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CSO Applauds Wike’s Scorecard as FCT Minister

Published

9 months ago

May 28, 2024

A civil society organization (CSO), Arewa Coalition for Good Governance (ACGG), has commended the “genuine and tireless efforts put in by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Barr. Nyesom Wike,” in the last one year.

In a statement issued in Abuja Tuesday, signed by Mallam Bello Datijjo (Coordinator) and Comrade Kabir Mustapha, the ACGG observed that, when Wike was appointed Minister of the FCT last year, many northerners expressed fears that Wike, being a southerner, would not put in his best to develop the federal territory. “But all these fears have been put to rest, in less than year, as Barr. Wike has proven beyond doubt, that he is ready to surpass his performances as Governor of River State,” the statement noted.

Of particular interest to the group is the maintenance and sustenance of security of lives and property by the Wike administration, despite the activities of dire-hard bandits and terrorists. ACGG also lauded Barr. Wike on his efforts at initiating programmes that would enhance religious dialogue and tolerance by inhabitants of Abuja, which they further said, have brought about peaceful co-existence between original indigenes of Abuja and as well as settlers.

The Arewa Coalition also made specific mention of the Abuja Light Rail which, they said, is scheduled to be commissioned on Monday, May 27, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The group also noted that commencement of commercial operations by the rail line within Abuja, will ease the tension and difficulties experienced daily on the roads of Abuja by workers, especially civil servants. “The perennial holdups and (in some cases, gridlocks) would be drastically reduced with the commencement of operations by this rail project,” the group noted.

ACGG said, with Wike’s performance on this project, “the Federal Government can now be trusted when it makes promises.” This, according to them, is because, the Commander-in-Chief, Bola Tinubu, had made a promise that his administration, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, would deliver the metro-line to Nigerians within one year in office.

Other achievements enumerated by the Coalition include: “the incredible road networks being carried out all over the federal capital territory; the development of the real estate sector in the territory which comes with improved standard of living of residents; accelerated construction of good road within Abuja; the contract for the renovation of the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja; provision of potable water, solar electrification, street lightening,” among others.

ACGG also hailed Wike for the completion of “the official residence of the Vice President (VP’s Lodge); the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) which commences from the Villa Roundabout To the Ring Road 1, which has four number of interchanges; and B6 and B12 Circle Roads, as well as the N20 from Northern Parkway (Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Expressway), all billed to be commissioned same day.”

On traditional institution, the Coalition said Barr. Wike had upgraded the status of new chiefs for some chiefdoms, which it named as: Karu, Kwali and Yaba within the FCT. It added, “This is part of Wike’s efforts to make sure that, the traditional institution is working in tandem with the grassroots and the FCTA.”

“Wike has planned to deploy drones by partnering with the Parliamentary Republic of Hungary around the 800 square kilometers of the Federal Capital Territory. This effort is aimed at securing inhabitants of the territory,” the Coalition observed.

ACGG also commended Wike’s efforts in convincing President Bola Tinubu administration to remove the FCT from the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which it noted, “has made FCT self-dependent.”

“Wike has also made it possible for the FCTA to have its own Civil Service Commission, a feat will make it possible for FCT Directors to become Permanent Secretaries, like their counterparts in other Federal Ministries,” the Coalition noted.

Wike’s “no nonsense” stance with his dealings with contractors, has also been acknowledged by the Coalition, which has paved way for using original materials for execution of jobs awarded and the best quality of finished projects for commissioning.

Even with all these achievements, ACGG wishes to urge Wike not to be distracted by those who do not want to see anything good in his efforts, but to rather concentrate on developing Abuja to the status of a model capital city which all Nigerians will be proud of.

ACGG also quoted a personality they referred to as “an Abuja-based philanthropist and humanitarian per excellence, Dr Emmanuel Musa of EMNAMU Foundation” who is also a resident of the city to have aptly captured the milestones of the FCT Minister, which he termed, “Wike is taking Abuja to the comity of developed capital cities in the world, for sustainable development, efforts which must be commended by all well-meaning Nigerians,” as according to him, “no FCT Minister in the annals of history has achieved such a feat in the short period of time.”

The organization quoted Dr Musa to have emphasized that Minister Wike has, “within one year, written his name in the hearts of the residents on the sands of time, that posterity will always be kind to him for putting the people first.”

“Let me also commend President Bola Tinubu for having the foresight and vision to appoint Barr. Wike as the FCT Minister. And, with Wike’s excellent performance in the FCT, it is high time politicians emulate the good works and excellent political pedigree of Barr. Wike as wherever he finds himself; or whatever he touches, becomes gold and the people are better for it,” ACGG quoted Dr. Musa as saying.

In view of the above, ACGG joins millions of well-meaning Nigerians to commend and applaud Wike’s development strides in FCT within this short spate of time. We therefore give Barr. Wike a sounding pass-mark and call for all hands, including the international community, to be on deck, to assist the FCT Administration under Barr. Wike to make Abuja a city to be proud of as well as a world tourism site of destination.

News

Japa syndrome: Good leadership necessary tool for economic boom, can make youths remain in Nigeria, says Braimoh

Published

35 minutes ago

February 27, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) in the 2023 governorship election in Kogi State, Otunba Olayinka Braimoh, has said that the precarious economic situation which has resulted in the exodus of economically viable youths outside the country can only be reversed by visionary leadership.

Citing the specific case of Kogi State, in an interview in Abuja, Braimoh noted that “We look at Kogi as one of the poorest states because the assets it has that are not converted to wealth, which is why people are dying of poverty.

“So, changing the narrative requires having a visionary leader at the helm of affairs” He added.

He said it is the absence of visionary leadership to tap the vast resources that has pushed many to embrace the “japa” syndrome to which millions of human resources have been lost.

“Today, what are we battling with? We are battling with “japa” and so many parents today are crying deep inside of them because their children are lost forever, disconnected from their roots. They don’t want to come home and they will never come home.

Why because there’s no home to come back to because of lack of visionary leadership”
The governorship aspirant said a key embarrassing situation was the movement of Nigerian leaders to Kigali (Rwanda) for meeting.

According to him, if it’s resources are well harnessed, Kogi can run independent of Nigeria without having to depend on federal allocations.

“So in terms of our resources, Kogi can run independently of Nigeria. I mean Kogi is bigger than Rwanda in terms of land area. Our resources are more than the resources Rwanda has. So what are we talking about? The resources we have in Kogi State is way more than the resources Rwanda has.

“Look, Rwanda has a population of about 12.5million people. Right? Kogi has a population of about 4.5million people. So what does that suggest to you? When we’re talking about per capita, does that not mean that an average person in Kogi should be richer than an average person in Rwanda? We’re talking about visionary leadership” Braimoh noted.

He lamented that “Nigerians are going to Rwanda. Our governors went to do meeting in Kigali for God’s sake. We have Agbaja Plateau in Kogi. We have Mount Plati. All of these places not developed due to lack of visionary leadership.Now, imagine if we’re able to develop all of these things, you will have the conference right there.

We have Oni Dam, we have Oraha, we have Obangogo and several other tourist locations that can host World-class conferences because we can have conference facilities to host any events, a whole lot of these things”.

Accordingly to him, “In terms of urban development, the kind of designs that we do, the kind of layouts that we do, visionary leadership is the only thing that is required because without visionary leadership, all of these things will keep eluding us. They’ve been eluding us for long”

News

Video: Watch moment Hon Shawulu dissect how corruption has roped in the good, the bad and ugly Nigerians

Published

39 minutes ago

February 27, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Hon Rimamnde Shawulu Kwewum, a veteran journalist, very vibrant lawmaker in both the 8th and 9th Assembly of the HoR left no one in doubt after dissecting how corruption has roped in the good, the bad and ugly Nigerians.

Using the recent case of a retired police officer and his wife as a point of analysis, Rima as he is fondly called by close associates opened a can of worms.

Going down memory lane using the US and other countries where corruption played very destructive roles in their political developments.

Brief intro:
A former Nigerian Policeman was denied Asylum in Canada because of the corruption associated with the Police.

Its becoming clear to all that Nigeria’s corruption isn’t just a local problem; it’s a global challenge for Nigerians; those striving for better lives, face endless hurdles such as visa denials, job rejections, racial profiling, comparatively harsh bank scrutiny of transactions, and lost business opportunities.

Meanwhile, honest Nigerians struggle to prove they are different from the corrupt system they left behind. In this episode of The Other Side, we expose how corruption back home is shaping the world’s perception of Nigerians—and the price we all pay.

WATCH:

News

Court Remands P-Square’s Brother, Ex-Manager Jude Okoye IOver Alleged N1.3B, $1M, £34,000 Fraud

Published

5 hours ago

February 26, 2025

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has taken Jude Okoye, the elder brother and former manager of the defunct music duo P-Square, to court over alleged money laundering involving ₦1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.

Jude Okoye, along with his company Northside Music Ltd, was arraigned before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday, facing a seven-count charge related to financial crimes.

One of the charges states: “That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd, sometime in 2022 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos worth ₦850,000,000.00 (Eight hundred and fifty million naira) only, which money you knew or reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of unlawful acts, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 18 (2)(d) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Another charge alleges that Jude Okoye and his company used a Bureau de Change operator to convert $1,019,762.87 (One million nineteen thousand, seven hundred and sixty-two dollars, eighty-seven cents) domiciled in Access Bank Plc into naira and remitted the funds into various accounts with the intent to conceal the source of the money, in violation of the Money Laundering Act.

Jude Okoye pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.

Following his plea, EFCC counsel Larry Peters Aso applied for a trial date and requested that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility pending trial.

However, defence counsel Inibehe Effiong informed the court of a pending bail application and urged the court to keep Okoye in EFCC custody until the application is heard.

The prosecution opposed the request, citing congestion in EFCC facilities and urging the court to remand him to a correctional centre instead.

Justice Owoeye subsequently adjourned the case to February 28 for a bail hearing and fixed April 14 for trial commencement.

The judge also ordered that Jude Okoye be remanded at the Ikoyi correctional facility pending the determination of his bail application.