It is time for Buhari to apologize to Jonathan — Khalid

Outspoken Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja, Muhammed Nuru Khalid, also known as Digital Imam, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to summon the courage and apologize to former President Goodluck Jonathan, for failing to address the security challenges he used against the former President to win election in 2015.

He said Jonathan did all he could to do, but had a lot of forces fighting against him. He said the APC made sure they used every means to frustrate Jonathan out of power, but forgot they would inherit the same country they damaged.

Khalid disclosed this in an interview with Sunday Sun. He said after taking over power, "they (Buhari government) found out that things were different from the way they saw it, not as easy as they thought."

Responding to question on how the country got it wrong since Buhari came to power, he said, "We got it wrong when we began to politicize, regionalize and sectionalize issues of security in Nigeria. 

"When politicians are happy with insecurity situations because of the failure of the ruling party and maybe take advantage of that to campaign and come to power, then they are using a tool that is not supposed to be as campaign mercenary, and that was what happened in 2015 when the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan was in charge.

"All Progressives Congress (APC), which was in opposition then took advantage of the Boko Haram attacks and insecurity then as mercenary for campaign. They won elections and came to power, unfortunately, the thing turned over on them and is hunting them now."

Asked whether he thought APC deceived Nigerians in 2015, or are overwhelmed with the challenges facing the nation, he said, "What exactly happened before the 2015 election was that Buhari and APC took advantage of the Boko Haram activities and pockets of insecurity as well as perceived corruption then to campaign against Jonathan’s administration. 

"When they won the election in 2015, they found out that things were different from the way they saw it, not as easy as they thought. And it’s not easy for them now to come out and admit their incompetence and admit that they were wrong and over criticized the former government. 

"They don’t want what they did to the former administration, particularly in the area of harsh criticism to be done to them. The government obviously detests constructive criticism, particularly as regards the issue of insecurity and other challenges facing the nation, which they promised to address in their 2015 campaign."

He said the APC did a lot of damage to Jonathan's administration with its criticism, but do not want to be criticized in equal measure. 

He said, "They did it to the previous administration freely, did lots of image damage, locally and internationally, to Jonathan’s administration, but they don’t want it done to them, and that’s another place they got it wrong."

Those opposing Yoruba nation God will kill their children, says Igboho

Popular Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, more commonly called Sunday Igboho, has said he will not offer his condolences to Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, over the sudden death of his son, Pastor Dare Adeboye, because the cleric refused to support the Yoruba nation.

Sunday Igboho said he would not greet or sympathise with Adeboye or anyone who refused to champion the course of Yoruba nation.

Igboho in an interview did not mince words when he rained curses on any leader or pastor who refuses to support the secession agenda, saying God would kill their children and wives.

He said this during a live Facebook broadcast with his media aide, Olayomi Koiki, on Saturday night.

Koiki had asked the activist to send some words to Adeboye through the live video, to sympathise with him over the death of his son.

But, Sunday Igboho appeared infuriated by Koiki’s request as he asked if the man of God had declared his support for Yoruba nation.

He said, “Has Baba supported Yoruba nation that we will now be greeting him? We don’t need to greet Adeboye. What is my own with that? We are not doing church here. This is not religion.

“Pastor Adeboye didn’t speak about Yoruba nation. Look at the number of crowd in Baba Adeboye’s church. Is he not supposed to tell all of them to join Yoruba nation? We don’t need to greet him.

“God himself will start asking questions from all the enemies of the Yoruba race. By the grace of God, anybody who says Yoruba will not get to the promised land, God will kill their children and wives and their entire family.

“Anybody who does not support Yoruba nation, those who have powers, be it pastors or anybody that has the followers, but does not support Yoruba nation, God, I call on you; you’re the one who owns me and the creator of everything. Those elders who see our sufferings, who see that the Fulanis are kidnapping us and collecting ransom, but choose not to support us, as you kill their children, kill their wives. So shall it be.”

I am tired of Nigeria — Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said he is tired of Nigeria over the consistent failure of government to address the many issues plaguing the nation. 

Soyinka who disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja during the book reading and signing of two of his books titled ‘Trumpism in Academe’ and ‘Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth’, said there's no desire to fix the country by people in power, and does not see Nigeria getting better any time soon. 

Soyinka has been vocal since things began to fall apart under the Buhari government which he also played a part in bringing to power. He has repeatedly criticized the Buhari government over the escalating security challenges facing the country. 

In his latest criticism, Soyinka said he now goes some days without reading newspapers since there's almost nothing good happening in the country. A situation he described as "depressing".

Responding to a special request by Senator Rochas Okorocha, who asked the famous playwright if he could write a story that would help rally and unite Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic and tribal affiliations, Soyinka said that no narrative could unite Nigerians better than restitution and justice.

He said that no amount of storytelling would assuage the deep hurt felt by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that had lost loved ones due to incessant violence in the land if they got no justice.

Soyinka added that the actions of the Buhari administration did not show that it was capable of uniting Nigerians.

He said, “We had a critical moment and we lost that moment. The moment when this country could have come together; and the sense of oneness, belonging. That vision of oneness. We lost that moment. There has been more than one moment and we lost the moment. Will another one come? I don’t know. Right now I don’t see it under this government quite frankly.

“There is a failure, a systemic failure in present governance and I don’t know who can put it together. These days, I try to go some days without reading the newspapers. It is so depressing.”

Buhari would know no peace if my child is kidnapped — Gumi

Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said he would trouble powers in Aso Rock if his child were to be among those captured by bandits. 

Gumi who disclosed this in an interview with BBC Pidgin on Friday, said life is worth more than money, therefore, if it would take the whole CBN to save a single life, he said a government that value lives, would have no choice but to consider. 

Gumi has recently called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay the N100 million demanded by the abductors of the Greenfield University, Kaduna students.

Doubling down on his call, the cleric said the reality was that the money should be paid to save the lives of the abducted students.

“Life versus material; that is how you will look at it. It is the absolute responsibility of the government to protect lives. Now we have lives or N100 million at stake and these lives of 17 innocent young children,” he said.

“I can’t imagine if my child is there. I can never keep quiet. I will go and knock on Aso Rock, if my child is there. They are my children too.

“What is N100 million? So, what I’m saying is, free these children then the field is open for you to whatever action you have. It is between bandits and N100 million. I do not want the struggle between bandits and lives.

“This is just simple logic. It does not require any rocket science. How can you play with lives? You can play with your money, but you can’t play with peoples’ lives. They just went there to study,” Gumi said.

Just In: We have all the evidences to nail Tinubu — George declares

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olabode George has said the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a corrupt man, and he is unapologetic about it. 

He said he has all the evidences to nail Tinubu, and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute Tinubu based on a petition filed by the former Managing Director of Alpha Beta Consulting, Oladapo Apara.

He said that allegations that Tinubu siphoned N34 billion through the company must be properly looked into.

George stated these on Friday during an appearance on Arise News’ ‘The Morning Show’ anchored by Dr. Reuben Abati, Tundun Abiola and Rufai Oseni.

Warned that he could be sued by Tinubu for defamation, George said, “Let us go to court so we both will be talking under oath. I am saying these allegations we have documents. EFCC has been investigating.

“The former managing director of Alpha Beta himself stated black and white how they have been siphoning the money of the Lagos state treasury…let him take me to court.

“We will go there, I will say my own and the papers will be there and let him defend himself. First of all, we want the original certificate of the University he claims he attended and exactly what is his own real name.

“Look, you want to get a clown to be your head, what you would breed would be a pool of clowns. We need people and there are people in this country. I am ready if he wants to take me to court.

“Bola Tinubu is an ‘Emperor’, God bless you if you are not part of his own line. You know what happened in the last election. Have you ever heard anywhere in the world where you have a bullion van on the day of election?

“Were they carrying food to his house? He was not arrested, he was not cocooned, he was not containerised and taken to the cooler.

“These are not things he had done in the dark..openly. So, why are you saying Bode George is this and all that, it is absolute nonsense,”

JUST IN: Nigeria is under siege, says Adeboye's wife

Wife of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Folu Adeboye, says Nigeria is going through a siege.

Also known as Mother-In-Israel, Mrs Adeboye, who has been married to Pastor Enoch Adeboye for over 50 years, on Friday night, led prayers for Nigeria. The session lasted up to 30 minutes.

She ministered at the May Edition of the church’s Holy Ghost Service. The programme was themed, ‘Overflowing Blessings’.

Mrs Adeboye said, “Brethren, today’s prayer is going to be different because there is always a purpose for a season because the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 that there is purpose for season. The season that we are in Nigeria now calls for a lot of prayers. Our nation, Nigeria, is going through a siege and it is so much, so hard and we want God to liberate us even as we connect to other nations and believe that our prayers for Nigeria, God Himself will allow it to reach other nations and other nations will get out of every form of siege that they are going through.”

She subsequently led various prayer points for Nigeria even as she said “guns cannot help us”.

“These prayers, if you need to weep, you better weep because weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. This is the time we need to cry. It is becoming overwhelming, it is too much, people are dying every day from hunger, people are dying every day from all kinds of terrorism, and people are dying from kidnapping,” she said while calling on God to have mercy on Nigeria.

Recall that Mrs Adeboye’s third child, Pastor Dare Adeboye, died on Wednesday in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, where he was based with his family.

The death of the 42-year-old pastor shocked the whole world as well-meaning persons including presidents, governors, and personalities condoled the 79-year-old general overseer and his wife over the death of their son.

The general overseer of the church, which is one of the largest churches in the world, had also preached on Thursday night during the Holy Communion Service of the monthly programme.

JUST IN: When you kill a Fulani man unjustly you should expect revenge — El-Rufai defends 2012 tweet

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, says the Fulani tribe will always take revenge whenever they suffer injustice.

He, however, said they accept their fate whenever they are convicted of a crime.

El-Rufai said this on Thursday during a webinar organised by the Africa Leadership Group.

The governor was asked to clarify his tweet in 2012 wherein he said, “Anyone, soldier or not, that kills the Fulani, takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes.”

El-Rufai had been asked why he made the comment and if the Igbo would be justified to take revenge on other Nigerians that killed them during the Biafran war.

In his response, the governor said, “If a Fulani man dies in war, it is different. If a Fulani man is arrested by the authorities and convicted, it is not an issue. What the Fulani never forgets is when he is innocently targeted and killed and the authorities do nothing. He will never forget and he will come back for revenge. This is it.

“So, it is better to understand the context given the context of what I tweeted which had to do with an issue in Plateau State in 2012. I hope you get the context. So, it is not that Fulani will never forget. Anyone that goes through pain and sorrow either forgets or doesn’t forget but when it is extrajudicial, when it is extra-official, the attitude is completely different.

“This is the context in which Fulani never forgets. It is not in every context. As I said, I lost relations during the war. It doesn’t mean I still hold a grudge. We’ve moved past that.”

Governor El-Rufai, has been the subject of controversy as he's constantly being accused of being among leaders believed to be responsible for insecurity in the country. 

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia who without mentioning a name, claimed that one of North's Governors, is the sponsor of Boko Haram. 

He said, “Some of us also have our intelligence networks. I have met with some of the bandits; we have met with some of their high commanders – one or two who have repented – they have sat down with us not once, not twice.

“They told us that one of the northern governors is the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Boko Haram and the bandits are one and the same. They have a sophisticated network. During this lockdown their planes were moving up and down as if there was no lockdown."

It is not the first time the Kaduna State Governor has been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram. A former Army Chief General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika who spoke with Vanguard prior to Buhari's emergence as President in 2015, said Nasir El-Rufai, who is now Kaduna State Governor, is the actual sponsor of the terror group.

“The likes of El-Rufai have been supporting Boko Haram. In fact, El-Rufai and his likes are the same group of people that ensured the army did not get the requested equipment to deal with this menace once and for all, as they used their cohorts to tell the government that procuring modern equipment were not necessary."

“It is the same group of El-Rufai that started the human right abuses campaign. It was done in order to block any international assistance after the state of emergency was declared and the sect was initially tamed. That gave Boko Haram time and respite to build up again," he added.

Lastly, late Afenifere spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, also said, “Don’t forget that in 2016, (Nasir) El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State told the nation that he went out of this country to go and pay money to foreign Fulani who are coming to kill his people. The governor of Bauchi has been defending the right to gunmen carrying AK-47 saying they are using it to defend themselves. When you put all these together, we can no longer pretend that people in government knows what is going on."