Nnamdi Kanu: IPOB can’t win referendum, Igbos prefer Nigeria – Arewa youths

 

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has declared that the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) will lose if a referendum to decide Biafra is conducted.

AYCF National President, Yerima Shettima, explained that most Igbos prefer to remain as Nigerians rather than secede to form the sovereign state of Biafra.

Speaking with the DAILY POST, Shettima criticized the Biafra agitation, claiming it has been taken over by criminal elements. He, however, acknowledged that some Igbos are agitating for fairness, equity, and justice.

According to Shettima: “As a Nigerian, I know that IPOB can’t win a referendum today because an average Igbo man wants to remain a Nigerian. All they are demanding is justice, equity, and fair play.

“If there is a referendum within the Southeast, I’m sure they will lose because the majority of Igbos want to be Nigerians, apart from a few individuals who are agitating for reasons best known to them.

“I won’t tell you that most Igbos believe in the agitation, but out of fear, they won’t speak out; they are scared. They are afraid of certain people.

“I can tell you that if there is a referendum today, the Biafran voice will be heard, but the majority will have their way at the end of the day.”

Kanu, who is currently leading the agitation for Biafra, has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) since his rearrest in Kenya and subsequent repatriation to Nigeria in June 2021.

Despite courts granting him bail, the Nigerian Government has refused to release the IPOB leader.

While detained, Kanu has cautioned against the killings and general insecurity in the Southeast.

                                             

Politicians don’t fear God, says cleric at Ajimobi remembrance

 

                                                   Sheikh Muhydeen Bello

A popular Nigerian Islamic cleric, Sheikh Muhydeen Bello, on Tuesday, charged the political class to be mindful of their actions while in office, saying, “you will all become story after office.”

He also said that Nigerian politicians don’t need much but are never satisfied with what they have and that they don’t have fear of God.

He gave this advice during the four-year remembrance of the late former Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, held at his private residence, Ring Road, in Ibadan, the state capital.

Bello further charged them to live lives that would speak better about them, urging them to use the gathering to unite the political family of the Ajimobis and the All Progressives Congress in the state.

“Without unity, you may not be able to carry on the late Ajimobi legacies.”

The cleric, thereafter, called on the state APC 2023 governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, to retrace his steps and be the rallying point for other party members.

“The former Senate leader needs to change some wrong notions some people are having about him while also seeking a way forward for the state.

“Ajimobi was not the only governor who ever served the state, but look at his people, who are still gathered to honour and remember him. We all will become history someday. Nothing goes forever.

“Politicians don’t need much, but you are never satisfied with what you have. You politicians, be satisfied with little. You don’t have fear of God. You ate with Ajimobi, yet you fought him, and you still think you are angry with him even in death.

“This is about Ajimobi; we are seeing his end; they will also see our ends, too. Let’s work for posterity and see what our future will look like.

“God asked us to fear him and said that He would repay us for all that we do on earth. Let’s stand upright in all our doings.

“As you are all seated here as politicians, love each other. Be one. Let there be oneness among you all. Ajimobi died; he left people behind. What have you done that you will be remembered for when you are gone? Be one united body as a political family and party. Don’t fight and envy each other. Always speak your mind truthfully to each other.

“People are not happy with the way all of you are behaving and relating. Come together, be strong and united in honour of Ajimobi. He lived a life that unites people, yet you people are not united after his death,” he lamented.

Dignitaries in attendance were the wife of the deceased, Florence Ajimobi; a younger brother of the deceased, Wasiu Ajimobi; former Deputy Governor, Alake Adeyemo, a former deputy governor to Governor Seyi Makinde, Rauf Olaniyan, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacheus Adelabu, Oyo APC governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, Senators Sharafadeen Alli (Oyo South), Fatai Buhari (Oyo North), Yunus Akintunde (Oyo Central) and a former Secretary to Oyo State Government, Olalekan Alli.

Others were former Sports Minister Sunday Dare, Adeola Akande, former Oyo APC Chairman Akin Oke, Akeem Agbaje, ex-Health Commissioner Azeez Adeduntan, ex-ALGON Oyo Chairmen Abass Aleshinloye, Yekeen Popoola, Kolapo Daisi, Bisoye Fagade, Seyi Adisa, Kehinde Subair, Azeez Bolaji, Olayemi Ariba, Olatunji Olawale.

Step up fight against drug abuse with tougher punishment, Obi urges FG

 

                                             Peter Obi

A former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has urged the Federal Government to step up its fight against drug abuse by introducing severe punishment for drug traffickers.

Obi disclosed this in a statement on X.com on Wednesday while commemorating the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

In his statement, Obi blamed economic hardship and unemployment for fueling drug addiction, particularly among young people.

His statement partly read, “For a predominantly youthful population, Nigeria, where poverty and unemployment are on the increase, the incidence of drug abuse remains high. Economic hardship and other poor socio-economic factors have been identified as the leading factors fueling drug abuse among our youth.”

Citing reports by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, he stated that without urgent action, Nigeria could witness an increase in drug users.

He added, “A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) states that Nigeria and some African countries will witness a 40 per cent rise in the population of drug users, especially the youth population if urgent measures are not taken.”

“The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) reports that about 14.3 million Nigerians aged 15-64 years, abuse drugs.

“The National Bureau of Statistics reports a 14.4 per cent drug prevalence in Nigeria, which is twice the global average of 5.8 per cent.”

The former Anambra governor therefore urged the government to invest in the rehabilitation of those struggling with drug addiction and introduce stricter punishment for drug traffickers.

He added, “The government should invest in rehabilitating those already caught in the web of drug abuse and stringent punishment meted out to drug traffickers.

“Drugs and substance abuse have contributed to high rates of crime, moral decadence in society, and other associated health hazards. It also greatly dampens the productivity of people, especially the youth population.

“We must, therefore, seek to save our nation from the menace of drug abuse and illicit trafficking. More efforts must be channelled into preventing the spread of this virus.”

PUNCH Online reported on Tuesday that the NDLEA stated that the menace of drug abuse in the country is a ticking bomb that all stakeholders must rise to fight elaborately.

The agency went further to state that the practice of abuse of drugs and addiction is not only peculiar among the street and common people but also a challenge recording high indulgence among the very important persons (VIPs) in the country.

CSOs demand urgent action on cost of living, security, others

 

A coalition of civil society groups under the aegis of the Nigerian Human Rights Community, NHRC, yesterday, lamented the declining socio-economic conditions of Nigerians.

NHRC said incompetence on the part of public officials, high cost of living, corruption and insecurity blighting the country’s progress was worrisome, saying the growing number of economically displaced people was alarming.

Speaking on behalf of the group in Lagos at an award ceremony held by NHRC to honour Nigerians who contributed to the struggle for democracy, Mr Taiwo Adeleye, said they hoped the award would stimulate President Bola Tinubu to listen to the cries of Nigerians at this difficult time.

Adeleye said: “There would have been no democracy without June 12. Nigerians made sacrifices. People laid down their lives for peace and prosperity of Nigeria. Many people were killed. Many were maimed. It is important to continue to reward these heroes to let them know Nigerians value their past and present contributions.

“The June 12 anniversary is significant. Ironically, it coincides with the one year anniversary of President Tinubu. Nigerians expect a radical change from Tinubu government because he is the first candidate from the human rights constituency that has ever emerged as the President of the country. Nigerians are looking up to him to bring the country back from the brink.”

On his part, Tinubu, who was represented by a senior special assistant, Tunde Rahman, said: “As most of us know, President Bola Tinubu ranks highly in this category of patriots who fought stridently for our democracy. As a Senator in 1993 after the annulment of June 12, he led a team of lawmakers who did the unthinkable under a military regime: they demanded an end to military rule.

When General Abacha came, Tinubu and others formed National Democratic Coalition, NADECO. For his agitation for democracy, he was hounded. His residence in Ikeja was petrol-bombed by agents of the state who thought he had died inside the house. He then escaped abroad where he continued the agitation, providing support and assistance to pro-democracy activists abroad to sustain the struggle.”

Those honoured by NHRC included President Tinubu, Professor Wole Soyinka, former General Secretary of NADECO, Chief Ayo Opadokun; and NADECO Chieftain Wale The group also awarded Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, PINL, for peace building, conflict prevention and community empowerment in the Niger-Delta.Osun.

DSS, others warn on dangers of drug abuse

 

The Abia Director, Directorate of State Services (DSS), Salami Ajege, has warned youths to desist from drug abuse because of its harmful effects on lives and society.

Ajege issued the warning at a seminar organised in Umuahia as part of the efforts to check drug abuse among Abia youths.

He said that the usual alibi by suspects that they committed crimes under drug influences would not set them free.

The seminar organised by a concerned resident, Mr Chimezirim Nnubia, had as its theme, the “Prevalence of drug abuse and its consequential threat to the society”.

The state DSS boss, represented by an officer in the agency, Ikechukwu Obasi, said that drugs lead people to different crimes.

He said that although most crimes by youths were comitted under drug influence, “such claims would not set them free from blame and punishment”.

He, therefore, urged the youths to run from drug abuse to save the future of Nigeria, given that they constitute the country’s future workforce.

Ajege regretted that only a few ladies attended the seminar and called for more female participation in such seminars, considering that women also indulge in drugs.

In a speech, the organiser said that it had become urgent to stop the rampant tendency among the youths to abuse drugs.

Nnubia said that most of the drugs being abused were not only dangerous to their health but could result in their death hence the need to stop them before it is late.

He also said that the dire consequences of drug abuse should make everyone to join the fight against the phenomenon.

The Deputy State Commander, Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Binta Anomoris, told the participants to avoid drug abuse at all cost.

“It is alarming that youths sent to school can no longer go to school and many become useless and some even die from drug abuse.

“Curiosity, peer pressure and other reasons make youths to take drugs but there is no excuse for any youth to take to drug abuse.

“Drugs drag you down in life. It makes everyone in the house and community to be afraid of the drug abuser,” Anomoris said.

She warned that they can never control drugs but that drugs will always control them hence the need to shun the act.

The Deputy Director, Programmes, National Orientation Agency, Abia Office, Ndubuisi Anozie, said that drugs had ruined many lives of prospective successful people.

Anozie said that avoiding drugs means preserving their lives and their future.

He admonished them to think about handing over to their children a drug-free society.

Tinubu flies private jet to S’Africa, avoids faulty presidential aircraft

 

                                             President Bola Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu and his entourage, on Tuesday, departed Lagos for Pretoria to attend the inauguration of the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, aboard two private aircraft, The PUNCH learnt.

The President was escorted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, and other government officials.

A source, who was among those who saw off the President, told our reporter that the President left with members of his team in two private jets.

“They went in two private jets. Of course, you are aware that the presidential jets are no longer in good shape,” the source, who preferred not to be mentioned, said.

Efforts to corroborate the report from the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, and the Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, were unsuccessful.

As of the time of filing this story, they neither picked up the calls nor responded to messages sent for clarification.

Tinubu reportedly left the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, on a Dassault Falcon 8X aircraft around 11:06 am.

According to the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, the President would attend the inauguration of Ramaphosa following his re-election as President for a second term.

The development came barely 24 hours after the Presidency replied to the objection by the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to a demand for new aircraft for the presidential fleets.

The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence had recently called on the Federal Government to buy new aircraft for Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima.

The committee’s recommendation was contained in a report released after it investigated the status of the aircraft in the presidential air fleet.

Obi, on his X handle on Monday, however, described the move as unfortunate, saying it was coming at a time Nigerians were grappling with economic hardship occasioned by the Federal Government’s policies.

But the Presidency, in a swift reaction, described Obi’s comment as insensitive, wondering if he would rather have the life of the President jeopardised by flying faulty aircraft.

Onanuga had queried the former Anambra governor’s intention on why the number one citizen should not have access to a new plane for his safety.

“Does Peter Obi want the President dead? Is that his wish? Does he want him to continue moving around in a rickety plane and die like the VP of Malawi and Iran President? Let him tell us. This is a basic thing any sane government will do. You can’t toy with your President’s welfare.

“Why will any right-thinking person still want the President to move around in it? In this way, it is the National Assembly that officially recommended that new ones should be bought. Sometimes, Peter Obi opened his mouth to make unnecessary statements,” he stated.

Edo Guber: Shaibu’s open support for Okpebholo pitches PDP against APC

 

Former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu’s open declaration of support for Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate for the September 21 governorship election in the state, has pitched the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against the APC.

DAILY POST reports that Shaibu had, while speaking with newsmen at St. Paul’s Catholic Church Benin City, during the celebration of Father’s Day, declared his support for Okpebholo in the forthcoming governorship election.

Shaibu also described Asue Ighodalo, the candidate of the PDP, as a Lagos-based lawyer and a product of ‘godfatherism’.

He said he would support the governorship candidate of the APC, whom he described as one of the two ‘homeboys’, among the 16 contestants.

According to him, Okpebholo would succeed Obaseki on November 12.

The impeached deputy governor opined that the other ‘homeboy’ is the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Olumide Akpata, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

He noted that the two ‘homeboys’ possessed the qualities to move Edo forward, devoid of deceit or propaganda.

However, annoyed by Shaibu’s declaration of support for the opposition party’s candidate, the PDP has called for his immediate resignation from the party.

Rev Olu Martins, the Director General Media and Publicity Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council, who made the call, said the former deputy governor should resign honorably from the PDP.

Martins insisted that Governor Godwin Obaseki was not a godfather or a dictator, as alleged by Shaibu.

He urged Shaibu to always think and speak as a comrade, particularly being a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

He opined that Shaibu’s “homeboy” tag on the APC candidate does not hold water, noting that “because the (PDP) candidate didn’t grow up in Edo, doesn’t make him a stranger in his own state”.

“I thought Shaibu will tell us that the candidate he wants to support has the capacity, intelligence and knack for excellence, which is the hallmark of a great leader.

“The honourable thing he should have done is to resign from the PDP like others and support the APC candidate. His argument is that of weak people,” he stated.

Reacting to PDP’s call for the former deputy to resign from the party, Comrade Orobosa Omo-Ojo, Publicity Director, Senator Monday Okpebholo Governorship Campaign Council, said the APC welcomed Shaibu’s support for the party’s governorship flagbearer.

Omo-Ojo, who described the PDP’s statement as irritating and baseless, urged the PDP to first suspend Governor Godwin Obaseki and the party’s running mate, Osarodion Ogie, for allegedly spending the state’s resources to build a structure for the Labour Party in the state.

According to him, rather than asking Shaibu to resign, PDP should suspend their outgoing governor, Obaseki, for leading them to political obscurity in Edo State.

“Comrade Philip Shaibu is an Iroko, a true definition of homeboy and a political giant in the state, like the APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.

“APC wishes to give free advice to the dead PDP that it should concentrate energy on how to tell Edo people what new thing Asue Ighodalo and his running mate intend to bring on board after both have served the state for 28 years without any major development, especially with the terrible scorecard of Governor Obaseki that has set back the fortunes of our dear state.

“The only sane thing left for PDP is to join Obaseki and Ighodalo on a pleading tour of the state and beg for forgiveness, especially after last week’s confession by the state government that question papers for Basic Examination in the state were leaked to public school teachers in the state, which eventually ended up with maize sellers,” he said.

He alleged that Obaseki and Ogie had, as part of a plan to produce stooges, funded the Labour Party’s primary before and during the 2023 general election.

While stating that PDP was yet to understand the hurricane that has happened in its fold, he noted that everyone with political relevance have left the party.

He opined that those still with the party are only waiting as undertakers to bury it.

He equally demanded that the State Government should immediately set up an independent panel of enquiry to investigate the circumstances that led to the series of examination question leakages that have trailed the “so-called” Edo Best Education Programme since 2020.

New national minimum wage ready, awaiting legislative action- Tinubu

 

                                             President Bola Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has revealed that a consensus has been reached on the long-debated new minimum wage between the Federal Government and organised labour.

In his national broadcast to mark the 2024 Democracy Day in Abuja on Wednesday, Tinubu revealed that an executive bill will soon be sent to the National Assembly to formalise the new minimum wage agreement.

He stated, “In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organised labour on a new national minimum wage.

“We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.”

He emphasised that his administration chose a democratic approach over dictatorship in addressing the demands of labour unions.

“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.

“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution. Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interaction with the constituent parts of our political economy,” he said.

The President vowed to ensure that no Nigerian is oppressed.

He added, “I take on this vital task without fear or favour and I commit myself to this work until we have built a Nigeria where no man is oppressed. In the end, our national greatness will not be achieved by travelling the easy road. It can only be achieved by taking the right one.

“The words of the American President Franklin Roosevelt certainly ring true: There are many ways of going forward. But only one way of standing still”!”

Tinubu urged Nigerians not to be wary and to be hopeful for a better future.

“We dare not slumber lest the good things awaiting our immediate future pass us by. We dare not plant our feet in an idle standstill in the middle of the intersection of hope and despair. We know the proper way forward and we shall take it! The initial rays of a brighter tomorrow now appear on the early horizon.

“An abundant future and our capacity to achieve that future lie within our reach. Democracy and the institutions it begets offer to take us to our profound destination.
Let us board this progressive train together. Together, let us move Nigeria forward.

“Let’s continue to keep the fire of democracy burning. Let’s keep the torch lit for generations to come,” he said.

On June 3, members of organised labour embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike over the Federal Government’s refusal to raise the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.

This came following several failed meetings between the government and labour unions.

on May 1, 2024, organised labour issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government, demanding the conclusion of the minimum wage negotiation by the end of the month.

While the government and the Organised Private Sector agreed on N62,000, labour on the other hand demanded N250,000.

The Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, said labour would not accept the latest offer of ₦62,000 and the ₦100,000 proposal made by some individuals and economists.

Labour vows to reject ₦100,000 minimum wage, may resume strike Tuesday

 

                                             The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and others.

The organised labour has vowed to reject any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 minimum wage proposal for Nigerian workers by the federal government.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, the Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, described such a proposal as a “starvation wage”.

Onyeka insisted that labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of ₦62,000, saying that its latest demand as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker remains ₦250,000.

He said, “Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know can take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.

“We have never contemplated ₦100,000, let alone ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the marketplace, realities of things we buy every day: a bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”

Onyeka said the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government to review its proposal last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would expire by midnight on Tuesday, June 11, 2024.

He said organised labour would meet to decide on the resumption of the nationwide industrial action if the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to act on workers’ demands by tomorrow.

He added, “The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.

“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the organised labour will meet to decide on what next.”

When asked what the decision of labour would be should the government insist on ₦62,000, he said, “It was clear what we said. We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it. So, if you put a pause on something and that organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”

After weeks of failed talks on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, organised labour, comprising the NLC and TUC, embarked on a nationwide strike last Monday to demand a new wage and the reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

The labour unions said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker, saying the government should offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures.

However, the labour leadership suspended the strike for five days after signing a commitment with the Federal Government to resume negotiations and come up with a new minimum wage within a week.

The suspension of the strike followed a six-hour meeting between the leadership of labour and the National Assembly in Abuja, on Monday night.

To fast-track the talks, the President, last Tuesday, directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.

Tinubu also directed the government representatives to work collectively with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable wage award for Nigerians.

On Thursday, the finance minister presented the cost implications of implementing a new national minimum wage to Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, alongside the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu.

Before the directive, the minister described the proposal made by organised labour as “unaffordable. Also, the 36 state governors said labour union demand was not sustainable.

However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, labour and the government failed to reach an agreement. While labour dropped its demand again from ₦494,000 to ₦250,000, the government added ₦2,000 to its initial ₦60,000 and offered workers ₦62,000.

Both sides submitted their reports to the President, who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage bill, which the president will then sign into law.

Russia sending Nigerians, other African students to war for visa renewal – Report

 

                                             Nigerians in Diaspora Group

Russia is allegedly sending thousands of migrants and foreign students to fight alongside its troops in the war against Ukraine for visa renewal, reports Bloomberg.

According to the Business news platform, the assessment was done by some European officials who alleged that the Kremlin is doing so to add extra manpower using the tactics first deployed by the Wagner mercenary group.

The report added that Russia has been threatening not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join the military, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Moscow has also been enlisting convicts from its prisons while some Africans in Russia on work visas have been detained and forced to decide between deportation or fighting, one European official said. Some of those people had been able to bribe officials to stay in the country and still avoid military service, said the official, who, like other people cited, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Russia’s practice of sending migrants and students into battle under duress dates back to earlier in the war, another European official said. Those troops suffer especially high casualty rates because they are increasingly deployed in risky offensive maneuvers to protect more highly trained units, the official added.

A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

According to reports citing Ukrainian intelligence, Russia has engaged in a global recruitment drive to enlist foreign mercenaries in at least 21 countries, including several nations in Africa. Army recruitment campaigns offer lucrative signing bonuses and salaries for those who’ll join up as contract soldiers. Recruiters have also targeted migrants and students who previously looked for employment in Russia, and in some cases have lured others over with promises of lucrative work before forcing them to train and deploy to the front.

Russia’s ability to mobilize far greater numbers of troops could become a significant factor in the war as President Vladimir Putin seeks to capitalize on a shift in momentum this year.

For now though, his forces have been grinding forward only slowly in northeastern Ukraine and suffering heavy losses, despite a shortage of troops and ammunition on the Ukrainian side.

The Russian military lost more than 1,200 people a day during May, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, its highest casualty rate of the war. Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has seen some 500,000 personnel killed or wounded, the UK estimates. Bloomberg is unable to independently verify these figures.

At a meeting with foreign media in St. Petersburg late Wednesday, Putin appeared to imply that about 10,000 Russian troops a month are being killed or wounded and that Ukrainian losses are five times higher.

While the Kremlin has failed to achieve a breakthrough on the battlefield, it has stepped up a bombing campaign against Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Western officials say those attacks appear designed to make the city uninhabitable.

As he seeks to maintain public support in Russia, Putin has so far resisted a full-scale mobilisation and Russia says it has been able to make up a significant share of its losses — in terms of numbers if not the standard of the troops — through a voluntary recruitment drive that has attracted tens of thousands of people.

The government in Kathmandu said earlier this year that it is aware of about 400 young Nepali men who have been recruited by Russia but many more have likely signed up without the government knowing. India’s decision to stop recruiting Nepalese Gurkhas for its army, ending a 200-year-old tradition, may have encouraged Nepalis to look for work in Russia and elsewhere.

A senior Ukrainian official said they have seen an uptick in the number of foreign fighters among the prisoners Ukraine has captured on the battlefield. Africans and Nepalis have been particularly common, they said.

Some of Ukraine’s allies have been considering sharing what they know with the affected countries, another European official said.

Group of Seven nations, who will hold a leaders’ summit in Italy next week, have been trying to persuade countries from the so-called Global South to offer more support to Ukraine. But many of those nations have instead remained neutral, while their populations have been a focus for Moscow’s disinformation efforts.

Reuters reported last year that the mercenary group Wagner had recruited several African citizens as part of a drive to enlist convicts from Russian prisons for its forces in Ukraine. The news agency traced the story of three men from Tanzania, Zambia and the Ivory Coast.

There are 35,000-37,000 African students currently in Russia, according to Yevgeny Primakov head of Rossotrudnichestvo, an organization devoted to spreading knowledge about Russia abroad.

“Every year we sign up about 6,500 students from Africa to study in Russia for free,” he said on Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

₦100,000 minimum wage will make Nigerian workers breathe – SDP chair

 

The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Shehu Gabam, has urged the Federal Government not to pay civil servants less than N100,000 if it truly wants the masses to breathe.

Gabam made the appeal when he was featured as a guest on Sunday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

The development comes barely one week after the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, embarked on a nationwide strike to demand an increased minimum wage for workers and the reversal of the recently increased electricity tariff.

The industrial action was however suspended for five days after the labour leaders signed a commitment with the Federal Government to resume negotiations and come up with a new minimum wage within a week.

Last Friday, the Tripartite Committee concluded its meetings as both the FG and the Organised Private Sector agreed on N62,000 while Labour pegged its demand to N250,000.

But Gabam insisted that the government will do itself a favour by settling for a reasonable wage that is above N100,000 to avoid civil servants sabotaging the system.

He said, “For me, what I think at this stage is that the government should do something above N100,000. It is reasonably okay. It makes a little bit of sense. People can breathe, and people can go to work without thinking of sabotaging the institutions.

“You are paying civil servants and other private employees just N30,000. And then when you go to the market, there is nothing of the lowest that you can get at the cost of N30,000.”

The SDP chief also chided Nigerian governors for announcing that payment of any minimum wage higher than N60,000 was not sustainable.

This was even as he appealed for a review of the fuel removal subsidy policy.

“Any serious governor that can put his priorities right can pay N60,000 comfortably,” Gabam insisted, noting that if ghost workers are purged from the system, states can pay it. The tragedy is that the majority of the problems we are having today are from the states. The governors are contributing largely to the problem.

He added, “They have to consider reviewing this subsidy. I’ve mentioned this severally, you can get it right with the rate of subsidy the way it is. This government initiated this crisis by removing the fuel subsidy and naturally, they don’t need to be told that there are consequences that will follow.

“What we expected is that by the time the government made up its mind to remove the fuel subsidy and the pains that would follow thereafter, the consumption rates, the supply rates, and the demand rates of the nation, no one can stand it,” he concluded.

30 govs spent N968.64bn on refreshments, others in three months- Report

 

                                             President Bola Tinubu

No fewer than 30 state governments of the federation spent N986.64bn on recurrent expenditures, including refreshments, sitting allowances, travelling, utilities, etc., in the first three months of 2024, The PUNCH reports.

The states’ budget implementation reports, which were obtained from Open Nigerian States, a website supported by BudgIT that acts as a repository for public budget data, were analysed.

For the first three quarters of the year, our correspondent examined budget implementation data from thirty states; data for six states was not available.

Benue, Imo, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto and Yobe States were the ones without Q 1, 2024 data.

A breakdown showed that the 30-state government spent N5.1bn on refreshments for guests, N4.67bn on sitting allowances to government officials, N34.63bn on local and foreign travel expenses, and N5.64bn on utility bills, amounting to N50.02bn in the first three months of 2024.

The general utilities include electricity, internet, telephone charges, water rates, and sewerage charges, among others.

The sub-nationals also paid N405.77bn as salaries to their workers.

Other recurrent spending items covered in the report included the amount spent on foreign and domestic travel, Internet access fees, entertainment, foodstuff, honorarium/sitting allowance, wardrobe allowances, telephone bills, electricity charges, stationery, anniversaries/special days, welfare, aircraft maintenance, and more.

In the first three months of 2024, Abia State spent N10.92bn on its recurrent expenditures, including N165.38m on refreshments and feeding, N39.26m on utilities, N214.57m on sitting allowances, N127.1m on local and foreign travels, among miscellaneous expenses.

During this period, Adamawa State expended N23.7bn on recurrent expenditures with N287.61m spent on refreshments and feeding, N109.62m on utilities, N79.57m on sitting allowances, N768.77m on local and foreign travels.

For Akwa Ibom State, recurrent expenditure gulped N46.85bn, which included N4.46m on refreshments and feeding, N223.32m on utilities, N6m on sitting allowances, N214.61m on local and foreign travel.

Anambra State disbursed N9.91bn for recurring expenses with N78.18m on refreshments and feeding, N32.52m on utilities, N42.09m on sitting allowances, N188.39m on local and foreign travel.

Also, recurrent expenditures cost Bauchi State Government N35.75bn with N397.58m going to utilities, N50.8m on refreshments, N287.11m on allowances, and N413.56m on trips.

Bayelsa State spent N35.1bn on recurrent expenditures, comprising N28.4m on utilities, N156.14m on refreshments and N279.99m on trips.

Similarly, Lagos State disbursed N189.62bn for recurrent expenditures, including N1.21m for refreshments, N383.12m for utilities, sitting allowances costing N52.79m and N633.37m on travels.

Borno spent N18.79bn, Cross Rivers (N17.44bn), Delta (N68.68bn), Ebonyi (N14.95bn), Edo (N32.32bn), Ekiti (N32.8bn), Enugu (N7.51bn) and Gombe with N20.89bn.

Within the same period, Jigawa State spent N15.52bn on the recurrent expenditures, Kaduna expended N34.69bn, Kano (N34.41bn), Katsina (N21.87bn), Kebbi (N11.67bn), Kogi (N37.4bn), Kwara (N24.34bn), Nasarawa (N18.61bn), Ogun (N47.12bn), Ondo (N31.12bn), Osun (N24.39bn), Oyo (N40.12bn), Plateau (N24.70bn),  Zamfara (N13.46bn), and Taraba (N20.93bn).

Government spending has come under increased scrutiny in recent times, particularly in light of the country’s worsening economic challenges.

At different fora, financial experts have also raised concerns about states’ spending on recurrent expenditure, highlighting the need to embrace financial innovations.

A development economist, Aliyu Ilias, said many states had yet to fully develop themselves as industrialised and marketable to attract investors.

Ilias urged governors to develop an area of strength they could leverage to attract foreign investments.

He said, “Going forward, what they could do is identify one area of strength. For instance, Bayelsa has oil and should be able to attract investments. I think it is about policy. They should give the policy a chance that would allow people to come and invest. They should also create an attraction and develop an economic summit that will make sure they showcase and attract investors.”

An economist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, urged the states to increase their revenue by improving service delivery.

On his part, a Professor of Economics at Babcock University, Segun Ajibola, stated that the enduring problem of high governance expenses had persisted at the state level, with inadequate oversight and accountability resulting in minimal economic benefits for grassroots citizens.

The former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers lamented that state assemblies had also abandoned their oversight duties, leaving the state governors to operate with no iota of transparency and accountability.

He said, “The first issue is the perennial complaint about the high cost of governance in Nigeria and at all levels. When you look at these issues, attention is often concentrated on the Federal Government, so the searchlight is always more on the central government. Most often, nobody cares about what is happening in the states and local government, and that is where the problem is.

“There are so many institutional frameworks in place to look at what is happening at the federal level but who cares about the states? The cost of governance in relative terms is even much higher in states than the federal and that is why you hardly feel the impact of governance in most states.

“Only a few states can boost a significant presence in the lives of their people in our states. The state assemblies are expected to conduct oversight functions on the activities of the executives in their respective states, but in reality, how many states are doing that, leaving the executives to be all in all in incurring high costs.”

Source: Punch Newspapers