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Stop attacking Buhari, take rest at 82, Alake advises Obasanjo
The Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Gbadebo, on Tuesday advised former President Olusegun Obasanjo to desist from his ceaseless attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari.
The monarch gave the advice in his goodwill message to mark the 82nd birthday anniversary of Obasanjo at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta.
Gbadebo, who noted that Obasanjo had been ‘‘a warrior’’ all his life, urged him to rest, fight less and rather take a position of a consultant at his new age.
‘‘At 82 years, I think you should keep your sword more rather than use it always,’’ he said.
Gbadebo, who served as a military officer during the military administration of Muhammadu Buhari between 1984 and 1985, said he had always told Obasanjo to leave his boss (Buhari) alone.
Obasanjo, who responded to goodwill messages from friends, family members and well- wishers at the programme, responded by saying that the issues between him and Buhari were not personal.
According to the elder statesman, governance is not a family affair, adding that democracy involves criticisms and consideration of all sides to an issue.
‘‘There is nothing personal between President Buhari and I.
‘‘In a democracy, you can criticise a policy, a government or a leader because democracy is not a family affair.
‘‘If it is my brother that is occupying the leadership role and he is not doing what I believe he should do, he must be criticised and that is what democracy is all about.
‘‘I have been in that position longer than any Nigerian will ever be there.
‘‘So if I say anybody in government in Nigeria is not doing well, let that government prove that it is doing well,’’ he said.
Former Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Mangosuthu Buthelezi, delivered a lecture entitled: ‘‘Colonialism, Apartheid, Freedom and South Africa Rising.’’
Buthelezi, in the lecture, identified corruption as the biggest challenge facing the African continent.
He expressed concerns that South Africa currently ranked so poorly on the Corruption Perceptions Index of the Transparency International.
The former South-African Minister attributed the development to ‘‘the mistakes we have made, allowing resources to be consumed by greed and abuse.’’
Buthelezi, who noted that only six countries in the African Union had ranked above 50 on the corruption index, stressed that ‘‘corruption is pervasive throughout the region.
‘‘This is difficult to hear and perhaps, it stirs our anger. We must, however, accept the facts and fix them.
‘‘When we consider countries like Seychelles and Botswana who have become paragons of excellence, we need to ask what they did to achieve this.
‘‘We know that Botswana, for instance, reinforced its legal and institutional frameworks and made resources available specifically to fight corruption.
‘‘There are measures we can take and we must take them.
“If we can overcome these challenges in Africa, we will open the possibilities for growth, development and social justice that were the dreams of my generation, he said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved major changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces, appointing new Service Chiefs in a decisive move aimed at strengthening national security architecture.
According to a statement on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, the President named former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede as the new Chief of Defence Staff, replacing General Christopher Musa.
Major-General W. Shaibu has been appointed Chief of Army Staff, Air Vice Marshal S.K. Aneke takes over as Chief of Air Staff, while Rear Admiral I. Abbas is the new Chief of Naval Staff.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General E.A.P. Undiendeye, retains his position.
All appointments, the statement said, take immediate effect.
President Tinubu, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, expressed deep appreciation to the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa, and other retired Service Chiefs for their “patriotic service and dedicated leadership” during their tenure.
He charged the newly appointed military heads to justify the confidence reposed in them by demonstrating “enhanced professionalism, vigilance, and comradeship” in the discharge of their duties.
The shake-up in the military hierarchy comes as part of ongoing efforts by the Tinubu administration to reposition the security sector, improve coordination among the services, and sustain momentum in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and other security challenges across the country.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected a fresh application for bail filed by detained alleged terrorists negotiator, Tukur Mohammed Mamu.
Justice Mohammed Umar, in a ruling on Wednesday, noted the health complaint by Mamu and held that the detaining authority, the Department of State Services (DSS) should not release him but take him to an appropriate health facility where he would be adequately attended to.
Justice Umar noted that, by the history of the case so far, the prosecution has exhibited diligence in it handling of the case and exhibited diligence in prosecuting the case.
The judge said one of the reasons for granting bail is where the prosecution is not diligent, noting that since the prosecution in this case is diligent, the application for bail cannot be granted.
He subsequently ordered that the defence lawyer should choose the health facility comfortable to the defendant, to which he should be promptly taken.
He also asked the DSS to allow the defendant access to members of his family.
The ruling on Wednesday is the third time the court will reject his application for bail since his was arraigned on March 21, 2023 by the Federal Government on a 10-count charge bordering on terrorism financing, among others.
Mamu was arrested on September 7, 2022 by Egyptian security officials at the Cairo International Airport, on reasonable suspicion of financing Boko Haram terrorism activities.
He was alleged to have convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom payments with individual families of the hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defense Staff Committee set up by the Federal Government for his personal financial gain.
He was said to have been nominated by the terrorists that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train sometime in March 2022 which took scores of persons hostage.
Mamu was alleged to have collected ransoms on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists from families of hostages, confirmed the amount and facilitated the delivery of same to the terrorists.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has announced the suspension of its ongoing two-week warning strike.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made this known in an ongoing press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Piwuna, the decision stemmed from the meeting of the National Executive Council meeting which was held overnight and ended by 4:00 am on Wednesday.
Piwuna noted that the union decided to embark on the strike due to the failure of the government to meet its demands on time.
“We’ve had useful engagements with representatives of the government to consider the response to the draft renegotiation of the 2009 agreements. However, we are definitely not where we were prior to the commencement of the strike.
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