Boko Haram: What Borno residents need – Omokri counters Buhari
Reno Omokri, former
aide to ex-president Goodluck has reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s
response to Boko
Haram suicide bombings in Mandarari community in Borno State.
Buhari
on Monday night expressed sadness over the attack and sent his condolences
to victims of the Borno attack.
The president wrote
“I commiserate with the families of the victims of yesterday’s Viewing Center
bomb blasts in Mandarari, Konduga LGA of Borno State.
“My deepest
condolences to all those affected.”
But, Omokri on his
Twitter page condemned the President’s reaction, noting that residents of Borno
do not need condolences but ‘Action’ against Boko Haram insurgents in the
state.
The former
presidential spokesman wrote: “Dear General Buhari, Borno people do not need
COMMISERATION. They need ACTION.
“Last month, you
went to Qatar to lie that Boko Haram were defeated.
“These are people
that could have helped us defeat Boko Haram. But you LIED to look good to
them.”
Meanwhile, Borno
State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) confirming the attack on Monday, said
30 persons lost their lives while 42 others were injured when
three suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated Improvised Explosive
Device (IED) in Mandarari community of Konduga local government area.
Some Federal
Government workers on Monday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to give priority
to timely payment of pensions and gratuities to retirees.
The workers made
the plea in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in
Lagos, at the pre-retirement workshop organised by National Pension Commission
(PenCom) for workers due to retire in 2020.
They noted that
retirees were being made to wait endlessly before receiving their benefits,
despite serving their fatherland for more than 30 years.
One of the workers,
Mr Olusegun Oga, a staff of Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Lagos, told NAN that
the delay in settling retirees’ gratuities and pensions had brought discomfort
to many retired workers and their families.
“Most times,
retirees find it difficult to make ends meet after retirement, this happen
because of the long period awaited for gratuities and pensions payments.
“President Buhari
must ensure that retirees get there benefits a month after retirement.
“A federal
government worker should be paid like workers in the private sector that access
their gratuities immediately after retirement,” he said.
Mr Olufela Fashoro,
an Assistant Editor- in-Chief in NAN, also urged the government to fast track
the payment process, as doing so would ease the hardships retirees go through
and make them live long.
Another worker set
for retirement, Mr Ime Abakada, commended PenCom for organising the workshop,
but said it must improve on the payment process.
”The workshop is a
good thing, it has created a lot of awareness for us, but the government should
improve on pension payments process,” he said.
Mrs Ekanem Aikhomu,
Head, Benefit and Insurance Department, PenCom, while reacting to the pleas
said the commission had written to President Buhari on the payment of all
accrued pensions.
Aikhomu said the
President, through the Ministry of Finance is working hard to ensure that
retirees’ plight come to an end.
“For instance, the
amount we budgeted in 2019 to clear Accrued Pension of Retirees was not
reduced, unlike the previous ones.
”Though, we won’t
disclose the amount, but all we are waiting for is cash backing,” she said.
The Head, Corporate
Communications, PenCom, Mr Peter Aghahowa further said the Commission will not
relent in making the country’s pension landscape at par with developed
countries.
He said the
Commission’s commitment to all citizens was one major reason it developed micro
pension scheme to attract informal sector workers into the new pension scheme.
Killings in Nigeria: Fulani group asks Buhari to listen to Obasanjo’s
advice
The Gan Allah Fulani
Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) has called on President Muhammadu
Buhari to as a matter of urgency listen to the advice of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo on how to move the nation forward and halt the numerous
crises bedeviling the country.
Speaking with
newsmen in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the National Chairman of the group,
Alhaji Sale Bayari, said the present administration ought to listen to other
eminent Nigerians too in solving the nation’s problems, but that from the signs
he is getting, things are not in order.
He said considering
the tribal, ethnic, religious and sectional agitations from the South, East,
North and West, things must be done urgently to address and avert national
crises. According to him, there was no part of the country that agitation is
currently not going on.
He stressed that
even the crises that is already happening in the Northern states like Zamfara,
Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Benue, Nassarawa and so on, are not good for the
country, including that of the other regions like Niger-Delta militants, IPOB,
Afenifere and the rest.
“In moving the
nation forward, the government must listen to some elder statesmen irrespective
of whatever their political views or affiliation is. Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo is one of them. I have found out that if any government in Africa is
to tap one-third of what is in the brain of Obasanjo and use it, Africa will be
better. Similarly, West Africa and Nigeria will be better for it.
“Obasanjo knows our
problem; and then whenever he talks and explodes sometimes, I have found out
that it is because he has made efforts to be listened to without success. He
will then feel that posterity will judge him harshly if he does not come out to
tell Nigerians and the world the truth of things”, he explained.
“Undoubtedly,
Obasanjo is an embodiment of knowledge, experience and he knows very well the
problem of our country, Nigeria. There is nobody dead or alive today that
thinks the way Obasanjo does or knows what Obasanjo knows.
“He knows Nigeria,
Africa and the entire world like the back of his hand. That is why I am
advising this government to tap the brains of people like Obasanjo.
“He is a person
that can lead the government into looking critically at the problem bedeviling
the nation and finding a way forward.
According to him,
“We know that government can do and undo, but any government desiring to move
forward will require the support of statesmen and nationalists like Obasanjo.
“There are other
statesmen the government should listen to; people like Yakubu Gowon, Ango
Abdullahi, Sultan of Sokoto, Oni of Ife, Eze of Onitsha, and others. These are
people that have this nation at heart and would not want it to disintegrate.
Bayeri maintained
that, “If they put their machinery in place, I bet you that peace and progress
will be achieved.
“But unfortunately,
nobody is mobilizing them or seeking their input in solving the national
crises. These people know what to do or the right people to call, among other
things in solving the problems,” he said.
Bayeri said his
fear is that if the government does not carefully handle these looming crises
and they degenerate, the nation does not have the well-withal in terms of
security to tackle it.
He said if the
nation has been unable to tackle Boko Haram since 2009, then it is a greater
danger if crises burst out in other states or regions in the nation.
“Recently, the
Secretary to the Government of the Federal, Boss Mustapha said if the armed
banditry is not carefully handled, it will be worse than the Boko Haram
insurgency. I totally agree with him entirely because if you look at the way
the thing is building up now, then you will understand what I am talking about.
“Very soon, some
religious and insurgent groups may capitalize on it to recruit people for other
nefarious acts. We should not allow this to happen, and we should do everything
possible to halt it,” he warned.
Atiku’s running mate, Peter Obi speaks on Buhari’s delay in forming
cabinet
The Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, 2019 vice presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has frowned
at President Muhammadu Buhari’s delay in constituting his cabinet.
Obi, a former
governor of Anambra State, said serious leaders form their cabinet within one
week of assuming power.
Buhari, who
dissolved his cabinet prior to his swearing-in on May 29, was yet to unveil his
new team.
Obi, while
addressing journalists in Lagos at the weekend, called on the president to
constitute his cabinet as soon as possible.
According to him:
“…these are serious leaders who are ready to move their countries forward.
Imagine forming their cabinets within one week of being sworn in.
“Can you compare
them with what is happening here in our country? I have always said it that for
our country to move forward, it must change its current compass.”
The vice
presidential candidate faulted the Buhari-led government for allegedly plunging
Nigeria into a debt of over N11 trillion “despite having nothing to show”.
“What we have today
in Nigeria is the cumulative effect of leadership failures. A leader must know
his/her destination. Painfully, we have plenty bad role models masquerading as
leaders.
“Nigeria is in
total mess because of too much borrowing caused by leadership failures. Our
situation will get worse if we do not solve these problems urgently. There is
serious crisis in Nigeria because politics is now business and transactions. In
fact, we have reduced our lives to transactions in Nigeria.
“Tell me, what is
working in Nigeria today? A country where states owe billions and the federal
government has borrowed over N11 trillion since coming into office and there is
nothing to show for all the borrowed funds. Are you not worried that over 21
million of our youths are not employed?
“Nigeria is
gradually collapsing and unemployment is part of the disease killing Nigeria.
All hands must be on deck to help save our nation from these leadership
failures.”
