Senate President Bukola Saraki attends Tafsir in Ilorin

Senate President, Doctor Bukola Saraki attended Tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) at the Emir's Palace, Ilorin.

APC holds crucial NEC meeting as President Buhari insists on party supremacy

“Whatever your personal interests, put them in your pocket let APC work. Let the system work." President Muhammadu Buhari.

Past Directors General of the SSS

Lawal Musa Daura, New DG of the SSS

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Director General of the State Security Service, Ita Ekpenyong.

The President appointed Lawal Musa Daura as new head of the agency, which serves as Nigeria’s secret police.

The appointment was conveyed in a letter by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Barrister Danladi Kifasi.

Daura was born in Daura in Katsina State on the 5th of August, 1953 and attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1977 – 1980.

He started his carrier in the State Security Service in 1982 and rose to the rank of Director.

He was at one time the Deputy Director Presidential Communication, Command and Control Centre at the Presidential Villa Abuja between 2003 and 2007.

He also served as the State Director of Security Service at various times in Kano, Sokoto, Edo, Lagos, Osun and Imo States.

He attended various professional courses both home and abroad including the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS) Kuru.

Directors General of the SSS ------- Term of Service

Lawal Musa Daura ------- 2015 (July) – Present

Ita Ekpeyong ------- 2010 (September) - 2015 (July)

Afakriya Gadzama ------- 2007 (August) – 2010 (September)

Colonel Kayode Are (Rtd) ------- 1999 – 2007 (August)

Chief Peter Nwaoduah ------- 1992 (October) – 1998

Chief Albert Horsfall ------- 1990 (September) – 1992 (October)

Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo ------- 1986 (June) – 1990 (September)

Ambassador Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi (DG NSO) ------- 1984 (January) – 1985 (August)

Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi (DG NSO) ------- 1979 (October) – 1983 (November)

Colonel Abdullahi Mohammed (DG NSO) ------- 1976–1979 (October)

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to donate $32bn personal fortune to charity

The 60-year-old nephew of King Salman is at No. 34 on the Forbes list of the world's richest people. Prince Talal said he was inspired by the Gates Foundation, set up by Bill and Melinda Gates in 1997.

The prince, who does not hold an official government position, is chairman of investment firm Kingdom Holding Company.

The money, which he said was his entire fortune, will be pledged to Alwaleed Philanthropies, the prince's charitable organization to which he has already given $3.5 billion. It will be spent on developing communities, providing disaster relief and supporting women and young people, he said.

ELECTORAL REFORM & JEGA'S EXIT AS INEC CHAIRMAN

When he took over the mantle of leadership of Nigeria in 2007, Late President Umaru Yar’adua admitted that his election was characterized with flaws. Thus, he immediately inaugurated a twenty-two man Electoral Reform Panel, headed by a former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mohammed Uwais with the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, a member, to carry out a comprehensive review of the country’s electoral system.

Inaugurating the Panel, Late President Yar’adua tasked the committee to work out a process that would enable the conduct of elections to meet acceptable international standard and make the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) truly independent in name and deed with a view to imbuing it with administrative and financial autonomy and a mechanism to reduce post-election tensions. This is by ensuring the resolution of election disputes before the inauguration of elected officials.

To meet the targets set up by the then President and the entire citizenry with respect to elections in Nigeria , the Panel which had notable Nigerians toured the entire country to demand the input of Nigerians to electoral reform. As expected, the Panel submitted its report to Late President Yar'Adua and subsequently, electoral related bills were forwarded to the National Assembly which brought amendment to relevant sections of 2006 Electoral Act and 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In line with the reform to the nation's electoral process, the immediate past President, Doctor Goodluck Jonathan appointed the former Vice Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano and one-time President, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Professor Muhammad Attahiru Jega as the Chairman of INEC on the thirtieth of June, 2010.

Professor Jega, a very calm, bold, courageous, patriotic and intellectual Nigerian distinguished himself from past Chairmen of electoral body in the history of the country by allowing the wishes of Nigeria to reflect on the outcome of the polls and restore public confidence to the electoral process.

The Don conducted two successful elections that take Nigeria more closer to advanced democracies of the world in conducting elections with minimal irregularities, minimal litigation and appreciable outcome adjudged as credible by both local and international observers. Without shadow of doubt, Professor Jega defied all odds to consolidate on the achievements made by the Commission in twenty-eleven by conducting a more transparent, credible, free and fair 2015 polls.

It is on record that Muhammad Attahiru Jega, a Professor of Political Science introduced the use of the Permanent Voter Card and Card Reader machines, starting with the twenty-fifteen general election. The machine no doubt improved the integrity of the last elections by verifying the fingerprint of the eligible voter and the code on the chip of a card. Thus, Permanent Voter Card and the use of card readers must be sustained in a move towards technological advancement and electronic voting in the future.

The role played by the Media, Civil Society Organisations and security agencies during the sojourn of Professor Jega at the INEC must also be acknowledged and appreciated to the conduct of internationally adjudged credible polls in Nigeria. The Media as the watchdog of the must step up advocacy on voter education and the need for all stakeholders to allow the wishes of Nigerians to at all times reflect on the outcome of elections.

President Muhammadu Buhari should further assist the electoral body in consolidating on its previous successful outings by injecting more non-partisan, competent, committed and God-fearing individuals into the Commission in order to improve the electoral process and strengthen the nation's democracy.

The INEC should equally begin the preparation in earnest for some staggered states elections as well as the 2019 general elections in order to avoid some noticeable challenges of late arrival of materials, functionality of card reader machines, alleged compromise by some officials of INEC as well as update of voter register to accommodate more eligible voters.

Abdulrosheed Okiki

THE MEDIA AND MANAGEMENT OF BOKO HARAM CRISIS IN NIGERIA

2ND ANNUAL RAMADAN SERIES OF LECTURES,ORGANISED BY HILAAL (CRESCENT) ISLAMIC CENTERDATE: YAOMAL THULATHAA, 12TH RAMADAN, 1433(TUESDAY, 31ST JULY, 2012)TOPIC: “THE MEDIA AND MANAGEMENT OF BOKO HARAM CRISIS IN NIGERIA”

DISCUSSANT: BRO. ABDULROSHEED OKIKI

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praises and adorations are due to nobody except Allah, the God of the universe. Whomever Allah guides cannot be led astray and whomever Allah misguides, none can guide him. May His blessings be upon the noblest Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), his companions and the generality of the Muslims till the day of accountability.

WHY THE MEDIA?

The vital role effective communication plays in human existence could be simply summarized by saying that information is power. Mass media which involve print, electronic and social media therefore are contemporary mean of circulating information to a multitude of people in a diversified society such as Nigeria.

The primary roles of any media across the world are to educate, inform, enlighten and entertain the public on any issue whether at micro or macro level. As beautiful as these roles are, media also perform functions like surveillance of the environment, correlation of the components of society in responding to the environment and then transmission of social heritage.

In fact, the pivotal role of the media has made it an indispensable tool in any society because the availability of information to the public douse tension, doubt or skepticism about government programmes and policies, corporate organizations, socio-religious groups, political groups and notable individuals.

It is through information that the public are kept abreast of happenings in and around them. To get this to happen, the media go extra miles to source for information, analyse the information, spread the information, ideas, messages and so forth to multitude of people over large or wide territories within a relatively short time.

It must be added that as indispensable as the media are, communication outfits can mar the society through their reportage or programming if they fail to be sensitive to happenings in the society particularly issues like religious, ethnic or tribal crisis.

Without doubt, conflict is part and parcel of life. Conflict is an inescapable occurrence in every human interaction, be it at individual, corporate or state level. Disagreements are bound to occur as human beings or nations interact with one another, but the ability to properly manage any ensued conflict or crisis is the most important thing. Hence, the media, as the mirror of the society is more than mechanism for disseminating information but packaging information that will douse tension and create or strengthen society.

MEDIA AND BOKO HARAM CRISIS

Taking a critical look at the media and the management of Boko Haram crisis, one will no doubt agree that the Nigerian media is playing both negative and positive roles in giving information to the public about the activities of the group, about government and public responses to the activities of the group.

Today, different adjectives have since been used to describe the group and its activities since the insurgence several years of ago. Without dwelling much into the cause of the Boko Haram crisis and operation of the sect, a fact that cannot be wished-away was the killing of about fourteen members of the group during a funeral procession by the Nigerian police on the ground that they did not use safety helmet. The then sect leader, Muhammad Yusuf was reported to have written several letters to the Borno State Government and the Borno State Commissioner of Police and called for compensation.

After patiently waiting without any positive response, the group chose to err first and adopted the dangerous strategy to force the government to do it wishes. However, the entire world was witness to the aftermath of the grievances during the period which was showed on an international television (Al-jazeerah) where the entire camp of the group was cleared off by soldiers and the eventual extra-judicial killing of the sect leader, Muhammad Yusuf by the Police. No one was tried for the killing until recently.

It is not doubt that since then, Boko Haram crisis degenerated to the extent that the group keeps on regrouping, re-strategising and killed thousands of people and destroyed properties, media houses, police and military formations inclusive.

In reporting the activities of the sect, Nigerian media has been using series of names to qualify the group which include faceless group, Islamic sect, terrorist group, militant group among others. In fact, the origin of the sect could be traced to Jama’atul Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad led by the executed Muhammad Yusuf and the media called Boko Haram could not be said to be the sect led by the killed leader. In Quran 5 verse 32, Allah says: “….if someone kills another person unless it is retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth-it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as he had given life to all mankind. Then, can the Nigerian media continue to call the group an Islamic militant sect?

Thus, Boko Haram crisis has tested the dexterities of many media houses in reporting conflicts either at communal or national level. Many media houses in Nigeria have failed to recognize the Boko Haram group as a pressure group just like the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) which takes instance as a result of mismanagement in the polity to gain popularity. Another point that must be stated that if actually all members of the group are Nigerians; they have the fundamental rights to be heard and effect necessary positive change in the Nigerian project.

To effectively manage Boko Haram crisis by the Nigerian media therefore, media practitioners that are involved or will be involved in reporting the crisis should seek proper knowledge about the origin, operations and development of the group. It is believed that doing this will open the minds of reporters to distinguishing between what is true or false and project the impact of such report on social harmony. The Prophet (SAW) said: “A person who believes in Allah and the Hereafter should speak about good things or keep quiet.” (Bukhari).

For the fact that the crisis is taking international dimension, assisted by the print, electronic and social media, media houses should place emphasize on the group’s activities that are so expedient in order not to exacerbate the polity. National unity and peaceful co-existence should be seen as the most important social responsibility of any of any media house.

It would be recalled that Thisday Newspaper houses were attacked by the Boko Haram, claiming it was a reaction to poor reportage of its activities. Hence, it is expedient for the media to shun under-reportage of Boko Haram activities and unbalanced report but dwell much on investigative reporting, seeking the truth, know the truth and report the true situation of thing.

WAY FORWARD

Nigerian media has in the past played important role in fighting colonialism, dictatorial regimes and nation building, the Boko Haram crisis creates another opportunity for the Nigerian media to show its acumen in handling the crisis engulfing northern part of the country. Experts in crisis management must be allowed to source for and acquire information about the violence. Because, you cannot give what you do not have unless millions of people will be misled.

Nigerian media should re-invigorate their machineries towards playing mediatory role in ending the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria by distinguishing properly between propaganda and truth, verify incidences of bombings and other violent acts to actually know whether it was perpetrated by the group or not before going to the press.

Nigerian media should not shirk in their responsibility as the case may be and called the government, Boko Haram and other stakeholders to order on the need to end the crisis through dialogue as many wars are not won on the battle field but on the table (not war-war but jaw-jaw).

Continuous existence of Nigeria as a nation does not lies on the media alone, every Nigerian must rise up to the challenge and acknowledge the fact that there are strengthens in our diversities whether in terms of religious, political or ethnic differences.

This article was prepared for the 2nd Annual Ramadhan series of lectures organised by Hilaal (Crescent) Islamic Centre, Ilorin, Kwara State in 2012......Abdulrosheed Okiki.

OFSP: A PANACEA TO VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY AND MALNUTRITION IN NIGERIA

Vitamin A Deficiency is a serious and widespread public health in developing countries of the world with Nigeria inclusive. The main causes of Vitamin A Deficiency include inadequate intake of Vitamin A due to a poor diet and frequent infections, especially worms, measles, diarrhea and respiratory infections.

This deficiency is one of the major health problems affecting young children, pregnant women and lactating mothers in developing in developing countries as it leads to poor growth and development, increased risk of infection and severity of infection, eye problem and death.

An estimated eight hundred and sixty-one thousand Nigerian children die before the age of five annually while over a third of these deaths are attributed to undernutrition as a result of low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, poorly timed introduction of complementary foods and a high prevalence of deficiencies of essential micro-nutrient.

Studies have shown that Vitamin A Deficiency and under-nutrition generally, limit the intellectual potential of individuals affected, undermining economic and social development. Also, the cognitive and physical damage caused by chronic under-nutrition, particularly in the one thousand days between pregnancy and age two, is largely irreversible while populations that are under-nourished have lower individual productivity, reduced physical capacity, higher health care costs and lower economic output, thereby impeding the nation’s economic growth.

The World Bank also estimates in a report that under-nutrition significantly impacts lifetime earning potential and reduces Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to three per cent. No doubt, food insecurity and malnutrition in rural areas of Nigeria result from non-implementation and inadequate implementation of the National Food and Nutritional Policy and National Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition.

To this end, treating Vitamin A Deficiency is established as one of the most effective ways to increase child survival and this could be achieved by scaling-up Vitamin A supplementation programme, food fortification with Vitamin A and food-based approaches that encourage diet diversification and promote Vitamin A rich foods, including bio-fortified foods.

To utilize Vitamin A rich sweetpotato called Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) to combat Vitamin A Deficiency in Nigeria, Helen Keller International and International Centre for Potato (CIP) have been championing advocacy and production of OFSP in selected countries with Nigeria inclusive through the Reaching Agents of Change in selected states to raise investment for the production and consumption of Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato is extremely rich in bioavailable beta-carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A and its consumption is the easiest way to combat Vitamin A Deficiency in children under five years of age and women of reproductive age.

Hence, one small root or one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five grams of most OFSP varieties can supply the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin A for children under five as it is believed that in many parts of Africa, access to fortified foods may be limited by availability and purchasing.

Policy makers must therefore create a budget line for OFSP in relevant ministries because apart from the nutritional value of OFSP, it also assists in immune boosting of a child and prevents all forms of life-threatening diseases while it equally serve as opportunity to empower the teeming youths in value chain with a view to coming up with varieties of products made from OFSP and thereby improve the economy.

Abdulrosheed Okiki