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"Parents listen to your children,
We are the leaders of tomorrow,
Try to pay our school fees,
And give us sound education" — marching song for elementary school pupils.

Whosoever wrote the above marching song for pupils in their preliminary level of education had done nothing good for the Nigerian youth than making us unreasonably excited when those lines are being sung. I think the killing of the youths' bright future starts from what is inculcated in us from our primary level. Setting the future of the youth ablaze by the ageists did not start today; it started before our fathers could eat themselves with their first right fingers. Those who intend to rule this country forever had and still have a good architectural plan on today's youth, psychologically.

In a more microscopic point of view to the above marching song, the writer begins by ordering the parents to listen to the illusionary dream of their children. What's the so-called dream? "We are the leaders of tomorrow."

However, one will wonder why we are not the leaders of today. What is today and what is tomorrow? When shall we witness the tomorrow? Is there any forethought tomorrow when today is carousing? How on earth will today assume duty when yesterday has not retired or resigned, let alone tomorrow that is even likely to be uncertain?

The 'leaders of tomorrow' as we are called, is not only mystical but also mysterious; there is something seemingly obscure and nebulous about the so-called nomenclature which is used to refer to the Nigerian youth. There is something unsaid or not well said about something and, that is the word 'tomorrow'. When we intend to have today, we shall have tomorrow and whenever we have tomorrow, we shall always have another tomorrow. Calling us "the leaders of tomorrow" is like placing us properly on a legless high chair. The ageists have their own conspirational meaning for 'tomorrow' for today's youth.

Jon Earthneel said this about Tomorrow: "Tomorrow doesn't exist. Tomorrow shouldn't exist. And we should try to comprehend tomorrow. Since it is so beyond our brain capacity, it will destroy our sanity". This as implied by Jon is what the ageists mean by 'tomorrow' and not 'the day after today'. And, here we are, willing and hoping for ourselves, by ourselves to be the leaders of tomorrow, thinking things will be different, yet, tomorrow is nothing but often the redundancy of today. We are dissatisfied and disappointed again and again every now and then.

The truth is clear except we wish to hold the lips. That tomorrow when we shall be ruling our Motherland may not come since those who ruled yesterday are ruling today and still willing to rule tomorrow. They want to be in power for ever and ever and if at all, death will have to stop them. They still want their children to further rule us and continue from where they stop in setting our bright future ablaze. Only the sons and daughters of the poor are done in or done for; they will ever be subservient to the sons and daughters of these devilish gerontocrats.

Furthermore, the marching song writer urges our parents to do two things: "Pay our school fees" and "give us sound education". Whether our parents or government is responsible for paying "our school fees" is not my modus operandi now. But the winning worry on my mind is the "sound education". This, we already know, is one of the plots made to make us believe that free education is not the responsibility of the government but the duty of our parents to "pay our school fees". But then, what about the sound education? What Nigerian youth are getting is not education; I suppose it is called schooling. Technically, it is one thing to be schooled and another thing to be educated. Both of them are not the same, are they?

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education," said, Martin Luther King. Webster’s dictionary defines schooling as "the process of being taught, such as in a school". The process of educating is really not tantamount to schooling; they are two different things. Education is productivity, creativity and the ability to make things real. "Any system of education which does not help a man to have a healthy and sound body and alert brain, and balanced and disciplined instinctive urges, is both misconceived and dangerous," said Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

It is said that education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Because the evil ageists are aware of this fact, they have refused to give the youth qualitative education. Teachers are treated scornfully. Students are good for nothing because they have received nothing good from their badly treated teachers. The system of education in this country is as poor as the church's mouse. Creativity is misplaced in arts; technology is dead in sciences and productivity is not found anywhere. Cramming is encouraged and comprehension is discouraged. Students read with pressure and not pleasure. While ASUU strikes the Federal Government by not working, our public servants and leaders travel abroad to celebrate their children's convocations. All these are exactly why we are aback in everything. Nothing worthy of appraisal is coming from Nigerian youths. This is consequentially a reflection of our impoverished state of education in Nigeria.

The ageists or the gerontocrats believe that both the elephant and its calf are not expected to trumpet at the same time. They say the young bird does not crow until it hears the old one. But then, if these evil habituated old men will not desist from setting the future of the youth on fire, isn't it high time we let them know that the youth are not too young to run?

Courage, ability, responsibility and responsiveness, integrity and the mind to serve humanity are all that we need to tool in fighting against the so-called evil-minded old men. Nigeria will never move forward unless we employ youthful minds that are up to the minutes, rather than the barbaric sexagenarians, septuagenarians, octogenarians and so on. To make mincemeat of these aging men, we youth have a mountain to climb.

Ibrahim Adeyemi is a student of English and a campus reporter from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

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Where’s The Devil In The Electoral Bill? By Azu Ishiekwene

Exaggeration is the most common strain of fever at election period. Politicians make voters – and the general public – believe that the world might end on ballot day, when in fact what they are playing for is their own survival.

The Electoral Bill is not just the biggest talking point; it’s been perhaps the deadliest battleground since last week. What is it about the bill that gives the impression that its immediate non-passage is not only a threat to the 2019 general elections but also proof that President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) is determined to rig the elections?

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others, has said Buhari’s repeated claims of commitment to free and fair elections next year are just what they are – lip service.

The party insists that the extension of the tenures of the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police, recent encounters between some members of the opposition with security agencies, and now, Buhari’s refusal to assent the Electoral Bill, will undermine next year’s poll.

The opposition, particularly the PDP, said while the card reader and electronic transmission of results, which it favours, would make the process more transparent, the criminalisation of the non-use of card readers and transmission of results, which it claims the ruling party is opposed to, would encourage under-age voting, especially in APC strongholds.

Among what the PDP-dominated leadership of the National Assembly described as “the nine benefits” of the just concluded amendments to the Electoral Bill are, a) stopping of manual transmission of results, in fact, manual transmission of results has been criminalised b) online publication of voter register c) full biometric accreditation d) removal of “unfair” qualification processes e) limit on election expenses, including party form fees f) amendment in the process for dealing with substitution, resignation and replacement by the parties, and so on.

On the face of it, it’s difficult to argue with the good intentions of the amendments. Some of the best laws are the ones made by crooks, who have gamed and benefited from the system and who therefore know exactly where to fix the plugs. Or perhaps by those who think like them. The contentious amendments are no exception.

Our election process has improved over time and the best in recent times has been the one in 2015. Before then, elections were conducted pretty much the same way they were done in ancient Greece, only with the worst rigging mechanisms included.

Up till 2010 and well beyond, for example, anyone could claim to be a registered voter and the only way an electoral officer at the polling unit could verify that from his register was the presentation of an ID card, which could have been printed in the potential voter’s backyard.

That was how Mike Tyson and Nebuchadnezzar were found in the register. In the more decent examples, there were also cases of ghosts who thumb-printed with palm kernel nuts.

That changed in 2015 with the introduction of the card reader and the requirement of full biometrics. The problem was that under the 2015 Electoral Act, the use of the card reader, which digitised voter data and also facilitated biometrics collections, was only a regulation, an expediency if you like, not contained in the Act.

But like a child that had been born, the pregnancy could no longer be aborted, nor the child’s existence denied. On March 26, two days to the last general elections, former President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law an amendment to the 2015 Act, empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to use any device, including the electronic register, to conduct elections. In other words, the expediency became law.

It’s been said in some quarters that Jonathan took this step, in spite of himself. His close advisers were betting that the elections would be massively rigged in Buhari’s stronghold and pressed him to sign off the amendment to catch the riggers. He did, but somehow left the law in the closet.

The test came later. In spite of the law, two of the greatest unfathomable rulings of the Supreme Court (in the Rivers State and Akwa Ibom governorship elections), the Court still gave precedence to the manual register against smart card reader.

Even though the Court did not say the use of the card reader was illegal, its confusing verdict left enough room for even an educated few to make the convenient case that the court had ruled the use of the card reader illegal.

If the National Assembly’s amendments are intended to cure that defect, once and for all, what is the problem with that?

The problem is that the National Assembly has weaponised the bill; it has become one more tool in the war theatre between the legislative and executive branch, a theatre that Buhari himself helped to install by his standoffishness at the beginning of his administration.

To understand the odyssey of the electoral bill is to trace the feisty legislative-executive relationship, especially the defection of key members of the National Assembly to the opposition. The moment Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara decided to leave the APC, anything to undermine the executive, including the electoral bill, was fair game.

The long delays (especially in the House of Representatives, where the bill languished for over one year); the four cycles of back-and-forth, which saw multiple amendments and a self-serving attempt to usurp INEC’s role; the omission of even the card reader in the third draft bill passed in August; the disgraceful typographical errors by the National Assembly bureaucracy; the needless multiple postponements of resumption by the National Assembly, all served to bring the country to this sorry pass.

Of course, the executive was not blameless. It simply took a leaf from the survival script of the legislature and served a backhand to avoid the booby traps and save its own neck.

Buhari said there were serious drafting and scheduling issues with the bill; that signing the bill will create confusion of interpretation; that while he supports the use of the card reader and biometrics, he is opposed to the criminalisation of non-electronic transmission of results, as contained in the bill.

An additional concern, according to Buhari and his party, is that whatever the merit of the electronic transmission of results, it has not been tested, even on a limited scale, and therefore should not be deployed in a major election.

And, on top of that, he said, signing the bill now will be a violation of Article II (1) of the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance 2001, a consequential factor in the last election crisis in Kenya.

Where is INEC in all this? The Commission has said there’s no going back on smart card readers and that the “incident forms”, which dubious officials often exploited as excuse to use the manual method, would not be allowed next year. That should, for now, sufficiently address the concerns on all sides about the potential second coming of Mike Tyson and co.

I think the defining question is, what likely danger does Buhari’s non-assent, pose to free, fair and transparent elections next year?

Next to zero. The Electoral Act under which Buhari was elected was passed, and tinkered with up till the last minute, by a PDP government. So, why is the PDP worried about contesting under a law passed by its own government? And if Buhari has said he does not mind assenting if the amendments would commence after the next general elections, what is wrong with that?

I long for the day when elections would be held without the militarisation and near-complete grounding of normal life; when elections would be held in the morning of a working day and the results are electronically transmitted and declared within the shortest time possible.

Not because technology does not have its problems (after all Florida, in the US, is the world’s election recount capital) or that hackers and meddlers have not shown us the perils of technology, but because whatever its flaws, technology increases transparency and confidence in the system, making the vote really count.

If, all said and done, the National Assembly believes that we are doomed without the amendments, then it can save us by overriding the President’s veto. Surely, it wouldn’t be hard to find the two-thirds required to do so. Or is this just politics of exaggeration, as usual?

Ishiekwene is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview and member of the board of the Global Editors Network

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Sultan To Politicians: Don’t Use Other People’s Children As Thugs

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has cautioned politicians against using other people’s children as political thugs.

He spoke yesterday at the flag-off of senatorial districts voter education and sensitization exercise organised by the National Orientation Agency.

Sultan, represented by Chiroman Sokoto, Alhaji Buhari Abubakar, reminded politicians that God gives power to whom He wishes, asking them not to see politics as a do-or-die affair.

NOA Director in the state, Maude Danchadi, cautioned Nigerians against vote-buying and violence.

He also stressed the need for Nigerians to avoid election apathy.

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Towards Workable University-Industry Linkage By Ayobami Salami

At the heart of the rot that currently ails the nation’s universities is the embarrassing gulf between our tertiary institutions and the organized corporate sector. Ordinarily, the fact that the ivory trains the workforce for the industry should naturally propel a symbiotic relationship between the two, but that isn’t the case in Nigeria, sadly. What is certain, however, is that no nation that can reach her full developmental potentials when it lacks such dimension of synergy between both ends.

Universities, by their very nature, are a sacred temple of experimentation and knowledge production for development. On the other hand, the organized private sector and by extension, the public sector, exist to put to work, ideas founded on sound theoretical frameworks. Universities serve as inspiration and solution centers for growth and development. Therefore, having entrenched synergy between both the town and the gown, is to run a society that benefits from the dynamic cyclical flow of explanations and well-thought-out perspectives to presenting development challenges.

In many ways, we can argue that the reason why the nation has found herself at the backwaters of development is largely traceable to our uninspiring attitude to knowledge production. By extension, also, the helplessness of our industry is traceable to the weakness of the university. It is high time we realized that working together would mutually benefit both divides, leaving lasting impact on our society.

Statistics consistently show that there is an alarming paucity of capable hands to train Nigerian undergraduates. This is made even more disturbing by the fact that, based on the NEEDS Assessment Report of Nigerian Public Universities in 2012, Nigerian Universities have a shortfall of well over 30,000 experts to man the various disciplines in universities. This still remains a huge problem begging for attention. This accounts for the widening ratio between facilitators and students in our ivory tower. This shouldn’t be the case were we to have deepened partnership between our learning institutions and the industry. It is certain that there are is a lot of intellectual resources that can be leveraged upon by the ivory tower that have remained dormant, because of the gulf, and perhaps, inflexibility of managers of our higher institutions.

There is no doubt that a key factor that has kept our institutions at bay and manifestly deficient, is the poor funding structure model. This, chiefly, among several others banes, have turned us into laughing stocks among the comity of nations. A visit to any of our institutions today is bound to leave any visitor stunned and disappointed, considering the profile of dilapidated structures, acutely archaic laboratories and decrepit facilities that litter the campuses. Whereas the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has consistently clamored for an increase in the allocation made available to Universities in the country - except for little drops here and there - this has not yielded much results. It is yet to be seen how the ongoing –strike, now in its second month or so, would pan out.

Be that as it may, while we must insist that it is right and necessary to demand that government increase its funding of education in the country, it is also wise that we consider additional funding model. In this regard, the linkage between the town and the ivory tower becomes critical. Like it exists elsewhere world over, the industry should reconsider how to support tertiary institutions in the country to deliver on the mandates of engaging in relevant, purposeful, qualitative research and the production of adequately trained workforce to support. Ultimately, it is a win-win situation, if this happens.

Of course, we must note that the kind of partnership academics crave for, will not happen automatically. For instance, as regards funding of researches, the ivory would have to consistently deliver alluring values that can attract the interest and financial commitment of the industry. The secret is in seeking to meet the urgent needs of the industry, particularly in in terms of seeking solutions to issues that inhibit organizational productivity and buoying of the bottom line. In doing this, accountability, transparency and speed, which are some of the key values cherished in the organized private sector, must be taken seriously.

In this connection, also, the ivory tower should aggressively pursue synergies with professional organizations. The goal of this is the absorption of informed professional perspectives that can readily advance integrative and blended learning. Nothing should stop us, really, from appointing professionals who have distinguished and have impacted the field of practice in significant ways. This model, referred in some quarters, as the scholar-practitioner model, certainly promises to help our institutions negotiate a radical departure from the theory-suffused model currently prevalent in our institutions.

Entrenching the culture of endowed professorial chairs in our universities is another sure way of deepening the relationship. Through focused funding of key research areas of immediate relevance to societal development, organizations and indeed privileged members of the society can support scholars and research in targeted areas. Kudos should go to such organizations and individuals such as Shell, UBA, Pastor E.A Adeboye, Mike Adenuga, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona for their leadership in this regard. It would be gratifying to have more Nigerians of means come in into this space and expand it.

Often times, we are quick to talk and admire the models of development in Europe, America and other developed climes. What we, however, fail to take into consideration is the value of shared responsibility that exist in those climes. Take for instance, the lure of the Silicon Valley, reputed as the foremost tech innovation hub in the world today. There is a need for critical rethink on the part of all stakeholders so that we forge a robust linkage between the industry and University in Nigeria.

Professor Ayobam Salami is the Pioneer Vice Chancellor of the Nigeria’s premier Technical University, First Technical University (Tech-U), Ibadan, established by the Oyo State Government.

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NFVCB Boss Thomas Adedayo Arrested For 'Stealing' Generator Worth N30m, 'Siphoning' N150bn

Thomas Adedayo, Executive Secretary, National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB)

One of the Turban generating sets recovered

Another Turban generating sets recovered

Thomas Adedayo, the Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), has been arrested by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP) over allegations of stealing government property and fraud.

A source told SaharaReporters that Adedayo will be arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone 6 Abuja, on Wednesday. The panel was said to have recovered a stolen Turban generating set in Lagos on November 13, 2018, from where he sold it. The money paid was also traced to his personal account.

Other items recovered from him include Plasma TV sets, air conditioners and computers set, which were alleged to have been stolen from the central store of the Abuja office of the board.

Investigations revealed that he was first arrested on November 9, 2018 by the panel, but could not be arraigned immediately. He was later granted administrative bail.

In July, SaharaReporters reported a story on a petition accusing Thomas of fraud and converting the board’s assets into his private use.

Aside allegations of having sold two official vehicles belonging to the board at the headquarters in Abuja to himself, and converting two buses for field operations in Lagos to his personal use, he was alleged to have forcefully gained entrance into the main store of the Abuja and Lagos offices, ransacking and carting away television sets, refrigerators, air conditioners and other valuable items.

He was said to have forged an official licence number plate bearing 'PRESIDENCY NFVCB O1A' when the board is just a parastal under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

Adedayo was also accused of breaking the fence of the Lagos office and making away with a Turban generator worth millions of Naira belonging to the board, a case which is still being investigated by the Alagbon Close Police Station, Ikoyi, as a result of his use of fake auction papers to sell the 300KVA generator for N30million to a company in Lagos, and paying only N20,000 into the account of the board.

The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) overhead and capital fund received last year running into over N150billion was also said to have been siphoned through cronies and fake field operations.

Some female staff members of the board also accused him of sexual harassement and using their bank accounts for cash lodgement, without rendering any service to the board.

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64-Year-Old Carpenter Arrested For Defiling Neighbour’s 6-Year-Old Daughter

Habib Abdullahi

One Habib Abdullahi, a 64-year-old carpenter, has been arrested for defiling his neighbour’s six-year-old daughter.

Abdullahi was one of the 59 suspects paraded by Imohimi Edgal, Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, on Tuesday at the command’s headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos State

Among the 59 suspects were 47 cultists including two females, who were arrested in different locations of the state.

Speaking on the case of defilement currently investigated under its ‘Gender Unit’, Imohimi said one Mrs Obinna, aged 37, of Salewu, Ikorudu reported a case on behalf of her six-year-old daughter against one 64-year-old Habib Abdullahi, who is a carpenter on the same street.

“During investigation, it was revealed that on 03/12/2018 at about 1000hrs, the suspect took the survivor into his room and inserted his finger into her private part. However, her mother noticed that her daughter was unnecessarily irritated and withdrawn, so she began to ask her questions and she revealed to the mother what ‘Uncle Abdullahi’ had done to her,” he said.

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'They Used An Alarmingly Secretive System' — Nigerians Criticise NEDG, BON Over Candidates' Selection For Presidential Debate

Nigerians have taken to social media to express reservations over the selection of only five political parties in the vice-presidential and presidential debates scheduled for December 2018 and January 2019, respectively.

Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), had been excluded from the list of those selected to participate in the debate organised by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON).

On Tuesday, Eddi Emesiri, NEDG Executive Secretary disclosed the participating candidates in the presidential debate as Oby Ezekwesili of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Fela Durotoye of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Kingsley Moghalu of Young Progressives Party (YPP).

Since the announcement, Nigerians have taken to social media to express concern over the selection of candidates expected to participate in the debate. Nigerians are also demanding reasons Omoyele Sowore and other presidential candidates have been excluded from the debate.

Other candidates excluded from the debate are Tope Fasua of Abundant Renewal Nigeria Party, Fagbenro Bryon of Kowa Party, Ahmed Buhari of Sustainable National Party, Eunice Atuejide of National Interest Party, Yunusa Tanko of Nationalist Congress Party, among others.

In his reaction, @patrickomitoki wrote: "Uncle JD, it's important that all the aspirants should be invited for the debate because all the presidential candidates have equal rights and picking only a few shows inequality and unfairness."

@ClassicFM973 #FPN Uncle JD it's important that all the aspirants should be invited for the debate because all the presidential candidates have equal rights and picking them only few shows inequality and unfair
— Patrick Omitoki (@patrickomitoki) December 12, 2018

@G_naike wrote: "AAC party was excluded from the signing, they don't also want him to participate in the Presidential debates. A whole presidential candidate? Claimed he's out of control and he'll spill what he knows.#SoworeMustBeincluded"

AAC party was excluded from the signing, they don't also want him to participate in the Presidential debates. A whole presidential candidate? Claimed he's out of control and he'll spill what he knows.#SoworeMustBeincluded
— Professeure (@G_naike) December 12, 2018

@segalink wrote: "They made a mistake with the listing. It would have been more interesting to have @YeleSowore included in this. There are five here and it could very well have been six. One will certainly be absent."

They made a mistake with the listing. It would have been more interesting to have @YeleSowore included in this. There are five here and it could very well have been six. One will certainly be absent. https://t.co/5DVVSPVeUM
— SEGA Lâ€™Ã©veilleurÂ®ðŸš¨ (@segalink) December 11, 2018

‏@EmhiseeMicheal posted: "Why will NEDG shortlist presidential aspirant debate to just five are the rest not relevant and if I may hear you clearly Sowore of AAC is not included. This is curious."

@RaypowerNetwork Why will NED shortlist presidential aspirant debate to just five are the rest not relevant and if I may hear you clearly Sowore of AAC is not included. This is curious
— Folajimi Micheal (@EmhiseeMicheal) December 12, 2018

@topefasua wrote: "Channels TV coalition chose the path of exclusion, and opted to muffle the voices of vibrant political parties and their candidates using a very opaque and alarmingly secretive system in a time when every Nigerian platform is learning to be more open, inclusive, accountable."

/Channels TV coalition chose the path of exclusion, and opted to muffle the voices of vibrant political parties and their candidates using a very opaque and alarmingly secretive system in a time when every Nigerian platform is learning to be more open, inclusive, accountable and
— Tope Kolade Fasua (@topefasua) December 12, 2018

@Folababs1 wrote: "With over 70 presidential candidates, 5 of them to a presidential debate isn't really the best we can do. It isn't that we expect the entire 70+ on the stage but 5 will completely not suffice! #Presidentialdebate"

With over 70 presidential candidates, 5 of them to a presidential debate isn't really the best we can do. It isn't that we expect the entire 70+ on the stage but 5 will completely not suffice! #Presidentialdebate
— Fola Babsalaam (@Folababs1) December 12, 2018

@MayorBalogun wrote: "I am not rooting for @YeleSowore and @Donald_Duke, but it is very unfair not to include them in the Presidential debate. Let BON and the rest organizer(s) receive sense! Include these guys too!"

I am not rooting for @YeleSowore and @Donald_Duke, but it is very unfair not to include them in the Presidential debate. Let BON and the rest organizer(s) receive senses !
Include these guys too !
— Balogun 'Mayowa (@MayorBalogun) December 12, 2018

@DrealTve wrote: "All the candidate in that @channelstv Presidential debate are all @APCNigeria sponsored except @atiku. And that's why they don't want someone like @YeleSowore who's going to hit all of them hard. We say no to @CTVpolitics debate. #SoworeMustBeIncluded"

@sorjeh wrote: "It is such a shame that @channelstv will allow themselves be used to execute a total assassination of our democracy. So unpatriotic at this point we all should be about how we get better as a country. @topefasua of ANRP should be included in the presidential debate"

It is such a shame that @channelstv will allow themselves be used to execute a total assassination of our democracy. So unpatriotic at this point we all should be about how we get better as a country. @topefasua of ANRP should be included in the presidential debate
— Alabi Soji (@sorjeh) December 12, 2018

@Babatunde_Mac wrote: "Can BON tell us why other political parties are excluded from the presidential debate? We need to know; and this election is for every Nigeria. There should be free hearing as the 1999 constitution "as amended" has stipulated."

Can BON tell us why other political parties are excluded from the presidential debate? We need to know; and this election is for every Nigeria. There should be free hearing as the 1999 constitution " as amended" has stipulated
— Babatunde (@Babatunde_Mac) December 12, 2018

@Handruler posted: "We demand #SoworeMustBeIncluded in the presidential debate..."

We demand #SoworeMustBeIncluded in the presidential debate...
— YÄ™le DeyÄ™le (@Handruler) December 12, 2018

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‘We’re One of The Largest Parties’ — Sowore's AAC Kicks Against Exclusion From Presidential Debate

The African Action Congress (AAC) has called for inclusion in the presidential debate being organised by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON).

As earlier reported by Saharareporters, NEDG and BON confirmed pn Tuesday evening that only five political parties would participate in its scheduled presidential debate. See Also Elections JUST IN: NEDG, BON Pick Only Five Political Parties For Presidential Debate 0 Comments 1 Day Ago

The parties are Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP).

However, the AAC has questioned the decision to include only five political parties, excluding Omoyele Sowore and Dr. Rabiu Ahmed Rufai, the AAC presidential and vice-presidential candidates, respectively.

A statement by Dr. Malcolm Fabiyi, Director-General of the TakeItBack Movement/Sowore 2019 Campaign, issued on Tuesday, read: "We demand to know the criteria that were used for selecting the parties that will participate in the debates.

"The AAC is one of the three largest parties in Nigeria. In fact, we were within the top three parties in the online poll that was organised by Channels TV to determine the participants in the presidential debates. We demand that the unaltered results of that poll be published.

"It is unconscionable that our candidates will be left out of the VP and Presidential debates when smaller political parties that fared worse in the polls, and do not have the reach or strength that our party commands across the country, were included.

"We also note that our presidential candidate has won every major independent and objective poll against the candidates from the alternative parties. Yet somehow, those parties made it to the debates while our candidates did not.

"We demand that NEDG and BON publicly declare the criteria that were used for selecting the participants. Any debate about Nigeria’s future and the 2019 elections that does not include the AAC is a farce. Nigerians cannot be fooled.

“We expect that this grave injustice will be rectified immediately, ahead of the VP debates on December 14. Nigerians must not be cheated out of a robust debate about our nation’s future. Nigeria MUST progress."

Similarly, Sowore, the AAC presidential candidate, blasted the organisers of the debate, tweeting: “First they excluded @aacparty from the signing of Peace Agreement &Memorandum of understanding by presidential candidates & party chairmen in Abuja today, just emerged also they don’t want me to participate in the presidential debates, they claim I am out of control and may spill what I know about these oldies publicly during debates. These old guards still don’t get it!”

He condemned the organizers for presenting to Nigerians a streamlined number of political parties, thereby denying access to others as guaranteed by the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage, which states that “the government shall abide by institutional, regulatory and legal frameworks requiring equitable access to State media by parties and candidates contesting elections”. The code, which was adopted on October 30, 2014, binds all media organisations, including BON.

Some Nigerians have reacted to the exclusion, including #EndSars movement convener, @Segalink tweeting: “They made a mistake with the listing. It would have been more interesting to have @YeleSowore included in this. There are five here and it could very well have been six. One will certainly be absent.”

@Alatenumo tweeted “I expected @obyzeks and @feladurotoye and Kingsley to Speak out and ask for Yele’s inclusion. Injustice happens when men and women of goodwill stay silent.”

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The Nigerian Youth Of Blurry Future By Ibrahim Adeyemi

"Parents listen to your children,
We are the leaders of tomorrow,
Try to pay our school fees,
And give us sound education" — marching song for elementary school pupils.

Ibrahim Adeyemi is a student of English and a campus reporter from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

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Where’s The Devil In The Electoral Bill? By Azu Ishiekwene

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others, has said Buhari’s repeated claims of commitment to free and fair elections next year are just what they are – lip service.

That was how Mike Tyson and Nebuchadnezzar were found in the register. In the more decent examples, there were also cases of ghosts who thumb-printed with palm kernel nuts.

If the National Assembly’s amendments are intended to cure that defect, once and for all, what is the problem with that?

Of course, the executive was not blameless. It simply took a leaf from the survival script of the legislature and served a backhand to avoid the booby traps and save its own neck.

I think the defining question is, what likely danger does Buhari’s non-assent, pose to free, fair and transparent elections next year?

Ishiekwene is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview and member of the board of the Global Editors Network

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Sultan To Politicians: Don’t Use Other People’s Children As Thugs

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has cautioned politicians against using other people’s children as political thugs.

He spoke yesterday at the flag-off of senatorial districts voter education and sensitization exercise organised by the National Orientation Agency.

Sultan, represented by Chiroman Sokoto, Alhaji Buhari Abubakar, reminded politicians that God gives power to whom He wishes, asking them not to see politics as a do-or-die affair.

NOA Director in the state, Maude Danchadi, cautioned Nigerians against vote-buying and violence.

He also stressed the need for Nigerians to avoid election apathy.

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Politicians Responsible For Election Violence, Says Bayelsa CP

Joseph Mukan, the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, has said Nigerians should hold politicians responsible for violence during elections.

He, however, expessed optimism that the 2019 general election in the state would be peaceful, noting that the outcome would depend largely on the stakeholders.

According to Mukan, the stakeholders — including the political class, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, media and the electorate — must collaborate to ensure the outcome is not characterised by violence.

He made this known on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, during a visit by the members of the Federated Correspondents Chapel (FCC) of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bayelsa State Council, led by the Chairman, Comrade Osaro Okhomina of Leadership newspaper.

Speaking on the violence recorded during the party primaries and the 2016 governorship elections in the state, the Police Commissioner said: "When the political class and their supporters see politics as not a do-or-die affair, the outcome will be peaceful. The political gladiators hire thugs and these and many others were responsible for the wave of violence during elections in the state.

"When things are done properly, we will get it right one day. If INEC gets it right; if the security gets it right; if the political class gets it right, and with the objective reportage of the media we will get it right also.

"We have been talking with the political gladiators on why there should be peaceful and transparent elections. The political class should be held responsible for violence for seeing elections as a do-or-die affair, forgetting that the contest is between themselves and not with foreigners."

On the FCC lecture series to hold on December 20, 2018, Mukan declared his support for the event.

In his remarks, Osaro Okhomina, the FCC Chairman, commended the new Commissioner of Police for the successes recorded in reducing the rate of crime in the state.

He also commended the Police over the speedy response to the extrajudicial killing of a youth in the state capital.

Okhomina also used the opportunity to formally invite the Commissioner of Police to the Fifth Annual FCC Lecture series with the theme: 'The Quest for a People's Governor, The Case for Bayelsa State'.

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Nigerians In The Diaspora Cannot Vote But IDPs Can, Says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (lNEC) has described as untrue, reports that displaced Nigerians abroad will be able to participate in the 2019 general election.

According to Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, there is no truth in such claims, as the Framework and Regulations for IDP Voting was presented and validated by stakeholders at a conference held in Abuja on Wednesday, with it not containing diaspora voting.

“The attention of the independent National Electoral Commission (lNEC) has been drawn to a report by a section of the media which gave a false impression that the Commission has ‘made special provisions for internally Displaced Persons outside Nigeria to Vote in the 2019 General Elections,’” he said in a statement.

“The Commission wishes to state unequivocally that there will be no Diaspora or Out-of-Country voting tor any Nigerian, in accordance with extant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended). Only duly registered Internally Displaced Persons (lDPs) within Nigeria will be allowed to vote.

“The Framework and Regulations for IDP Voting was presented and validated by stakeholders at a conference held in Abuja on 12th December, 2018. However, there was no reference whatsoever in the remarks made by the Hon. Chairman. Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu or during deliberations at the validation meeting that special provisions will be made tor lDPs outside Nigeria to vote in the forthcoming general elections, contrary to the said media reports.

“It should however be noted that while Internally Displaced Persons currently residing in states where they registered can vote in all elections. those displaced from their states and are currently living in states other than where they registered can only vote in the Presidential election.

“The framework validated by stakeholders at the conference is in consonance with the provisions of Section 26 (1) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2015 which provides that ‘in the event at an emergency affecting an election, the Commission shall as far as possible ensure that persons displaced as a result of the emergency are not disenfranchised.’”

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ALERT: Niger Delta Projects Listed Among Buhari's 'Achievements' Are 'Nowhere To Be Found'

Ijaw youth leaders from the nine states of the Niger Delta region have challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe some ministers from the region over alleged non-execution of federal projects awarded by his administration.

According to the youth, the projects listed by President Muhammad Buhari as part of his administration's achievements, while commendable, are nowhere to be found.

The leaders, under the auspices of the Ijaw Unity and Peace Committee (IUPC), lamented that some of the projects listed as Buhari's achievements in Bayelsa State, for instance, are not in the state.

They threatened to carry out massive protests against the "diversion of projects". The leaders particularly said projects awarded to Bayelsa under the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Niger Delta Affairs were not being implemented.

In a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, Apostle Bodmas Kemepadei, the convener of the group, lamented the underdevelopment in the region, stating that there were persons within the presidency working against the present administration.

Kemepadei, who is also the leader of Egbesu Brotherhood, said contrary to claims that there were rural road projects in Bayelsa as part of Buhari's achievements in the Niger Delta, nothing of such could be found anywhere in the state.

He also said claims by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs that the Federal Government constructed a cassava processing plant in Bayelsa were false and misleading.

"I seriously think President Muhammadu Buhari is not aware of what is going on in Bayelsa State because what the Presidency listed as part of its achievements in the Niger Delta is just a figment of someone's imagination," he said.

"It is only in the media that we read of projects awarded to Bayelsa by his administration, but in reality this is not true. Those representing Buhari in the state are deceiving him; they are not reporting the true situation of things. We have nothing to show as benefits from the present administrations. The agricultural loans, fertilisers, rural road projects, empowerment schemes, awarded by Buhari to Bayelsa, are not being effected. There are no named Bayelsans that are beneficiaries of such programmes.

"This is not only painful, but wicked. How can Buhari be awarding to projects, releasing funds, yet nothing is happening?

"It is on this note that we are bent on staging this protest. We want the Presidency to be aware and discipline whosoever that may be involved in the diversion of Bayelsa projects. The date for the protest will be made public very soon. No individual has the monopoly to cart away with public properties."

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Sowore's Supporters Protest At Channels TV To Demand His Inclusion In Presidential Debate

The #TakeItBack movement has conducted a peaceful protest to express their grievances over the exclusion of Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, from the presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON).

NEDG and BON had announced only five political parties — Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) — scheduled to participate in the presidential debate scheduled for January 19, 2019.

The protesters marched to the headquarters of Channels Television in Isheri, Lagos on Thursday, bearing placards with inscriptions such as '#SoworeMustBeIncluded'; '#DemocracyIsParticipation'; '#LetNigeriansDecideCharacter', among others.

The selection of only five presidential candidates has generated much criticism against NEDG and BON, with many calling for more candidates to participate in the debate.

Speaking at the event, one of the members of the movement, identified as Juwon, said the selection of only five candidates is “thoroughly unfair corruption in an election with more than 30 presidential candidates".

He called on Nigerians to “ensure that more candidates, including Omoyele Sowore, participate in the debate, and also that President Muhammadu Buhari does not send a representative to the debate or else it would disrupted”.

Similarly, another member of the movement, Comrade Femi Adeyeye, said: “Nigerians have the right to interview who they are going to employ for the next four years, hence the demand to fairly include candidates contesting the elections."

On Thursday, Oby Ezekwesili, ACPN presidential candidate, and Fela Durotoye, ANN presidential candidate, also called on NEDG and BON to include Sowore and other presidential candidates in the debate.

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ALERT: Niger Delta Projects Listed Among Buhari's 'Achievements' Are 'Nowhere To Be Found'

Sowore's Supporters Protest At Channels TV To Demand His Inclusion In Presidential Debate

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