THE House of Representatives has concluded the second impeachment of US President Donald Trump after it exceeded 217 votes needed to unseat him.
This makes Trump the only US president to be impeached twice. Two hundred and twenty-two Democrats and 10 Republicans voted to impeach Trump on Wednesday, signalling a disgraceful end for the president of world’s biggest democracy who incited violence at Capitol Hill on January 6. While 232 House members voted for Trump’s impeachment, 197 members did not want him impeached. Four members did not vote.
Trump was impeached for his role in Capitol Hill violence which led to the death of five people and stoked fears in the hearts of many Americans.
Until the incident, he had refused to concede defeat to Joe Biden who won the November 2020 election, making uncomplimentary and inciting remarks about the election even after the Electoral College called Biden as winner.
Trump had told his supporters to ‘fight like hell’ in clear attempt to overturn election defeat to Joe Biden, the US president-elect.
Many see Trump’s behaviour before and after the election as disgraceful for a country touted as world’s best democracy.
With the impeachment, Trump has become the first US president to be impeached twice in the history of the US.
He could be banned from engaging in politics in the US. This would make him unable to contest for presidency in 2024.He could also be prosecuted. However, his impeachment needs to be validated by the Republican-dominated Senate.
He is to leave office on January 20, but his impeachment process by the Senate could continue after he leaves office.
TWENTY-FIVE percent of active call subscribers in Nigeria in the third quarter of 2020 were from Lagos, Kano and Ogun states, telecommunication data recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals.
The data also shows that MTN had the highest share of subscribers within the period, followed by GLO and Airtel.
THE ‘Active Voice and Internet per State, Porting and Tariff Information’ data for the second quarter (Q2) and the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, released by the NBS, shows that there were 196.242 million and 205.252 million active voice subscribers in Q2 and Q3 respectively. This represents a 4.59 percent increase in voice subscriptions from Q2 to Q3.
Analysis of the data further shows that there were 143.636 million and 151.512 million active internet subscribers in Q2 and Q3 of 2020 respectively. This represents a 5.48 percent growth in internet subscriptions between the two quarters.
The data, which was provided by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), was verified and validated by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
From the data, it was recorded that Lagos State had the highest number of subscribers in terms of active voice per state in Q3 of 2020. This was followed by Kano and Ogun states. Bayelsa and Ekiti States had the least number of voice subscribers
Also in terms of internet subscribers, Lagos State still had the highest number, followed by Kano and Ogun states. Bayelsa and Ebonyi State had the least number of subscribers.
RETIRED soldiers occupied the Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Wednesday in protest against non-payment of their pension arrears.
The protesting ex-servicemen demanded inclusion of officers who fought in the civil war in the military pension scheme. They also wanted speedy payment of minimum wage arrears accruing to them from 2019 till date.
They further requested that the ministry stop all deductions on pensions of all retired medical officers.
A representative of the retired soldiers, Anthony Agbas, who delivered a letter to officials at the Ministry of Finance, told Channels Television that they deserved payment of their pensions, having fought for the country.
He expressed confidence that their demands would be met without further delay.
Not the first time
This is not the first time retirees have protested in Nigeria. In November 2020, retired soldiers had blocked federal highway in Calabar, Cross River State, protesting non-payment of their pensions.
Also in November 2020, retired civilians had raised placards in front of government secretariat in Abeere, Osogbo, Osun State capital, demanding payment of pension arrears. Earlier in September 2020, retirees in Ogun State under the aegis of Nigeria Union of pensioners (NUP) had staged a peaceful protest demanding release of N1 billion monthly as against state government’s proposed N500 million for the settlement of outstanding gratuities.
In June 2020, pensioners in Imo State pensioners had protested against non-payment of their five-month pensions since Hope Uzodimma became governor in January, urging the governor to pay 80-month entitlements of some of their members.
Several states in Nigeria owe their pensioners for months.
In Africa’s most populous nation, politicians live in affluence, but retirees live in penury. The country is characterised by wastages and graft, while the majority of citizens (almost 50 percent) live in poverty, with little support from governments at various levels.
DONALD Trump, United States president, is facing a second impeachment in 13 months as the House of Representatives voted 223-205 Wednesday to compel Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 24th amendment and take over power from the president following the Capitol Hill attack.
The development followed Pence’s rejection of a letter from the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi urging him to invoke the 24th amendment.
Pelosi had written to the vice president to declare Trump unfit to serve as president of the United States just seven days to the end of his tenure.
In response to Pelosi, Pence had said that invoking the 25th amendment at this time was not in the best interest of the country, stressing that he would not join in ‘political games.’
“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence wrote.
The motion for the resolution was moved by Jamie Raskin, a democrat and representative of Maryland, who insisted that “the time of a 25th amendment emergency has arrived.”
During deliberation on the motion, all House Republicans but one voted against the move of a second impeachment.
“The vice president has given you your answer before you asked the question. Your ultimatum does violence to a core feature of the architecture of the Constitution,” Representative Dan Bishop, Republican of North Carolina said.
While other House Republicans voted against the move, Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois voted in favour of the impeachment motion.
The House resolved to reconvene Wednesday to vote on the impeachment.
There are indications that the president could be impeached by the Democrat-controlled House for a second time.
However, if the president is impeached by the House, the Senate would sit to determine if he should be convicted of the allegations or not.
It is unlikely that he would be impeached by the Senate as seen in the previous impeachment by the House. Apart from all Democrats voting, about 17 Republicans would have to vote in favour of the move to achieve a two-thirds number in the Senate as stipulated by the US Constitution.
What happens if Trump is impeached?
If Trump is impeached, he would become the first US president to be impeached twice in the history of the nation.
Apart from that, Trump would be banned from engaging in politics in the US. This would make him unable to contest for presidency in 2024.He could also be prosecuted.
What led to talks of a second impeachment?
The move to impeach Trump for a second time followed charges of ‘incitement of insurrection’ at the US Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. Five people died in the Capitol Hill attack, including two police officers. Trump made inciting comments before the incident, asking his supporters to fight to regain their country. For many weeks, he refused to conceded defeat after losing November 2020 election to Joe Biden,a Democrat.
Trump had told his supporters to ‘fight like hell’ in clear attempt to overturn election defeat to Joe Biden, the US president-elect.
Several world leaders, including Zimbabwean president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, trolled Trump and the US over the attack on the Capitol Hill.
“Last year, President Trump extended painful economic sanctions placed on Zimbabwe, citing concerns about Zimbabwe’s democracy.
“Yesterday’s events showed that the U.S. has no moral right to punish another nation under the guise of upholding democracy. These sanctions must end,” Mnangagwa had said.
YOWERI Museveni, a former rebel and incumbent Ugandan President, has ruled the country for 35 years, but he is not ready to give up power as he faces 10 other contestants on Thursday presidential elections. The Ugandan parliament controlled by Museveni’s political party, National Resistance Movement, has changed the age limit for presidential contestants to pave the way for one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders to seek re-election on Thursday.
The age limit was formerly 35-75, but the rubber-stamp parliament has changed the constitution to accommodate the 76-year-old Museveni, who has ruled the country known as a ‘sleeping nation.’
Museveni has been heavily criticised by the country’s younger generation for his dictatorial approach and severe infringement on human rights.
Violence and repression; How Museveni is contesting his sixth term
Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, a 38-year-old singer and actor who was only three years of age when Museveni took over the reins of power, is the closest rival to the incumbent president.
Wine, a former musician and running candidate of the National Unity Platform (NUP), is looking to oust the old leader, pointing at improved health care and education as his major agenda.
However, Wine and his allies have not had it easy following reports of state-sponsored violence against protesters and opposition members.
Earlier in November, Wine was detained at the police custody for two days before he was charged to court over flouting of coronavirus regulations.
After his arrest, there was mass protest by Wine’s supporters that led to the death of many civilians in the country who were demanding for his unconditional release from police detention.
Presidential Candidate of the National Unity Platform (NUP) Bobi Wine. Photo Credit: The Guardian
Wine, through his official Twitter account, has on several occasions accused Museveni of using the Ugandan army to suppress him and his campaign team.
Just two days to the election, Wine said that men of the Ugandan army raided his home and took away his security guards after they had also raided the home of his personal assistant, Davie Bwanika, whisking him away to an unknown destination.
A video on social media with more than 90,000 views also shows how men in military uniform violently dealt with a man holding Bobi Wine’s campaign placard.
Less than 24 hours to the election, the government of Uganda has banned the use of social media in the country following a trending hashtag #WeAreRemovingADictator.
“The President warns that if the social media channels like @Facebook and @Twitter are not being friendly and equitable to some of the Ugandans, then there is no reason as to why we should have them operate here,” the government said on its official twitter handle.
Tibor Nagy, assistant secretary for U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs, said Tuesday that such restrictions undermined human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“We are concerned by reports that the Government of Uganda has ordered Internet service providers to block social media platforms, messaging apps, and select content in the run-up to general elections on Jan 14. Such restrictions undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Nagy noted.
The Ugandan election has raised concerns in the international community as previously held polls have been marred by several electoral irregularities as well as suppression of opposition voters by Museveni, according to the European Union.
The European Union said it would not deploy observer mission to the presidential election because complaints from previous observers to make the polls free and fair had gone unheeded.
“An EOM (election observer mission) will not be present in Uganda in 2021,” Attilio Pacifici, EU ambassador and head of delegation to Uganda, said in a report.
35 years of governing a nation; present state of Uganda
Museveni was a rebel leader against former dictators of Uganda. He was successful in ousting former Ugandan military dictators Idi Amin and Milton Obote and was praised for ‘restoring peace’ and bringing stability in governance as opposed to the several military coups that preceded his emergence.
Apart from bringing peace to the country, Museveni has been praised by the international community for his tremendous effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda. But the praises have turned to curses.
The country’s economy is not progressing. As of 2019, Uganda is among the 20 countries with lowest GDP in the world- its economy stands at $34.683 billion. Appointed officials have been criticised for sleeping during the all-important presidential address.
The three major sources of income for the country are agriculture, industry and service sectors, two of which have witnessed decreases, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
The agriculture sector declined by 0.2 percent in Q1 of 2020/2021. The food crops and fishing activities registered 0.1 and 3.8 percent declines in Q1 2020/2021 respectively.
The services sector overall value-added declined by 6.2 percent in Q1 of 2020/2021 compared with a growth of 7.7 percent (revised) in Q1 of the previous year. This decline was mainly driven by a decrease in accommodation & food service as well as education activities which registered declines of 24.2 and 20.4 percent in Q1 2020/2021 respectively.
However, year-on-year value added in the industry sector grew by 4.3 percent in Q1 of 2020/2021 compared with a growth of 7.9 percent (revised) in Q1 of the previous year. The manufacturing sector registered a growth of 3.0 percent in Q1 2020/2021 compared with 7.4 percent (revised) in Q1 2019/2020.
In 2015, the Office of the Ugandan Auditor General expressed ‘deep concerns’ over the increase in borrowing to finance the country’s budget.
According to Office of the Auditor General, as of 2015, the country’s debt to the United States stood at $7 billion.
Data obtained from the World Bank show that only 42 percent of over 42 million population of the Ugandan population had access to electricity as at 2018.
A VIRAL post on Twitter claimed that Anambra State owes a combined debt of over N200 billion.
The claim was made by a Twitter user with the handle @NnamdiChife on January 10, 2021.
The handle currently has over 15,100 followers.
The tweet also stated that the former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, handed over N72 billion in cash and $150 million in Anambra Generational Fund to his successor, Willie Obiano.
The tweet reads: “I am incredibly heartbroken. Anambra State is owing a combined debt of over N200 billion!!! Peter Obi handed over this state to Obiano with N72 billion in cash and $150M in Anambra Generational Fund. All frittered away, broken infrastructure, debt, and profligacy.”
The tweet, which also appeared on a blog here, has been retweeted more than 1,900 times and liked more than 2,700 times as of 8 p.m. on January 10.
A screenshot of the tweet.
THE CLAIMS
From the tweet, these two claims were established:
Anambra State has a combined debt profile of over N200 billion.
Former Governor Peter Obi handed over N72 billion in cash and $150 million to Governor Willie Obiano.
THE FINDINGS
CLAIM 1: Did Anambra State have a combined debt profile of over N200 billion?
Data show that this claim is FALSE.
The FactCheckHub checked Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO)’s website, the government agency in charge of collating the total debts owed by the federal government of Nigeria as well as each state of the federation.
According to the latest data released by the DMO on 31st of December, 2020, for the domestic debt, Anambra State owed N59.013 billion as of September 30, 2020.
Screenshot of domestic debt. Source: DMO
Also, according to the latest data released by the DMO on September 9, 2020, for external debt, Anambra State owed $115.886 million as of 30th June 2020.
Screenshot of external debt. Source: DMO
The FactCheckHub converted the total external debt owed by the state from dollar to naira.
As of June 30, 2020, the official exchange rate of dollar to naira rate was N360 to a dollar. When $115.886 million is multiplied by N360, it equals to N41.719 billion.
The FactCheckHub then added the total domestic debt owed together with the total external debt. (N59,013,845,976.50+N41,719,101,286 = N100,732,947,262).
From the findings, the total debt owed by the Anambra State currently stands at N100.732 billion
CLAIM 2: Did Peter Obi hand over N72 billion in cash and $150 million in Generational Fund to Willie Obiano?
It would be recalled that Peter Obi handed over the leadership mantle of Anambra State to Willie Obiano on March 17, 2014.
There is no publicly available data or document that shows that former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, handed over N72 billion in cash and $150 million in Anambra Generational Fund to his successor. There have also been several controversies surrounding the actual amount Peter Obi handed over to Willie Obiano.
For instance, in a report published here, Solo Chukwulobelu, professor and secretary to Anambra State Government, stated that the rumour that Peter Obi handed over N75 billion to Willie Obiano was far from the truth.
He said, “The N75 billion was not there; it was not handed over to anybody. At best, it can be half-truth.”
Chukwulobelu stated that what Obiano’s administration inherited from Obi was N9 billion cash and N26 billion near cash.
In addition, in 2015, Willie Nwokoye, principal secretary to Governor Obiano, said the amount in question included quoted stocks, state counterpart fund, long-term investments that were non-earning, including a refund from the federal government for road construction which was still an IOU, among others.
In the article titled, Dissecting The N75 Billion Handover Brouhaha In Anambra where he gave a breakdown of the items in the handover note, Nwokoye said, “The nearest to cash in the foregoing is item 20, which is a USD 155 million investment in Eurobond and other foreign currency-denominated securities made by the previous administration (Peter Obi) at its twilight. In naira terms, this was worth N26.5 billion at handover.”
In response, Valentine Obienyem, media aide to Peter Obi, said that the former governor handed over N75 billion in cash and investment to his successor.
He stated that the breakdown was as follows: N27 billion in local currency investment; N26.5 billion in foreign currency investment and N28.1 billion in certified state/ MDS balances.
Also, data from DMO website revealed that as of December 2013, Anambra State under the leadership of Peter Obi owed N3.026 billion in domestic debt and a total sum of $30.324 million in external debt.
While it is difficult to ascertain which of the two parties is right, it is easy to conclude that the claim is MOSTLY FALSE, as the amount in contention has always been N75 billion and not N72 billion as stated in the claim.
In addition, from the reactions of the two parties it can be surmised that the amount in question is made up of cash and long term investments, which the Obiano camp said were mostly non-earning yet.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Anambra State has a combined debt profile of over N200 billion is FALSE.
The claim that Peter Obi handed over N72 billion in cash and $150 million in Generational Fund to Obiano is MOSTLY FALSE.
This report was originally published by FactCheckHub
TELEGRAM messaging app has gained 25 million new users in the last 72 hours, profiting from an ongoing backlash against WhatsApp’s new privacy policy.
Telegram has reached 500 million users already and market sentiments show that the number will grow in the coming days due to WhatsApp’s ill-advised proposal to share users’ data with Facebook.
“In the past 72 hours alone, more than 25 million new users from around the world joined Telegram. These milestones were made possible by users like you who invite friends to Telegram,” Telegram said in a statement sent to users on Wednesday, including this writer.
“If you have contacts that joined on the last few days, you can welcome them using one of Telegram’s unique features, such as an animated sticker or avoided message,” Telegram further said.
WhatsApp, a Telegram competitor, recently unveiled a new privacy policy that asks users to allow Facebook to have their phone numbers and locations before February 8 or lose access to the app.
“It’s important for us to be clear this update describes business communication and does not change WhatsApp’s data sharing practices with Facebook. It does not impact how people communicate privately with friends or family wherever they are in the world,” WhatsApp chief executive officer Will Cathcart said on Twitter on January 8.
He said about 175 million people messaged a business account each day on WhatsApp, noting that the app was proud of its service and would continue to develop technology and practices to provide private, secure communications for as many people as possible.
“We’re in a competition on privacy with others and that is very good for the world. People should have choices in how they communicate and feel confident that no one else can see their chats. There are people who disagree with this, including some governments,” he further said.
But this does not augur well with many users who feel their personal data may be shared with the public and used against them. Many WhatsApp users on Twitter have said they would opt out of WhatsApp should the company insist on the privacy policy of sharing data with Facebook.
Daniel Bhatt, a WhatsApp user on Twitter, said: “As long as it is connected with Facebook, we will not use it, especially for privacy. So, first, separate WhatsApp from Facebook. We are in fear as our credit card, debit card, bank details and personal details will be on sale in nearby markets.”
Another WhatsApp user on Twitter named DoRadiology said, “There is no reason why users should trust anything coming from FB on privacy – that includes WhatsApp = Facebook.”
One Twitter user, Juan, with a handle @JFHoyer said, “I just do not want the business to share my personal information with Facebook. I cannot trust them from now on.”
Media reports say that WhatsApp users are moving to Telegram and Signal.
Financial Times reported on Wednesday that WhatsApp’s privacy policy had “sparked privacy concerns and prompted users to turn to rivals such as Signal and Telegram in droves.”
WhatsApp is already taking a hit as it recorded a 14 percent decrease in downloads a week after the announcement of the policy. Its downloads fell from 11.3 million to 9.7 million in one week.
GEORGE Nkencho, 27, was battling bouts of depression among other mental health issues when policemen of Irish Blanchadstone Gardaí Armed Support Unit, ASUshot him dead in front of his house.
December 30, 2020, Nkencho got involved in a physical altercation with the store manager of a Spar shop in Hartford, Ireland before drawing a knife to fend off his attacker, according to media reports.
When the police arrived at the scene, Nkencho was not restrained immediately, they rather followed him closely through the streets of Hartstown housing estates until he reached his home at Manorfield, Clonee, on the Dublin-Meath border.
The video clips taken on a mobile phone show parts of Nkencho’s route across a green lawn, as he was closely followed by two Gardaí cars which include, a local Gardaí patrol car with two unarmed members and the other a crime task force car, also with two unarmed Gardaí.
He later knocked on his front door which was answered by his sister Gloria who revealed in an interview that she was ordered to get inside after she told them from the hallway that her brother had “mental problems”.
In a statement by the Gardaí, they stated that Nkencho was about to enter the house and was likely to take hostages. In a bid to stop Nkencho, he was pepper-sprayed which was unsuccessful while another ASU member fired a taser at him twice to make him drop the knife while he was raising his voice.
The police authorities also said Nkencho threatened the officers with a knife before they implemented a graduated response, using less-than-lethal weapons which were unsuccessful before the shots were fired.
Nkencho’s three siblings said they were on the other side of the hall door in the house paralysed with fear when they heard the shots that killed their brother.
“My siblings and I have witnessed the most traumatic experience of our lives as our brother was shot in front of us,” Gloria said in an interview.
Nkencho’s killing has attracted condemnations and protests across Ireland and Nigeria with a petition launched online to seek justice for him which has garnered over 7,000 signatures.
Post mortem reveals new details
The Irish-African community was devastated by the news of Nkencho’s death as a peaceful protest followed immediately after the shooting, the protesters gathered at a police barricade close to Nkencho’s house to air their grievances.
The next day, protesters also gathered outside Blanchardstown Gardaí station with placards before marching through the city’s shopping centre and to the Eurospar where Nkencho had assaulted the manager.
An investigation into the death of Nkencho has been commenced by Gardaí Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), an independent statutory body set up in 2007 to provide efficient, fair and independent oversight of policing in Ireland.
According to a post mortem documents, obtained by The ICIR from sources close to the family reveals that the interim cause of death was from two gunshot wounds to vital organs. However, it also revealed that a total of six shots were fired with five shots penetrating his torso (body) with another passing through his arm.
A peaceful protest held in Dublin, Ireland to decry the unjustified killing of George. Credit: Sunday World Newspaper
“Injuries noted at the postmortem examination were that it appears that six shots were aimed at the central mass [torso] and of those shots, one went through George’s arm and did not go into his chest,” a section of the postmortem result reads.
Also being examined by GSOC in its investigation is the taser deployed during the incident as advised the details of the taser will provide further information on that taser at the time of deployment.
Phelim O’Neill, the lawyer representing Nkencho’s family has expressed satisfaction with the pace of the investigation saying it has been given the status of a criminal investigation by GSOC.
“It is now a real and distinct possibility that on the conclusion of the GSOC investigation that members of An Gardaí Siochana will be criminally prosecuted for their actions in shooting George Nkencho to death,” he said.
However, O’Neill raised some questions which the GSOC were yet to provide answers with regards the investigation into Nkencho’s death.
He requested GSOC to confirm the number of gardai in attendance at the scene and the total shots while confirming how the postmortem examination could possibly account for the aim taken by the officers.
Racial tensions worsen
On April 2nd, 2010, Nigerian born Irish citizen Toyosi Shittabey was stabbed to death in Tyrrellstown after an argument with some teenagers who had called Shittabey and his group by racial slurs by their alleged attackers.
The incident has been described as one of Ireland’s major racist murders involving the African – Irish community.
Toyosi and Nkencho were both friends and teammates at Insaka Football Club in the North Dublin Schoolboy League in 2010. The team was assembled together to give black youths in west Dublin, a safe place to gather, work on their football skills and possibly get picked up by top-tier clubs.
They were both very young to play for the senior team so they got involved in the coaching sessions and also featured in the training sessions. However, Nkencho’s slide in his mental health also started after the death of his Toyosi in 2010, as he became socially withdrawn.
At George Nkencho’s tribute organised by family and friends. Credit: Irish times
In a 13-second video of the shooting, captured by a dog walker which has been widely circulated on social media. Reactions trailing the video online reveals two sides of the divide as some support the gardaí saying they had to defend themselves while others say the gardaí used excessive force.
A Twitter user with the name Brandon Chung in his tweet stated that White Irish tweeps got quiet about racism and Nkencho’s incident.
“(White) Irish twitter got quiet about racism and GeorgeNkencho real quick.” he tweeted.
Des Topia with the username @LeftistDad described the calls for justice for Nkencho as whipping up sentiments for political gains.
“How effective the far right were in whipping up racism in the aftermath of the killing of George Nkencho & the challenges it created for the Left. They’ll deploy what they learned about the effect of racism when it suits them. It’s who they are,” the tweet read.
Protesters have also been riled up by the false information spread by far-right and racist social media accounts claiming Nkencho had a violent criminal history while some have expressed joy that Nkencho had been killed.
Nkencho’s family has also received “hate letters” containing racist and offensive language and making reference to false accusations circulating on social media about a non – existing acts of a crime involving the deceased 27-year-old.
The sender stated they were “glad” Nkencho was dead and tells the family to get out of Clonee as sources close to the family say the letter had caused them “considerable added distress”.
Data obtained from the 2019 Gardaí Annual Report shows that the Gardaí’s ASU was assigned 55 cases involving Hostage/Barricade/Suicide (HBS) type incidents out of a total of 98 cases which occurred that year which involved individuals posing a serious threat to either themselves or others or both.
With the involvement of the ASU, it shows that 69 per cent of HBS incidents were related to subjects suffering from mental health challenges while 18 per cent of these cases were criminal related incidents.
Cases of fatal shootings recorded by the Gardaí is put at six in the last 22 years. In 2019, the ASU was involved in 4,390 incidents described as higher risk spontaneous which was an 18 per cent rise from 2018.
Though, there was a reduction in hate crime in 2019, dropping from 27 incidents per month in 2018 to 21 incidents in 2019, while indicating that hate crimes were potentially underreported and
an increase is seen as a “desirable correction”.
Tributes for Nkencho
At the memorial for Nkencho which was held near his home in west Dublin on Sunday where family and friends gathered to remember him and release balloons in the colours of his favourite football team, Manchester United.
He was described as a “beautiful guy” and a “great friend, brother and son” who was “kind”.
Off the pitch, Nkencho whose stage name was Young G was also involved in making hip-hop music at his local Youthreach centre and made performances depicting the issues they faced in their daily life.
After a minute’s silence was held in his memory, speeches were made and his name was read out 21 times.
George’s brother Emmanuel who spoke at the event explained the similarities between him and his deceased elder brother which reflected the bond that existed while he was alive.
“We loved the same stuff, the same team. We played the same position, the same music.
“It’s hard to see him go like that. I wish that day had played out a different scenario than what I witnessed. I personally think there are many other ways that the scenario could have played out, I wish it did,” he said.
The family are demanding for answers about the circumstances surrounding Nkencho’s death, as protesters are still holding protests outside Gardaí stations.
ON Monday, social media was awash with the news of the federal government indefinitely postponing the reopening of schools owing to the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Several footages and images from some prominent Nigerian media houses quoted the minister of education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to have issued the directive in a statement at the daily COVID-19 briefing in Abuja.
This purported decision by the government has since generated a lot of backlashes and criticisms against the government by many Nigerians, especially tertiary education students, who have been at home for nine months as a result of COVID-19 and the recently called-off strike embarked by Association of Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in March 2020.
The federal government, through its relevant agencies in the education sector, recently issued a clearance to all schools in the country to reopen for academic activities on the 18th of January.
What the minister said
However, while fielding questions from reporters who wanted to know whether the government would stick to its earlier position concerning reopeningof schools, Adamu said the government was still reviewing the process.
“It (January 18 date for reopening schools) is not sacrosanct. When we decided on that date, it was just a target towards what we were working on,” Adamu had said.
“Of course, we are keeping it in view and looking at what is happening in society and then it is supposed to be subject to constant review.
“Even today (Monday) at the PTF meeting, we looked at the rising figures and thought about if we should probably take another look at it. On the January 18 resumption, we are reviewing it, we are going to review it. At the PTF meeting today (Monday), we considered it and tomorrow (today, Tuesday), the ministry is going to take it up.”
Verdict
Based on what the minister said as monitored by The ICIR, reports about the indefinite suspension of school resumption are FALSE. As of the time of this report, no decision had been taken by the federal government to indefinitely move the reopening of learning institutions in Nigeria due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
THE non-existing Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEAP) to President Muhammadu Buhari got N46.86 million in the 2021 budget approved by the National Assembly. This is the sixth time the non-existing office is getting a budget approval from both chambers of the National Assembly.
The office, which clearly has no presidential appointee and personnel to account for monetary approvals allocated to it, has been receiving funds from the government coffers for six years.
The ICIR had reported in 2020 how the OCEAP got N496.8 million in five years without an appointee to answer for the monetary disbursements.
As of July 2020, data from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) revealed that N116.97 million had been released to the OCEAP out of the N496.8 million cumulative budget.
In 2016, the office got N78.17 million as its capital budget from a total budget of N142.21 million. The following year, it received N60 million from N106.86 total approved budget.
Another N60 million was approved for the same OCEAP in 2018 from N106.86 total approved budget. By 2019, capital budget to the office dropped to N42.23 million from N89.08 million approved budget.
In 2020, reviewed capital allocation to the OCEAP further dropped to N19.71 million, from total approved budget of N51.77 million for the office.
But the 2021 approved budget shows that N46.86 million was approved for the controversial office which has no appointee.
The official website of the OCEAP – www.oceap.gov.ng, which was supposed to help Nigerians understand economic policies of the president, is currently inactive.
“Database connection error (1): The MySQL adapter ‘mysql’ is not available,” it read when The ICIR visited. This was exactly the message seen by this reporter while verifying the portal in August 2020.
OCEAP allocation tagged as overhead, office missing in State House website
Though there was no provision for personnel cost and capital allocations in the OCEAP budget, the N46.86 million sum was pegged as overhead.
Moreover, the OCEAP is excluded from list of offices under the presidency in the State House website.
Current offices contained in the websites include Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Office of the National Security Adviser and the State House Administration.
It is worthy of note that previous administrations from Olusegun Obasanjo had appointed chief economic advisers to provide sound advice on economic matters. The same appointment was made by former President Goodluck Jonathan whose chief economic adviser was Nwanze Okidegbe.
But Buhari is yet to have an appointee to occupy the office.
Adeyemi Dipeolu was only appointed as the special adviser to the president on economic matters in the Office of the Vice President.
Both Dipeolu and Laolu Akande, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s media aide, had exonerated the former from being the occupier of the OCEAP.
A responded Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Office also affirmed the president was yet to appoint anyone to manage the office.
“Please be informed that a Chief Economic Adviser to the President is yet to be appointed and therefore, this office is presently constrained in facilitating your request in respect to the above subject matter,” one Yusuf Ahmad Babatunde had responded in place of the yet-to-be-appointed chief economic adviser to the president.
Yusuf Ahmad Babatunde signed FOI response on behalf of yet to be appointed Chief Economic Adviser to the President.
Buhari rode to power in 2015 on the political bandwagon of fight against corruption in Nigeria. He particularly vowed to fight against corruption and insecurity. These he restated during his inauguration into office after the election.
In 2018, he reaffirmed this commitment while receiving Thabo Mbeki, former South African President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“We must fight corruption frontally, because it’s one of the reasons we got elected,” he told Mbeki. “We campaigned on three fundamental issues: security, reviving the economy, and fight against corruption. It’s the reason we got elected, and we can’t afford to let our people down.”
However, public perception shows the president is either partial with the anti-corruption fight or is not doing enough. Some have even described his scorecard on corruption as ‘failure.’
The 2019 Corruption Performance Index (CPI), released by Transparency International, which ranks nations based on the level of corruption perpetrated by its public sector, placed Nigeria at 146 out of 198 countries, scoring 26 of 100.
