Following the end of a seven-day ultimatum that the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC gave the federal government over an impending nationwide protest it scheduled for Wednesday, Daily Gazette is taking time to find out the level of preparedness from various state chapters of NLC.
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A clash is imminent as the coupists in the Republic of Niger have sought Russia’s help in the face of military threats by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The regional body, which has the backing of the Western countries and the United Nations, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the military junta to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum as democratically elected president or face a range of stiff sanctions.
It has also tasked all Chiefs of Defence Staff of the member-states to proceed for an emergency meeting to strategize on effective ways to implement a possible military operation to restore constitutional order to office.
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General Abdourahmane Tchiani, also known as Omar Tchiani, and the chief of Niger’s presidential guard, has declared himself leader while the country’s elected president has been held by the military since the coup took place last week.
Even on Saturday, the African Union (AU) gave the soldiers 15 days to return to their barracks and restore civil rule in the country.
But the country’s military leaders in a statement read on Niger national television yesterday warned ECOWAS not to send troops to their country.
The military coup in Niger, which began unfolding on Wednesday, has been widely condemned by neighbours and international partners including the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the republic’s former colonial power. France.
ECOWAS, which recognised Bazoum as the legitimate president, yesterday also announced immediate sanctions on Niger, including the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger.
It also established a no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger, and suspended all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Niger.
The regional body announced the sanctions in a communique yesterday at the end of the Extraordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS on Socio-Political Situation in the Republic of Niger.
The summit was hosted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
In the communique read by the President, ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, the leaders rejected any form of purported resignation by President Bazoum and declared him as the only recognised and elected President by ECOWAS, the African Union and the international community.
“In this regard, only official acts of President Bazoum or his duly-mandated officials will be recognized by ECOWAS,” the commission said.
The leaders condemned what they called the illegal detention of President Bazoum and members of his family and government.
They demanded the full restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Niger and considered the illegal detention of President Bazoum as a hostage situation, holding the authors of the attempted coup d’état solely and fully responsible for his safety and security and that of his family and government.
In the event ECOWAS’ demands are not met within one week, the leaders said they would take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
“Such measures may include the use of force. For this effect, the Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS are to meet immediately,” the leaders said.
Niger Coup Plotters
ECOWAS leaders also condemned the pronouncement of support by foreign governments and foreign private military contractors, while expressing appreciation to various governments and partners for their stance and solidarity.
The summit also agreed to appoint and dispatch a special representative to deliver the demands of the authority.
Furthermore, assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central Bank, Niger state enterprises, and parastatals in commercial banks will be frozen.
Niger will also be suspended from all financial assistance and transactions with financial institutions within ECOWAS.
Additionally, travel bans and asset freezes were imposed on the military officials involved in the coup attempt, as well as their family members and civilians who agreed to participate in any institution or government established by the military officials.
In his closing remarks to the summit, President Tinubu thanked fellow leaders, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office in West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simaõ, for their active engagement and invaluable contributions to the discussions.
“Your invaluable contributions to our discussions have got us this far and hopefully, we will achieve our objective.
“The essence of African unity and solidarity is hereby reaffirmed. Our unwavering commitment to democracy, peace and prosperity is hereby resolved.
“Throughout our deliberations, we have recognized that the challenges faced by Niger are interconnected with broader issues affecting our region.
“As African leaders, it is our shared responsibility to foster stability and progress, placing the wellbeing of our people at the forefront of our endeavours, and working together towards their prosperity and happiness must always consistently be our goals.
“We will stand with our people in freedom and our commitment to the rule of law and not the barrel of gun. Africa has come of age.
“We reject coup and interruption to constitutional order. Thank you for coming,” he said.
Before the summit, the president also held bilateral meetings with President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau, President Mahmat Iddris Deby Itno of Chad, and Michael Health, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of African Affairs.
Presidents Patrice Talon of Benin Republic, Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire, Adama Barrow of The Gambia, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Embalo of Guinea Bissau, Macky Sall of Senegal, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo attended the summit while the presidents of Cape Verde, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone were represented.
But the Niger Republic’s military leaders in a statement read on Niger national television warned ECOWAS not to send troops to their country, saying it is an attempt to start a war against Niger.
“The objective of the ECOWAS meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries,” Aljazeera quoted the military spokesman, Colonel Amadou Abduramane, to have said.
Abduramane called on Russia to help Niger with soldiers and equipment.
He said they were ready to defend their country from the attacks that he suspected ECOWAS would launch on the country.
He also called on the citizens to come out and hold a demonstration to support them.
Russia has troops in Mali, a neighbour of Niger, which has caused France and the United Nations to withdraw their peacekeeping troops from the country.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who remains active despite leading a failed mutiny against the Russian army’s top brass last month, has hailed the coup as good news and offered his fighters’ services to bring order.
Niger has been a security partner of France, and the United States, which have used it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
A crowd gathered yesterday outside the French Embassy in Niamey, Niger’s capital, burned French flags and stoned the former colonial power’s mission, drawing tear gas from police.
In a swift reaction, France condemned the violence against its diplomatic mission and pledged to react strongly to any attack on its nationals or interests.
“The president will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement, specifying that it would respond to attacks against French diplomats, armed forces or businesses.
In a separate statement, the Foreign Affairs ministry condemned all violence against diplomatic missions and called on Nigerien authorities to protect the French mission as required under international law.
Macron has spoken with ousted President Bazoum and a former president of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou in the last few hours, the statement from the president’s office said, adding that both of them condemned the coup and called for calm.
A peacebuilding think tank, Foundation for Peace Professionals also known as PeacePro, has called on the leadership of the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS not to contemplate military intervention in Niger Republic.
PeacePro also noted that no foreign nation or organization has authority to intervene militarily in any sovereign nation over internal issues.
The Executive Director of the group, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, in a statement said it supported the strong position of African Union and ECOWAS on the restoration of democratic order in Niger Republic and all other proposed measures, except military intervention.
He warned that military intervention would turn West Africa into a battle zone between foreign powers and armed dealers.
He stated that no matter the good intentions behind it, the outcome will be catastrophic for the continent.
Hamzat also explained that, no international law permits military intervention in any country, except for peacekeeping operations and should AU and ECOWAS contemplate such intervention, foreign powers may also justify their numerous illegal operations and other future interventions through the same process
“Military intervention in Niger Republic amounts to digging Africa’s grave and nobody digs his or her own grave,” Hamzat added.
The leadership of the Labour Party has knocked President Bola Tinubu over the first batch of ministerial nominees unveiled by the Senate on Thursday.
The LP said the ministerial nominees were an assemblage of ‘recycled, spent forces and anti-democratic elements.’
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the announcement of the nominees, with some critics expressing disappointment over the absence of the highly anticipated ‘technocrats’ in the long-awaited list.
Many young Nigerians on social media have also questioned the list, saying the politicians who made the list were merely rewarded for roles played in the last election.
The nominees included former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and his counterparts from Ebonyi, Jigawa, and Rivers – Dave Umahi, Badaru Abubakar, and Nyesom Wike respectively.
In the list were seven women including the only APC female presidential aspirant at the last convention, Uju Ohanenye; deputy spokesperson for the dissolved Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Council, Hannatu Musawa and APC National Women Leader, Betta Edu among others.
However, a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, stated that submitting ministerial nominees list in piecemeal as the president did on Thursday runs foul of the Electoral Act.
Ifoh further said that what Nigerians saw on the list of ministers was a recycling of some ‘failed and clueless politicians’ as against dynamic youths and resulted-oriented technocrats that was earlier promised.
He said, “Some of these nominees played prominent anti-democratic roles in the previous administration, particularly since 2015, which saw the APC government fail in all its promises to Nigerians. We also saw ‘Prebendal’ politics in full swing where mainly the cronies and lackeys of the APC national leader were selected for a reward for servitude and blind discipleship.
“This list does not in any way reflect the enormous reservoir of talents, potentials, and resources Nigeria is known for. It still baffles us as to why this government ignored the youthful and technocratic potentials that abound but rather chose to appoint spent forces that have failed Nigeria in the past.
“A glance at the list exposes the absence of technocrats who usually form the nucleus or core policy implementers in any given government and unfortunately in their place are fawning politicians who may not be of any help in the needed efforts to salvage and reposition the country.”
The LP spokesman also expressed disappointment that the president chose to unveil his ministerial nominees in batches as against presenting the entire list within 60 days.
According to him, 60 days was enough for any serious government to put together a cabinet.
“Again, we are worried that the ministerial list is being presented piecemeal. The constitution of Nigeria clearly states that at least a minister must be appointed from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Electoral Act as amended also stipulates that a list containing ministerial nominees must be sent to the Senate within 60 days from the commencement of a government for screening and confirmation. But what we witnessed was a hurriedly prepared list that excluded nominations from about 10 states in clear violation of the laws of the land.
“Sixty days is quite a lengthy period for any serious government to form its executive team. This development appears even more ridiculous because we know that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has struggled to be president for over two decades and therefore should have been able by now to identify and have a solid team selected across the country that is qualified to hold ministerial positions. But this has not happened.
“Had it not for the Electoral Act which compels a government to submit a ministerial list within 60 days, given what we are seeing, one wonders how long it would have taken the APC leadership to form the government. This is because it took the immediate past APC administration over six months to appoint its ministers in 2015,” he stated.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of sidelining Muslims, especially from the South West.
MURIC Executive Director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, said this in a statement issued on Monday.
He said President Tinubu’s ministerial appointments should reflect some improvement in the status of Muslims in Southern Nigeria.
He said, “Only two or three Muslims can be identified among all the ministers nominated from the South by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is disappointing because whereas Christians from the region ganged up against him, the Muslims rallied to his support.
“Of particular importance is the fact that MURIC began the campaign for the emergence of a Yoruba Muslim president as early as 23rd February, 2021 with our visionary and rhetorical caption ‘2023: Why Has No Yoruba Muslim Ever Occupied Aso Rock? – MURIC’.
“Equally didactic is the fact that MURIC based the campaign on the fact that Yoruba Muslims had been under religious persecution, political marginalisation and socio-economic ostracisation because no Yoruba Muslim had ever ruled Nigeria since independence. This was the argument we used to persuade the North to support our struggle and they gave us their full support.”
He said this explains the bold moves of the 12 Northern governors and other pre-primaries manouvers which produced President Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the ruling APC.
He said, “But the story so far has not impressed Nigerian Muslims, north or south. Complaints have flooded the Muslim community. Tinubu’s appointments have not in any way allayed the fears of Muslims in the south west. Equally alarming is the fact that northern scholars have started reminding MURIC that with only 2 Muslims out of about 17 ministerial appointments for the south, the pendulum still continues to swing the other way.
“We therefore call the attention of President Tinubu to the need to rectify things before all ministerial appointments are concluded. Look behind you, Mr. President, and see how you emerged as president. It is done everywhere.”
Akintola also said it is the time for Muslims to emerge as ministers from Oyo, Ogun and Osun as Ekiti and Ondo already have Christian governors and Christian deputy governors (Christian-Christian tickets).
“Heaven will not fall if Muslims emerge as ministers from there. Give us at least 4 ministers from the South West. One or two Muslim ministers from each of the south-south and south-east sub-regions will not be out of planet earth. After all, Christians are known to have emerged as ministers from core Muslim zones in the past.
“Our Muslim brothers from the east feel what we feel in the south west. They should also be considered. Lagos can have a Christian minister because both the president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are from there. There is agony in our hearts as we reach out to you from a region that has 17 states but all 17 states are ruled by 17 Christian governors. What crime has Southern Muslims committed?”
A former senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th Senate, Shehu Sani has asked senators of the 10th National Assembly not to confirm the former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai as minister.
Sani in a statement he issued on Sunday expressed surprise that El-Rufai’s name was listed as a ministerial nominee despite his alleged religious intolerance that is dangerous to the unity of the nation.
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He asked the three senators from Kaduna not to confirm the former governor for the sake of posterity.
Sani reminded the senators of the need to respect the Senator Abubakar Sodangi-led committee which banned El-Rufai from holding public office.
The statement reads: “The Senate should uphold and respect the 2008 Senator Sodangi Committee that barred him from holding public office.
“Particularly the three senators from Kaduna State; they must categorically and unambiguously reject El-Rufai’s nomination.
“Silence is a great disservice and betrayal of the people of Kaduna state who have suffered under his eight years of tyranny and persecution.
“Nigerian senators should save the country from the danger and jeopardy of harbouring, incubating and crowning such a man into the palace of power.
“A man with a track record of religious intolerance, extremism and disrespect for rule of law doesn’t deserve the gavel of approval from the legislature. He doesn’t deserve to be a minister.
“Any opposition senator that confirms El-Rufai has betrayed the moral conscience of the people of this country; any ruling party senator that confirms El-Rufai has brought in a destructive agent into the government of Tinubu.
“Confirming El-Rufai as a minister is a suicidal mission for the Tinubu administration.”
Niger’s military leaders have warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) not to send troops to the Republic of Niger.
General Abdourahmane Tchiani, also known as Omar Tchiani, and the chief of Niger’s presidential guard, declared himself leader while the country’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, has been held by the military since the coup took place last week.
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The military leaders in Niger warned against any military intervention in a statement read on Niger national television.
“The objective of the ECOWAS meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries,” Aljazeera quoted the military spokesperson, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, to have said.
During the meeting, the regional body issued a seven-day ultimatum to the military junta in Niger to reinstate President Bazoum as democratically elected President or face a range of stiff sanctions.
It also tasked all Chiefs of Defense Staff of the member-states to proceed for an emergency meeting to strategize on effective ways to implement a possible military operation to restore constitutional order to office.
ECOWAS, which recognised Bazoum as the legitimate President of the nation, threatened to impose land border closures and no-fly zone conditions on Niger Republic should the military coup masterminds fail to heed its ultimatum.
This was the resolution of the Extraordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS, which held on Sunday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, who read the communiqué, the body “call for the immediate release and reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum as President and Head of State of the Republic of Niger and for the full restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
“Reject any form of resignation that may purportedly come from His Excellency, President Mohamed Bazoum; considered the illegal detention of President Bazoum as a hostage situation and hold the authors of the attempted coup that are solely and fully responsible for the safety and security of His Excellency President Mohammed Bazoum, as well as members of his family and government.
“In the event the Authority’s demands are not met within one week, take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Nigeria.
“Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Asia. Freeze all service transactions including energy transactions. Freeze assets of the Republic of Niger in Aqua Central Bank. Freeze of assets of the Niger State and the state enterprises and parastatals in commercial banks.
“Suspension of measure from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly EBID”, he said.
Members of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, on Sunday, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigerien military to restore constitutional order and reinstate ousted President Muhammed Bazoum into office.
This followed an extraordinary meeting of leaders of ECOWAS member-states at the State House, Abuja, to discuss the happenings in Niger Republic.
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While recognising Bazoum as the legitimate President of the landlocked state, the bloc also imposed land and border closures, suspending all commercial flights between Niger and ECOWAS member states.
Announcing the decision, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, said all Chiefs of Defense Staff of the member states will proceed for an emergency meeting to strategise on effective ways to implement a possible military operation to restore Bazoum to office.
He said the ECOWAS will “Take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
“Such measures may include the use of force.
“To this effect, the Chiefs of Defense Staff of ECOWAS are to meet immediately.”
Announcing economic sanctions, Touray said ECOWAS has approved the “Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Niger. Freeze all service transactions including energy transactions.
“Freeze assets of the Republic of Niger in Aqua Central Bank. Freeze of assets of the Niger State and the state enterprises and parastatals in commercial banks.
“Suspension of measure from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly EBID.”
On Friday, members of Niger’s Presidential Guard who perpetrated the coup named General Abdourahamane Tchiani as the nation’s new leader.
Tchiani, who has headed the Presidential Guard since 2011, said Wednesday’s coup is the military’s response to “the degradation of the security situation” linked to jihadist bloodshed.
The military also issued a warning about “the consequences that will flow from any foreign military intervention,” saying, “Certain dignitaries…are in thinking of confrontation,” which “will end in nothing but the massacre of the Nigerien population and chaos.”
The Federal Government will on Monday meet with the representatives of the organized labour in an effort to prevent the nationwide strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress.
However, the NLC has advised citizens to stock their homes with food items, medicines and other essential things ahead of the commencement of its seven-day strike to protest the removal of fuel subsidies and the escalating cost of living in the country.
The warning, it noted, had become necessary because the strike would cripple the country as movement would be severely curtailed as commercial transport operators would withdraw their services, while markets, schools and healthcare facilities would be forced to shut down.
The Assistant General Secretary, NLC, Chris Onyeka, said in an interview with one of our correspondents that the citizens should also minimise their movements so as to avoid being stranded.
NLC had given the government a seven-day ultimatum with threats of a nationwide strike scheduled to commence on Wednesday, August 2, 2023. The labour movement in a statement signed by its National President, Joe Ajaero, accused the Tinubu-led Federal Government of failing to meet up with the demands it presented to it following the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, which caused an astronomical rise in the pump price of the commodity.
NLC Leaders
Following the announcement of the strike by the NLC, the government team immediately called for an emergency meeting with the organised labour comprising the NLC and Trade Union Congress with a follow-up meeting on Friday at the State House.
However, officials of the organised labour angrily stormed out of the meeting following the alleged failure of the government team to show up.
Onyeka noted that the labour team would meet with the government on Monday, adding that the outcome of the meeting would determine the next step.
He said, “Nigerians should be prepared. That’s what we are saying. Being prepared means you have to stock food in your house and be economical with your movement at this particular point in time so as to avoid being stranded. It is going to be a nationwide mass protest and we are sure that it will affect every corner of the country. We are seriously mobilising across the nation. We are currently at work at the secretariat alongside the CSOs.
“We may not shut down the power supply system, but as the protest goes on, we may shut down other places depending on the response of the government. The (Friday) meeting didn’t hold at all. The government side was not prepared. The representatives were not available. They didn’t show any seriousness towards what they were doing. One of the things we do is hold dialogues. We don’t run away from the table anytime they call us. We are having another meeting with them on Monday.”
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers, and the National Union of Electricity Employees, on Saturday, confirmed that they were mobilising their members to ground the supply of fuel and the national electricity grid from Wednesday in response to the planned mass protest called by the NLC.
The General Secretary, NUPENG, Afolabi Olawale, told our correspondent, “The congress has taken a unanimous decision and it is mandatory that every affiliate should obey the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress.”
When probed further to confirm if NUPENG was mobilising its members to halt the lifting of petroleum products, Olawale replied, “That’s it. I’ve given you an answer.”
On their part, electricity workers stated that they would shut the national power grid as it was binding on all employees in the sector to join the mass protest.
The acting General Secretary, NUEE, Dominic Igwebuike, stated, “The NUEE is an affiliate of the NLC and I’ve told you that we will join the strike action.
“The issue is that if there’s a deadlock between labour and the government; that means that the mass protest is still going on, and definitely electricity workers, as an affiliate of the NLC, will partake in the mass protest.
“So, all workers in the power sector will join the mass protest on Wednesday, August 2, 2023. It is binding on every staff member to join the strike action. So, if it results in a blackout, the only option is for the government to listen to us if it wants power to return.
“The government should listen to the Nigerian masses who are going through serious suffering right now. That is the only thing we are asking for. So, for now, the protest is going to hold, unless there is a further directive from the NLC.”
The National Deputy President, TUC, Tommy Etim, blasted the government over the lack of seriousness shown so far with regard to the negotiations.
“When we got to the Villa on Friday, we waited for almost two hours at the gate for clearance with no intervention. It was after two hours that we were allowed in. By the time we got to the point of the meeting, we realised that the team representing the government failed to show up. So, it is wrong to actually say labour stormed out of the meeting. How can labour storm out of a meeting that did not hold? We felt very disappointed because we did not expect this from the government,” he said.
The National Executive Council of the NLC had on Friday endorsed the August 2 nationwide strike and mass protests proposed by the body over the recent hike in the pump price of petrol.
However, the Federal Government had told the NLC that it was legally restrained from embarking on the planned nationwide strike due to the ruling of the National Industrial Court, which restrained organised labour from embarking on the strike.
The steering committee members met the government delegation on Wednesday, where the two parties agreed to reconvene on Friday to get a brief from the government’s subcommittees on mass transit, compressed natural gas and cash transfer.
The steering committee was set up by the Federal Government to draw up intervention plans to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.
Tinubu’s palliatives
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government will soon roll out social investment programmes to alleviate the sufferings of the masses, especially the poorest of the poor in the country in view of the removal of subsidy on fuel.
He said at a programme to mark his 60th birthday in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, “The Federal Government will put palliatives in place to help the poorest of the poor. There is also another category of palliatives that will be rolled out for civil servants apart from the promised salary increment that will be done across states and at the federal level.
“The subsidy removal is very significant because the Federal Government will be able to save a lot of money to do infrastructure and make all Nigerians happy. That was the intention of President Tinubu about the removal. He knows what Nigerians are passing through and efforts are underway to cushion the effects of this removal.”
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has been advised to assign ex-Governor of Ebonyi State, and now a ministerial nominee, Dave Umahi, with Ministry of Works portfolio to re-enact his fix-it-model in Ebonyi to change the fortune of deplorable roads across the country.
The Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Nigerian Post, Abu Michael, made the appeal over the weekend, in Lokoja, Kogi State capital.
The Publisher, while fielding questions from newsmen in Lokoja shortly after returning from Ebonyi State where he attended the burial of Senator Anyim Ude, who represented Ebonyi South Senatorial zone at the National Assembly between 2007 and 2011.
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Abu stated that the need to borrow a leaf from the Operation fix it model of road construction using concrete materials under Dave Umahi in Ebonyi State, where a lot of interstate and intercity roads were constructed through direct labour remains the way out to tackle the challenges of road infrastructure in the country.
Abu lamented that the major problem the country is facing in the last three decades is the issue of road infrastructure, saying with the Operation fix it model, even if it is 5000km of roads that can be fixed yearly, so much would have been achieved in four years by the Tinubu administration.
The Publisher said with the recent release of the Ministerial list by President Tinubu, former Governor Dave Umahi, stands a better place to fix Nigerian roads through his model which he used to fix deplorable roads across Ebonyi State.
Abu called on President Tinubu to pay more emphasis on construction and rehabilitation of roads across the country
He lamented that roads all over the country are in abysmal conditions, and appealed to the present administration to make the construction and rehabilitation of roads using concreting as a priority, which he said is less expensive and durable.
Abu expressed worries with the former administration which budgeted huge amounts of money for the sector, but no significant improvement on the status of roads across the country.
The Publisher listed the Lokoja-Abuja road as one of the roads that was awarded in 2006, but remained the same after 18 years.
While pointing out that despite yearly budgetary allocation to fix the road, the cost of fixing the road has risen to 500 % higher than when it was first awarded, with trillions already spent on the road, yet remains uncompleted.
Similarly, the Publisher mentioned the Ilorin-Ogbomosho road that was started 25 years ago, but still remains uncompleted, same as East West road as another uncompleted road alongside several other uncompleted roads. He lamented that the problem of road infrastructure and construction in Nigeria is lack of continuous funding, as it has become a drain pipe to fleece the country’s scarce resources.
While pointing out that the problem of road infrastructure remains the same all over the country, Abu said the time to do things differently, if the country must make headway is to adopt Ebonyi model which used concrete to repair the roads
Abu expressed worries that despite the introduction of SUKUK, NNPC, CBN in funding road construction by the former administrations, the situation of Nigerian roads has remained a nightmare across the state.
He, however, appealed to President Tinubu to saddle Senator Umahi with the Works and Housing Ministry, to reciprocate his prodigy in Ebonyi state to change the ugly narrative of the roads.
He described the concrete road approach in Ebonyi as similar to what was done by Dangote in fixing Obajana-Kabba road, stressing that it is not only cheaper, but uses direct labour providing employment opportunities for teeming youths.
The Direct labour approach, Abu disclosed, uses local masons, artisans, supervised by experts in the built industry, and has made those in the industry experts in road construction.
The Publisher said he was impressed with the 20cm thickness of the concrete roads constructed by technicians and others in the built industry in Ebonyi State, saying that if giving a chance at the works and Housing ministry, Umahi would be able to replicate the Ebonyi model in the country as a whole.
“All that would be required from the Ebonyi model would be to train bricklayers all over the country on road construction, give them the materials, concrete mixers, train on the process of levelling, provided with chippings, and if we’ll supervised by Engineers the state of the roads would be transformed.
Members of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government are meeting at the State House, Abuja, for an extraordinary session to discuss the happenings in the Niger Republic.
Sunday’s meeting which began at 12:58 pm is at the behest of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority.
It comes four days after a military coup ousted the administration of Nigerien President, Muhammed Bazoum.
On Friday, members of Niger’s Presidential Guard who perpetrated the coup named General Abdourahamane Tchiani as the nation’s new leader.
In his address, Tchiani, who has headed the Presidential Guard since 2011, said he was the new “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland.”
He said Wednesday’s coup is the military’s response to “the degradation of the security situation” linked to jihadist bloodshed.
The military also issued a warning about “the consequences that will flow from any foreign military intervention,” saying, “Certain dignitaries…are in thinking of confrontation,” which “will end in nothing but the massacre of the Nigerien population and chaos.”
Tinubu had on Wednesday condemned the coup promising that ECOWAS and the international community would do everything to defend democracy and ensure democratic governance continues to take firm root in the sub-region.
He affirmed that the regional bloc would deploy “all means necessary” to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
The African Union has also given the Tchiani 15 days to restore Bazoum to power.
Seated at the State House Conference Centre, the leaders will, among other things, discuss possible sanctions on Niger.
Present are Presidents Umaro Embaló (Guinea Bissau), Faure Gnassingbé (Togo), Nana Akubo-Addo (Ghana), Patrice Talon (Benin Republic), Alassane Ouattara (Cote d’Ivoire), Adama Barrow (The Gambia) and Macky Sall (Senegal).
Foreign Ministers Luís Tavares of Cabo Verde and Dee-Maxwell Kemayah Sr. of Liberia and Nigerien representatives are also attending.
The President of the Tchadian Transitional Military Council, Mahamat Déby, appeared earlier but left before the meeting commenced.
