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It will take 20 years to address insecurity in Nigeria – Buratai

Published

2 years ago

February 18, 2021

Immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, says it will take Nigeria 20 years to address its security challenges.

He stated this on Thursday when he appeared before the Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa-led Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for screening as an ambassadorial nominee.

According to him, intelligence capacity of the army has been very low.

He also contended that the military alone could not solve the problem.

The former army chief also noted that the too many ungovernable spaces would need to have government presence.

Buratai who noted that the warfare had permeated the society, said that they had won the communities to their side, adding that It would require a multi-pronged approach and that military warfare is just one aspect.

He said, “The military alone cannot solve this. There should be hospitals, schools, roads and government presence in these communities.

“There are so many ungovernable spaces and until these spaces have government presence, it will not be resolved.”

Buratai along with other former service chiefs who were appointed ambassador-designates appeared for the screening before the committee.

Others are retired Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin; former Navy Chief, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, and former Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar.

News

Naira redesign hardships: We’ll reconvene before elections if… – Gbajabiamila

Published

10 hours ago

February 6, 2023

Trends Admin

Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the House would have no option but to reconvene before the February 25 elections if the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, failed to address the hardships Nigerians face due to the currency swap policy.

A statement by the spokesman for the speaker, Lanre Lasisi, Mr Gbajabiamila said the House would continue to monitor the CBN’s implementation of the policy closely following the Green Chamber’s meeting with the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, on the issue.

Speaking during a town hall meeting with some ethnic groups in Surulere, Lagos, on Sunday, Mr Gbajabiamila said he was on the verge of signing an arrest warrant against Emefiele following his initial failure to appear before an ad hoc panel of the House.

“The House of Representatives intervened on several occasions. We summoned the CBN governor the first time and again, but he refused to answer, because we had many hard questions for him.

“It was until I issued the threat of warrant of arrest before he came, and I would’ve signed that warrant; it would’ve been the first time in the history of National Assembly that a CBN governor would be arrested. I would’ve done it.

“Many have argued on the independence of CBN, the autonomy of CBN. That does not make CBN above the law. The constitution gives the House the power to issue an arrest warrant against anyone, we can summon anybody, and that was exactly what the House was going to do until the CBN governor came.

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“So, we are watching, and we are monitoring very closely. If need be, we will reconvene the House, even though we’ve all been away for our elections. I will call the House back, if need be.”

Mr Gbajabiamila also said that amidst the ongoing hardship, the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has identified with Nigerians and faulted the implementation of the policy at this time, which necessitated the extension of the deadline for the collection of the old currency.

“On the currency swap, let me explain something to you. We are all very intelligent people. Many are suffering, we have paid your salary, and you cannot withdraw it; people cannot eat, what kind of thing is that?

“But I have news for you. There’s one man who is running for president of this country, and that man has courage and audacity. This man came out boldly and identified the problem, that the fifth columnists, in cooperation with the PDP are the ones trying to sabotage this election.

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“Many have said he’s talking about Buhari, but he told them ‘no, I’m not talking about Buhari; I’m talking about fifth columnists.’ If you don’t know the meaning of fifth columnists, go and check your dictionary. Fifth columnists infiltrate people, they even infiltrate families, otherwise how do you explain this type of policy?

“The president, being a compassionate person that he is, has asked for a few more days to look at everything that is going on and see if anything could change. We pray that things will change. If nothing changes, we will intervene again, but be sure of one thing: that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands with you and stands with Nigerians in their suffering.

“He was the first to shout that what is going on? He has cried, he has begged, he has screamed that people are suffering, what did the PDP candidate say? He said, ‘no, CBN don’t listen to them; you must not extend this thing; let people continue to suffer.’ That is what the PDP candidate said. He said it publicly.

“So, you have the tale of two presidential candidates: one who stands with the people and says this currency swap must stop; the second one says,’ no, it cannot stop, it’s a good policy. CBN, don’t listen to him. Let the people continue to suffer.’ I leave the rest to you to determine who is with you and who is against you.”

dailynigerian

News

Osinbajo picks holes in naira redesign policy, says scarcity of notes ‘is disturbing’

Published

1 day ago

February 5, 2023

Trends Admin

Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo

Osinbajo on Friday urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to engage financial technology companies (fintechs) as well as mobile money agents to address the issue of getting new naira notes across the country.

Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, the second man in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has described as “disturbing” the inability of Nigerians to have access to the new naira notes and the ongoing naira scarcity which has caused protest nationwide.

Osibanjo, in a meeting with some fintech stakeholders, expressed worries over the difficulty in getting new naira notes and advised the CBN and commercial banks to address the situation immediately.

“You need cash to pay for transport. For instance, in Abuja, how do you take ‘drop or along’ or use a Keke NAPEP without cash, or buy foodstuff on the road or in canteens, or even buy recharge cards?” Osinbajo said, according to a release by Laolu Akande, his spokesperson.

“Parents with kids in public schools give money daily to their children for lunch, most commerce is informal, so you need cash for most things.

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“It seems to me that banks must engage their mobile money operators. Fintechs with mobile money licenses and many of them have micro-finance bank licenses now and already have a network of mobile money agents or human banks or human ATMs (as they are sometimes called) who are responsible for them and they can supervise themselves. They can do currency swaps and open bank accounts.”

Speaking further on the redesign of the naira notes, Osinbajo lamented the scarcity of the new notes.

“More disturbing is the fact that after depositing your old notes, there are no new notes, so people everywhere in the urban areas and rural areas simply have no money,” he said.

“There are logistical challenges that have to be addressed by the CBN and the banks, especially from the point of view of the average Nigerian and those in the hinterland who hardly use any electronic platforms.”

Osinbajo also said while there has always been a certain failure rate in online banking and money transactions, they have become even more difficult now with the increase in the number of transactions congesting the system.

“So where in the past you used POS or any of the electronic platforms, you had maybe 20 percent to 30 percent failure rate, now because everyone is trying to get on those platforms, obviously, the failure rate is much more and the problems are much more pronounced,” the Vice President noted.

“We really need to make progress even as we make efforts to deal with some of these issues confronting us today,” he said. SR

News

Senate gives Aregbesola 24hrs to defend N700m collected to monitor Edo, Ondo elections

Published

1 day ago

February 5, 2023

Trends Admin

Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola

THE Senate has given the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola twenty- four hours ultimatum to appear before it and defend the N700 million the ministry collected from Service Wide Votes, SWV for the monitoring of Ondo and Edo Governorship elections.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide gave the directive to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry , Dr Shuaib Belgore due to excuse by the Ministry that the N700 million would be accounted for by the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps (NSDC).

According to the Committee, from the record, the money was released in two batches, N400 million for Ondo Governorship election and N300 million for Edo Governorship Election.

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