FG suspends Kawu, appoints Prof. Idachaba as acting DG, NBC

ITREALMS:

The Federal Government (FG) has suspected Malam Modibbo Kawu as the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and replaced him with the Director, Broadcast Policy and Research at the commission, Professor Aduku Armstrong Augustine Idachaba, in acting capacity, reports ITREALMS.

This appointment followed the suspension of Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu with immediate effect in a letter dated February 14, 2020, and signed by Deaconess Grace Isu Gekpe, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

The appointment of Professor Idachaba, is sequel to his being the most senior Director in the National Broadcasting Commission, to oversee the affairs of the Commission.

Prof. Idachaba, born on 16th July 1962, in Kaduna, Kaduna State obtained his first degree in 1985 from the University of Jos in Theatre Arts, Masters in Theatre Arts, also from University of Jos in 1993, and a PhD in Media Studies from the University of Abuja in 2008.

He also undertook executive management courses from Georgetown University (2003) and Kennedy School, Harvard University (2016).

Prof. Idachaba worked, from 1986 to 1996, as a lecturer and the head, department of English and Theatre Arts, at the College of Education, Ankpa, Kogi State. He also worked as a Feature Writer for the Nigerian Voice Newspaper; Artiste and Presenter for NTA Makurdi, and; Director Movies Theatre Promotions, from 1986 to 1990.

Prof. Idachaba joined the National Broadcasting Commission as an Assistant Chief Research/Monitoring Officer on grade level 13 and assumed duty in 1st November, 1994. He rose to become the Zonal Director of the then Umuahia Zone, Zonal Director Uyo, Zonal Director, Abuja, and Zonal Director, Lagos. He was also the Director Broadcast Monitoring, Headquarters.

Until his appointment as Acting Director General, Prof Idachaba served as the Director, Broadcast Policy and Research.

Prof Idachaba has published several paperbacks on Media, Digital Technology, Theatre Arts and Broadcast Regulation. He has, and continues to, make exceptional contribution to the Commissions Monitoring and Research activities.

His contribution to Knowledge include visiting Lectureship at Bingham University, Abuja; Nassarawa State University; Godfrey Okoye University; and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

Uboshe Uboshe from Abuja/Editor

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Pic. Prof. Idachaba

Victor Olaiya, Ekiti's precious gift to world says Fayemi - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has commiserated with the family of the doyen of Highlife Music, Dr. Victor Abimbola Olaiya, who passed on Wednesday. He was aged 89, reports ITREALMS.

Dr. Fayemi said Ekti State and Nigeria have lost a global music icon with the passage of Dr Olaiya, who was one of the foremost musicians in the country.

The Governor described the Ijesha -Isu Ekiti born Dr Olaiya as "Ekiti's precious and priceless gift to the whole world"

Dr Olaiya, according to the Governor was a passionate singer, great entertainer, multi-talented instrumentalist and composer who had a good mastery of the stage.

The Governor said he was consoled knowing that Dr Olaiya did not only live long but lived well and impacted many lives through his music before taking his final bow. He added that it was the impact and uniqueness of Dr Olaiya’s music that earned him the Ekiti State Honour in 2011, in addition to a car gift.

Fayemi said " Dr Olaiya's name has been eternally etched in the Nigerian music hall of fame, for creating an identity for himself as a multitalented musician"

"Although Dr Olaiya is dead, his legacies will continue to live on especially in the hearts of millions of his admirers all over the world.

"On behalf of the government and good people of Ekiti State, I commiserate with the family of the late Dr Olaiya. I urge the children to be consoled with the fact that Baba lived well, made a name for himself, and was honoured in his life time. Our prayer is that God will grant him eternal rest.”



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Tribute to Kobe Bryant: Jennifer leads performance @2020 NBA All-Star Game - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has revealed that GRAMMY Award-winning recording artist and Academy Award-winning actress and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson will perform a special tribute to the late Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and their seven friends that tragically passed away on January 26, 2020, reports ITREALMS.

Hudson’s performance will open the night ahead of player introductions for the 69th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, February 16 at the United Center, airing live at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

The league also unveiled an All-Star lineup of performers that will join previously announced three-time GRAMMY winner and Chicago native Chance The Rapper, Golden Globe, Emmy, Oscar and three-time GRAMMY winner and Chicago native Common, and Chance’s brother and fellow rap artist Taylor Bennett, throughout the weekend.

Before All-Star team introductions, Common will welcome fans to Chicago with a moving narrative about what basketball means to the city. Prior to tip-off, Chicagoan and 10-time GRAMMY winner Chaka Khan will sing the U.S. national anthem and country music singer-songwriter Tenille Arts will sing the Canadian national anthem. 

At halftime, ITREALMS gathered that Chance The Rapper will take the stage with five-time GRAMMY winner Lil Wayne, 2020 GRAMMY winner DJ Khaled and GRAMMY-nominated Migos rapper Quavo for a star-studded performance of their chart-topping hits.

During State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Feb. 15, Golden Globe-, GRAMMY- and Primetime Emmy Award-winning rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah will be joined by Chicago youth for a special performance of Stevie Wonder’s classic song “Love’s in Need of Love Today.” The evening will tip off at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

On Friday, Feb. 14, the Chicago Children’s Choir will sing the U.S. national anthem in advance of NBA Rising Stars, which begins at 9 p.m. ET on TNT. As previously announced, Taylor Bennett will perform at halftime.

Uj. N. Dominic/Editor

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Radio can unite Nigeria says MRA

ITREALMS:

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has called on the Federal and State Governments to take full advantage of the attributes of radio in uniting Nigerians, reports ITREALMS.

MRA also noted that radio could be leveraged upon by developing a comprehensive strategy for overcoming the religious, ethnic and other differences that have divided Nigerians and impeded the country’s social, economic and political advancement.

In a statement issued in Lagos to commemorate this year’s World Radio Day, the organization noted that in Nigeria and elsewhere, radio remained the most powerful medium for reaching diverse communities and urged Government to invest in and support the sector to enhance its effectiveness as a platform for uniting Nigerians across various divides.

MRA’s Programme Director, Mr. Ayode Longe, made this asking governments at all levels in the country to work with radio stations operating in their areas of authority to promote and uphold diversity, both in their newsroom and on the airwaves, consistent with this year’s World Radio Day focus.

He urged stakeholders, particularly governments and radio stations, to reflect the three main sub-themes of the 2020 World Radio Day in their commemoration initiatives and activities, by:


Ensuring pluralism in the radio sector, by initiating policy interventions and taking other steps that will lead to an adequate and proper mix of public, private and community radio stations in the country;
Encouraging representation in the newsroom of the various diverse groups that exist in the wider society; and
Promoting a diversity of editorial content and programme types that reflect the variety of audiences in the society and respond to their information needs.

“Given the size and population of Nigeria; the social, cultural and linguistic diversity of the country, and the fact that among the three tiers of broadcasters, community radios are closest to the people, the current number of community radio stations licensed to operate in Nigeria is grossly inadequate.

The Federal Government, he said, needs to urgently issue more community radio licenses to "enable more Nigerians enjoy the benefits of community radios, especially in rural areas and among the urban poor.”

He also called on the Federal Government to use the occasion of World Radio Day to commit itself to promoting, respecting and defending the rights of Nigerians to freedom of expression and access to information, saying that recent attacks on journalists and other media professionals by government officials, law enforcement, security and intelligence agents have not been in the best interest of the Government itself.

According to Mr. Longe, “The recent arrests and detention of journalists for their professional activities and abuse of legislation such as the Cybercrime Act as well as anti-terrorism and treason laws to suppress media freedom and punish citizens who are critical of the Government or government officials have served no useful purpose. Indeed, all they have succeeded in doing is to alienate the citizens from the government and tarnish the image of the country internationally. This would be a good time for the government to announce a departure from such unhelpful behaviour.”

Proclaimed at the 36th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2011 and unanimously endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly at its 67th session on January 14, 2013 as a UN Day, World Radio Day takes place on February 13 each year. The Day commemorates the establishment of the UN Radio on February 13, 1946 and is now set aside as the day to celebrate radio as a medium to improve international cooperation between broadcasters and to encourage networks and community radios alike to promote access to information, freedom of expression and gender equality over the airwaves.

Uj. N. Dominic/Editor

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Michael Nnadi: What message God has for Nigeria, asks Bishop Kukah - ITREALMS

ForTheRecords@ITREALMS:

Homily at the Funeral Mass of Seminarian Michael Nnadi (Sokoto Diocese), on 11th February 2020 at Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna, Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto Diocese.

1. We have gathered around the remains of Michael in supplication but also as solemn witnesses to the penetrating darkness that hovers over our country. I have the rare honour of being considered the principal mourner in this ugly tragedy. It is not an honour that I am worthy of receiving. The honour belongs to God Almighty who created Michael and marked out this moment and pathway for him. The greater honour goes to his immediate family whose devotion as Catholics laid the foundation for his faith and vocation. To his grandmother, Mrs. Eunice Nwokocha, a most simple, beautiful and devout Catholic woman whose devotion and dedication saw Michael and his siblings, Chukwuebuka, Francis, Augustine and Raphael brought up in all the fine principles and disciplines of the Catholic faith.

2. The way that Mama and her grandchildren handled this family tragedy has shown clearly the depth of their faith. I got to know Mama only after the sudden death of her daughter, Caroline, who had been a devoted Lector in our Cathedral. On the day we learnt that Michael and the other Seminarians were kidnapped, breaking the news to Mama and the children was not an easy task. She took the news with equanimity and we focused on praying for their release. She and the grandchildren lived through the torments of the brutal, harsh and senseless haranguing of the kidnappers who are totally empty of any show of human emotions.

3. When the worst finally happened, breaking the news to her and the grandchildren proved to be one of the most emotionally challenging moments for me. She had called me three days earlier to say that the kidnappers had told her that they had killed Michael. I dismissed it by telling her that first, I had discouraged her from taking their calls, and secondly that this was part of the psychological warfare by these evil men. On Wednesday 29th, Peter Paul, the brave young man who had served as the main negotiator with the kidnappers, had already told us that they had gone to the village where the kidnappers said they had dumped the bodies of both Michael and Mrs. Ataga but found no corpses. This was the thread of consolation we held on to as a means of solace that Michael was still alive.

4. When we concluded the negotiations with the kidnappers on Thursday evening, I was in the Seminary to receive the three Seminarians and, although we received only two, I was still confident that Michael was still alive. We were simply going to sit and wait out for the next call and the agonizing round of negotiations again. I left for Abuja that same evening to continue my trip to Sokoto the next day. It was on my way to the airport to catch a flight back to Sokoto on that Saturday morning that Fr Daboh called to tell me that the corpse of Mrs. Ataga had been found and that there was a second unidentified corpse which they were being asked to come and identify if it was Michael. My heart sank.

5. After the call, I switched off my phone in denial, but hoping for some reprieve to enable me board my flight with some sanity. I arrived Sokoto and refused to switch on my phone for some time. When I finally did, I refused to read the text messages, but then, Fr Habila’s call came through at about 1pm with the news that, sadly, they had identified the corpse as that of Michael. I did not know where to start and how to break the news to Mama. Happily, two of our senior Parishioners, Sir Julius Dike and Mathews Otalike, were on hand and I summoned them to my house. It took us the better part of seven hours to negotiate how to break the news because, first, Mama was in the market and I felt she should at least finish the day’s business in peace. Finally breaking the news opened a different chapter in this ugly, painful but memorable tragedy. Like the death of Lazarus, it would become clear to me that Michael’s death would bring glory to God.

6. Later that evening as I sat down to try and console Mama, she looked up at me and said tearfully, “My Lord, you said Michael was still alive. Is he really dead?” Before I could say anything, she provided a moving answer: “My Lord, but Michael entered Seminary with all his heart and body, all”, she said with finality. From that evening, I watched her regain her composure and right up to Saturday, the evening before I left Sokoto, she had become a consoler and an inspiration to others.

7. The depth and impact of this tragedy belongs first, to the three surviving colleagues of Michael, the entire Seminary community led by the Rector, Fr. Habila Daboh, his team of formators and entire family of Good Shepherd Seminary. All have lived through almost two months of trauma, agony, pain and despair. They have been held together by the glue of deep faith, hope and family solidarity. I commend all the Formators for standing together and guiding the Seminarians through this dark tunnel of emotional pain in the days that turned to weeks, and weeks that turned to months. The entire Catholic community in the Province, led by our Metropolitan, Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso, all shared in this burden. His Grace and the Rector will both speak to us at the end of the Mass.

8. The third layer of pain has been borne by the entire country and the Catholic world. The national and international reactions to the death of this young man have made me step back and ask what message God has for our country. Michael is the first Seminarian to carry the mark of this brutality and wickedness. Priests have died in the hands of these wicked human beings. Michael was only a Seminarian in his first year of training. I had seen him in his cassock which he wore in my presence, not with pride but with dignity. Why would the tragic death of a young man such as him elicit such an unprecedented level of emotions here and around the world?

9. Maria Lozano, a staff of the Aid to the Church In Need, an organisation dedicated to the cause of the persecution of Christians around the world, called me frantically immediately after the news of the kidnapping of the Seminarians went out. The next day, she sent me an emotional voice message to say that she heard that Michael was an orphan and that since the kidnappers will be looking for money might his life be in danger if they realise that he is an orphan? Could she mobilise especially mothers to become parents for him, to keep him and others in their hearts and to continue to pray for him? Maria remained with us emotionally and requested for information about the burial.

10. When the Archbishop approved the date of the burial, I passed the information to her immediately. By the next day, February 5th, she sent me a message to say that when she asked people around the world to light a candle for Michael on the date of his burial, 2, 436 persons from Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States of America, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Madagascar, South Africa, Congo, Mali, Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia responded. Germany alone had a total of 3,305 persons in a matter of hours. In the light of this, I wondered, who are we to mourn? Who are we to refuse this crown of honour and glory? We ceased to mourn for Michael thereon.

11. Your Grace, my brother Bishops, Rev Fathers, Rev. Sisters, and all the good people of God, I therefore bring you only greetings and praise to God from all of us in Sokoto Diocese. This is a solemn moment for the body of Christ. This is for us the moment of decision. This is the moment that separates darkness from light, good from evil. Our nation is like a ship stranded on the high seas, rudderless and with broken navigational aids. Today, our years of hypocrisy, duplicity, fabricated integrity, false piety, empty morality, fraud and Pharisaism have caught up with us. Nigeria is on the crossroads and its future hangs precariously in a balance. This is a wakeup call for us. As St. Paul reminds us; The night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light (Rom. 13:12). It is time to confront and dispel the clouds of evil that hover over us.

12. Nigeria is at a point where we must call for a verdict. There must be something that a man, nay, a nation should be ready to die for. Sadly, or even tragically, today, Nigeria, does not possess that set of goals or values for which any sane citizen is prepared to die for her. Perhaps, I should correct myself and say that the average office holder is ready to die to protect his office but not for the nation that has given him or her that office. The Yorubas say that if it takes you 25 years to practice madness, how much time would you have to put it into real life? We have practiced madness for too long. Our attempt to build a nation has become like the agony of Sisyphus who angered the gods and had to endure the frustration of rolling a stone up the mountain. Each time he got near the top, the gods would tip the stone back and he would go back to start all over again. What has befallen our nation?

13. Nigeria needs to pause for a moment and think. No one more than the President of Nigeria, Major General Muhammadu Buhari who was voted for in 2015 on the grounds of his own promises to rout Boko Haram and place the country on an even keel. In an address at the prestigious Policy Think Tank, Chatham House in London, just before the elections, Major General Buhari told his audience: “I as a retired General and a former Head of State have always known about our soldiers. They are capable and they are well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty. If am elected President, the world will have no reason to worry about Nigeria. Nigeria will return to its stabilizing role in West Africa. We will pay sufficient attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service. We will develop adequate and modern arms and ammunition. We will improve intelligence gathering and border patrols to choke Boko Haram’s financial and equipment channels. We will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development and promoting infrastructural development…we will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester. And I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front.”

14. There is no need to make any further comments on this claim. No one in that hall or anywhere in Nigeria doubted the President who ran his campaign on a tank supposedly full of the fuel of integrity and moral probity. No one could have imagined that in winning the Presidency, General Buhari would bring nepotism and clannishness into the military and the ancillary Security Agencies, that his government would be marked by supremacist and divisive policies that would push our country to the brink.

This President has displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our country’s rich diversity. He has subordinated the larger interests of the country to the hegemonic interests of his co-religionists and clansmen and women. The impression created now is that, to hold a key and strategic position in Nigeria today, it is more important to be a northern Muslim than a Nigerian.

15. Today, in Nigeria, the noble religion of Islam has convulsed. It has become associated with some of worst fears among our people. Muslim scholars, traditional rulers and intellectuals have continued to cry out helplessly, asking for their religion and region to be freed from this chokehold. This is because, in all of this, neither Islam nor the north can identify any real benefits from these years that have been consumed by the locusts that this government has unleashed on our country. The Fulani, his innocent kinsmen, have become the subject of opprobrium, ridicule, defamation, calumny and obloquy. His north has become one large grave yard, a valley of dry bones, the nastiest and the most brutish part of our dear country.

16. Why have the gods rejected this offering? Despite running the most nepotistic and narcissistic government in known history, there are no answers to the millions of young children on the streets in northern Nigeria, the north still has the worst indices of poverty, insecurity, stunting, squalor and destitution. His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, and the Emir of Kano are the two most powerful traditional and moral leaders in Islam today. None of them is happy and they have said so loud and clear. The Sultan recently lamented the tragic consequences of power being in the wrong hands. Every day, Muslim clerics are posting tales of lamentation about their fate. Now, the Northern Elders, who in 2015 believed that General Buhari had come to redeem the north have now turned against the President.

17. We are being told that this situation has nothing to do with Religion. Really? It is what happens when politicians use religion to extend the frontiers of their ambition and power. Are we to believe that simply because Boko Haram kills Muslims too, they wear no religious garb? Are we to deny the evidence before us, of kidnappers separating Muslims from infidels or compelling Christians to convert or die? If your son steals from me, do you solve the problem by saying he also steals from you? Again, the Sultan got it right: let the northern political elite who have surrendered the space claim it back immediately.

18. The persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria is as old as the modern Nigerian state. Their experiences and fears of northern, Islamic domination are documented in the Willinks Commission Report way back in 1956. It was also the reason why they formed a political platform called, the Non-Muslim League. All of us must confess in all honesty that in the years that have passed, the northern Muslim elite has not developed a moral basis for adequate power sharing with their Christian co-regionalists. We deny at our own expense. By denying Christians lands for places of worship across most of the northern states, ignoring the systematic destruction of churches all these years, denying Christians adequate recruitment, representation and promotions in the State civil services, denying their indigenous children scholarships, marrying Christian women or converting Christians while threatening Muslim women and prospective converts with death, they make building a harmonious community impossible.

Nation building cannot happen without adequate representation and a deliberate effort at creating for all members a sense, a feeling, of belonging, and freedom to make their contributions. This is the window that the killers of Boko Haram have exploited and turned into a door to death. It is why killing Christians and destroying Christianity is seen as one of their key missions.

19. On our part, I believe that this is a defining moment for Christians and Christianity in Nigeria. We Christians must be honest enough to accept that we have taken so much for granted and made so much sacrifice in the name of nation building. We accepted President Buhari when he came with General Idiagbon, two Muslims and two northerners. We accepted Abiola and Kingibe, thinking that we had crossed the path of religion, but we were grossly mistaken. When Jonathan became President, and Senator David Mark remained Senate President while Patricia Ette was chosen by the South West became a Speaker. The Muslim members revolted and forced her resignation with lies and forgery. The same House would shamelessly say that they had no records of her indictment. Today, we are living with a Senate whose entire leadership is in the hands of Muslims. Christians have continued to support them. For how long shall we continue on this road with different ambitions? Christians must rise up and defend their faith with all the moral weapons they have. We must become more robust in presenting the values of Christianity especially our message of love and non-violence to a violent society. Among the wolves of the world, we must become more politically alert, wise as the serpent and humble as the dove (Mt. 10:16).

20. Every Religion has the seeds of its own redemption or destruction. It is a choice between Caesar and God. We cannot borrow the crown of Caesar without consequences. The boundaries between faith and reason are delicate but they are fundamental to how a society builds a moral code. Faith without reason breeds the fanatic, the demagogue who genuinely but wrongly believes that he has heard the voice of a god ordering him to kill another. Reason without faith produces the ideologues who will also kill because the ideology of the state orders him to do so. Societies can only survive when a Constitutional basis has been established to create a balance between both extremes and to place our common humanity at the centre of every pursuit.

21. My dear brothers and sisters, Anger, the quest for Vengeance, are a legitimate inheritance of the condition of unredeemed human being. Both have appeal. Through Violence, you can murder the murderer, but you cannot murder Murder. Through violence, you can kill the Liar, but you cannot kill Lies or install truth. Through Violence, you can murder the Terrorist, but you cannot end Terrorism. Through Violence, you can murder the Violent, but you cannot end Violence. Through Violence, you can murder the Hater, but you cannot end Hatred. Unredeemed man sees vengeance as power, strength and the best means to teach the offender a lesson. These are the ways of the flesh.

22. Christianity parts ways with other Religions when it comes to what to do with the enemy. Here, we must admit, Christianity stands alone. This is the challenge for us as Christians. Others believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or that one can take either blood money or make some form of reparation one way or the other. However, for us Christians, Jesus stands right in the middle with a message that is the opposite of all that is sensible to us as human beings. Put back your sword (Mt. 26: 52). Turn the other cheek (Mt. 5:38). Pray for your enemy (Mt. 5: 44). Give the thief your cloak (Lk. 6:29). None of these makes sense to the human mind without faith. This is why Jesus said the only solution is for us to be born again (Jn. 3:3). The challenge before us is to behold the face of Jesus and ask the question, Are we Born against hatred, anger, violence and vengeance?

23. There is hope, my dear friends. Are we angry? Yes, we are. Are we sad? Of course, we are. Are we tempted to vengeance? Indeed, we are. Do we feel betrayed? You bet. Do we know what to do? Definitely. Do we know when to do it? Why not? Do we know how? Absolutely. Are we in a war? Yes. But what would Christ have us do? The only way He has pointed out to us is the non-violent way. It is the road less travelled, but it is the only way.

24. How and why does God choose these young persons as our models? Leah Sharibu and now Michael, all teenagers when they confronted evil and became martyrs. In a recent report in Daily Trust on February 2, 2020, I read the story of one of the Dapchi girls and their incredible show of bravery in the face of fire. They were asked by their ferocious captors to point out the Christians among them or they would all face death. In response, they said in unison that they were all Muslims. Then, she continued, “when they intensified their threat to kill us, Leah stood up and said that she was a Christian. She said they could go ahead and kill her instead of killing all of us. So, they separated her from us…before we were rescued, they told us that if Leah would convert to Islam, they would free us, so we tried as much as possible to convince her but she refused saying she would never renounce her religion for fear of death.”

25. We have no evidence of what transpired between Michael and his killers. However, for us Christians, this death is a metaphor for the fate of all Christians in Nigeria but especially northern Nigeria. For us Christians, it would seem safe to say that we are all marked men and women today. Yet, we must be ready to be washed in the blood of the lamb. The testimony of the Dapchi girl above suggests that our country has a future, a future based on the innocence of our youth who have seen beyond religion. Leah Sharibu is a martyr for the faith and so is Michael. St Paul has already said it well: We carry this treasure in vessels of clay so that all this surpassing power may not be seen as ours, but as God’s. Trials of every sort come our way, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answers but we do not despair, persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed. At any moment, we carry in our person, the death of Jesus, so that in life, Jesus may also be manifested in us (2 Cor. 4: 7-10).

26. Finally, we praise and thank God that Pius, Peter and Stephen are alive and will continue to bear earthly testimony of this horror. May God help them to all heal. We join the family of Michael in their act of forgiveness while calling on God give these killers their own road to Damascus experience deep in the forests and highways. For now, we in Sokoto are at peace and feel mightily honoured that we have been chosen for this task of being called upon to walk the footsteps of the passion of Jesus Christ. We know that the Lord’s burden is never heavy. We are humbled but not bowed. Although we are only a little flock, we are pleased to offer from the little we have to the Master. Like the owner of the donkey on which Jesus rode to Jerusalem, we are asking no question because the Master has asked for Michael (Lk. 19:31). Like the Galileans (Lk. 13:1), we surrender the blood of Michael to the vicious Herods of today but we know we will one day rise to a new life. The choice of our son Michael as a Simon of Cyrene is a remarkable gift that we must embrace with both hands. We feel as if our son has been chosen to represent us in the national team of martyrs. Without fear, we will complete the journey he started because his memory will give us strength.



27. We know that Michael’s strength will inspire an army of young people to follow in his steps. We will march on with the cross of Christ entrusted to us, not in agony or pain, because our salvation lies in your cross. We have no vengeance or bitterness in our hearts. We have no drop of sorrow inside us. We are honoured that our son has been summoned to receive the crown of martyrdom at the infancy of his journey to the priesthood. We are grateful that even before he could ascend the earthly altar, Jesus the high priest, called Him to stand by His angels. He was a priest by desire but he is concelebrating the fullness of the priesthood beside His Master. He was lifted up even before his hands could lift up the sacred chalice. May the Lord place him beside His bosom and may he intercede for us. If his blood can bring healing to our nation, then his murderers will never have the final say. May God give him eternal peace.

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Ataga’s daughter recognizes Policeman who abducted, killed mum - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

No one could have imagined that a neighbor police man was among those who killed a mother of two, Mrs. Philip Ataga after a ransom was paid, reports ITREALMS.

Mrs Ataga, ITREALMS recalled was kidnapped and later killed alongside the 18-year-old Seminarian Michael Nnadi late January, 2020 despite ransom. She is married to a Kaduna-based medical doctor, Philip Ataga.

According to Grace Ibrahim Kogi on her timeline on Facebook, the police man was said to be the one who ordered the killing, and still went to condole Dr. Ataga and family when the bubble busted and the daughter recognized him.

“Ataga’s daughter recognised one of the people that ordered the killing of her mum. So unfortunate gaskiya,” she decried.

Grace further said that the saddest moment was that a police man who is supposed to protect life and property is the man the daughter recognized. (He actually came to the doctor’s house to greet, boom the daughter immediately recognised him and rest is history) and a neighbor was among all this fa. Kai! See ehn man is indeed wicked I must say.

As the time of filing this report, Nigeria Police is yet to make an official statement in this regard.

Uboshe Uboshe/DoP
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Wike to FG: Caution Oshiomhole over inflammatory remarks on Bayelsa ruling - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The Rivers State Governor,  Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has called on the Federal Government (FG) to caution the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to stop making inflammatory remarks capable of destabilising the country, reports ITREALMS.

Governor Wike also berated the APC National Chairman for saying that there will be no swearing-in of the PDP Candidate in Bayelsa State,  saying he has no such powers.

Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor,  Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, quoted Wike in a press statement available to ITREALMS, as saying "The Federal Government should warn Oshiomhole to stop making remarks that will destabilise Nigeria. 

"What he is doing in Edo State is not proper and he should not bring it to the rest of the Niger Delta."

He said that Oshiomhole lacks the power to make pronouncements  after the Supreme Court has ruled on the Bayelsa matter. 

"Who is Oshiomhole to determine who has spread in a state? Supreme Court has made a ruling.  It is unfortunate for Oshiomhole to come forward  to say that nobody will be sworn in " he said. 

He said that Oshiomhole is making unguarded statements because he has lost the support of APC Governors,  hence he wants to curry favour through careless talks. 

He said: "It is most unfortunate what Oshiomhole is doing because he wants to retain his position as National Chairman. APC Governors  have rejected him, that  is why he is struggling to prove that he is fighting for the Party. 

"He is making statements as if he owns the country.  This is the same way he is carrying on in Edo State   fighting the Governor.  

"He believes  that he has the forces to cause crisis. He is arrogating powers to himself,  which  is not good ", he said.

Governor Wike described Oshiomhole as a man who preaches one thing, then goes ahead to practise a different thing. He said the situation in Edo State  has exposed Adams Oshiomhole as a godfather who once preached against godfathers. 

He said Oshiomhole would not be allowed to destroy the Niger Delta.  Governor Wike said the rule of law must continue to prevail at all times.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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COMPRAN: IFAD partner Sao Tome & Principe to boost nutrition security - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The International Fund for Agricultural Development of the United Nations (IFAD) is partnering Sao Tome and Principe, an island country highly affected by climate change, to boost its nutrition security through its , reports ITREALMS.

The Commercialization, Agricultural Production Nutrition Project (COMPRAN) is the financing agreement project to drive this partnership, reports ITREALMS.

Rising sea levels and climate disturbances put the poor rural people of the country at risk, impacting its agriculture and fisheries.

Micronutrient deficiency rates in Sao Tome and Principe are also alarming, with 96 per cent of preschool children and 18 per cent of girls and pregnant women suffering from vitamin A deficiencies. The malnutrition rate for children under five is more than 17 per cent.

To address these issues, the financing agreement for the Commercialization, Agricultural Production Nutrition Project (COMPRAN) was signed today by Donal Brown, Associate Vice-President of IFAD, Programme Management Department and Osvaldo Tavares dos Santos Vaz, Minister of Finance of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.

With 69 per cent of the young people in Sao Tome and Principe unemployed, this €19.2 million programme will target young people, aiming for at least 50 per cent. It will contribute to livelihood development, improved nutrition and resilience, all of which are critical areas for the country to achieve food security, as well as meeting several Sustainable Development Goals, including no poverty, zero hunger, gender equality and climate action (SDGs 1, 2, 5 and 13).

Funding includes an €0.9 million loan and €3.8 million grant from IFAD. In addition, the Government of Sao Tome and Principe is providing €0.4 million, with a further €0.5 million contributed by beneficiaries themselves and significant cofinancing from other development partners.

“COMPRAN is an innovative project that will also strengthen capacities of key rural public and private institutions in the country to catalyse and well manage investments and strengthen public-private and producer partnerships, at both central and decentralized levels. This will ensure the continuity and the sustainability of the gains of the former Smallholder Commercial Agriculture Project that registered huge achievements and impact on the livelihoods of rural populations through increased incomes,” said Emime Ndihokubwayo, Country Director for Sao Tome and Principe.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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MIC mourns music icon Olaiya, calls him legend of his time

ITREALMS:

The Minister of Information and Culture (MIC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the late music icon, Sir Victor Olaiya, as a legend of his time, whose music signposted a great epoch in the history of Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

The Minister also said Sir Olaiya's death, even at a ripe old age, came as a rude shock.

Special Assistant to the President (Media) Office of The Minister of Information and Culture, Segun Adeyemi informed ITREALMS in Abuja on Thursday in a press statement quoting the Minister as saying the demise of the music legend is a great loss to the Creative Industry in particular and the entire country in general.
''Sir Victor Olaiya's was not just a musician but a great patriot, hence it was not a surprise that he played officially when the country became independent in 1960 and when it became a republic in 1963.

''The doyen of highlife music charted a path for many generations of Nigerian musicians, and this great role was not lost on him when he did a 'collabo' with 2Face Idibia that was received with much acclaim. It was a symbolic handover of the torch of excellence to the new generation of Nigerian musicians,'' Mohammed said.

He said the best tribute that can be paid to the memory of the late music legend is for today's generation of musicians to continue to strive for excellence in their field.

The Minister extended his condolences to the family, friends and associates of the late Sir Olaiya, and prayed to God to grant repose to his soul and to comfort the family he left behind.

Uj. N. Dominic/Editor

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UN releases blacklist of companies occupying Jewish Quarter - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The United Nations (UN) has released a blacklist of companies doing business with Israelis living in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and other areas over the 1949 Green line claimed by Israelis and Palestinians, reports ITREALMS.

UN through its office human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet made the release described as an unprecedented blacklist of companies doing business with Bachelet's office had postponed release of the list, acknowledging "legal, methodological and factual complexity."

The controversial database of companies doing business with Israeli settlements, which Bachelet's office has yet to produce on any other state, was mandated by a March 2016 resolution of the UN Human Rights Council that was sponsored by Kuwait on behalf of the 22-member Arab Group, Pakistan on behalf of the 56-nation Islamic group, along with Sudan, Venezuela, Algeria, Bahrain, Bolivia, Chad, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, and Libya.

"Dictatorships initiated this blacklist not because they care about human rights, but to divert attention from serial rights abuses committed by council members like Venezuela, Libya, and DR Congo, by scapegoating the Jewish state," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based watchdog organization.

UN Watch has published a detailed Myth & Facts on the Blacklist.

"Doing business in disputed territories has never been prohibited under international law, nor, until today, subject to a UN blacklist. For example, the EU has business and financial dealings in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara and in Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus," said Neuer.

"Curiously, out of more than 100 territorial disputes in the world today, including in Tibet, Kashmir, Crimea, Western Sahara and Northern Cyprus, the UN chose only to blacklist companies doing business in Israel's disputed territories,” he said.

“As several major democracies wrote the UN, the world body has no legal mandate to tell companies where they should or should not operate. Moreover, if this were really about human rights, then the key factor would be a consideration of whether Palestinian human rights are actually violated, yet that's ignored.”

“Sadly, this is one more example of the Palestinian hijacking of UN bodies to promote a one-sided political agenda that fosters conflict instead of advancing peace."

"High Commissioner Bachelet, who should be standing up for the UN Charter principles of universality and equality, has now allowed her office to become a tool for the discriminatory anti-Israel BDS movement, which singles out the Jewish state for boycott, divestment and sanctions. With the blacklist, the UN has now become Ground Zero for global BDS.”

*Editor

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LG crisis: Court urges Govt, sacked chairmen to explore amicable resolution - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

A High Court sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Wednesday adjourned till 21st February, 2020 on the suit filed by the State Government in which its sought to restrain the sacked council chairmen from forcefully taking over the council secretariats in the state, reports ITREALMS.

The sacked Council Chairmen under the aegis of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) had sought to take control of the council secretariats by relying on a letter written by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and another by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, urging them to put effect to a judgement of the Supreme Court on local government administration in Ekiti State.

The Court presided by Justice Mahmood Abbas, lauded the parties for considering the option of amicable resolution of the matter, urging them to exercise maturity while discussing the option of amicable settlement.

Ruling on the application to allow for the parties to further explore the out-of-court settlement option, Justice Abbas adjourned the matter till February 21, warning all parties to see what they could do to arrive at an amicable resolution.

Oyo State Government and ALGON had, at the last adjourned date on February 5, 2020, declared the readiness to explore an out-of-court settlement, with the Court adjoining till February 12 to allow for that option.

The parties had, on Wednesday, approached the court to report the outcome of the out-of-court settlement option, which was agreed upon at the February 5, 2020 sitting.

In their presentations, counsels to the claimant/applicant(the State Government), Dr. Akin Onigbinde (SAN) and the counsels to the defendants(ALGON and others), reported on the meetings held to explore the out-of-court settlement option, noting that a settlement could not be reached on the matter so far.

Dr. Onigbinde stated that though the parties could not reach a conclusion on the amicable resolution of the dispute, the process could not be described as having failed, because some proposals were made, which the Government looked at and registered its difficulty in accepting.

"There was no failure of the first attempt. There is always a progression in this type of negotiation. It is not the day you start that you conclude. Actually, we have made some progress because there were certain proposals made, which we have looked at. We have registered our difficulty in accepting them. Now, we have another opportunity to look at those proposals again. So, it cannot be characterised as a failure. I will consider it as a stage in the process of what we are trying to achieve,” he said.

The counsel to the sacked chairmen, Mr. Kunle Sobaloju, maintained that though the parties could not come to an amicable resolution at the two meetings between last Saturday and Monday, his clients were not opposed to the out-of-court-settlement option.

He added that he would not be opposing the application to further explore that option, because the resolution of the matter would be in the interest of the state.

The Court lauded the parties for considering the option of amicable settlement, urging them to exercise maturity while discussing the option of settlement.

The presiding judge maintained that parties in the matter were stakeholders in the Oyo State project, noting that they would have to take the most valuable decision in the matter with a view to amicably resolving the crisis in the interest of the state.

He added that all parties in the matter must exercise a lot of maturity while discussing amicable resolution, noting that settlement “means a little compromise here and there.”

He said: “I did say during the last adjournment that all parties in this case are stakeholders in the Oyo State project... So, all parties must exercise a lot of maturity. The only duty of this court is to listen to all facts as you bring them and apply the law. The law is there, nobody can change it. The court cannot change the law. But the most valuable decision in this case will be taken by the parties.”

Ayo Midele/Editor

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Insecurity: Seminarian Michael Nnadi attracted 5741 candle lights @funeral -ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

A total of 5,741 candle lights was attracted globally following the confirmation of the death of a Catholic Seminarian, Michael Nnadi, reports ITREALMS.

Nnadi was killed by the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram alongside Mrs. Ataga at about 29 January, 2020 after weeks of torture, following their kidnap.

The act of lighting a candle is a ritual to pay tribute to a life 'passed.' Experts informed ITREALMS that by keeping a light burning in remembrance signifies that the memory still lives on and burns bright. It is a ritual that promotes reflection and signifies remembrance.

Disclosing this at the funeral mass of Seminarian Michael Nnadi, Tuesday in Sokoto, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, despite that Michael was an orphan, he is being mourned by the world Christian community.

According to him, Maria Lozano, a staff of the Aid to the Church In Need, an organisation dedicated to the cause of the persecution of Christians around the world, called him frantically immediately after the news of the kidnapping of the Seminarians went out.

“The next day, she sent me an emotional voice message to say that she heard that Michael was an orphan and that since the kidnappers will be looking for money might his life be in danger if they realise that he is an orphan? Could she mobilise especially mothers to become parents for him, to keep him and others in their hearts and to continue to pray for him? Maria remained with us emotionally and requested for information about the burial,” he said.

On the Archbishop’s approval of the burial date, Kukah said he passed the information to her immediately and by the next day, February 5th, she sent me a message to say that when she asked people around the world to light a candle for Michael on the date of his burial, 2, 436 persons from Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States of America, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Madagascar, South Africa, Congo, Mali, Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia responded.

“Germany alone had a total of 3,305 persons in a matter of hours. In the light of this, I wondered, who are we to mourn? Who are we to refuse this crown of honour and glory? We ceased to mourn for Michael thereon,” Bishop Kukah said.

He described the burial as a solemn moment for the body of Christ, stressing that this should be the moment of decision.

“This is the moment that separates darkness from light, good from evil. Our nation is like a ship stranded on the high seas, rudderless and with broken navigational aids. Today, our years of hypocrisy, duplicity, fabricated integrity, false piety, empty morality, fraud and Pharisaism have caught up with us. Nigeria is on the crossroads and its future hangs precariously in a balance. This is a wakeup call for us. As St. Paul reminds us; The night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light (Rom. 13:12). It is time to confront and dispel the clouds of evil that hover over us,” he said.

Remmy Nweke/DoP

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Africa Influencer Agency debuts with B2B PR platform - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The business-to-businsss public relations' platform, Africa Influencer Agency has made a debut to avail all digital channels and social media to support brands in telling their stories to the African B2B audience, reports ITREALMS.

The agency, ITREALMS gathered, is leveraging on extensive segmented reach of professionals across the continent and beyond, together with team of influencers with a solid background in media, PR and digital media with a host of digital tools to build reliable B2B bridges between brands and businesses by way of holistic PR.

Among the services the agency is launching includes influencer marketing to connect brands to key industry leaders that are the right fit for their businesses, spanning from journalists to micro-influencers managed by AIA. The agency has a team of established B2B influencers with extensive networks cumulatively standing at over 120,000 followers on LinkedIn to bolster its influencer marketing offering.

Diana Wangeci, Director of Africa Influencer Agency, "As AIA we can deliver tangible ROI for our clients as recognized experts in the industry for several years when it comes to PR, marketing, strategizing on impactful content and other digital services. The large network of companies and business professionals that the agency works with in all African countries and other continents allows clients to reach thousands of targeted audiences within short timelines, resulting in successful campaigns across different economic sectors. Its extensive reach sets AIA apart from any other PR agency as it guarantees maximum reach and results to clients."

Other services under the Africa Influencer Agency’s belt include recurring and campaign PR, creating different types of bespoke and impactful content from interviews, blogs and columns, distribution of newsletters and personal emails to relevant target audiences. Also the designing of customized websites, blogs, newsletters, banners and other digital materials, as well as organizing business events for close encounters with the relevant professionals that make a brand’s message a live experience.

Diana Wangeci: “AIA’s strength lies in the utilisation of instruments that have been successful and in operation for many years. For example, the press release distribution service dubbed Africa Press List that reaches thousands of journalists across Africa and globally, the news site Africa Business Communities, and other social media platforms. We are therefore guaranteeing reach through our channels into our network by skipping the step of publishing on third party media and bringing the message directly to a relevant audience of individual people in our network. This means that at Africa Influencer Agency, we are connecting Africa with itself, with the world and the world to Africa.”

The launch of the agency is timely, as Africa continues to attract a bevvy of investors buoyed by investment opportunities across ICT, infrastructure, education, agribusiness and real estate sectors. These economies continue to defy global financial slowdown and record promising trajectory with seven of the fastest-growing economies globally being from Africa according to recent studies.

With the coming into force of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - the largest free trade zone since the launch of the World Trade Organization - which is opening up a world of opportunities for Africa to trade with each other, the continent is now at a strategic position to expand trade and investment opportunities within and without and businesses are now primed to reach business partners through platforms available in the continent.

Africa Influencer Agency is founded by and part of Africa Business Communities.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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Insecurity in Nigeria: Bishop Kukah lampoons Gen. Buhari’s clannish presidency - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has lampoon the President, General Mohammadu Buhari for running nepotistic and clannish presidency in Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

This was contained in his homily at the funeral mass of late Seminarian Michael Nnadi, Tuesday in Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Kukah said, that these fangs have ruined the military and ancillary security agencies, thereby putting the country on the brink.
ITREALMS recalls that late Seminarian, Michael Nnadi was killed by the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram alongside Mrs. Ataga, about January 29, 2020, after weeks of capture and torture.

“No one could have imagined that in winning the Presidency, General Buhari would bring nepotism and clannishness into the military and the ancillary security agencies, that his government would be marked by supremacist and divisive policies that would push our country to the brink,” he said.

This President Buhari, he said, “has displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our country’s rich diversity.”

Also, Kukah accused General Buhari of subordinating the larger interests of the country to the “hegemonic interests of his co-religionists and clansmen and women.”

As said by him, the impression created now is that, to hold a key and strategic position in Nigeria today, it is more important to be a northern Muslim than a Nigerian.

In all of this, Bishop Kukah posited that neither Islam nor the north can identify any real benefits from these years that have been consumed by the locusts that this government has unleashed on the country.

“The Fulani, his innocent kinsmen, have become the subject of opprobrium, ridicule, defamation, calumny and obloquy. His north has become one large grave yard, a valley of dry bones, the nastiest and the most brutish part of our dear country,” he lamented.

Kukah insisted that the situation Nigeria in currently has everything to do with religion, stressing that its what happens when politicians use religion to extend the frontiers of their ambition and power.

“Are we to believe that simply because Boko Haram kills Muslims too, they wear no religious garb? Are we to deny the evidence before us, of kidnappers separating Muslims from infidels or compelling Christians to convert or die? If your son steals from me, do you solve the problem by saying he also steals from you? Again, the Sultan got it right: let the northern political elite who have surrendered the space claim it back immediately,” he charged

He beckoned on the northern Muslim elites to develop a moral basis for adequate power sharing with their Christian co-regionalists.

“We deny at our own expense,” he warned, stressing that by denying Christians lands for places of worship across most of the northern states, ignoring the systematic destruction of churches all these years, denying Christians adequate recruitment, representation and promotions in the State civil services, denying their indigenous children scholarships, marrying Christian women or converting Christians while threatening Muslim women and prospective converts with death, “they make building a harmonious community impossible.”

The bishop further said that nation building cannot happen without adequate representation and a deliberate effort at creating for all members a sense, a feeling, of belonging, and freedom to make their contributions.

“This is the window that the killers of Boko Haram have exploited and turned into a door to death. It is why killing Christians and destroying Christianity is seen as one of their key missions,” he decried.

*Remmy Nweke/DoP

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Insecurity: Catholic Bishops to march in Abuja, faithful to protest on Ash Wednesday - ITREALMS

ITREALMS: 

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has concluded plans to protest the incessant insecurity in the country, reports ITREALMS.

In a Catholic bulletin made available to ITREALMS, the Bishops in a latest trend, directed that the earlier proposed nationwide peaceful protest March planned for Ash Wednesday Feb 26, 2020 by the Catholic Bishops' conference of Nigeria, would now hold only in Abuja.

"The peaceful protest march will take place but only in Abuja during the Catholic Bishops conference of Nigeria gathering between March 1 to March 6, 2020," according to the Chancellor Archdiocese of Benin City, Rev Fr Mike Oyanoafoh.

He also hinted that during the conference, all the Bishops will lead the March with priests, religious and lay faithful of Abuja Archdiocese and those who can join them.

He noted however that Catholics in other dioceses in the country are expected to observe the abstinence and fasting on Ash Wednesday February 26, 2020.

In addition, he said, "put on black clothing or wear a black arm band to signify that we are mourning all victims of kidnapping, banditry, and incessant killings of our people as well as registering our peaceful protest without a march."

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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Soldiers cry out: We arrest Boko Haram, FG releases them, Politicians negotiate - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Some of the soldiers on line of duty have faulted the Federal Government (FG) over the release of over 1,400 alleged repentant Boko Haram terrorists, reports ITREALMS.

They also alleged some top politicians are negotiating the release of these arrested Boko Haram terrorists, noting that they (Boko Haram) would still go back to their group and crime.

According to TheCable, the soldiers who are fiercely fighting insurgency in the North-East, expressed dismay over the rationale behind the increase of the terror group.

They confirmed the release of the suspects to TheCable on Tuesday, lamenting they did not understand why suspected Boko Haram members are being released in large numbers, without trial or proper rehabilitation through a correctional centre.

“A lot of soldiers are not happy about this. We were there at the Maimalari barracks when some of these Boko Haram people were released. “The authorities are releasing them, but Boko Haram are killing soldiers that they capture. This does not make sense to us at all.

“We continue to sweep across the bushes to flush these people out, and then the government will release them. Does that not amount to wasted efforts?”

Another soldier said he believes most of the released suspects find their way back to crime.

“You wonder why Boko Haram members are on the increase? When we arrest them and bring them here, some top people would come and start negotiating their release” he alleged.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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EMRO partners Lagos City Marathon with 9 state-of-art ambulances - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

EMRO, at the weekend, partnered the 2020 edition of the Lagos City Marathon with nine state-of-the-art Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, reports ITREALMS.

EMRO services include the EMRO app, which ITREALMS gathered provides subscribers with access to quick and effective health and security emergency responses.

EMRO Ambulance service, ITREALMS gathered, was handy partner at the just concluded Lagos City Marathon, which kicked off early hours of Saturday at the National Stadium, Surulere and ended at the Eko Atlantic City, Victoria Island with over 105,000 attendees.

The Medical Operations Coordinator at EMRO, Jude Akuechiama, disclosed to ITREALMS that they partnered the event with some nine EMRO ambulances stationed at 200 meters after each main drink station on the marathon route, at 5km, 10km, 15km, 20km, 25km, 30km, 35km, 40km and the finishing point to administer medical aids to participants and cater for any emergency situation.

As said by Akuechiama, who also actively participated in the race, “EMRO with our fleet of nine fully equipped Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances made medical coverage highly visible throughout the Lagos City Marathon and we are proud to have collaborated with the Local Organizing Committee with our presence from the start to the finish line, no athlete was left unattended to for any length of time without our medical support.”

EMRO team of dedicated and professional doctors, nurses and first responders, he said, attended to all kinds of injuries as well as heat exhaustions, muscle cramps, fainting, hypoglycemia and other heat related emergencies swiftly.

“For athletes requiring evacuation, we evacuated them in our ambulances to the nearest health facility for further management,” he said assuredly.

Equally speaking, one of the participants who has been involved consecutively for three years, Ade Balogun, emphasized on the importance of an emergency response team like EMRO on ground as emergencies are inevitable for events like this.

ITREALMS also gathered that Nigerians who watched and followed through with the marathon were satisfied to see solid Emergency Medical Services (EMS) coverage for the marathon, as provided by EMRO.

They further urged all relevant sports stakeholders and event managers to work and partner with this kind of organization to have access to quality emergency response services anywhere in Nigeria.

Chuks Egbune/DoP

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