The Department of State Services spent at least N 164 . 5 m feeding the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria , Sheikh Ibrahim El -Zakzaky, The PUNCH reports .
El – Zakzaky was arrested by the DSS on December 12 , 2015 and remained in custody until December 2019 when Justice Gideon Kurada of a Kaduna State High Court ordered the agency to transfer the IMN leader and his wife , Zeenat, to the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Kaduna.
The Minister of Information and Culture , Lai Mohammed, had revealed in November 2018 that the Federal Government spent a total of N 3 . 5m to feed the Shiite leader monthly .
Due to El – Zakzaky ’ s detention since December 12 , 2015 , the cost of feeding the Shiite leader amounts to a total of N 164. 5 m in 47 months .
In a separate report , Kaduna State Governor , Nasir el- Rufai, clarified that the sum was not only for feeding the Shiite leader, but on security as well .
“ The N 3 . 5 m monthly feeding on El -Zakzaky is not only about his food, but other expenses on security men attached to him . The security men are permanently stationed with him, they surround where he is kept ,” he said.
However, human rights lawyer , Mr Femi Falana ( SAN) , told The PUNCH on Sunday that the cost of feeding El -Zakzaky may continue to rise since he is in prison and is therefore still being taken care of with tax payers’ money .
Iranian demonstrators have offered an $80 million reward to anyone who brings them the head of US President Donald Trump.
Thousands of people have taken to the country’s streets in anger at the death of Qasem Soleimani, a major general who was killed in a US-ordered airstrike on Friday.
The assassination of Iran’s second most powerful man is an escalation of the mounting tension between the two countries, with fears things could spiral into World War 3.
A video published by Iranian news website Akharinkhabar shows images of crowds marching in protest of Soleimani’s assassination. A male voice can be heard speaking into a microphone, although the speaker is not pictured. “On behalf of all of Iran’s people – 80 million Iranians – and each puts aside US$1, it would equal $80 million,” he says to the crowd. “And we would give this $80 million, on our own behalf, as a gift to anyone who brings the head of the person who ordered the murder of the grand figure of our revolution.
Pastor Victor Oshinfade, the presiding pastor of Holy Divine Evangelical Church, a Cherubim and Seraphim Minustry, has named his church after the immediate past governor of the state of Osun and present Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Oshinfade while speaking with our correspondence in a telephone interview said he received spiritual message to name his church after Aregbesola on April 18, 1994 years before the cathedral was built.
According to the cleric, the message came to pass on September 2, 2006 when he named the church “Abdulrauf Aregbsola Cathedral” as approved by his church members.
Oshinfade said the decision to name the church after Aregbesola was to honour him and other people that contributed to the building of the cathedral.
Have you always wondered (ask your dad) why people jubilated when Buhari was overthrown in 1985?
No need to wonder any more, these are some of the reasons people went on the streets after his removal. It took pains for me to research so we can catalogue and list the real reasons he was overthrown. I am sure this would help people my age group who were too young or were not born then.
Here are my findings
1.Soured Nigeria’s relations with Britain and neighbouring countries by ordering the brutal expulsion of 700,000 West African immigrants
2.Summarily dismissed 30,000 soldiers who were mainly Southerners and Middle beltans but left Lt.Col Mohammed Aliyu Gusau intact when he knew Aliyu was operating an import license scam.
3.Abuse of human rights:—-It was so bad that the Nigerian Bar Association stopped their lawyers from participating in the charade dubbed “the Nuremberg tribunals”. Once you’re summoned to the tribunal, consider yourself a prisoner.
4.Buhari promulgated Decree 4 on his first day in the job as head of state. It basically means you criticize the government you go to prison, end of story.
5.All the the senior positions in the SMC were occupied by northern Muslims (SMC is like present day senate and HOR)
6.Decree 2 of 1984 (Detention of Persons Decree)…..It basically allows the president to arrest anybody it wants.
7.Economy—–Insurmountable economic problems plagued the Buhari regime as petroleum prices collapsed in the face of expanding foreign debt. Buhari instituted austerity measures that caused severe hardship to the average Nigerian. In addition, political corruption continued unabated, with politicians escaping to Western countries with millions of dollars in government money. From Encyclopaedia Britannica
8.Rigidity—– Does not listen to other opinions hence Babangida said this when he overthrew Buhari: Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was too rigid and uncompromising in his attitudes to issues of national significance.
9.Jailing of opponents or perceived enemies. Sam Mbakwe 100-year jail, Ambrose Ali 75yrs, Lateef Jakande 100yrs and Pa Ajasin. Pa Adekunle Ajasin was tried, found innocent, tried again and still found innocent, and Buhari just decided enough was enough and jailed him anyhow. But curiously his friend Awwal Ibrahim – the highly corrupt governor of Niger State who was arrested at Heathrow airport with £14 million was only placed under house arrest.,
The End 10. 20 months after taking power, Nigerians and the military had grown tired and impatient with his dictatorship and the rest is history as they say.
After watching the evening news with people he thought were his friends, Majors Dangiwa Umar, Lawan Gwadabe, Abdulmumuni Aminu and Sambo Dasuki rose and pulled their pistols. One of them said: Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, on behalf of the Nigerian people, I hereby declare you arrested for crimes against the Nigerian people.
In conclusion, his downfall was intransigence. Not listening to other people’s opinion in a diverse nation like Nigeria, he was not a unifier.
Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has told those criticising him for dancing with a woman in the Caribbean that they can a ‘hug transformer’.
Fayose in a post on Twitter, used the phrase, which is a metaphor for ‘kill yourself’ in Nigeria, to fire back at his critics.
Photographs and a video showing the former Ekiti governor having a great time abroad had continued to make the rounds on the Internet.
Critics, who believe that Fayose merely feigned ill health to escape out of the country for other reasons, have continued to condemn his conduct.
But firing back his own missile, Fayose said, “Once again, Happy New Year to everyone, particularly my haters politically or otherwise.
“How far can you go in your machinations? Definitely nowhere. Remember; ‘He that is blessed of God cannot be cursed’.
“I will remain your headache in 2020 if you don’t repent.
“These ‘hailers’, when I was on their case, they were crying. Now I’m on my own lane enjoying my life, they are still crying and sucking.
“Expect more so you can cry more. I’m on medical check-up, not admission. Celebrating New Year is my right, haters can hug transformer.”
Fayose is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged misappropriation of funds during his time as governor.
He was granted permission by the Federal High Court in Lagos to travel out for medical attention.
The former governor has taken some time out in the process to ‘enjoy’ himself, drawing the ire of critics.
You Can’t Do Any Damn Thing’ – Iran’s Supreme Leader Dares Trump
Hours after President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran if there are any damages to US lives and properties after protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, the Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has responded to US President Donald Trump’s Tuesday threats.
Recall that Dozens of Iraqi protesters stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday and smashed the main door, setting fire to the reception area after US Military launched attacks on Iran backed Kataib Hezbollah, killing 25 suspected terrorists as retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.
Following the attack on the embassy, President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday December 31, “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ‘s official website carried the following statement on Wednesday January 1, responding to American warnings by adding Trump’s name in brackets to make the message clearer:
“That guy [Donald Trump] has tweeted that we see Iran responsible for the events in Baghdad and we will respond to Iran. First, there is no damn thing you can do, and second, If you were logical —which you’re not— you’d see that your crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan…
I won’t mind breaking some toes to serve Oyo People-Makinde
… says at 52 ‘I’m grateful to everyone who has made an impact on my life
Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has declared that he would not mind breaking some toes if it would aid his determination to serve the ordinary people of Oyo State.
Governor Makinde, who made the declaration while speaking at the thanksgiving service to mark his 52nd birthday said that he would continue to fight on the side of the ordinary people.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the Governor, who clocked 52 on Christmas Day, made the declaration during his Birthday Thanksgiving Service held at the St Peter’s Cathedral, Aremo, Ibadan. According to Governor Makinde, his determination to render service to the ordinary people informed his decision to declare free and qualitative education in the state adding that education remains the surest way to lift people out of poverty.
The Governor said: “If I can be who I am today, then no child should be left behind in Oyo State. And that explains my passion for education. Once we give education to our children, the sky is their starting point.”
He stated that he never thought he would live up to 30 and that he has remained grateful to God every year he has lived beyond 30.
“I thought I would join the Army, fight for my country and possibly get killed and that may be the end of the story. So for me, every year I have lived above 30 years is like a bonus,” he said.
The Governor maintained that he was getting more mature at 52 appreciated everyone who has made an impact on his life, even as he expressed appreciation to the people of Oyo State, without whom he said he would not have been able to achieve anything in last six months of his tenure as Governor.
He said: “There is nothing really much to say; today is my birthday and I am getting mature. Quite frankly, I never thought I would live up to 30. I have a friend here and every time we were talking, we always thought that we would go into the Army, fight, get killed and that would be the end of our story.
“We actually went for recruitment into the Army but were rejected. But today, we are seeing Seyi Makinde at 52 and all I can do is to give thanks to God.
“When we were going through the electioneering period, people said the political terrain here is rough, and I could get killed. So, I looked at myself and said that I could take the risk since I am more than 30 because I had always believed that anything I have after 30 would be like a bonus to me.
“That is why without looking back, I will continue to serve the people of Oyo State, without minding whose toe I will step on. Truth is, I will break some toes if I really have to and will continue to fight for the ordinary people of this state.”
He added: “My story won’t be complete without all of you and I thank you all. Today is the first time I am celebrating my birthday like this. In the area I grew up, the first time they would bring a cake for somebody’s birthday was when the last child of my family, Iyabo, celebrated her birthday. My parents kept delivering male children until they got to the 5th one.
“I remember after the delivery of the fifth child, who happened to be a female, my mother, in the labour room, was shouting for everyone to hear that she had a female child. For her, it was special treatment.
“Some of us who stayed in the area where I grew up, we used to eat in a communal setting. So, when they brought the cake for her birthday, it was strange to us and we suddenly rushed it. My mum cried that day. That was the kind of environment where I grew up.
“So, if I can be who I am today, then no child should be left behind in Oyo State. And that explains my passion for education. Once we give education to our children, the sky is their starting point.”
The Governor, who singled out the people of the State for appreciation for the support they have continued to offer to his Government, further said: “For the people of Oyo State, I want to thank you because we would not have achieved anything without you. People have been commending us that there have been changes within six months we came into government.
“I want the people to know that it is not only Seyi Makinde that is doing these but all of us. And you know that decisions are always taken by consensus. We discuss, thrash out issues and superior arguments always win. So, in 2020, I look forward to a more robust argument, discussions, and alignments.
“This time last year, I didn’t know I will become the Governor of Oyo State but I prayed to God during my birthday and the last cross over night that if my wish to serve the people of Oyo State would be to their benefit, let it be so and God answered that prayer. So, I want to pray today again that all our wishes, in the coming year 2020, God will make them manifest.”
In his sermon, the Archbishop of Ibadan Province, Most Revd Segun Okubadejo, who spoke on the topic, “a gift for Christmas,” encouraged Christians to gift Christ the best of their thoughts, actions, and deeds.
He said: “The gift Christ is asking of us today are the gifts he has given through finished work of redemption and the gifts are not for Christ’s benefits, they are for our benefits.
“Today, I am telling you children of God here celebrating Christ’s birth, the first gift Christ wants from us is love. He has deposited that love in us and he is asking for the same love. Love to God and to our neighbours.
‘We all know what lack of love causes in the home, the society. Lack of love is disturbing us. In the political circle, lack of love continues to cause crisis. So, today, Christ is asking for the gift of love.
“The second gift he is asking is that of humility in place of pride. Pride has turned the society and a lot of people into something else.
“Today, Christ is asking for the gift of doing good deeds,” Okubadejo stated.
Reps reject Bill on six-year single tenure for President, governors
The House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a Bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to accommodate a six-year single tenure for the President and governors in the future.
The Bill, sponsored by John Dyegh (APC, Benue), also seeks a six-year multiple tenure for federal and state legislators.
When the Bill was presented Tuesday for second reading, the House became rowdy as members started shouting “put the question, put the question” immediately Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase, who presided over the House, read out the Bill.
Some members saw the Bill as a third term ploy for the President.
Dyegh’s attempts to get his colleagues to support the second reading failed.
House Leader Peter Akpatason informed the House that the President had told the nation that he was not interested in another tenure, after his second, adding that the wishes of the President should be respected.
Sergius Oguns (PDP, Edo), who was the only supporters of the Bill, said it was meant to curtail huge spending on elections for second term.
He said: “If the Executive will be honest to tell us what they spend in search of second term, you will be shocked. The Bill wants to address that. When you don’t work for the people, your party will lose that state.”
Archibong Okon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) said the House should be concerned about how to make the electoral process better.
Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau) said it was important for the House to gauge the mood of the nation before taking any step towards giving governors and the President a six-year single tenure.
Haruna Isa Dederi (APC, Kano) argued that after every four years, there is an opportunity for the electorate to appraise the performance of their elected leaders and decide whether to return them or not.
Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu also opposed the Bill.
After the debate, the House unanimously voted against it.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar expressed displeasure at the speed with which the House yesterday rejected the six-year single term Bill
In a statement in Abuja by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the former Vice-President said: “In view of the challenges facing our current democratic order, especially the culture of rigging that subverts the will of the people, a six-year single term would have ended such untoward practices in our electoral process.
“The desperation for second term by the incumbents is the main reason they go for broke and set the rules book on fire, thereby making free and fair elections impossible by legitimising rigging at the expense of their challengers that have no access to public funds.”
“A situation where the incumbents deploy more public resources to their second term projects than using the funds for people’s welfare encourages massive rigging that undermines electoral integrity.
“Six-year single term would remove such desperation and enable the incumbents concentrate on the job for which they were elected in the first place.
“Eight-year term of office rewards incompetence because even incumbents that have failed would use their access to public funds to return to power by fair or foul means.
“I don’t agree with the logic that eight years would give elected leaders better opportunity to fulfil their
campaign promises. An inherently incompetent incumbent will perform below average even if you give him/her 20 years in office or give him or her $20 billion dollars”.
According to him, it is not how long a man spends in office, but how well he is adequately prepared for the job.
He further argued that the desperation for second term is not necessarily driven by patriotism or the passion for service, but by the obsession with the greed for power for its own sake.
“Second term obsession rewards incompetence by allowing failed incumbents to be reelected regardless of their performance record. It also denies political parties the opportunity to replace failed incumbents with better candidates within the parties in the name of right of first refusal”.
The former Vice- President noted that the rejection of the six-year single term was a mistake because little attention was paid to its merits, adding that eight years tenure of four years each sacrifices merit because the incumbents are automatically entitled to re-election regardless of their performance records.
On February 24, 1966, the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was removed from office through a joint military and police coup. The overthrow of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) government 53years ago is regrettable, to say the least. In 1956, the CPP won the Legislative Election leading to independence and Kwame Nkrumah became the first Prime Minister of Ghana. He was later elected President of the first Republic in 1960. According to declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the United States, France and Britain had been trying to truncate Nkrumah’s regime since 1964. President Nkrumah was seen as an ally of erstwhile Soviet Union and the Eastern Europe. But the pan-African leader declared his position in one of his famous statements, “We neither face East nor West; we face forward”. At the invitation of President Ho Chi Minh, Dr. Nkrumah left Ghana for Hanoi on February 21, 1966, to resolve the Vietnam War. Since the country had no vice president, Ghana was left in the control of a three-man Presidential Commission. Consequently, the CIA-backed coup in Ghana was carried out at the dawn of February 24, 1966, while Nkrumah was still on a peace mission in Southeast Asia. And that became the end of Nkrumah’s political career in Ghana. The masterminds of the 1966 revolution were Col. E.K. Kotoka, Major A.A. Afrifa, and Mr. J.W.K. Harley, the then Inspector-General of Police. The bloody coup d’état that toppled the first Republican Constitution of Ghana was codenamed ‘Operation Cold Chop’. The rationale behind the coup In the early morning hours of February 24, 1966, Col. Kotoka of the 2nd Infantry Brigade is quoted to have announced on Radio Ghana that, “Kwame Nkrumah is overthrown, and the myth surrounding him is broken”. One may ask the question, what inspired the security officers to overthrow Osagyefo Dr. Nkrumah? And on what basis can the coup be said to be justified? The famous coup-makers cited Nkrumah’s Preventive Detection Act (PDA), mismanagement, dictatorial practices, abuse of human rights, oppression and the deteriorating economy of Ghana as the principal reasons for the uprising. Just to play the devil’s advocate. How did the revolution contribute towards national development? Did the country’s fortunes improve in any way after Nkrumah’s administration was deposed? Obviously, your guess is as good as mine, even till now this same accusations are being used to change government in our so called Democratic rule.
Community Project Sustainability: Oyo Trains Over 1000 Stakeholders
Oyo State government has trained 1200 stakeholders from local communities on how to monitor and maintain projects undertaken by the State Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA) for sustainability of such projects.
The stakeholders were charged to intensify more efforts towards maintaining functionality and sustainability of micro project in their communities.
Speaking at a day refresher training organized by CSDA for Community project management committee (CPMC) members, the General Manager, Oyo State CSDA Mr Babatunde Christopher hinted that the grass-root development anchored on projects that touch the core needs of the people was the major area of interest of the present administration as promises were made to provide good governances to the people.
Mr Babatunde explained during the training for Ibadan/Ibarapa, Oyo/Ogbomosho and Oke-Ogun zones that a number of 691 projects have been completed in 146 intervention communities in the areas of health, water provision, education, rural electrification, construction of bridges, socio economic empowerment while 35 ongoing projects would be concluded before the year 2020.
He stated that as the community and social development project was preparing to round up by the year 2020, the success of the micro project implementation in the communities depended largely on the CPMC, as they must acquire effective supervision and sustainability of projects.
“It is pertinent that the people directly affected by these projects are made to monitor and maintain them, this is the only way to keep the projects alive for the benefit of the rural dwellers.
“The funding expended on these projects were sought from the World Bank and not a grant, this means it has to be paid back, therefore, the projects must be maintained that they do not get spoilt or neglected due to poor use.
“The trainees were selected from all the benefitting communities across the State and the training covers the areas of financing regulation, participatory monitoring and evaluation for sustainability of these projects as I have said earlier.”
One of the trainees, Mr Folorunso Olagoke of Sooto community at Egbeda local government in Ibadan, appreciated the present administration on its efforts towards making life meaningful to all rural dwellers and the people of the State.
“The programme has done a lot to improve the standard of living of the people in the communities concerned, among which is my own community, we have boreholes and connection to the national grid through which we now enjoy electricity, we are grateful.”
The ongoing CSDA projects covered years 2009 to 2020 and projects that have impacted on community health, rural electrification, accessible water and others have been executed.
Peak News 
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