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Japa Cycle: Recession is global, stay in Nigeria - NIS Leading Reporters
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Japa Cycle: Recession is global, stay in Nigeria – NIS

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has warned Nigerian youths about the dangers inherent in illegal migration and human trafficking, adding that economic downturn is a global phenomenon. 

The NIS said many Nigerian youths have had their organs harvested and perished in the process of leaving the country for sweet promises. 

It insisted that illegal migration had become rampant following the national socio-economic downturn, but maintained that the “Japa Syndrome” embraced by the youths in recent times was not the solution. 

Mrs Kemi Nandap, the Deputy Comptroller General of Immigration in Charge of the Directorate of Migration, made the remarks at the weekend in Gwagwalada, Abuja, during sensitization visits to the District Head of Gwagwalada, the Government Day Secondary school, and the Gwagwalada main market. 

She said the sensitisation which was in commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of NIS was designed to educate the youths, parents, community leaders and other stakeholders about the danger of illegal migration and human trafficking especially through the Mediterranean and North African deserts. 

As she described the Japa Syndrome as alarming, especially amongst youths, 

Nandap revealed that over 1,200 youths died in the Mediterranean Sea and deserts last year alone. 

Nandap said many of those who reached some countries had their organs harvested by people they trusted.

She said, “Don’t be deceived, economic downturn is now a global phenomenon. If you have been watching events across the world, you would have noticed protests in some countries. So, it is not about Nigeria alone. It is a global issue. Stay here with us and let us pull our country out of this challenges together. 

“Don’t follow sweet promises that are not real. People who are telling you to follow them, ask them why they couldn’t carry their own children. Why didn’t they Japa with their cousins and other close relatives. It is dangerous.

“They deceived our youths, made them to pass through the deserts and the Mediterranean Sea, some died in the process and their bodies washed off the Sea. Some had their organs harvested by people who took them out the country.”

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“Obidient” youths block reckless truck driver for destroying LP Billboard; Demand replacement

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

The “Obident” movement euphoria took a new dimension yesterday, along Aba road Umuahia, when youths accosted a reckless truck driver who destroyed a mini-billboard displaying Peter Obi and Ahmed Datti. The incident, according to an eyewitness account occurred around 6.00 pm yesterday at Standpol, Aba Road Umuahia.

The driver of the truck who identified himself simply as Iyke was said to be drunk and recklessly abandoned a major road for a shorter route.  He was said to have ripped off a part of the billboard with the truck’s tipping bucket.  The youths who forced him to a stop did not only ask him to replace the torn billboard, but they insisted that he would remain with them until they were sure that he was no longer under the influence of alcohol.

Trouble started when the driver upon destroying the billboard attempted to speed off.  The youths were said to have blocked him and insisted that he would fix the billboard.

The said billboard is believed to be the communal effort of some “Obident” followers living within the vicinity.

At the time of filing this report, the driver, upon realizing that the youths were serious about their demands surrendered and accepted to fix the billboard, while apologizing for his deeds.

A nearby welder was brought to brace the billboard before the driver was let off the hook by the youths who echoed “Obident victory” chant.

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Opinion

Why Peter Obi-Datti Baba Ahmed Should Get Your Vote in 2023

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

I am not the typical politician or party man, but I love Nigeria very much to be deeply interested in her welfare, progress and future. It is from that perspective, unbiased and objective, that I put these thoughts forward.

I have been around enough to know that Nigeria has suffered from leadership deficit, and that many simple things have been left undone purely because of self-centered interests. I am also able to see that past leaders have failed woefully to unite Nigerians and erase such divisive tags as religion and ethnicity.

After over sixty years of independence, we are unable to birth a true Nigerian citizenship; rather, we have remained as Yorubas, Igbos, Hausa, Ijaws, Ibibios, Fulanis, Nupes, Idomas, etc. There is nothing wrong, as such, in coming from an ethnic stock, but there is everything wrong when ethnicity is promoted over and above nationhood, common brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity. The blame is squarely on the door steps of past political leadership.

Next year’s presidential elections, therefore, present us a fresh opportunity to do a total rethink, call it re-jig and introspection. In that regard, so far, we have identified three major frontline political parties. The one is the ruling All Progressive Congress, the APC, having Senator Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as flag bearers. The other is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, having Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as flag bearers.

Then the third is the Labour Party, having Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed as flag bearers. Apart from the names of the individuals in the first and second political parties, both APC and PDP are like Siamese twins. They are populated by the very same class of Nigerian politicians who have ruled Nigeria from 1999 till date; and who have crisscrossed effortlessly between the two parties. The results of their years of governance, like score cards, are on the table for every Nigerian to behold. It shows abysmal performance in all key sectors of human and public affairs.

Our security situation is in tatters, with various security agencies at the lowest ebb of their sense of devotion and patriotism. Fear of death, kidnap and payment of ransoms have become daily experiences for Nigerians when travelling, and even while in their homes. The economy has nose-dived to the point where government is said to now borrow to address recurrent expenditures, thereby totally abandoning capital projects. The result has been mind-shattering inflationary rates that have left every citizen living below acceptable levels of existence; while pushing many others into stealing and corrupt practices. Electricity supply challenges have been intractable. The educational sector has shamefully been in total comatose. Healthcare delivery is unaffordable, and nearly absent; yet the political elite prefer going on medical tourism abroad. In short, the citizens have been left wondering why nothing seems to work, and are daily seeking after greener pastures in other climes. Worst of all, the entire Nigerian brand, represented by our Flag, has suffered grave damages!

Then, here comes Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed; the duo with clear articulation of solutions to these myriads of challenges. They came from what you may call the political underdog class, but equipped with high moral and ethical dispositions never before seen in Nigeria’s political space. They seem like a dream reality for the Nigerian class of youthful voters. They also present the fresh hope for the many otherwise disenchanted adult voter population, all of whom have ‘seen it all’ with the crop of charlatans who have occupied the political space in the past twenty plus years in Nigeria.

In short, the Peter Obi- Datti Baba-Ahmed team has the following going for it:

  1. Clarity of understanding about the myriads of challenges facing Nigeria and Nigerians.
  2. Clarity of applicable solutions for each challenge.
  3. Background in private sector attainments that show grit, capability to generate wealth, integrity and passion to excel.
  4. Zero tolerance for the usual corrupt ways of acquisition of political power in Nigeria.
  5. Manifest show of love for the masses of Nigeria and determination to turn around the fortunes of the country through clearly articulated ideas and programmes.
  6. Uncommon show of simplicity and humility, conveying a sense of ‘not business as usual.’
  7. Transparent records about self, past achievements, attainments and associations.
  8. Impeccable academic and professional exposures that guarantee capacity to address the challenges of Nigeria.
  9. Uncommon ability and flair to clearly articulate believable road maps for deliverables.
  10. Detribalized approach to issues of national concerns, devoid of primordial sentiments such as religion and ethnicity.
  11. Finally, these two gentlemen have age and health in their favour, and have been able to effortlessly elicit revitalization of genuine hope and sense of patriotism, once more, among Nigerians, especially youths, who for many decades have remained aloof from politics and governance.

Even INEC has become a beneficiary, as new enthusiasm is being generated and galvanized by Peter Obi-Datti Baba-Ahmed towards electioneering processes in Nigeria.

It is for these reasons, and many more which space would not immediately permit me to state, that I highly recommend the flag bearers of the Labour Party, Peter Obi-Datti Baba-Ahmed to you. Be objective and remember that your vote for them amounts to birthing a new Nigeria.

A GENUINELY CONCERNED NIGERIAN.

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Revealed! Nigeria Lost 50% of Her Youths, World Bank

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Seeking to secure their future in a land with a viable economy and favourable economic conditions, it has been revealed that half of the Nigerian youths are seeking to travel out of the country.

According to the World Bank, an increasing number of Nigerian youths are planning to leave the country in search of greener pastures. This was revealed by the World Bank in a study titled “Of Roads Less Traveled: Assessing the Potential for Migration to Provide Overseas Jobs for Nigeria’s Youth,” which was released on the website of the World Bank this week.

future in a land with a viable economy and favourable economic conditions, it has been revealed that half of the Nigerian youths are seeking to travel out of the country.

According to the World Bank, an increasing number of Nigerian youths are planning to leave the country in search of greener pastures. This was revealed by the World Bank in a study titled “Of Roads Less Traveled: Assessing the Potential for Migration to Provide Overseas Jobs for Nigeria’s Youth,” which was released on the website of the World Bank this week.


Among the nations polled, Nigeria ranked third just behind Liberia (70 per cent) and Sierra Leone (60 per cent) in terms of respondents looking to permanently relocate to another country. Niger Republic came in at 10% ranking lowest in the study

The study revealed further that Nigerians were the largest group of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa entering Europe in 2016 and 2017, with almost 40,000 migrants landing in Italy in 2016, and over 90% arriving by sea.

“With rising migratory pressures created by poor employment conditions, Nigerians are increasingly choosing to migrate through irregular means,” the World Bank said.

“A larger number of Nigerian migrants arriving in Italy were women (32 per cent) more than migrants from the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa (24 per cent),” the bank stated.

“However, the underlying economic and demographic factors that create migratory pressures are unlikely to subside in the near future, with other potential irregular routes being reported through Sudan and Chad to Libya” it noted.

I Have Done My Best For Nigeria On Poverty And Insecurity, Buhari Insists

With the current insecurity and growing poverty in Nigeria, President Muhammadu has said that he has done his best to rescue the country’s situation. This is as the President met with some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday. In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari made this known when he hosted some APC governors at his hometown in Daura, Katsina state.

According to Buhari, things were worse at the time he assumed power in 2015. He also added the security situation in the North-East had improved compared to what was happening there before 2015 when some parts of the region were being controlled by terrorists. He noted that he had to change the security chiefs and did what was necessary to achieve a level of security.

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Graduates live from hand to mouth as Nigeria unemployment quadrupled to 33% since 2015

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Most days, Clement Akinnouye heads down to a market near his home in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna to sell shoes or domestic goods for local traders, a far cry from what he thought he would be doing when he graduated with an operations management degree five years ago.

The 24-year-old makes a few thousand naira ($7-$13) a day, but the work is irregular. “I’ve applied for over 100 jobs since I graduated — at the federal civil service, civil defence, Nigerian customs service, NNPC [the national oil company], federal road safety, even Nigerian prisons,” said Akinnouye, who has lived on his own since he was 12 and put himself through university in Kaduna. “To get work here is very, very hard for normal people, unless you know someone.”

Akinnouye is one of millions of jobless young Nigerians, victims of an economic crisis that is driving up poverty and sowing insecurity across Africa’s most populous country, which has just barely emerged from its second recession in five years.

The unemployment rate has more than quadrupled since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015, to 33.3 per cent. The more than 60 per cent of the workforce that is under 34 years old has it even worse: more than half (53.4 per cent) of people aged 15-24 and 37.2 per cent of people aged 25-34 were unemployed in the fourth quarter, according to government figures.

Nigeria pumps out hundreds of thousands of fresh university graduates each year, and millions more young people lacking degrees enter an economy that cannot produce enough jobs to absorb them.

About 19m Nigerians entered the labour force in the past five years — or 300,000 every month — according to World Bank estimates, but just 3.5m jobs were created during the period, meaning 80 per cent of new workers ended up unemployed.

“Going forward, nearly 30 million new jobs would be needed by 2030 just to keep the current employment rate constant,” according to the bank’s Nigeria economic update.

When Buhari first took office, Nigeria was entering its first recession in decades. The country, which relies on crude for about half of government revenues, had barely recovered from the 2015 oil price crash when coronavirus sunk its main commodity again last year.

Critics have long argued that the Buhari administration’s policies — including maintaining multiple exchange rates, which it is only now taking steps to unify — prolonged the recession.

The government has gone further than any predecessor in developing support programmes for individuals, families and small businesses, said Zainab Usman, Africa director at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She added: “After decades of not doing much I think it’s great to see that Nigeria is making progress . . . but they [the policies] are still not enough.” Government officials were unavailable for comment.

Along with rampant joblessness, Nigerians must also contend with 20 per cent inflation, with food inflation at a 12-year high, and economic growth that lags far behind one of the highest population growth rates in the world.

I think the government really needs to look into helping create more industries to accommodate more of these professional courses that we study in the university . . . instead of having to import every single thing we use,” said Maryam Ado, who graduated with a degree in glass and silicate technology in 2018 but sells bags and shoes online to make extra money to get by.

Young people across the country complain that the few jobs that are offered are usually reserved for the friends and family of government officials or businessmen. The rest are often only available to those who are willing to pay extortionate bribes.

“In Nigeria you have to know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone — and you have to pay someone, who pays someone, who pays someone, before you get that job,” said Akinnouye.

“You have people who have graduated for 10-15 years who have no jobs, who now resort to menial jobs or even just living hand to mouth, some are driving kekes [local three-wheel rickshaws] because you try and try and try and nothing has happened,” said Aliyu, a 31-year-old who has not had a full-time job since graduating with a political science degree in 2014. “You are left with this little hope and it just goes day by day by day — it’s horrible, it’s horrible.”

The economic crisis has helped to fuel a nationwide banditry epidemic, where roving gangs of armed young men kill and kidnap for ransom. “Look at the rate at which they are kidnapping people now — don’t be surprised if a lot of these youths have been trying to get a job, but they don’t have options, and so they start doing this, they start defrauding people online,” said Bisola Lateef, a 2018 accounting graduate in Kaduna who sells bags and shoes online. “There will be high rates of criminality everywhere, and it will get worse if this continues.”

Sumaaya Tofa, a recent graduate in international studies, worried that her generation’s disillusionment could have dire consequences not just for the security of the country but also the prospects of higher education in Nigeria.

“Most of us believe that you go to school and get a certificate so you can work and earn something . . . [but] if you come into the world and can’t get a job, people start thinking, oh, what’s the point anyway?” she said. “I think most of us feel very hopeless about the situation right now.”

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Salome Acheju and the reality of our die trowey system.

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

The case of the barbaric murder and the gruesome cremation (if you like) of late madam Salome Acheju Abuh has been done and dusted. Acheju Abuh was until her death, the women leader of Nigeria’s major(?) opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party also popularly called PDP.

So, it happened that the gubernatorial elections in Kogi State which held in November of 2019 could only be remembered for its gross violence, savagery and cannibalistic proclivities. People were maimed, injured and killed. Allegations floated in the atmosphere, and still do, as to whose camp orchestrated the violence.

There were three major candidates in that election. They include the incumbent governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress, Natasha Akpoti of the Social Democratic Party  and Musa Wada of the People’s Democratic  Party.

The percussion to violence began in the build up to the elections. It came to a head when even during the Peace meeting convened at the instance of the Inspector General of Police in Lokoja, one of the contenders for the elections was openly harassed. The security agents watched helplessly as the woman was shamed, bullied, harassed and assaulted.

Another incidence that made it clear that the elections were going to be a catalogue of savagery was when Akpoti’s office in the state capital was torched. To make the matter worse, the office was close to a security facility. No one went to salvage the situation.

Gradually but steadily, violence spread across the state as the D-day drew closer. Scary tales of armed thugs openly assaulting law abiding citizens rent the air. There was palpable fear in the entire State as nobody knew who was next in line. The marauders were everywhere.

Every youth was a potential thug, and was ready, at the site of as paltry as five thousand Naira, to unleash terror on the already pauperised and traumatised people. The stories were gory, scary and demoralising. One wondered if we were practising democracy or ‘gangsterocracy’.

In mobilising her people to vote for her party, late madam Acheju Abuh was killed in cold blood, and by her own kinsmen in her home town! How else can inhumanity and the sublime case of brazen animalism be defined?

I know the quiet village of Ochadamu, in Ofu local government area of Kogi State. I am not sure the votes from that place would be enough to swing the results of an election, even if al the votes went to a single candidate. One wonders how anyone in such a small town could kill another person from the same town.

But Ocholi Edicha did it! He it was that led the gang of blood thirsty savages that cut down the woman in cold blood. It sends a chill down my spine to imagine that the ethics and gravity with which the Igala tradition frowns at murder are being eroded by culture contact, greed and the proliferation of urban gangs among our youths.

Secondly, I am amazed that the law in Nigeria doesn’t find such sinister violations of the sanctity of life an offence worth a life sentence. Twelve years behind bars could be enough for manslaughter but deliberate murder, and a callous attempt to cover evidence by burning up the corpse, property and the house of the victim is too deliberate to wave away with a 12year jail sentence.

This is why robbers, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals are becoming bolder by the day. In some case they are even pardoned, given amnesty and given the tax payers money as a rebuke. We have witnessed in this same country how Boko Haram fighters, who murdered thousands, destroyed livelihoods and created orphans in their wake, ‘repented’, were hosted by government, given millions of Naira and patted on the back.

According to the governor of Borno State, Prof Zulum, these ‘pardoned’ boys find their ways back into their organisation again. Who wouldn’t? What else would excite a criminal than knowing he couldn’t care how many times he was caught? As a matter of fact, he gets richer as he gets caught.

It is in this light that the Igala Vanguard rejects the judgement. To the organisation, it is more like a pat on the back of the perpetrator of such a heinous crime. It is a sacrilege to the Igala people. It is an insult to the sensibilities of the Igala conscience. It will further enforce the bourgeoning industry of thuggery in Kogi State. Politicians in Kogi state have weaponized hunger and destitution. The lives of the youths are being condemned by the avant garde in Kogi state. If the law is not stern on this, there would be a time when guns would be cheaper than rice in Kogi State.

The Igala Vanguard has the chance to rewrite the history of the land and redirect its ship. The judgement would be hopefully reversed and Mr Edachi would be made a scapegoat for those who think that Nigeria is home to lawless people.

Congratulations to the Igala Vanguard for the bold attempt at confronting the monster being bred in some quarters which might consume, in the long run, the owners, the community and everyone. Nigerians better wake up.

Alex Agbo is a writer and researcher based in Lagos.

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2023: PDP to waive nomination fees for 18-35 years of age

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

The National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee (NRSC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has recommended the exemption of nomination fees for aspirants who are 35 years and below.

This was confirmed in a letter dated March 25, 2021, signed by the committees’ chairman, former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and addressed to Prince Uche Secondus, the PDP national chairman.

The committee also advised the National Working Committee (NWC) to immediately recommend to its National Executive Committee,
the amendment of the party’s constitution to include that “only persons not less than 18 years old and not more than 35 years can contest for the position of Youth Leader at all levels of the party.

The PDP NRSC explained that the recommendation was a result of the meeting held with the party’s National Youth Leader and other youth leaders across the 36 states of the nation on March 9th, 2021 “in furtherance of its mandate to resolve disputes, reconcile aggrieved members and foster cohesion and unity within the party”.

The committee had noted that the youths presented some requests during the meeting and the demands were deliberated upon by the committee on March 22nd, 2021.

It added that the implication of the recommendation on waiver of the nomination fees for youths means that where the party guidelines for instance demand that a gubernatorial aspirant pay N20 million for nomination form and N1m for Expression of Interest form, any aspirant below the age of 35 years, will get the nomination form at no cost while they only pay the N1m Expression of Interest fee.

The party said the measure is aimed at easing the burden of participation in the political process on the youths and encouraging them to purposefully and positively utilise the new constitutional provisions on the age requirements for political office holders, otherwise called the Not Too Young to Run Bill.

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