News
Why we insist on state police, by Southern governors
Southern governors yesterday said having state police will give them more control over security decisions in their states.
They believe locals are better placed to fight crime because they understand the terrain and language.
The state helmsmen met under the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) in Abeokuta.
They appointed host Governor Dapo Abiodun as chairman.
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, was named Vice Chairman.
Also in attendance were Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), Alex Otti (Abia), Godwin Obaseki (Edo) and Ademola Adeleke (Osun).
Others are Bassey Otu (Cross River), Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Duoye Diri (Bayelsa) and Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom).
Deputy Governors Chinyere Ekomaru (Imo), Monday Onyeme (Delta) and Olayide Adelami (Ondo) represented Hope Uzodimma, Sheriff Francis Orohwedor Oborevwori and Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Rivers State Governor, Similayi Fubara, was absent and was not represented.
Abiodun replaced former Ondo governor, the late Rotimi Akeredolu.
The governor, who featured on a national television last night, said the forum deliberated on state police, the political upheaval in Rivers, infrastructure and agriculture, among others.
He said the 17 Southern governors were united in their call for state police.
Abiodun said: “We all spoke with one voice in support of state policing.
“We spoke with one voice in support of regional security outfits which almost all regions have set up.
“The outfits are working hand in glove with the law enforcement agencies and providing them with intelligence and support.
“We all know that we cannot have any meaningful development in the atmosphere of insecurity.
“We all spoke with one voice in support of state policing, and regional security outfits, working hand-in-glove with the security outfits.
“The governors are called state chief security officers. But, we know that the Commissioner of Police is appointed by the Inspector General of Police and is only answerable to the IG.
“And when the governor needs to call the attention of the CP on an urgent task in his state, the governor will have to first clear with the IG.
“What have we discovered? In most cases, a policeman from Borno, Maiduguri, posted to Lagos or Ogun states, for instance.
“Such an officer doesn’t understand the terrain, he doesn’t speak the language and he does not get the level of intelligence he needs.
“By the time he is settling down to understand these factors, he is transferred to another state.
“We’re calling for community police to tame insecurity in the state and the nation.
“Under the state police arrangement, a policeman posted to his ward won’t have problems with language and intelligence.
“In that case, the policeman understands the community and the locals, language, the sentiments and, he knows the criminals within his territory.
“It is also common knowledge that the federal police have a shortage of manpower.
“We, as governors, are not in charge or control of our states as far as security is concerned.
“Yet, we fund the federal police operations, yet we are not getting the best from them. They don’t have enough personnel.
“State policing is not something new.
“We have several types of policing structure in other climes where we took our democracy from.”
Speaking on local government tenure, Abiodun said it was unconstitutional for anybody to extend the tenure of constitutionally elected public servants.
Referring to Rivers political quagmire where the House of Assembly extended the tenure of the local government chairmen, Abiodun said: “On local government administration, it is a constitutional issue that will be put to rest at a point in time.
“When your tenure has expired, it stands to reason that your tenure has expired.
“It is not up to the governor of that state or anybody else to extend the tenure of the local government chairmen.
“The collective position of the governors is that it would be a dangerous precedent and an abuse of the democratic ethos for the tenure of an elected local government chairman to expire and for anyone to imagine that their tenure can be extended by one day.
“I think that puts that matter to rest. If that is not the case, that becomes a precedent, a reference point, and the thing is that somebody will ask for a tenure extension.
“Our democracy has evolved and we should not do anything to truncate the process.”
Abiodun, who said the forum also agreed on a modal transport master plan for the region, noted that the governors were delighted with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the award of the coastal road project.
“We spoke about infrastructure. For us to be regionally integrated, we must have the infrastructure for investment facilitation, promotion, for enhancing movement of goods and services.
“On that note, we were unanimously appreciating President Tinubu for the construction of the coastal road.
“This road connects almost all southern states. It is a key enabler of economic development like no other. It will also create a lot of job opportunities.
“We also spoke of the need for the Federal Government to transfer some of the Trunk A roads to the states if a state government is prepared to take on such roads.
“We also agreed to have a modal transport master plan that allows us to connect rail, water and road transportation because we realised that transportation is key to enabling investment promotion, facilitation and the general wellbeing of our people.”
Brazil’s former president Fernando Collor de Mello was arrested and taken to prison Friday to begin serving a nearly nine-year sentence for corruption and money laundering, the latest former leader to face jail time.
Collor de Mello, Brazil’s first democratically elected president after a decades-long dictatorship, resigned in 1992 after Congress launched impeachment proceedings against him for allegedly taking bribes.
His arrest stems from a conviction over bribes taken two decades later while a senator, part of the sprawling “Car Wash” corruption scandal.
The 75-year-old was detained in Maceio city in northeastern Alagoas state, where he served as a senator and governor, a federal police source told AFP.
In 2023, Collor de Mello was found guilty of having received 20 million reais ($3.5 million dollars) in bribes while a senator between 2010 and 2014 to “irregularly facilitate contracts” between a construction company and a former subsidiary of Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras.
On Thursday, Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes rejected Collor de Mello’s last-gasp efforts to have the arrest order annulled.
His lawyers told local media the arrest came as he was about to travel to the capital Brasilia to turn himself in.
Moraes ordered he be incarcerated in an individual cell in a “special wing” of Baldomero Cavalcanti de Oliveira prison in Maceio.
His lawyers said they would seek permission for him to serve his sentence under house arrest.
Collor de Mello is not Brazil’s first president to fall foul of the law.
Four of the seven people who have led the country since the 1964-1985 military dictatorship have either been convicted, jailed or impeached.
In the latest case, far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to stand trial over an alleged coup plot after losing the 2022 election.
While recovering in hospital this week from intestinal surgery, a court official handed the 70-year-old a summons giving him five days to submit his initial defense.
– ‘Car Wash’ fallout –
Current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who served two terms between 2003 and 2010, was among dozens of top businessmen and politicians in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America who were caught up in the Car Wash mega-probe.
The investigation uncovered a vast network of bribes paid by large construction companies to politicians in several countries to obtain major public works contracts.
Lula spent a year and a half behind bars before having his conviction overturned by the Supreme Court and winning a third term in October 2022.
Collor de Mello was heralded as a youthful non-conformist figure who promised far-reaching political and social reforms when he beat the leftist Lula to the presidency in 1989.
But his day in the sun did not last long.
Less than three years later he stood down as president as the impeachment process was nearly complete.
He returned to politics, after a period of ineligibility had expired, and in 2006 was elected senator for Alagoas, a seat he held until 2022.
In 2022, he campaigned for Bolsonaro who was seeking re-election but it was Collor de Mello’s old adversary Lula who triumphed. [AFP/CBS]
Several world leaders will attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, April 26.
Here is the list:
Africa
Angola – Joâo Manuel Gonçalves, President
Cape Verde – Jose Maria Neves, President
Central African Republic – Faustin-Archange Touadera, President
Democratic Republic of Congo – Felix Tshisekedi, President
Equatorial Guinea – Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, Vice President
Gabon – Brice Nguema, President
Kenya – William Samoei Ruto, President
Lesotho – King Letsie III
Madagascar – Andry Rajoelina, President
Morocco – Aziz Akhannouch, Prime Minister
Mozambique – Daniel Chapo, President
Nigeria – H.E Senator Godswill Akpabio Senate President
Seychelles – Wavel Ramkalawan, President
Sierra Leone – Julius Maada Bio, President
Tanzania – Philip Isdor Mpango, Vice President
Togo – Faure Gnassingbé, President
Zimbabwe – Constantino Chiwenga, Vice President
Foreign Ministers: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Namibia, South Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia
Asia
Armenia – Vahagn Khachaturyan, President
Bangladesh – Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser
China – Chin-Jen Chen, Former Vice President
Cyprus – Nikos Christodoulides, President
East Timor – Jose Ramos-Horta, President
India – Droupadi Murmu, President
Iraq (Kurdistan Region) – Nechirvan Barzani, President
Israel – Yaron Sideman, Ambassador
Lebanon – Joseph Khalil Aoun, President
Palestine – Mohamed Mustafa, Prime Minister
Philippines – Ferdinand Marcos Jr., President
Turkey – Numan Kurtulmus, Speaker of the National Assembly
Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Japan – Foreign Ministers
Jordan – King Abdullah II
Europe
Albania – Bajram Begaj, President
Austria – Christian Stocker, Chancellor
Belgium – Bart De Wever, Prime Minister; King Philippe and Queen Mathilde
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Zeljka Cvijanović, Chairman
Croatia – Zoran Milanovic, President
Czech Republic – Petr Fiala, Prime Minister
Estonia – Alar Karis, President
Finland – Alexander Stubb, President
France – Emmanuel Macron, President
Georgia – Mikheil Kavelashvili, President
Germany – Frank-Walter Steinmeier & Olaf Scholz
Greece – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister
Hungary – Tamas Sulyok & Viktor Orbán
Iceland – Halla Tómasdóttir, President
Ireland – Micheal D. Higgins & Micheal Martin
Italy – Sergio Mattarella & Giorgia Meloni
Latvia – Edgars Rinkevics, President
Lithuania – Gitanas Nauseda, President
Macedonia – Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, President
Malta – Myriam Spiteri Debono, President
Moldova – Maia Sandu, President
Montenegro – Jakov Milatović, President
Netherlands – Dick Schoof, Prime Minister
Poland – Andrzej Duda, President
Portugal – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa & Luis Montenegro
Romania – Ilie Bolojan, Interim President
San Marino – Denise Bronzetti, Captain Regent
Serbia – Duro Macut, Prime Minister
Slovakia – Peter Pellegrini, President
Slovenia – Natasa Pirc Musar & Robert Golob
Sweden – Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister; King Carl XVI Gustaf & Queen Silvia
Switzerland – Karin Keller-Sutter, President
Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President
United Kingdom – Keir Starmer, Prime Minister; Prince William
Liechtenstein – Prince Alois and Princess Sophie
Luxembourg – Grand Duke Henri & Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
Monaco – Prince Albert and Princess Charlene
Denmark – Queen Mary
Norway – Crown Prince Haakon & Crown Princess Mette-Marit
Leaders of Institutions (Europe-based): Bjorn Berge (Council of Europe), Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission), Roberta Metsola (European Parliament), Antonio Costa (Council of the EU), Kaja Callas (EU Foreign Affairs), Pia Kauma (OSCE Parliamentary Assembly)
North America
United States – Donald Trump (President) & Melania Trump; Joe Biden (Former President) & Jill Biden
Belize – Froyla Tzalam, Governor General
Canada – Mary Simon, Governor General
Mexico – Rosa Icela Rodríguez, Secretary of the Interior
Cuba – Salvador Valdés Mesa, Vice President
Dominican Republic – Luis Abinader, President
El Salvador – Félix Ulloa Garay, Vice President
Honduras – Xiomara Castro, President
South America
Argentina – Javier Milei, President
Brazil – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President
Chile – Manuel José Ossandon, Senator
Ecuador – Daniel Noboa, President
Paraguay – Raúl Latorre, President of the Chamber of Deputies
Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela – Foreign Ministers
Oceania
Australia – Sam Mostyn, Governor General
New Zealand – Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister
International Organizations
United Nations – Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General
European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen, President
Council of the European Union – Antonio Costa, President
European Parliament – Roberta Metsola, President
European Union Foreign Affairs – Kaja Kallas, High Representative
Council of Europe – Bjorn Berge, Secretary-General
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) – Pia Kauma, President of the Parliamentary Assembly
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – Álvaro Lario, President
The ex-wife of 2Face, Annie Macauley, has broken her silence after a brief break following the marriage between 2Face and Natasha.
A few hours ago, a video of 2Face and Natasha getting married traditionally popped up on the internet.
The video of the traditional marriage has sparked diverse reactions from social media users
In the video that has gone viral, Natasha was seen covering her head with a scarf and wrapping her waist with an Idoma cloth as 2Face was seen introducing her to his clan’s men.
Annie took to her Instagram story to shared a video fo herself having a video shoot with Ayra Starr’s song ‘Rush’. It seems the actress is unconcerned about her ex-husband’s union with his new lover.
Social medi users have reacted to the post of Annie. Read some comments below…
fantaceewiz_ said: “Annie!!! Seeing you smile brings me so much joy. This is just the beginning. We can’t wait for “The Annie Macauly Brand Memoir & the movie”. We are here Queen.”
@asetomyancestors wrote: “New beginnings is always a good thing…get ur whole being together beautiful…mentally…physically…emotionally…most importantly spiritually….God is on ur side darling u got this…u are brave…u are enough..u are resilient…”
justhelenshapiro wrote: “Annie I love you, don’t worry. Mama you’re so strong and I respect you. Keep going we’re watching your back..”
tymecosmetics said: “Love you Annie. You are a true African Queen. Never forget you are a Queen and more.”
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