Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has called for a unicameral legislature for Nigeria.
Speaking at the Akure Centre of the South-West Zonal Public Hearing on the constitution review, on Tuesday, the governor said the upper chamber of the National Assembly should be scrapped to reduce the cost of governance.
He also said the National Assembly should function on a part-time basis
The governor was represented by his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
“The position of the Ondo State Government has been made public. We advocate for a Federal Government largely reduced in size and scope of engagement. We want to see a Constitution that will enhance the performance of public office holders at all levels.“It is possible to have a government that will serve the people in deed and truth. The law of the land must aid this realistic expectation. We must reduce the cost of governance and shift attention to service delivery in this trying period.
Real Madrid ‘will confirm the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager in the next few hours’ as the Italian prepares to leave Everton to return to the Bernabeu.
Ancelotti managed Real from 2013 to 2015, leading them to the 10th European Cup triumph against Atletico Madrid in Lisbon in 2014.
Now the 61-year-old is set for a second spell after Zinedine Zidane’s own second tenure came to an end last week.
Marca report that Ancelotti is ‘the chosen one’ for the Spanish giants and his return will be made official very soon.
Ancelotti left Real on good terms with president Florentino Perez and the club’s hierarchy and the door was always open for a return.
If his return is confirmed, it will see Ancelotti leave his post at Goodison Park after one-and-a-half seasons. Everton finished 12th in 2019-20 after he succeeded Marco Silva before coming 10th in the campaign just finished.
It was ultimately a disappointment with Everton in strong contention for European qualification for much of the season.
He was contracted to Everton until 2024 but that relationship now looks set to end early so Ancelotti can have another crack at the Real job.
After Zidane exited last week following a season without silverware, Real drew up a shortlist of replacements that included Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte and club legends Raul and Xabi Alonso.
But the momentum behind a return for Ancelotti gathered strength over the weekend.
His two-season spell as their manager between 2013 and 2015 saw him maintain a 75 per cent win ratio.
As well as the Champions League, which saw the defeat Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra time in the Lisbon final, Real also won the Copa del Rey in the same season.
They added the European Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup the following campaign.
On Monday, the outgoing Zidane took aim at club president Perez in a fiery goodbye letter.
‘I’m leaving but I’m not abandoning the ship and I’m not tired of coaching,’ he wrote.
‘In May 2018 I left because after two-and-a-half years of so many victories and trophies I felt the team needed a new plan to stay at the highest level. Today things are different.
‘I’m leaving because I feel that the club didn’t give me the support I needed, it didn’t offer me the support the construct a project for the medium or long term.’
Zidane departs Real for the second time as one of their greatest ever coaches, winning an unprecedented three consecutive Champions Leagues between 2016 and 2018 plus the 2017 and 2020 LaLiga titles and two FIFA Club World Cups.See Zidane’s letter below:
Zinedine Zidane’s full letter to Real Madrid fans, published in AS
For the last 20 years, ever since the first day I stepped my foot down in the city of Madrid and put on the white shirt I’ve felt your affection. I’ve always felt there was something very special between us. I’ve had the great honour of being a player and coach of the most important club of all-time, but first of all I’m a Madridista like the rest of you. That’s why I wanted to write this letter to you to say goodbye to you all and explain my decision to step down as coach.
When in March 2019 I accepted the offer to return to Real Madrid after eight months of rest it was because Florentino Perez asked me to, of course, but it was also because you fans asked me to do so every day. Whenever I ran into a Real Madrid fan on the street I felt the support and desire to see me with the team again. Because I share the values of Madridismo, this club owned by its members, its fans, by everyone. I’ve tried to transmit this values in everything I’ve done, I’ve always tried to be an example.
Spending 20 years at Real Madrid is the most beautiful thing that has happened in my life and I owe everything exclusively to Florentino Perez, who bet on me in 2001, who fought for me, to make me come to the club when certain people were against it. I say this from the bottom of my hear, I’ll always be grateful to the president for that. Always.
Now I’ve decided to leave and I wanted to explain to you well my reasons.
I’m leaving but I’m not abandoning the ship and I’m not tired of coaching.
In May 2018 I left because after two and a half years of so many victories and trophies I felt the team needed a new plan to stay at the highest level. Today things are different.
I’m leaving because I feel that the club didn’t give me the support I needed, it didn’t offer me the support the construct a project for the medium or long term.
I understand football and know the demands of a club like Real Madrid, I know that when you don’t win things you have to leave. But here they have forgotten something very important, they have forgotten everything we built each day, everything I contributed to the relationship with the players, with the 150 people who work with and around the team.
I’m a natural winner and I was here to win trophies but beyond that you have human beings, emotions and life and I got the impression that these things were not being appreciated, and people forgot that’s how you maintain the dynamic of a great club. I even felt in a certain way that I was being reproached.
I want people to respect what everyone together achieved. I would have liked my relationship with the club and the president in the last few months to have been a little different to that of other coaches. I didn’t ask for privileges, of course not, just for people to have better memories.
These days, the lifespan of a coach at a big club is around two years, not much more. To last longer human relations are essential, they are more important than money, more important than reputation, more important than anything. You have to look after them. That’s why it hurt so much when I read in the press, after one defeat, that I was going to be sacked if I didn’t win the next game. It hurt me and all my team because these messages that were intentionally leaked to the media created negative feelings with the squad, they created doubts and misunderstandings.
At least I had some marvellous lads that would stand with me until death. When things got ugly they saved me with great victories. Because they believed in me and they knew I believed in them.Of course I’m not the best coach in the world, but I’m capable of giving each one the strength and confidence they need at work, be they players, coaching staff or any employee. I know perfectly well what a team needs. In the roughly 20 years I’ve spent at Real Madrid I’ve learned that you guys, the fans, you want to win, of course. But above all you want us, the coach, the staff, the workers and of course the footballers, to give everything. And I can assure you that we gave 100% of ourselves for the club.
I also want to use this letter to send a message to the journalists. I’ve done hundreds of press conferences and unfortunately we’ve spoken very little about football and I know you love football too, this sport which unites us all. However, without wanting to criticise you or give lessons I would have liked it if your questions weren’t always directed towards controversy, I would have liked us to talk more about the ball and above all the players, who are and always will be the most important thing in this game. Let’s not forget about football, let’s look after football.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Harvard Kennedy School in the United States, have said that Nigeria as a nation, is at a point of no return with all the signs of a failed nation.
The organization, which made known in a research finding it released through its senior fellow and former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. John Campbell and Mr. Robert Rotberg, who is the Founding Director, Harvard Kennedy School’s Programme on Intrastate Conflict and president emeritus, World Peace Foundation, said Nigeria is currently in its final phase, from which it would eventually collapse.
The organisation said their position was not based on emotion or the fancy of using pejorative words to describe the situation, but on “a body of political theory developed at the turn of this century and elaborated upon, case by case, ever since.”
Its report said Nigeria has since moved from being a weak state to “a fully failed state,” having manifested all the signs of a failed country, including the inability of government to protect the citizens, large scale violence and festering insurgency.
According to them, President Muhammadu Buhari admitted that the federal government has lost control of the situation is the first step towards the restoration of stability. The duo warned that Nigeria’s failure as a state comes with negative consequences for peace and security in West Africa sub-region as well as Europe and the US.
“Nigeria has long teetered on the precipice of failure. But now, unable to keep its citizens safe and secure, Nigeria has become a fully failed state of critical geopolitical concern.
“Its failure matters because the peace and prosperity of Africa and preventing the spread of disorder and militancy around the globe depend on a stronger Nigeria.
“Its economy is usually estimated to be Africa’s largest or second largest, after South Africa. Long West Africa’s hegemon, Nigeria played a positive role in promoting African peace and security.
“With state failure, it can no longer sustain that vocation, and no replacement is in sight. Its security challenges are already destabilising the West African region in the face of resurgent jihadism, making the battles of the Sahel that much more difficult to contain.
“And spillover from Nigeria’s failures ultimately affects the security of Europe and the United States.
“Indeed, thoughtful Nigerians over the past decade have debated, often fervently, whether their state has failed. Increasingly, their consensus is that it has,” the report published on foreignpolicy (dot)com on Thursday, said.
The report further said, “There are four kinds of nations: the strong, the weak, the failed, and the collapsed.
“According to previously published research estimates, of the 193 members of the United Nations, 60 or 70 are strong—the nations that rank highest in the listings of Freedom House, the human rights reports of the U. S. State Department, the anticorruption perception indices of Transparency International, and so on.
“There are three places that should be considered collapsed: Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen.
“Eighty or 90 UN members are weak. Weakness consists of providing many, but not all, of essential public goods, the most important of which are security and safety. If citizens are not secure from harm within national borders, governments cannot deliver good governance (the essential services that citizens expect) to their constituents.
“Possibly a dozen or so states are failed, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and Myanmar. Each lacks security, is unsafe, has weak rules of law, is corrupt, limits political participation and voice, discriminates within its borders against various classes and kinds of citizens, and provides educational and medical services sparingly. Most of all, failed states are violent.
“All failed states harbor some form of violent internal strife, such as civil war or insurgency. Nigeria now confronts six or more internal insurrections and the inability of the Nigerian state to provide peace and stability to its people has tipped a hitherto very weak state into failure.
“According to political theory, the government’s inability to thwart the Boko Haram insurgency is enough to diagnose Nigeria as a failed state. But there are many more symptoms. At a bare minimum, citizens expect their states to keep them secure from external attack and to keep them safe within their borders.
“The bargain that subjects long ago made with their sovereigns was being kept from harm in exchange for allegiance and taxation. When that quid pro quo breaks down, a state loses its coherence, its social fabric disintegrates, and warring factions subvert the social contract that should provide the fundamental foundation of the state.
“Nigeria now appears to have reached the point of no return. Indeed, few parts of Nigeria are today fully safe,” the report added.
Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has described his rift with Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki as unfortunate.
Recall that Obaseki left the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following his rift with Oshiomhole, his estranged godfather in the build-up to last year’s governorship election in the state. After he decamped to the PDP, Obaseki defeated the candidate of the APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, at the poll.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the certificate forgery suit filed against Obaseki by the APC.
Reacting to the apex court judgement, Oshiomhole in a statement he personally signed on Monday in Benin, urged Governor Obaseki to be magnanimous in victory.
The statement reads; “Congratulations on your victory at the Supreme Court which has effectively laid to rest all matters arising from the last election.
” The relationship between him and Obaseki had through the years developed beyond being friends to being brothers of different parents.
“Whatever happened is unfortunate and I believe God has reasons for everything. I have put all behind me and moved on.
“As I have consistently advised, please be magnanimous in victory. You are the governor of all Edo people regardless of political leanings,” Oshiomhole said.
Similarly, the candidate of the APC in the September 19, 2020, governorship election in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has appealed that the 14 members-elect should be sworn in.
Crisis has been rocking the Edo State House of Assembly since July 2019 when it was inaugurated. At the inception of the parliament, only 10 of the 20 members-elect were inaugurated.
Our correspondent gathered that in August last year, the 14 members-elect were inaugurated in an unknown location, creating two parliaments in the state.
But on Monday after his party was defeated at the Supreme Court, Ize-Iyamu sued for peace, stressing the need for the inauguration of the 14 members-elect.
Ize-Iyamu, in a statement in Benin, said the judgement of the apex court has put an end to the series of litigations over last year’s governorship election.
“Now that it is all over, please accept my congratulations. Though the matter is in court, you are in a vantage position to consider an out-of-court settlement of the issue, in the overall interest of our state,” he said.
But the Edo State chapter of PDP has urged Obaseki not to dignify Ize-Iyamu‘s congratulatory letter with a reply.
It said it would have been better and more honourable for Ize-Iyamu to have remained silent.
PDP in a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Chris Nehikhare, said the congratulation was as a result of his defeat at the Supreme Court by Obaseki, noting that the court case was unnecessary and unwarranted.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other revenue-generating agencies of the federal government have remitted N1.54 trillion revenue to the federation account in the first quarter of 2021.
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) made this known in a statement.
It quoted the Chairman of the Commission, Engr. Elias Mbam, to have hinted this in Abuja while receiving a Revenue Performance report from the Post-Mortem Sub Committee of the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The report revealed that FIRS made the highest remittance of more than N759.86 billion while the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) surpassed its target for the quarter with more than N891.3 million.
Engr. Mbam further disclosed that more than N496.39bn was also remitted into the federation account as Value-Added Tax (VAT) for the first quarter of 2021.
This, according to him, surpassed the targeted tax revenue by more than N36,803,760.80, representing 108.01%, for the period under review.
On recoveries of outstanding arrears due to the Federation Account, the RMAFC chairman said the commission, in collaboration with the Post-Mortem Sub-Committee of FAAC, also received arrears payments totalling more than N260.37bn. This is in addition to more than N845.12bn which the sub-committee recovered in 2020.
The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib on Tuesday revealed that about 73,465 Nigerians have received their 2nd dose of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine across 36 states and the FCT.
Out of the 73,465, His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were among the first set who both received their second doses on Saturday, May 29.
He made this revelation at a press conference to update Nigerians on the status of the 2nd dose of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine across 36 states and the FCT.
According to him; “I will begin with an update on our vaccination efforts. As of today, 1,956,598 of targeted eligible Nigerians have been vaccinated with their first dose of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine. Of this number, 66% are frontline workers, 22% are healthcare workers, while 12% belong to the elderly group.
“Similarly, you would have seen that in many States, the Governors, members of the legislature, traditional and religious leaders have publicly started taking the second dose of their vaccinations. Only yesterday, members of the Presidential Steering Committee including myself received our second doses of the vaccine. I can assure that we are all doing well. Indeed, on my part, the side effects following the second dose was much less that the first dose.
“We continue to advise that all Nigerians who have received their first dose should check their vaccination cards for the date of their second dose, and proceed to the same health facility where they got their first jab, to ensure full protection against COVID-19.
“Our health teams are working hard, and I’d like to thank them once again for all their efforts to make sure Nigerians are being vaccinated. I’d also like to thank the Nigerian public for your cooperation and support in achieving a smooth vaccination campaign. This has been a national effort that involves all stakeholders.
“There have been cases of mild, moderate and severe Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) since we officially rolled out Covid-19 vaccination on March 15, 2021. The AEFIs symptoms ranged from pain and swelling at site of vaccination to more serious symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain, fever, dizziness and allergic reactions.
He continued; “A total of 10,027 cases of mild AEFI have been reported as of May 30th, while 86 cases of moderate to severe incidents have been reported. All these individuals have since fully recovered.
“Five States have the highest records of AEFI namely: Cross River (1,040), Kaduna (1,071), Lagos (796), Yobe (555), and Kebbi with 525 cases.
“We acknowledge the possibility of some people relocating from the States where they took their first doses. For this reason, we have made provision for special vaccination sites that could accommodate administering their second doses. It is also possible that due to certain circumstances, some of the sites used for the first dose vaccination may no longer be available; in this case, you are kindly advised to go for your second dose at the nearest vaccination post. The list of the vaccination sites is available on our website (www.nphcda.gov.ng), which we will keep updating and will also be published accordingly. Please bear with us while we try to make the vaccination process as seamless as possible”,he added.
While speaking on the global vaccine supply and anticipated next consignment, Shuaib stated that, the Covax facility has communicated that the upcoming allocation is likely from July-September 2021. The exact dates are still being finalized. Nevertheless, bilateral conversations are ongoing to see how we can access the surplus vaccines being stockpiled by developed countries. On this, we are working closely with the Embassies and High Commissions in Nigeria. Our communication remains clear that the allocation of vaccines from friendly countries is most useful now, not later when vaccines become widely available.
“While we are pushing for equity, justice and fair play in the global allocation of vaccines, the Federal Ministry of health is working with critical stakeholders to fast track the establishment of local vaccine production plants in Nigeria. This initiative will be seizing on the environment created by the lopsided availability of vaccines, momentum around intellectual property waivers and health security imperatives that vaccines represent.
“I would like to mention that GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance through UNICEF and in partnership with NCDC and NPHCDA have donated $8M worth of PPE to be used by primary health care workers across all 36 States and the FCT. These PPEs are already on their way to the sub-national level, courtesy of Unicef. We thank our partners and value their continued partnership in supporting our frontline health workers.
“Finally, I want to encourage all Nigerians to remain vigilant. Each and every one of us must follow social distancing, mask wearing, and curfew guidelines. Significant concern remains about the threat posed by the Coronavirus B.1.617.2 variant, also known as the Indian variant, which is observed to be a highly contagious triple-mutant strain of the coronavirus. In England, cases of the variant have doubled in one week alone. It is very important that we take all the necessary precautions set out by the Government to prevent an uncontrolled outbreak here in Nigeria.
“Vaccination remains the safest and most effective public health intervention known to man. Throughout history, vaccines have saved millions of lives. The Federal Government under the leadership of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to overcome the supply challenges the world is currently experiencing and ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are accessible free of charge, to all eligible population in Nigeria”, he further stated.
Abductors who kidnapped pupils of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School in Tegina town in Rafi Local Government of Niger State have made contact with the management of the institution.
The bandits contacted the school Headmaster, Alhaji Abubakar Alhassan, at about 4 pm on Monday, asking him to pay N110 million as ransom for the release of his pupils, our correspondent gathered .
Speaking via telephone Tuesday, Alhassan said the bandits claimed to have 156 pupils with them.
According to him, the kidnappers threatened that if they did not pay the ransom by the end of today, they will kill all the children.
Alhassan said the message has been passed to the state government, which said it will not pay ransom for the release of the children.
We learnt from another source that some public spirited people within the community have started raising the money which they hope to take to the bandits.
Meanwhile, the state government has said that it has set the necessary machinery in motion to ensure the safe release of the school children but completely ruled out the payment of ransom to the kidnappers.
This was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, Mary Noel Berje, quoted the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, as also saying: “Government is on the pursuit of the bandits and efforts are being put in place to identify them.
“The number of the kidnapped school children is not fully ascertained. However, efforts by security agencies to secure their release have been intensified.
“We don’t pay ransom to abductors. We are trying to negotiate to see how we can bring them back safely.”
Describing the situation as unfortunate, the deputy governor disclosed that the Islamiyya school has three components nursery, primary and junior secondary school, adding that government has made contact with some of the identified parents of the kidnapped children and assured them of the safe return of their children.
Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State on Monday said the killing of Ahmed Gulak, a former presidential aide, has political undertone.
He made this known while addressing a press conference in Owerri, the state capital, saying, countered police claim that he was killed by members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
He said he could not go to church when he heard about Gulak’s assassination.
According to him; “Alhaji Ahmed Gulak was in Imo State for a national assignment. He came to Owerri with the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendment. Being a humble man, he chose to travel incognito according to his friend who was with him. Someone must have trailed him from the hotel to the airport. That is exactly why his gruesome murder appears to be a clear case of political assassination,” he said.
“The brutal and callous assassination of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak yesterday, Sunday, May 30th, 2021 on his way to the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport, is painful because he did not deserve to die that way.”
“The death of this compatriot is a personal loss to me because he was an invaluable friend and brother whose sense of justice, fairness and uprightness endeared him to me. I was shocked to my marrows when the sad news of his callous murder was broken to me.
“I was getting ready to go to church when the sad news came and I could not attend the service again. It was simply one of the most devastating news I have heard in my life and I am yet to recover from the shock. It remains a puzzle to me why anyone would want to murder him in this gruesome and vicious manner.”
Streets in many parts of the south east are deserted in the wake of a sit-at-home order issued by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra.
The order is to mark two days of Remembrance for Biafra Day.
The order has been controversial in recent years, with state governments dissociating from it.
Militarisation in the region to combat IPOB is thought to have forced many to stay indoors.
The result is empty streets across Enugu and Abia states, according to images shared by residents in the region.
Streets in Umuahia the Abia State capital are virtually empty and deserted as residents remain indoors in total compliance with the sit-at-home order given by the leadership of IPOB to mark this year’s Biafra Day.
Major streets, roads in the state capital are empty of the usual human and traffic just as shops and business premises are closed.
There is no visible patrol movement of security agents nor the presence of the outlawed IPOB members on the streets.
It was a similar situation at the over-projected nearby Orieugba market which was a ghost of itself.
Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu had Sunday night said Abia traders would not be compelled to open their shops today if they chose not to do so.
Security agents take over strategic points in Imo to ensure law and order as residents of Imo state obey the sit-at-home order given by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), combined teams of security agents drawn from the army, police, navy and sister agencies have cordoned off strategic areas identified as flashpoints in and around Owerri and its environs.
Our correspondent gathered that there is a heavy military presence along Aba – Owerri road, specifically at Naze No 1, Akachi Road where some airforce men were alleged to have been killed on Saturday
There is also heavy security presence at Okigwe Road and at Imo State University round about.
The same scenario is replicated at Orji Fly over.l and Amakohia/Akwakuma flyover.
However, the situation is different at Dick Tiger junction by Egbu Road, on the road to Enyiogugu Mbaise with scanty military presence.
Meanwhile, men of the anti kidnapping unit in their patrol vans have taken over Umezurike Hospital off Royce Road, while Ama JK along Douglas Road, Control Roundabout, Concord Hotel Road by first inland road junction and Protea Hotel are no go areas.
It’s also difficult for motorists going to the Airport as Airport Junction Aba-owerri Road and obiangwu-Ngor Okpala where a former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak, was killed on Saturday are no go areas.
The situation is also the same at Nguru and Logara where military presence is quite noticeable.
