him since, according to him, he has victoriously repelled all attempts by the Nigerian Army to defeat him. In one of those attempts, he stated, he was attacked by a combined team of Nigerian and Nigerien security forces and he defeated and killed more than half of them. He also confessed of kidnapping 40 children from Zurmi township at another point in time.

IPOB vows to continue to agitatate

Another thing he stated worth examining was the initial rejection by the now-deposed Emir of Zurmi to dialogue with him or any other terrorist for that matter. If what he said was true, the emir only agreed to speak to him after it was clear to the emir that government could not defeat him.

The question to ask here is, if the emir decided to be communicating to the outcast in order to protect his people, was he doing or not doing the right thing? Why was he deposed by the same government that now decided to go and smile with a confirmed criminal who has admitted killing several people including our soldiers? When has the Nigerian government become a coward that aims only at soft targets?

After watching that video, I began to wait for a statement from the federal government. None came, at least not to my knowledge. The expectations of any citizen who watched that video would be the government would now launch a major manhunt for the criminal to face charges of murder, treason, kidnapping, etc. Alas! The attention of the leaders of APC and PDP is not there.

Their concern is not how Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed or how many criminals are brought to justice but how many politicians from one party defect to another. Unfortunately for the people of Zamfara state, the next thing they heard is that their governor was now defecting to the ruling (sorry “governing”) party, as if that is what would solve their problem.

But there is one thing I did. After watching that video I decided to send it to the media aide of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and requested him to give it to his boss in case he had not seen it along with our message of disappointment.

My choice of Abubakar Malami is deliberate for two reasons. One. He is not one of those opportunists who only began to support Buhari with the windstorm of 2015. He has been the supporter of Buhari from day one and is thus a witness to all the promises his Oga made to Nigerians. Two. He is the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

Nothing has changed. The Sheikh Gumis are busy going from one bandits’ camp to another and calling on Buhari to give salaries to Fulani criminals. The Kabiru Gombes are all over the place telling masses that Buhari is not responsible for the protection of their lives and property since he has appointed northerners to take charge of security.

The Masaris are there blaming the masses for waiting for government to give them protection. That is the very sad predicament Northerners have found themselves. You are on your own if fate makes you an ordinary Northern Nigerian.

On Tuesday, June 29, while the rest of us were still waiting for action (although sincerely speaking most Northerners have lost hope), Malami appeared on our television screens to tell Nigerians that Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, was arrested “through the collaborative efforts of Nigerian intelligence and security services”.

That is a good news, I thought, but it is no news. Kanu has never been the major problem of the rural farmers of the North. His arrest will never make Kaduna-Abuja, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari, Jibia-Gusau, Kankara-Sheme or any of those highways safe.

It will never stop the harassment of our people killed, kidnapped, and raped by bandits on daily basis. So what if he is arrested?

But Kanu is being “accused of instigating violence especially in the Southeastern Nigeria that resulted in the loss of lives and property of civilians, military, paramilitary, police forces and destruction of civil institutions and symbols of authorities.”

Here is someone right here on the Nigerian soil boasting of having committed all these atrocities and daring government. Yet, the government is going there to smile at him. Is that not an irony?

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Stop Attacking Me For Praying For Nnamdi Kanu - Father Mbaka Warns Catholic Priests
ColumnsEditorialFeatured Posts

Nnamdi Kanu’s Capture: Five Eye-Opening Facts It Reveals

by Okechukwu
written by Okechukwu 8 minutes read

Nnamdi Kanu was brought to court yesterday, Tuesday 29th June 2021. But his capture or arrest or rearrest, in, some say the UK, some say Ethiopia, and some say Brazil, was last week as he was brought into the country on Sunday. He was at least in federal hands for at least 72 hours before the public was informed by the attorney general.

Wherever he was arrested and how long he was in custody are not the point, or perhaps it is part of the point, but the main point is that it has opened our eyes to certain things, a lot of them but we would analyse just five of them.

1. Buhari can be efficient when he chooses 

Since Buhari and his APC goons took power in 2015, it has been one inefficiency to the other. They couldn’t handle things as simple as having Olympic costumes arrive before the Olympic Games and they couldn’t do hard things like making the economy work or protecting lives.

In fact, in many cases, it seemed that they won’t even be bothered, nay, they don’t even care.

When Buhari gave the Arise TV interview early in the month, we found out that he is fully aware of everything happening in the country. The talk of dementia and a cabal seizing power from Buhari is nonsense. Buhari is in charge. The Fulani herdsmen killings, Boko Haram, and kidnappings and banditry in the north, all, he knows in clear details.

He just doesn’t feel the need to act. With IPOB, his focus is sharp and his response brutal, almost clinical. And now, with the capture of Nnamdi Kanu and all the maneuvering that comes with it, he has shown that he can be efficient when he chooses to be.

2. Nnamdi Kanu was never invisble

Nnamdi Kanu made himself appear bigger than life. He knows everything and he has the men and equipment to deal with the real and perceived enemies of Ndigbo. When he speaks, he speaks with the confidence of a field marshall. When he makes threats, he appears to be speaking while sitting on a desktop with nuclear codes.

He also gave his followers the same belief. It is not uncommon to see an IPOB member who would dare the Nigerian Airforce to do their worse. The Nigerian military is ill-equipped and under-motivated but that is not to say that a group of people in their thousands with dozens of AK47 can stand the fighter jets of Nigeria.

Everything you need to know about Nnamdi Kanu – tactics and the Biafran cause

No matter how unmotivated a chess grandmaster is, he doesn’t need the help of the gods to spank a beginner.

The reason why the Nigerian forces will never take the bait of IPOB and bomb the Southeast is because of the outrage it would cause locally and internationally. And the military no matter how foolish they can be are humans.

But Nnamdi Kanu has successfully pushed the agenda that they can stand the military toe-to-toe.

It is a lie as we have now seen with the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu like a common criminal.

3. Ndigbo’s leadership gap is terrifying

After Nnamdi Kanu was arrested, Ohaneze Ndigbo was said to have released a statement that said many things. One thing, however, stood out: They are happy that Nnamdi Kanu was arrested. They have come out to deny this statement but it is believable in that they have said worse in the past.

While many in Igboland are wary of Nnamdi Kanu’s tactics and blame him for the insecurity in the region, arresting Nnamdi Kanu may not be the answer to the question.

Nnamdi Kanu is a symptom, not the disease. The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu might demoralize his followers and leave them struggling for direction, but this may not be for long; and even if they remain leadership forever, this means they are rudderless and this is dangerous.

Now the question is this: Is an armed mob more dangerous when they have a leader or when they are without a leader? Are ESN and other armed people affiliated with IPOB more dangerous when they have a leader or when they don’t have a leader?

We are about to find out. I hate that Igboland is being used for such wicked experiments in conflict. I hate that the Ndigbo leaders cannot see this angle. Even if they are seeing this, the fact that they are not speaking out is cowardly.

Whatever his failings, Nnamdi Kanu is an Igbo man and he is not the most dangerous man in Nigeria. Terrorist-sympathizers are ministers, bandits are getting paid millions of naira, and IPOB is being treated in the language they understand.

Igbo leaders are not asking the right questions over the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu.

If the arrest of an IPOB leader is not important enough to make every Igbo man who is somebody go on record with a statement, then it is what it is, the silence of a defeated people. Sadly, the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu is a painful reminder of what we already know.

4. IPOB intelligence is grossly overrated

One aspect of the person of Nnamdi Kanu that is puzzling is how far removed from reality he could be, at times (most times actually), and how his supporters believed the words he said were divine. Nnamdi Kanu himself had said that Nigeria was created with propaganda and would be divided by propaganda. Yet, he was seen as the most truthful and all-knowing person on earth.

He claimed Buhari was dead, they believe. He said Abba Kyari was dead for more than two weeks before he was announced dead, they believe. He said a lot of things about Fulani herdsmen, the Nigerian military, and all, things that were ridiculous, and half-truth, they believe.

But feeding people propaganda and actually having information are not the same thing; they are not mutually exclusive just that one demands actual work and this is something we now know is beyond the capacity of Nnamdi Kanu.

Analysis of the types of unknown gunmen in the South East

Early last month, IPOB announced that they had formed Biafra Security Service, BSS, here’s the post with video. All these are shows not unimportant in boosting morale but there must be something deeper that they have, that they know.

Nnamdi Kanu was captured at the latest on Saturday. IPOB were not aware of it on Saturday; IPOB were not aware of this on Sunday; IPOB were not aware of this on Monday; IPOB were not aware of this on Tuesday. IPOB only became aware on Tuesday when Malami made the announcement.

This is incompetence in every angle you look at it. Incompetence. Is there no person(s) Nnamdi Kanu put in charge of checking on him? Someone he would tell, if If you don’t hear from me every six hours raise an alarm. So for more than 96 hours, you didn’t hear from your leader and you said nothing and did nothing?

If you are unaware of what happened to your head, how can you know what is happening elsewhere and prepare your defenses? In fact, why is IPOB not aware of the plot to capture Nnamdi Kanu? Why didn’t he know that going to Brazil/Ethiopia/etc was dangerous? And that the girl or the donation was a trap.

We are no longer talking high-tech intelligence; we are saying that common sense and elementary survival instincts were Nnamdi Kanu’s failures. IPOB’s intelligence is not just overrated, it is non-existent.

5. Biafran referendum and Nigerian restructuring is not happening

It is not happening any time soon. Or ever.

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