The National Examinations Council, NECO, announced Sunday, that it has suspended its ongoing internal Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examinations, SSCE, indefinitely.
The council, in a statement by its Head, Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani explained that the action was taken by its governing board, following the current turn of events in the country.
It particularly attributed the action to the closure of schools and the curfew imposed by some state governors to safeguard lives following developments around the country. The imposition of the curfew, according to NECO, has prevented free movement of materials meant for the examination. ALSO READ: Kaduna curfew: Police will deal with persons disturbing peace — CP The statement read in full: “The Governing Board of the National Examinations Council (NECO) at its Special Meeting held on Thursday, 22nd October 2020 reviewed the on-going 2020 SSCE(Internal) nationwide.
“The Council had in a press release, dated 21st October 2020, informed the general public of rescheduling some papers of the 2020 on-going SSCE. “Arising from that meeting, the Governing Board resolved that the 2020 SSCE(Internal) be postponed indefinitely in view of the current security challenges, occasioned by the ENDSARS protests, which disrupted the smooth conduct of the examinations in some parts of the country. Tension as N’Delta militants roll out 11-point demand “In making this decision, the Board noted that due to these security challenges: Some state governments imposed a curfew and closed schools in order to safeguard lives and property; In the circumstances, it has become difficult for the Council to move examination materials across the country; Students in the affected locations were unable to sit for the papers already scheduled in the examination time table.
“The Governing Board further resolved, that when normalcy returns, the Council will continue with the conduct of the examinations in all States. “While regretting any inconveniences this postponement may cause our esteemed stakeholders, the Council has however taken this decision in order to maintain the integrity and security of its examination procedures for seamless conduct of the Council’s examination.”
Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa state has in the wake of the looting of warehouses in the state by irate youths has imposed an indefinite dusk to dawn curfew beginning from 3:00pm Sunday.
In a text of broadcast made available to our correspondent on Sunday, the governor said, in view of the fact that if left unchecked, the massive looting will lead to the loss of lives and properties, he has no choice other than to impose the curfew.
” I have declared and imposed an indefinite dawn to dusk curfew throughout the State beginning from 3 o’clock Sunday the 25th of October 2020. Movement by all manner of vehicles except as authorized, is hereby prohibited as the curfew comes into effect.
“As a responsible Government, we shall do everything within our powers to protect the lives of every citizen and will not brook any lawlessness within our boundaries. I charge every citizen to remain calm as we navigate this current situation,” Fintiri said.
Consider this teaser please: Could any of President Muhammadu Buhari’s media handlers please explain to us what the President’s nationwide address of last Thursday evening achieved? What exactly was his main point? What was the main take away point for any one?
See it this way, the nation had been blanketed by a peaceful protest for over 10 days. In those 10 days, no fight was raised by the protesters. No single building was torched. Oh yes, they blocked some roads sometimes, such as the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport junction, Abuja, reducing the traffic into the airport to a trickle.
I encountered them, young ones, starry eyed, gyrating to their own music, calling attention to national woes, the sort that should never have been allowed in any country worth that name. I simply turned to the direction I was coming from, executed an hour long trip and entered the Airport from the opposite direction.
Then on Tuesday night, yes, on that Bloody Tuesday, the army, yes, the Nigerian Army and not a crazy and crazed foreign invaders, descended on harmless protesters who had been encamped there for the previous 10 days. The result was another event that has darkened the already sooty history of Nigeria’s Human Rights abuse. But this time, Nigeria out did even herself; with no provocation whatsoever, the military opened fire on youthful protesters who had defied the curfew imposed by the Lagos State Governor. No, they were not arrested. No, they were not teargassed. A hail of bullets was trained on them, yes, just like that – in the Federal Republic of Nigeria that is under a democratic government.
Then, when the President got ready to address the nation two days after the massacre, what he left most people with was this: “Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests”.
Despite whatever could have been on his mind, nothing could have been more rancorous for a nation that had been in mourning two days before his address.
You could analyse that quoted sentence for a decade and come up with unfortunate inferences. The nation had been expecting Buhari to say something worthwhile about the Lagos Tollgate Massacre. But he not only refused to mention that sordid event, that unfortunate part of his speech I quoted above made him appear to have been gloating. Could he actually have been suggesting in any way that the government’s attempt to contain the Lekki Tollgate gathering of protesters was a sign of strength? No, it was not. It was not a sign of strength for soldiers to shoot innocent and unthreatening civilians. It is an unconscionable act.
Viewed another way, that sentence was most unfortunate because, even a day after it was made, Nigeria was still burning. From Wednesday, several spots were on fire and Buhari cannot deny that. With the real protest killed by the shooting of the real protesters, the way became open for hoodlums, who had been kept in check by the genuine protesters, and Police stations began to be attacked. It is surprising that neither Buhari nor anyone among his media handlers could understand that it was the government’s job to provide security cover for the protesters so that they could not be attacked by hoodlums. It failed to act along that line. The protesters protected themselves until hired hands began to attack them here and there. As the public space began to be reduced against them, the shooting at Lekki, Lagos, happened. The genuine protest evaporated and hoodlums took over. Buhari made his threat on Thursday, on Friday, hoodlums told him by their acts of arson across the nation that was wrong. Even on Saturday, in Garki Area 10, in Abuja, Nigeria, capital city, the Police had to be called in to foil an attempt to loot a store that allegedly contained Covid-19 Palliatives. Were people not disturbed from pursuing their legitimate duties during that time the Police took that action?
Ah, what a shame; all things bright and beautiful, Nigeria kills them all. Last Sunday, I had written that the problem with that much-hated police unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, was the same problem with all Nigerian security (and armed) agencies; impunity. Impunity made the security agencies to deal ruthlessly with citizens like an army of occupation, like a hard-hearted colonising force during a war, instead of agencies funded solely for the protection of Nigeria and Nigerians. Another problem: the authorities that ran such outfits failed woefully to reform them simply because their hearts and souls were also wedded to impunity. Lastly, I posited that impunity was Nigerians’ favourite sin; all would be involved in it as long as they were convinced they would get away with it.
Then, starting from Monday, the protest and protesters and Nigeria were betrayed as the protests and the controlling of it by the security agencies became not only violent but totally brutal. Writing this, I feel personally betrayed. For once, I had written my column for this week in time. It was ready on Monday October 19th and it gushed with pride at the fact that the youths were peaceful and peaceable, had disdained ethnic divides that have bedeviled the Nigerian polity.
That column which is now on hold, had a celebratory title: “#endSARS protest: Rejoice for the giant (the Nigerian Youth) awakes.”
Ah, I borrowed that phrases from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s anthem. The article on hold started by correcting one terrible impression; that the initial #endSARS protest, before it was hijacked by hoodlums, both of the governmental and street hues, was the first time Nigerian youths had nationalistically and effectively. I wanted to point out to those who hold such a wrong impression that this was the THIRD TIME. The first was when the “otu ikolo” (youth organisations) of the Anioma villages of the present Delta State organised themselves and gave hell to the British colonialists. A fight ensued and lasted for 31 long years. That was the first popular uprising involving a vast area, after the British had clamped its authority on any part of Africa. The second was the civil disobedience organised by the Zikist movement from the 1940s; it was pan-Nigerian and totally nationalistic. I will bring up that piece next week, if events permit.CHECK THIS OUT
Now, our attention has been forced to focus on the theme of the killing of our children (the youths) and another self-betrayal by the Nigerian nation.
In my column of last week, I remembered Chinua Achebe decrying Nigeria’s suicidal refusal to learn valuable and useful lesson from events; saying that while Japan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the World War II, Nigeria snatched defeat from the jaws of its victory in the Nigerian Civil War. Achebe’s real anger was that the leaders did not view Nigeria as one entity in 1970 and so failed to leverage on the scientific and technological gains Biafran scientists had achieved.
This time, we have again striven mightily to snatch defeat from the jaws of another victory. The youths who were on the streets protesting the total disregard the security agencies have for Nigerians, including the dehumanised agents themselves, had remained peaceful. They did not attack anybody. They avoided the religious and ethnic rancour that had terribly divided and devalued Nigeria. There gave ample notice that they could be harbingers of a better Nigeria, a one united country, were tribe and tongue should not define anyone. They were also calling leaders to order.
And then, as though someone switched off a light, it all vanished. The promise had been betrayed. The people who were out in the streets fighting to enhance the human dignity of every Nigerian, and those who were supposed to guide them and so were allowed to bear arms, meted untimely deaths to unfortunates in the streets of the cities and villages, in broad daylight and their deaths being videoed and shared so casually that the lives of Nigerians have become cheaper in a matter of three days – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – than before the protests began.
Writing this, I remember Chinua Achebe again. In 1979, he became the first to receive the revered Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) – the highest academic award in Nigeria, instituted in 1979, and which has so far been conferred on only 70 distinguished academicians. His acceptance lecture was titled “What Has Literature Got To Do With It?” The “it” being development. And he replied that the “it” had plenty to do with Literature. He said that “people tell stories and stories tell people.”
Watching events since the murder (murder?) of the protesting youths at the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos, and elsewhere across Nigeria, how a gun would go pua and a human being that God created would bite the dust, I have also been noting how the story has been changing. At first, the youths were nothing but Nigerians. Then, according to some version of events seen on online videos, some well-heeled persons in SUVs were seen arming some scoundrels and directing them to go and attack the peaceful protesters.
In no time, hoodlums took over. And Nigeria started burning. And it burnt and burnt and burnt. No, I do mean only the buildings and cars that were torched, I am most of all worried by the ethnic and linguistic hues that the protest, once peaceful protest, has now been dressed in. And the result? Nigeria has once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Why? Because of the acts of impunity of those who armed the rascals and tasked them, even paid them really, to attack the future of Nigeria. That changed the story of the 2020 protests; though nationalist at the beginning, it has now turned ethnic because people chose to tell false and terrible stories and those stories fed lies to the people. How do we beg Achebe for forgiveness … because we have failed to learn from his remarkable insights?
By the way, what was President Buhari thinking when he said in his speech: “Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests”. Gosh, did my President not know that the protest has been going on online since 2017?
It started in 2017 as a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #ENDSARS, and it made the same demand: to disband and reform the police unit. And did my President not know this? I feel like screaming!!!
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the immediate mobilisation of all police resources to bring an end to the wanton violence, killings, looting and destruction of public and private property.
He told all the hooligans and hoodlums on rampage nationwide: enough is enough.
He also warned them not to test the collective will of the nation by coming out to cause any further breakdown of law and order.
In the order rolled out today, the IGP asked officers to reclaim the public space from criminal elements masquerading as protesters in some parts of the country.
According to the Force PRO, DCP Frank Mba, the order is meant for Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs), Commissioners of Police (CPs), Heads of Police Operational Units, Squadron and Base Commanders in charge of Zonal/State/FCT Commands, the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit and the Special Protection Unit.
In addition, CPs/Heads of Police Formations in the various states have also been charged to mobilise their men and work in sync with the Command CPs in the areas where they are domiciled, to dominate the public space and ensure peace and safety in the affected areas.
The IGP said all acts of lawlessness, disruption of public peace and order and wanton violence must stop immediately.
He said the lawless actions have resulted to indiscriminate looting of shops, malls and warehouses, damage to property and loss of lives in some parts of the country.
He therefore directs the Police strategic managers to personally lead and coordinate the operation and use all legitimate means, to halt further slide into lawlessness and brigandage.
The IGP enjoined law-abiding citizens not to panic but rather join forces with the police and other members of the law enforcement community to protect their communities from the criminal elements.
He further called for the understanding and cooperation of the citizens assuring that the action is geared towards ensuring public order and safety and public security in our communities.
The pattern of looting is now to go to palliative stores and also invade homes of Federal Law Makers or prominent citizens.
Army labeled reports of the October 20 fatal shooting of protesters as fake, despite evidence to the contrary
Note: this story contains links to graphic footage.
The Nigerian Army took to Twitter on October 21, 2020 to deny reports that soldiers opened fire against peaceful protestors during an incident the previous day. Despite eyewitness accounts, video footage and several news reports, the army’s Twitter account labeled several local and international publications reporting on the shooting as “fake news.”
Screengrabs from a series of tweets by the Nigerian army’s Twitter account disclaiming local and international reports of the shooting as “fake news.” (Source: @HQNigerianArmy/archive)
Nationwide demonstrations have entered their third week, running parallel to a massive social media campaign under the #EndSARS hashtag. Protests were sparked by the alleged shooting of a Nigerian man by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), a Nigerian law enforcement unit at the center of claims of police brutality and torture. But as protesters take to the streets, the Nigerian government has responded to demonstrations with fatal force.
Despite the Nigerian military’s denials, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos State, identified 29 injuries as a result of the shooting but stopped short of mentioning any fatalities. Sanwo-Olu called the “unfortunate shooting incident” the “toughest night of their lives,” and his tweets suggested the orders came from the Federal Nigerian government. He also instituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the Nigerian Army’s rules of engagement, all of which calls into question the reaction from the Nigerian military.
Screengrabs from tweets by Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu suggestion that the incident was prompted by action from the Federal government (left) and instituting a fact-finding committee to investigate the military’s conduct (right). (Source: @jidesanwoolu/archive, left; @jidesanwoolu/archive, right)
Open source evidence also contradicts these denials. Several videos corroborate the location and presence of Nigerian soldiers at the Lekki Toll Plaza, a major toll highway toll concession in the south of Lagos. Video footage posted on Twitter place Nigerian soldiers at the plaza, where they are seen approaching peaceful demonstrators and opening fire. Subsequent footage shows injured civilians being carried away from the same location.
Amnesty International reported on October 22 it had received credible reports of deaths as a result of the incident, while the Nigerian military has yet to send out a formal press statement on the events. On the evening of October 22, Amnesty confirmed that at least 12 protesters had been killed, 10 of which relate to the Lekki shooting.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a press statement on the morning of October 23, condemning the use of force by military forces against unarmed demonstrators.
Background
Scores of Nigerian youths embarked on the protest at Lekki Toll Plaza in the southern part of Lagos, Africa’s most populous city, early on the morning of October 20. The demonstration was the latest in a series of nationwide protests against police brutality.
This iteration of the #EndSARS campaign was sparked by claims on October 3 that a young Nigerian man was shot and killed by FSARS members near the Wetland Hotel in Ughelli, 100 miles northeast of Port Harcourt. Tweets alleged that FSARS members sped off with the man’s white SUV after the fatal shooting. Young, affluent-appearing Nigerians, colloquially referred to as “Yahoo boys,” are often profiled and targeted by law enforcement for little more than their appearance.
The facts around this incident appear unclear; although initial reports claimed that the individual was shot and killed by FSARS soldiers, the vehicle seen fleeing the scene was from a paramilitary unit known as Delta Safe rather than FSARS. None of the viral videos showed the victim being shot, nor were any gunshot wounds apparent on the footage either.
Official reports following the incident also contradicted the video: Festus Keyamo, junior minister for labor in Delta State where the incident took place, told The Guardian and BBC publications that the victim had not been shot by law enforcement, but sustained head injuries after he jumped from a moving vehicle. Keyamo visited the victim and his brother the next day, and shared a picture of the victim recovering in hospital.
Regardless of the veracity of this initial incident, the video sparked a surge of similar posts and videos from other people showcasing the police brutality exerted by Nigerian law enforcement and FSARS in particular. Variations of the hashtags #EndSARS and #SARSMustEnd trended over the following days while young people — the largest demographic group in Nigeria — organized national protests in several cities.
Social media
The scale of the #EndSARS movement on social media is massive. Using Meltwater Explore, the DFRLab tracked the volume of a series of hashtags associated with the #EndSARS campaign over time. The initial peak from October 3–4 initiated by the Wetland Hotel video was dwarfed by the volumes seen after sit-in protests started on October 8.
A screengrab from a Meltwater Explore analysis on the volume of #EndSARS related hashtags, showing the increase over time in impressions. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Meltwater Explore )
Celebrities such as Kanye West, Cardi B and football player Mezut Ozil tweeted their support for Nigerians. These tweets thrust the hashtag and the demands of Nigerians into the spotlight; even Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey endorsed the #EndSARS hashtag and shared links to an organization supporting the protestors with water and food.
Tweets of support from various celebrities including Mesut Ozil (top left), Kanye West (center left), Wesley Snipes (bottom left) and Rihanna (bottom right). Twitter’s Jack Dorsey also tweeted his support (center, top right). (Source: @MesutOzil1088/archive, top left; @kanyewest/archive, center left; @wesleysnipes/archive, bottom left; @jack/archive, center; @jack/archive, top right; @rihanna/archive, bottom right)
The scale of the #EndSARS campaign becomes apparent when compared to other notable events. In the first 14 days, #EndSARS and its related hashtags saw 18 times more mentions than the August 4 Beirut explosion over the same period, with 173 billion impression (and climbing) for the campaign dwarfing the 29.3 billion impressions for the Beirut blast.
A comparison of tweet volumes related to the Beirut blast (blue) and EndSars (orange) hashtags over a similar time period. The #EndSARS related volume was 18 times larger over a similar 14-day period. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Meltwater Explore)
These volumes show no signs of abating, as more attention is drawn to the demands of Nigerians while authorities clamp down violently.
Lekki Toll Gate
The protest staged at the Lekki Toll Gate was initially slated as a three-day event. Protestors converged on the toll gate, set in the south of Lagos near the prestigious Lagos Island, on October 8. Simultaneous protests were also scheduled to take place in other cities too, including Abuja and Ibadan.
Satellite imagery of the Lekki Toll Plaza from Google Maps. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Google Maps)
The protest became a multi-day event as protesters erected tents, held religious services and organized food, water and even a music concert. Nigerian media reported that the protests resulted in a loss of N26.6 million naira (USD $70,000) per day. In addition to the closure of the toll gate itself, the diversion of the 80,000 vehicles that use the toll gate daily necessitated the opening of the nearby Lekki-Epe Expressway to ease gridlocked traffic.
Despite the heavy revenue losses incurred by Lagos authorities, the protests were peaceful; videos throughout October 8 to just prior the shooting showed protesters dancing behind the erected barriers, sitting on the road, or engaging in religious activities. Some of the last videos and images shared before the shooting showed protesters singing the national anthem.
Twitter users attending the protest showed that the protest was peaceful and non-violent over the days preceding Tuesday evening’s shooting. (Source: @PDPVanguard/archive, left; @IamRouvafe/archive, center; @sheni_coker/archive, right)
But just before noon local time on October 20, Lagos State Governor Sanwo-Olu announced a 24-hour curfew to curb violent and criminal elements that he claimed were hiding within the protests after two police stations were burned down. Twitter users urged the Lekki Toll Gate protesters to heed the curfew starting at 4 PM local time.
At 5:03 PM, an unverified post on Twitter claimed that toll gate security cameras had been removed allegedly by a government official. The logo present on the individual’s workwear indicated that he is an employee of Lekki Concession Company (LCC), the entity managing the toll gate on the city’s behalf.
A logo present on the reflective vest of the individual alleged to have removed security cameras from the toll gate showed they were an employee of Lekki Concession Company (Source: @da_rapstaman/archive, left; LCC Facebook, right)
Similarly, the angle of the shadows cast by objects in the photograph would place the individual at the northern section of the toll plaza, near the booths servicing traffic headed in a western direction. These shadows are closely aligned enough with the time of the tweet to corroborate the information.
A Suncalc analysis of the shadows cast by a lamp post in the reference image corroborates that the image was taken relatively close to the 4:03 PM timestamp of the tweet. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Suncalc)
As images of the removed security cameras spread, it prompted further warnings from Twitter users to vacate the protest, citing the removal of the cameras as an indication of ill intent on the part of the Nigerian government.
The first references to the shooting occurred at 6:42 PM, followed by several similar posts identifying gunshots in the vicinity of the toll gate. Witnesses indicated that “police” arrived in 10 trucks at around 6:42 local time. This closely corroborates the Amnesty International findings, which found soldiers began shooting at 6:45 PM.
The DFRLab used four videos to geolocate the shooting to the Lekki toll gate. These videos also confirmed Nigerian soldiers were in the presence of injured protesters in the vicinity of the toll gate.
An annotated Google Map view of the Lekki toll gate, indicating the approximate locations that the videos were taken from. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Google Maps)
Despite denials by the Nigerian military, video’s posted on social media clearly show Nigerian soldiers approaching the crowd where they remained behind the barriers. Several shots are fired, many of them in the air based on the muzzle flashes. In one of these videos, law enforcement vehicle approached protestors from the west as they opened fire.
Screengrabs from a video uploaded to Twitter showing law enforcement/military (green/orange) approach protestors from the west. A building in the background geolocated the direction of this approach. (Source: @instablog9ja/archive, left; Google Maps, right)
A different video shows what appears to be soldiers of the Nigerian army approaching protesters where they were stationed behind plastic barriers. Soldiers approached the group and opened fire. No warning is heard in the video. Muzzle flashes indicate that several of the shots seen and heard here were fired into the air.
Screengrabs from a video uploaded to Twitter showing what appears to be members of the Nigerian Army approaching protestors and opening fire. Arm patches, camo and berets are consistent with that of the Nigerian Army. (Source: @only1switch/archive, left and center; Globalsentinelng.com, top right)
From a geolocation of the video, features near the toll gate and across the channel on Lagos island confirmed it was taken looking into a northern direction on the eastern part of the toll gate, suggesting that protesters were approached from both the east and west by law enforcement, as suggested by some witnesses.
Geolocation of the video footage shows that the video was taken from the eastbound section of the eastern part of the toll plaza. Although the Google Street View image dates from 2016, several features were still visible and allowed for geolocating the video. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Google Maps)
Video footage also identified injured protestors at the same scene. The author of a video uploaded to Twitter on October 20 shows injured and bloodied protestors with the author claiming they were shot by soldiers. As the video pans, a parking garage to the south of the toll gate can be seen.
Video footage shows an injured protestor on the eastern side of the toll gate. The video author looks towards the sunset (west) through the toll gate, and construction cranes and buildings in the area are visible on Google Maps. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Google Maps)
Another video taken in front of the toll gate showed several injured protestors being carried off in the presence of camouflaged soldiers, presumably the same soldiers seen in the second video above. At least two protestors are carried away, while a third is seen on the ground during the video.
Screengrabs from a video uploaded to Twitter indicating the presence of the same soldiers seen in the earlier video with injured protestors. (Source: @iamprinceezeugu/archive)
A geolocation of the video places these soldiers on the southern section of the eastern part of the toll gate, the same spot as the soldiers seen opening fire on protestors in the second video above.
Screengrabs from the same video with features that allowed it to be geolocated to the same spot as the earlier video of soldiers opening fire on protestors. (Source:@jean_leroux/DFRLab via Google Maps)
Despite denials by the Nigerian Army, open source evidence links the presence of Nigerian soldiers at the Lekki Toll Gate at the same time as the first reports of shooting came in. Video footage also showed Lekki Toll Gate protestors, who had been peaceful in the preceding 11 days, bloodied and injured in the presence of these soldiers.
Jean Le Rouxis a Research Associate, Southern Africa, with the Digital Forensic Research Lab and is based in Cape Town.
It’s about 4 states right now at the last count where food warehouses have been uncovered and then looted by angry masses. The warehouses are all reported to be caches of hundreds of thousands of bags of food items shared to the states by the federal government for the citizens. Those foods were meant for distribution to the poorer members of the society to assist them tide over the hardship of the COVID-19. But it is a surprise that those supplies remained locked in while the citizens they are meant to assist die of hunger. When the first incident of such discovery and burst came last Thursday in Lagos, it looked like a one-off incident of serendipity for the hungry masses who spotted it and helped themselves to the supply. But on Friday, there were reports of similar incidents in Kwara, Cross River and Enugu states. All these are huge indictment on the state governments and should be condemned. While many have concluded in anger that the governors locked them in to be used later in 2022 as political campaign gifts, or to be shared to their supporters, the governors of these states owe Nigerians an explanation. And with the four already, we cannot rule out the possibility of having the same repeated in so many other states. It’s doesn’t speak good of a government to hoard the food supplies meant for the poor only to watch them die in bits of hunger and hardship. The governors just owe us explanation and apology while the rest of the states should render account of what they did with their supplies to the people whom the foods are meant for. It’s high time governance adorned human faces in our country
The discovery of hoarded palliative materials during this #EndSARS protests across the nation only buttresses the fact that Nigeria is probably the undisputed champion of wickedness, silliness, pettiness and schizophrenic greed among the political class. It also justifies the well-held belief that Nigerian masses are the most patient and longest-suffering masses of any nation in the world.
Countries all over the world, including nations deemed to be poorer than Nigeria rolled out palliative programs that targeted all ranges of the citizenry, to help soften the pains associated with the pandemic lockdown. Trillions of Dollars were and are still being paid out to citizens, while some developing nations, have, for the past eight months distributed free food, from door to door, daily to its citizens.
But in Nigeria, the little palliatives that were shared by some politicians, they made a lot of show out of. They went with cameras and media crews that were more expensive than the materials they were sharing, just to advertise the poverty of their own people and the fact that they were given them pittance. This was not even the issue.
To imagine that a human being or some set of human beings that God has lifted to the position of political and economic leadership they have been lifted, could condescend to the pathetic level of hoarding food items procured, specifically, as palliative materials for the same people they made poor through their extortionate political leadership is shameful.
How does one sit down to think that a set of human beings could be this wicked? They hoarded these materials either to resell them or to use them to campaign for votes during elections. They don’t care about the hunger that millions of Nigerians have had to endure as a result of the lockdown associated with the pandemic, they do not care that some of these people they want to campaign to with these bags of rice may die out of hunger as a result of the pandemic.
These daft criminals steal our money, loot projects meant to benefit the people, deny us jobs, pay us pittance for the few jobs they manage to provide, yet, they and their children live in the loudest affluence, imaginable. Yet, they still steal food meant for the ordinary people. God will not punish them, we shall, when the time is ripe.
I have always known that our leaders lack empathy, that their wickedness is in demonic proportion, but hardly did I imagine that they could get this animalistic in their wickedness.
I have never been more ashamed or regretful of my Nigerianess than now.
There is palpable tension across the federation as angry civilians have been identifying, breaking and looting covid 19 palliatives with the government completely hopeless as to how to quell the situation
Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group has disowned the 48 hours ultimatum given to some Nigeria nationals especially the Igbos to quit Yorubaland.
A statement issued last night in Akure by its national leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti said that the ultimatum purportedly issued by one Adeyinka Grandson was not the groups initiative.
The statement was entitled” Quit Yorubaland Ultimatum: Not Afenifere initiative.
It reads ” Our attention has been drawn to a WhatsApp video now going viral purportedly issued by one Adeyinka Grandson or his representatives giving a 48 hours ultimatum ending on Sunday, October 25 to some Nigerian national especially the Igbo to quit Yorubaland.
” Most embarrassing to me as Afenifere leader was that the young man who made the announcement kicked off with the well-known tune of Afenifere anthem, thus giving the impression that this was an Afenifere initiative.
” This is to say that we do not know anything about the quit order or are we in any way connected with the issuance or the initiators.
Pa Fasoranti said that ” For the time being, in addition to our other releases, let us all maintain peace.
As for our brother and sister Igbo, I hope they have learnt to ignore the toxic bilge under which some Nigerian imbeciles seek to drown the nation.”
Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has called on social media platforms to stop giving publicity to people who peddle fake news, especially ones targeted at creating ethnic tension.
Mr Soyinka spoke Saturday in a statement he titled ‘Identity Thieves on the Rampage.’
“It is time also, I believe, to also enter the following admonition: one cannot continue to monitor and respond to the concoctions of these addicts of falsehood, and their assiduous promoters who have yet to learn to wipe the filth off their tablets,” he said.
“The patrons of social platforms should develop the art of discrimination. Some attributions are simply so gross that, to grant them even a moment’s latitude of probability diminishes the civic intelligence of the recipient.”
The professor of comparative literature was reacting to a video circulating on the internet which urges the Igbos to leave Yoruba land.
“Undoubtedly in order to promote the video clip of an ethnic revanchist calling on Igbo to leave Yoruba land, this same lunatic fringe has exhumed, and embarked on circulating an ancient fabrication – several years mouldering in the grave – once attributed to me and vigorously denounced,” Mr Soyinka said.
“That statement impudently expounds, as my utterance, what the Hausa want, what the Yoruba want, and what the Igbo want. Such an attribution – let me once again reiterate – is the work of sick, cowardly minds that are ashamed, or lack the courage, as the saying goes, ‘to answer their fathers’ names. At least the current ethnic rabble-rouser has the courage of his convictions, not so the sick brigade of identity thieves.
“Normally, one should totally ignore the social dregs. However, in the present atmosphere where fake news is so easily swallowed and acted upon without reflection, I feel once again obliged to denounce this recurrent obscenity.
“As for our brother and sister Igbo, I hope they have learnt to ignore the toxic bilge under which some Nigerian imbeciles seek to drown the nation.”
Access Bank Nigeria Plc. has announced N50 billion in support of Nigerians through interest-free loans and grants to support communities, the youths, and micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
This information was disclosed by the bank through its official Twitter handle.
The bank’s official statement read thus,
“Now more than ever, we remain committed to our purpose of impacting lives positively. In light of the recent occurrences, we will be supporting Nigerian businesses with 50 Billion Naira interest-free loans and grants. Watch this space for more information.”
The impact of the pandemic, coupled with the hijacked #EndSARS protests that led to the looting of businesses and destruction of properties has thrown so many Nigerians into debts.
This show of support from Access Bank will help alleviate and stimulate economic activities, as well as produce many positive multiplier effects on the economy.
Now more than ever, we remain committed to our purpose of impacting of lives positively.
In the light of the recent occurrences, we will be supporting Nigerian businesses with 50 Billion Naira interest free loans and grants.
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