President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, sought the support of the Asian government in combating piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as illegal fishing in that region. (more…)
Month: October 2023
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NCC sensitizes public on fake products, sets to put an end to usage
The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has sensitized the public on the hazard of proliferation of fake and counterfeit products in the country with a pledge assured that it was collaborating with security agencies and other stakeholders to put an end to their usage. (more…)
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Mosque demolition: Wike lied -MURIC
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an Islamic human rights organization, has condemned the demolition of the Trans-Amadi Central Mosque on Tuesday, August, 20, 2019.
It would be recalled that the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that no mosque was demolished in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
This claim is coming in the wake of the allegation by Muslim leaders in Port Harcourt that the Governor had sent bulldozers aided by thugs and mobile policemen to pull down the Trans-Amadi Central Mosque that fateful Tuesday.
Reacting to Wike’s denial in a statement issued by its Director on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, MURIC said: “Wike is a pathological liar. He denied pulling down Trans-Amadi mosque. That is a lie from the pit of Jahannam”.
The group asked Wike: “So what happened to Trans-Amadi mosque? Was it knocked down by invading elephants? Was there a cyclone in Port Harcourt? Wike can say that to the marines. Nigerians have seen a manifestation of the five evils Chamberlain spoke about in Rivers State: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution”.
“Wike should have known the implications of his outbursts. Just two months ago (June 2019), he said, ‘Rivers State is a Christian state and I have no apologies for saying that.’ A cleric from the South West who was in the gathering commended him for making such a declaration. Any reasonable person will tie the two incidents together. We are constrained to congratulate Wike for walking his talk. It was like, ‘I told you people that this state is a Christian state and you are still building a new mosque. Boys! Go and pull it down!’
“His latest words, ‘I did not demolish any mosque’ are therefore coming too late. They are afterthoughts and sheer play on semantics. He admitted pulling down ‘an illegal structure’. But how can a building whose plan was approved by the state government before you came into office become illegal? For the avoidance of doubt, the survey plan number of the building is AI/RV2009/D13 and the building plan number is RTP/09/617. Both were approved by the state government since 2009.
“As far as Nigerians are concerned, those two documents are vital and a mosque is a mosque, whether it is a completed structure, half or quarter completed. Muslims congregate there and worship. There are uncompleted mosques all over Nigeria where Muslims worship daily. The case of Trans-Amadi Mosque cannot be isolated.
“Mosques take years to finish in Nigeria these days for several reasons but it is common to see Muslims using them even as they are under construction. Funds come in trickles because mosques collect no tithes and foreign aid has been strangulated by United States embargo on aid from Arab countries whereas foreign aid continues to flow into churches, mostly from the same US.
“Just yesterday, a church leader boasted that it planted 65,000 churches in six months. He has our best wishes but no state governor has the right to demolish our mosques no matter how poor they may appear. We cherish the devotion of Muslim worshippers and the serenity of our poor mosques more than any outward embellishment. Didn’t the Bible say ‘God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth? (John 4:24)
“Your Excellency, pictures do not lie. Neither do video clips, unless they are doctored. We watched three video clips where you declared that Rivers State is a Christian state. Can you deny that? We raw the rubble where there used to be a mosque structure. But you are now denying that you demolished a mosque. Who does not understand semantics?
“Oh, we can see clearly. It became illegal because it is a mosque and it must go down because no new mosque must emerge after the ‘almighty’ governor has declared the state as a Christian state. A la l’etat c’est moi, n’est c’est pas? It had better not be. Even Louis XIV to whom that infamous declaration is attributed regretted his feudal absolutism on his deathbed when he said, ‘Je m’en vais, mais l’Etat demeurera toujours’, i.e. ‘I depart, but the State shall always remain’.
“We remind Governor Wike that there are rules of engagement in every decent society and he must respect those rules. Wike is governor today but like the French king, Louis, he must go one day. Wike’s declaration of the state as a Christian state stands in contradistinction to Section 10 of the Nigerian Constitution. It is therefore unconstitutional and his demolition of the mosque is ultra vires.
“Wike is definitely not the only Christian governor in a Christian-dominated state. Ten other states in the sub-region have very large Christian population: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, and Imo. But Wike is the only one who declared his state a Christian state. Wike wants to be more Christian than Jesus. What of the other governors? Are they not Christians as well? Who did this to Rivers State?
“The executive governor of Rivers State is now running from pillar to post in order to cover his tracks. But it is too late. Words are like eggs, they break into fragments once they are allowed to drop. Again, we must note that he repeated those words on three different occasions and in the presence of journalists. Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence. The third time is enemy action. True to his words, Wike took a wicked decision, viz, to pull down the house of God.
“It is now clear to all and sundry that Wike does not look before he leaps. He acts on impulse. He should have known the implication of pulling down a mosque two months after declaring his state a Christian state. That is the question. That is the crux of the problem. They say action speaks louder than voice. This demolition is even worse than Wike’s unconstitutional declaration. We have no scintilla of doubt that Wike’s wicked action is a followup to his declaration.
“Our message to Governor Wike is this: Your Excellency sir, verily indeed we say unto you, you have bulldozers, we have Allah. You may bring down our mosque. You cannot remove iman (faith) and piety (taqwah) from our hearts. Islam is in our lives and a million bulldozers cannot extirpate it.
“To deceive Nigerians after demolishing a mosque, Wike argued that there were other mosques still standing in Port Harcourt. We reject Wike’s warped thinking. Those mosques he refered to were built before he came to power. They were built during the reign of governors who were not boastful, arrogant, belligerent and power drunk.
“It will be in Wike’s best interest to invite the management of Trans-Amadi Mosque which he pulled down wilfully, consciously and deliberately. That action is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional in view of a court declaration that the property belongs to the Muslims.
“Wike is advised to undo what he has done by engaging the management of that mosque in dialogue. Wike must refund the total cost of what he caused to demolish and allow construction work to resume at the site. Only this can douse the tension generated by Wike’s wicked act. In addition, the Roi Soleil of Rivers State is advised to, in his remaining days in office, engage in tactical withdrawal of his inflammatory, unguarded and unconstitutional statement about his state being a Christian state.
“Meanwhile, we implore Nigerian Muslims to remain calm and law abiding. There should be no tit for tat. Not all Christian governors are like the governor of Rivers State and definitely not all Christians are as bellicose, militant, boastful, arrogant and mischievious as Nyesome.
“Wike’s wickedness may surpass that of Herod but thousands of Nigerian Christians are kind-hearted, warm and friendly. We therefore advise against any revenge action by any Muslim governor against any church building. Neither should any Muslim individual or group attack any individual Christian or group of Christians in any part of the country.
“We invite Nigerians to love one another regardless of religion and ethnicity. We urge peace-loving Christians to ignore the divisive, autocratic and self-righteous antics of Wike. This man cannot be the ambassador of Nigerian Christians. We need peace to build a prosperous Nigeria. We are therefore willing to live in peace with our Christian neighbours.
“In summary, we assert that Wike is a pathological liar for denying his role in the demolition of Trans-Amadi Mosque in PortHarcourt. We demand adequate compensation for the destroyed mosque and the right to resume construction at the site with immediate effect. Finally, we extend our hand of fellowship to peace-loving and law-abiding Christians throughout Nigeria.”
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20,000 Join Rally Against Racism In Eastern German City Of Dresden
(FLOWERBUD NEWS) 20,000 people have joined a rally in support of an inclusive society and against xenophobia and racism on Saturday in the eastern German city of Dresden.
The demonstration is organised by the group Unteilbar (Indivisible), which staged a similar protest in the capital Berlin last year, drawing 250,000 people.
The group was due to give a more exact estimate of turnout later in the afternoon.
Among the attendees were Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, and the leaders of the far-left Die Linke party, Bernd Riexinger and Katja Kipping.
The Unteilbar demonstration was taking place, one week before state elections in Saxony and Brandenburg, in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to make significant gains.
The AfD is campaigning on an anti-immigration platform.
“Unteilbar stands for an open and free society.
“The alliance stands against any form of group-based misanthropy and anti-feminism, against limiting basic free rights, against social decline and poverty – for society, in which all people can live free from fear,’’ the organisers said in a statement on Wednesday. (dpa/NAN)
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Muslim, Christian Youths In Jos Meet To Find Sustainable Peace
The lunch was at the instance of a group, Jos Stakeholders Centre for Peace (JSCP), a group, aimed at curbing violence extremism among young people in the communities.
Declaring the event open, the Chairman of the group, Mr Ghondi Steven, said that the initiative was aimed at bridging the existing issues of discord that had often degenerated into chaos in the area.
Ghondi expressed the group’s determination to work assiduously toward ensuring that peace returned to Jos in spite of the religious and ethnic differences among residents.
“Jos used to be a beautiful city – a place that was the envy of many within and outside Nigeria.
“But crisis has destabilised everything.
“Today people live in isolation in Jos and we cannot make any meaningful progress as a society without peaceful coexistence.
“It is my firm belief that with Christians and Muslims coming together to wine and dine, and discuss possible ways of achieving lasting peace, we are gradually returning to the good old days.
“It is my prayer that after this gathering, all of us here will be peace ambassadors in our various communities,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Jacob Pwakim, a Consultant at Search for Common Ground, and the Youth Coordinator at Collaboration for Violence Prevention, described the initiative as a community-driven approach to preventing violence.
Pwakim added that the initiative would change the perspective of many residents of Jos and ensure sustainable peace in the area.
He urged the people in the area to work toward ensuring peaceful coexistence in their communities.
According to him, no foreigner will do it for them if they do not make any effort. (NAN)
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Muslims in Rivers State appeals to FG
(FLOWERBUD NEWS) The Leaders of the Muslim community in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have condemned the demolition of a Central Mosque in Trans-Amadi, as they called on President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Nyesom Wike and members of the National Assembly to intercede on behalf of the over 10,000 worshippers.
Haroon Muhammed, an imam, said the mosque was demolished by government officials who came with mobile policemen on August 20, citing non-compliance despite the existence of Rivers State approved building plan.
Appealing to Governor Wike, Muhammed said: “This is the most populated mosque. Muslims all over the world can see what has happened to a mosque that is duly approved by the state government.
We have been harassed three times now – once on the 29th of last month, then on August 16 and 20 without any formal notice.
“Today, we are denied a place of worship.We don’t want to foment any trouble with government officials. We want the world to help us beg the governor for us to have a place of worship, because this central mosque is the only one serving the whole of Trans-Amadi. Members of the armed forces, the agencies, the police, army, oil company workers, and government workers, who are Muslims, worship in this place.” This is how inhospitable to the Muslims these people are.
In fact, the dwarf fence covered with tarpaulin where the Muslim students in Rivers State University of Science and Technology was demolished by the then VC during Amaechi’s government.
All appeals to the schools authorities and Rivers State Government was vehemently turned down.
Pls send these clarion call to all your Muslim Contacts until it gets to the Muslims in Authority who can influence rebuilding of the mosques. Lawyers can also work on these from the legal angle. Allah will reward you immensely if this reaches the right person by spreading wide.
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Kaduna Govt. To Train 6,828 Primary I Teachers To Improve Literacy, Numeracy
(FLOWERBUD NEWS) Kaduna, Aug. 24, 2019 (NAN) Kaduna State Government said on Saturday that it would train 6,828 Primary One teachers on how to improve literacy and numeracy among primary one pupils in public primary schools.
Malam Habib Alhassan, Acting Director, School Inspection and Monitoring, Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.
Alhassan said the training would be conducted under the World Bank-supported Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) designed to improve enrolment and learning outcomes in public schools.
He said the process had begun with the selection of 321 master trainers and teacher facilitators for Reading and Numeracy Activities (RANA).
He added that the RANA initiative would be carried out across the over 4,226 primary schools in the state under Result Area Two of the BESDA programme, which sought to improve literacy.
He explained that the master trainers and the teacher facilitators would train the 6,828 primary one teachers and monitor their performance and efficiency in improving literacy among primary one pupils.
“We have received over 500 applications from Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan Waya, Ministry of Education, SUBEB and others from Local Government Education Authorities.
“We are currently conducting examination and interview for the selection and appointment of the 321 master trainers and teacher facilitators out of over 500 applicants.
“After the selection exercise, 107 will be appointed as Master Trainers and 214 as Teacher Facilitators.
“Hopefully by next week, the master trainers will be trained, who would then train the 214 teacher facilitators.
“The teacher facilitators will then step down the training to the 6,828 primary one teachers in the state,” he said.
The director added that the master trainers and teacher facilitators would closely monitor teachers’ delivery in classrooms to ensure improved literacy, including the use of Hausa language.
The director explained that the board had begun mobilisation of 2,000 influencers across relevant stakeholders for massive enrolment campaign to enroll about 145,000 out-of-school children by end of the year.
He said the enrolment campaign was the Result Area One of the BESDA programme that focused on increasing access to equitable and quality education for the 727,764 out-of-school children in the state.
“The Result Area Two will then ensure that after the successful enrolment of the out-of-school children, the teachers are well equipped to teach the children how to read, write and manipulate numbers and figures.
“We will then follow the teachers to the classrooms and monitor their activities to ensure that the expected result of improved learning outcome is achieved,” alhassan said.
NAN reports that the Federal Government had in 2018 secured a 611 million dollars World Bank grant for the BESDA programme in 17 states with highest number of out-of-school children.
The programme was to support the Universal Basic Education Commission in addressing Pillar One of the Ministerial Strategic Plan that seeks to address the problem of out-of-school children in the country.
The specific objectives are to increase equitable access to education for out-of-school children, improve literacy in focus states and strengthen accountability for results through system strengthening. (NAN)
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G7 set to close with talks on climate change and digital economy
(FLOWERBUD NEWS) The G7 summit in France heads into its final day on Monday, with the leaders of the key democratic, major economies expected to tackle some of the thornier issues on their agenda.
The schedule includes a discussion about climate change, which could be contentious given disagreements among the group, notably U.S. President Donald Trump’s aversion to multilateral deals on environmental issues, fearing they could restrain the U.S. economy.
The leaders are also due to talk about the digital economy.
Here, the U.S. has already clashed with France over a digital tax Paris plans to implement which Washington worries will hurt U.S. tech giants.
One of the most important bilateral discussions of the day will be between Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
So far, Trump and host French President Emmanuel Macron have tried to present friendly relations and, wherever possible, a unified Western front.
On Sunday, a surprise visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the G7 raised concerns of causing tension on the U.S. side, but the diplomat from Tehran met Macron and other French officials without any problems.
Trump held a series of bilateral meetings on Sunday, including his first with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as they discussed a post-Brexit trade deal.
The G7 is set to close in the afternoon, after which the various leaders are expected to make remarks to the press.
Eyes will be on how Trump views the summit upon conclusion and whether Macron managed to organise an event of the Western alliance in the current era of power shifts without a major blow-up. (dpa/NAN)
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Pastor Urges Government To Explore Teenagers Talents
(FLOWERBUD NEWS ) Paul Adegbola, the Pastor in Charge of Teens Assembly, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Medaiyese Regional Headquarters, Garki, has urged government to exlore teenagers talent for national development.
Adegbola gave the advice on Sunday in Abuja at the graduating ceremony of the church’s 2019 Rhema Bible School.
He said there was need for government to create enabling environment for teenagers to explore their hidden talents.
“If government create enabling environment for teenagers to make use of their talents, this country will move forward.
“If Nigeria teens can put their minds in great things, God can use them to revive the country.”
The pastor also advised teenagers to seek God, know and fear Him at their early stage in life.
“A lot of teenagers have bundles of talents but they don’t know that they have something.
“It is critical for them to seek God, the giver of that talent so that they can channel their energies, passions to God and grow up fulfilled.”
Adegbola said that the bible schools which began 17 years ago had positively impacted on people who passed through it.
“Today, many of them have graduated working and above all we are seeing changes spiritually.”
He said that the school was established when the church noticed that some teenagers were not purposefully engaged during schools holiday.
In her sermon, one of the teenagers who preached during the church Sunday service, Miss Dorcas Awotunde, titled “Triumphant Teenagers in the 21st century”, advised teenagers to prioritise God.
Awotunde said that teenage life is made up of spiritual, academic, social and emotional aspects that must be balanced.
She said that achieving success in each of the aspects required playing of key roles by the teenagers themselves, their parents and the church.
Awotunde urged teenagers to have faith in God, trust in Him and develop their spiritual life to be able to conquer challenges of life.
“The social aspect focus on your relationship with other people. At this stage a lot of teenagers focus on the reigning styles, music and others.
“At this stage you want to know the kind of friends you need, you try to realise your inner self and where you fit into society. The internet is also part of the social life.
“In this stage I beg our parents not to shun us, instead they should be close to us, to guide and encourage us,” Awotunde said.
The Coordinator of the School, Mrs Monisola Fadoju, said that the school was established to cater for spiritual, psychological, sociol, and educational need of teenagers during school vacations.
According to Fadoju, some of the activities carried out during the two weeks camp includes theological studies, English Language, devotional studies, ICT, Mathematics, undergraduate studies and general studies.
“To explore their skills, this year we also have vocational studies like soap making, lunch bags, hand bang, fascinator, popularly known as hats. We also did sport and talent shows like singing and drama.
“We are believing God that just like Oxford University, Leed University started, one day this school will grow to become a seminary or university that will be reckoned with worldwide.”
Fadoju said that the 2019 programmes had over 160 attendance of teenagers not only from CAC, but from other denominations within Abuja.
“Last year we had children from seven other denominations, for this year we will later meet to analyse the attendance.”
Highlights of the occasion includes exhibition of vocational skills’ products such as soap and hand bags produced by the children.
There was also presentation of gifts to overall best teenagers and those that had outstanding performance in each of the courses offered. (NAN)