The Hood – Hearing from your neighborhood

By Okanga Agila 

Somewhere, within Damaturu,  Yobe state, Maisandari, a suburb of the state capital, sitting  on the eastern flank of Damaturu, some natives  in the environs spotted strange visitors. Insurgents were already set out to unleash a horrendous attack on a defenceless population.  

The locals sighted unusual racing Hilux vans in a convoy on nearby labyrinthine routes, with armed men. It was the evening of a Tuesday in April at about 5pm. the community as preparing to wind up for the day to retire home for a night rest.

The evil visitors announced themselves with the loud sounds of yelping tyres, which raised a maze of dust as they sped past localities. In their barely visible sight covered by dust, the natives could still spot the occupants wielding heavy guns in the air and the trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns.  

Danlami a farmer tending to his vegetable farm sensed trouble. He quickly drew the attention of Usman who was on a nearby farm to the gang he has sighted. Both were house neighbours in Maisandari.

Usman agreed seeing them too. The two farmers all concluded that they were “Mai Boko Haram,”  a local coinage referring to Boko Haram insurgents.

Instantly, Danlami grabbed his cellphone and put a call to troops of Sector 2, Operation LAFIYA DOLE and alerted them of the strange movement. They averred soldiers with detailed description of the exact location the terrorists’ invaders on evil mission to attack Damaturu were spotted.

Shortly after, residents heard sporadic gunshots.  The assailants announced their presence in the community in this manner. Perhaps, the insurgents were eager to celebrate a penetration of the localities or nearness to their target, Damaturu and to scare off Naija troops in order to freely kill and abduct people. 

Loud chants of the familiar slogan, “Allah Akbar,” (God is Great)  was heard   as gunshots rented the air. It confirmed the identity of the assailants as Boko Haram terrorists.

Residents scurried for safety as people locked themselves into living rooms scared to the pants, as town criers hastily went round announcing immediate retreat into houses by civilians. Similarly, vehicular entry and departure from Maisandari was also restricted and the entire village cordoned.

The Commander Sector 2, Col “Sting” instantly swung into action, after Danlami’s distress call, by signaling his troops already on red alert to advance towards the vicinity of the enemy forces.

Within the shortest time, troops laid ambush for the Mallam Abubakar Shekau’s  foot soldiers a few metres head of Maisandari village where the messengers of death in numbers were racing towards Damaturu.

Back home Danlami and Usman also kept vigil together around their houses quietly.  Danlami first broke the silence; “The planned attack now was auspicious for two reasons,” and “what are the reasons,” inquired Usman.

“Insurgents are excited to launch a successful operation during religious festive seasons like Christmas and Sallah celebrations,” Danlami replied to  Usman, while reflecting  on the fresh trouble.

“I know the intended attack on Damaturu was to put people in pains and agonies for the Easter season,” retorted Usman.

News of the presence of insurgents circulated rapidly among the locals like whirlwind. A police officer, Sgt. Atiku attached to the police Outpost in Maisandari engaged his office colleagues in a conversation on the Boko Haram raid.

“You know, our leader, Sai Baba is in Dubai on an official visit?” Yes, replied a female Cop.  

 Atiku continued, “Sai Baba informed the Nigerian community in Dubai during a parlay that Boko Haram was occupying 17 Local governments in the Northeast before he came to power. But they have been routed out and the areas reclaimed under his administration.” 

“But that’s the truth,” the female Cop admitted. “But terrorists and their agents hate to hear anything about them losing the war,” the female Cop stressed.

Atiku said, “Even if you believe Sai Baba, I don’t believe what he said anyway.”  

“But what’s a lie or false on what Sai Baba said, we are here together, can you name just one local government still under Boko Haram captivity? ”asked the female Cop. Atiku could not answer; he became speechless and abruptly terminated the discussion.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Dubai where  Sai Baba met the Nigerian community, a Boko Haram media officer who lives in the city monitored his speeches. He heard firsthand,  Sai Baba’s utterances on the defeat of Boko Haram insurgency.

Minutes later, the Boko Haram media officer was on a telephone chat with Mallam Shekau,  who is still recovering from his injuries at a hideout somewhere in the mountainous forests of Cameroun.

The terrorists Media officer bellowed angrily, “You heard what Naija leader is saying boastfully?”

“I have heard him too. But the remnants of our foot soldiers are getting lean by the day. Naija troops have caged us. We can neither recruit or train fighters,” decried  Shekau. 

 

“But we’re doing something, we shall release our best squad from the remnants to counter him on the battlefield to regain our lost grounds and put Naija military on tension,” Shekau feebly added with a pained voice.  

“I have directed our top commander to respond to Naija on the field, right in the heart of any location in the Northeast,” Shekau added. The terrorists media officer heaved a sigh of relief, and promised Shekau to give it ultimate publicity when the atrocious act of attack is committed.  But it turned out the opposite way.

So, the residues of  insurgents fleeing the fire of MNJTF from the fringes of Chad, Niger and Cameroun came fully prepared in 14 Hilux vans and armed with anti-aircraft guns to repeal possible air strikes from government forces, gun trucks, 1.60 Millimeter Mortars, General Purpose Guns, AK 47 rifles and assorted ammunitions.   

Nonetheless, the terrorists rather met their waterloo. Col. Sting who led the operation positioned his troops strategically on both sides of the road in the bush. When the insurgents got to the spot of the ambush, they were caged by troops and, a fierce gun battle ensued.

The Naija ground troops, assisted by air strikes overpowered the insurgents with superior fire force. A good number of the invading terrorists were killed in the encounter. Only a few insurgents were lucky to escape, as they abandoned weapons.

“Give them a hot chase,” the Commander ordered his troops. Naija troops raced after the terrorists and cordoned the entire Maisandari in a mop-up operation.

Inside Shekau’s camp at the forests, caves and mountains of the Cameroun, news of the defeat of the assailing terrorists by Naija troops hit him hard like a thunderbolt. He was shocked and lost appetite for a whole day. He couldn’t eat.

Cold shivers ran down his spine. Shekau reminisced how in 2013 he personally led his foot soldiers who  almost captured Borno and Yobe states Government Houses. He silently marveled at the strength of Naija troops now.

But Shekau’s incarceration since middle of last year from wounds he sustained during an encounter with Naija troops has detached him from reality of terrorism on the field. Today, it is Naija winning the war unstoppably and not insurgents.

When Sai Baba asserted that Boko Haram has been defeated, those abreast with the war never doubted him.  But Shekau and his media officer in Dubai, doubted and dared him to their peril. 

Shekau misfired! Sai Baba has absolute trust in his troops led by Gen.  TY Buratai, unlike the weak and poorly equipped Army Shekau and his men encountered on the battlefield in his heydays. The tale has changed and Sai Baba’s words on Boko Haram can be taken to the bank any day.

Buratai told the Commander-In-Chief that Boko Haram terrorism has ended and he believed him. Those who are still doubting Thomases, the Maisandari incident has cleared all doubts by the massive “waste,” of insurgents on an atrocious voyage in a scenario resplendent of a blockbuster movie.

Shekau should concentrate on nursing his wounds in the hideout of the Camerouns. But the message is clear that Naija troops today are properly trained by Gen. Buratai so amazingly and in top form for any assignment on their hands.

It is evident in the series of frustrations of Boko Haram insurgents in fruitfully executing gruesome attacks on any village in Naija, without meeting stiff resistance and the eventual defeat of the assailants. Maisandari is the latest statement of the practical proof of the worth of Naija  troops led by Gen. Buratai.

And elsewhere, in the Northeast Naija troops are warming up for any emergency that may sprout out as Christians look forward to celebrating a blissful Easter. Normal life has since returned to Maisandari.

Okanga wrote from Agila, Benue State.

By Prince Ugo 

The embattled former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Nkanu  Onnoghen, is a lucky man. Never in the history of Nigeria has a court case wrongly attracted so much national and international attention in favour of the accused like his case of alleged false assets declaration and the abuse of the code of conduct for public officers.

Following his unexpected and sudden suspension from office by the President, based on the order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Onnoghen was given a lot of undeserved honour from members of the Bar and the Bench,  his primary  constituency.  They protested the suspension everywhere, even though some admitted the former CJN was not immune from criminal prosecution.

 

Against every good conscience, the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) President, Mr.  Paul Usoro SAN, directed all lawyers in Nigeria to register presence at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT)  in solidarity with Justice Walter Onnoghen when he appeared for trial. It also ordered a two-day boycott of courts by lawyers. Some lawyers observed it in breach especially in Abuja.

 

The South-south Governors Forum urged Onnoghen to  shun  the summons from the CCT, as it was an attempt to humiliate Nigeria’s highest judicial officer. Thus, bolstered by this flurry of support, Onnoghen decided to play the resistance -to -trial game by approaching an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to challenge the jurisdiction of the CCT to adjudicate over the matter.   

 

Therefore, a crack team of  30 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) and 100 junior lawyers  appeared  before the Justice Danladi Yakubu-led Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to interrogate the legalese of the allegations leveled against Justice  Walter Onnoghen. It was an intimidating assemblage of men of the silk. Only the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki, enjoyed similar solidarity from his colleagues when he appeared before the same CCT. 

 

Not only lawyers were concerned about the fate of Onnoghen. Several interest groups and opinion leaders pressured and faulted the Presidency. They obstinately declared Onnoghen innocent in public court and even before trial by a competent court, regardless of his admittance of guilt. 

 

And at the peak of his presidential campaigns, the candidate of the main opposition PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, suspended his campaigns for three days, also in solidarity with Onnoghen. He then described Onnohen’s suspension as an attack on the Nigerian judiciary and  executive interference with democratic institutions.

 

But the Presidency was not cowed by the intense pressure. The evidence preferred against Justice Onnoghen were too overwhelming and watered by his own confessions. It needed judicial scrutiny,  a wisdom  the former CJN’s clan of adherents felt pained to bow to accept.    

 

But it was probable that there was no escape route for Onnoghen now or in the future. The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) responded to a petition to it, by Mr.  Dennis Aghanya,  Executive Secretary,  Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI).

 

The organization accused Onnoghen and provided meticulous details of his alleged financial deals  and false assets declaration. ARDI provided hard evidence of the allegations it leveled against Onnoghen, leading to a six-count charge slammed on him by the CCB.

 

Upon Onnoghen’s arraignment before the CCT, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made further discoveries. The anti-graft agency traced a deposit of $30,000  paid into the bank account of the former CJN by Mr. Joe Agi, SAN. Onnoghen also failed to disclose his functional account with Heritage Bank in his asset declaration form.

 

These fresh discoveries added  to the undisclosed sums in hard currency, bank accounts and landed properties estimated in billions of naira as previously revealed by  Aghanya’s ARDI.  

 

While the CCT trial progressed, the National Judicial Council (NJC) also investigated the allegations against Onnoghen forwarded to it by the EFCC. The NJC found him aberrant on “financial impropriety, infidelity to the constitution and other economic and financial crimes related laws”. It recommended Onnoghen’s compulsory retirement from service for misconduct.

 

 

 

However, pulling a smart one, Justice Walter Onnoghen resigned as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN)  before the presidency could act on the report of the NJC.

 

Before the arguments and counter-arguments on the Onnoghen case, the former CJN had admitted in a written statement to the CCB that the failure to declare his domiciliary accounts with Standard Chartered Bank, but attributed it to a mistake, saying, he “forgot to update his asset declaration, after the expiration of his 2005 declaration.”

 

Onnoghen was very generous with  truth by his exposition that the undeclared foreign currencies  in his Standard Chartered Bank account  accumulated from his estacodes and medical allowances as well as  savings while in private practice between 1979 and 1989.

 

In the his statement to the CCB dated January 11, 2019, Onnoghen was plain that; “I did not include my standard charted bank account in SCN 000014 because I believed they were not opened. I did not make a fresh declaration of asset after my substantive appointment as CJN because I was under the impression that my SCN 000015 was to cover that period of four years which includes my term as CJN.”

 

It is bad enough that some Nigerians delight in defending the indefensible.  After a man confesses to his sins, yet his colleagues are hell-bent on frustrating his trial in a lawful court. They were talking procedure instead of violation of the law by the highest judicial officer in the country.  They wanted him sustained on  his position as CJN to preside over the fate of other Nigerians who have committed the same offence. That’s crazy solidarity.

 

So, Justice Onnoghen is too guilty to be innocent.  How can a man with all the overwhelming evidence against him anywhere in the world claim he is being bewitched by his enemies?  That he forgot to declare some of his assets implies that there were judgments he could have possibly passed in error.

 

Why would the former CJN be excited to tell Nigerians that he failed to include his Standard Chartered Bank account in assets declaration forms  he “believed they were not opened?”  Certainly, Justice Onnoghen  had dipped his fingers into red oil and the gods are angry with him. His smart move of resigning his position as CJN when dismissal stared him in the face is altogether unhelpful.

Ugo wrote this piece from the United Kingdom.

The Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers and Education Officers in Nigeria Bill, 2019 (HB. 2554) sponsored in the House of Representatives by Honourable Adekoya Adesegun Abdel-Majid, the lawmaker representing Ijebu-North/Ijebu-East/Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency on Tuesday got the Concurrence of the Senate as it was read and passed on the floor of the Upper House.

The Bill which sought to raise the retirement age of both Primary and Secondary school teachers as well as Education Officers from 60 to 65 years was laid before the senate by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, and was passed after the third reading.

It would be recalled that Adekoya’s Bill in this regard was unianmously adopted by the lawmakers in the lower house on the 13th of December, 2018 following submission by the Joint Committee set up by the House.

Having gone through all the legislative procedures, the Bill now awaits the assent of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces for it to become law.

While commending the Senate’s effort at reaching a Concurrence, Honourable Adekoya urged the President to urgently assent to the bill as a “Workers Day bonus for the Teachers and Dducation Officers who are in every nooks and crannies of the federation”.

According to him, “this Bill, on its way to becoming a law in the next few days with presidential assent, would among other things restore the lost glory of the teaching profession and restore the peoples’ confidence in Nigeria’s public schools by encouraging teachers to offer their best to the profession.

“The extension of Teachers and Education Officers retirement age would reduce the challenges of low manpower in public schools because the business of disseminating knowledge gets better with age, and the older a teacher gets the more experienced he or she becomes with attendant moderation in temperament and better understanding of the teaching environment and needs of the students and pupils. It also affords them more time to supervise and mentor younger generation of teachers while they are in active service”.

The renowned Youth Development Crusader and Politician, Abayomi Oke, popularly known as Asiwaju is set to empower scores of youths through his pet project tagged SKATA – Skill and Talent Academy.

It will be recalled that SKATA was introduced last year during the long holiday in Ota and about 200 youths got trained for Free in their chosen Skill and Talent.

According to the former House of Representatives candidate, SKATA Season 2 is a product of demand by teeming youths and parents who missed the debut edition. In view of this, SKATA Season 2 will hold between April 23 to May 10 at RCCG, Abundant Life Arena, Iyana Ota Roundabout, Sango Ota.

The empowerment scheme recorded a lot of testimonies last year. Aside from the positive social reorientation benefitted by all participants, some of the participants are currently making impact and money with the Skill they acquired at SKATA last year.

According to the Registrar of SKATA, Ogunbiyi Tunde, one of the products of SKATA who was in the Acting and Comedy Class got featured in the Africa Magic TV Series – Hustle. 

The Provost and founder, Abayomi Oke – Asiwaju is known for his passion for youth development and human capacity development. His activities in the last couple of years has touched many lives and empowered the dream of many young people in Ota and it’s environs. Asiwaju is the Creative Director of Novent Concept, a media and entertainment outfit in Ota. He contested in the last elections to represent Ado-Odo/Ota Federal Constituency in the National Assembly under ACCORD party but didn’t win. He has since moved to the ruling party APC where he played a major role in the emergence of the Governor-Elect of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

A youth group known as Concerned Northern Youths Against Terrorism said it has uncovered plot sponsor of Deji Adeyanju of the Peoples Democratic Party and Boko Haram to promote terrorism in Nigeria.

The group at a press conference on Wednesday, said it has uncovered renewed push by agents of destabilization to advance Boko Haram objectives in Nigeria using paid activists.

Abubakar Jamilu, President of the group  called on security agencies to go after Adeyanju so as to prevent unrest in Nigeria.

His speech below.

Gentlemen of the press, permit us to draw your attention to the social media account of one Comrade Deji Adeyanju. Before we go into details of the concerns we have about his propaganda activities however, we wish to give you a brief background of what we have come to know of this man before the nature of what he engages in first popped up on our radar.

Adeyanju, who identifies as the Convener of Concerned Nigerians, only recently left prison custody in Kano over a culpable homicide case filed against him by the Nigeria Police Force. The defence his team has been peddling in this matter is that it was that have been decided upon by the Kano State High Court in 2009. The dating of the alleged crime itself, over a decade old, is a pointer to how Adeyanju is not new to being inconsiderate for human life for him to have been involved in such controversy in his youth.

We want you to equally know that Adeyanju was the one that suggested to radicalized extremists of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) to bring violent protests into Abuja, the nation’s capital. As we all know, the protests, during which IMN members took on security forces turned out to be deadly and costly in terms of the lives lost. 

Even though he professes to a different creed, he was on ground with the protesters until funds dried up (before he was arrested and remanded in the prison) and he left them. The so called IMN members were usually sourced from Mararaba, Nyanya, Kubwa, Gwagwalada etc and were all paid for by Deji and his goons which many people have captured on camera before .

The financial nature of his transactional activism is attested to by his falling out with Charles Oputa (Charlie Boy) over disagreement on the remittances of the money made with their activists for hire group, Our Mumu Don Do. In his bid to ensure that he corners the group for himself, he mobilized his followers to announce the sack of Charlie Boy. This action confirms that Adeyanju is not new to treasonous treachery.

To the extent that Adeyanju confines his activities to the sphere of those that are gullible enough to part with their money in exchange for his activist intervention, we have no issues with him. But his most recent foray has attracted our interest and anger because he is on the way to setting our region on fire with his greed. We don’t wish to be reminded of the activities of Boko Haram again in the north or any part of the country. 

We have been able to confirm that Deji Adeyanju has been heavily mobilized some undisclosed amount of money running into millions of naira  by Iranian authorities to resume his promotion of acts of terrorism in the country. Seeing that IMN has lost steam, Adeyanju has deloyed his terrorist propaganda activities in favour of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). 

He has been replicating primary and secondary terrorist contents on his Twitter handle and other social media accounts. On his Twitter handle, @adeyanjudeji, he has been promoting contents from ISIS owned Amaq News Agency, and in addition uses contents that the terrorists apparently deliver to him directly. He augments these with fake news and analyses to cause the maximum fear among the population.

In specific terms, Adeyanju is sharing videos and pictures that he claims depict Boko Haram making gains against Nigerian forces. He interspersed these media with snide remarks about the government of the day. It is apparent that these pictures and videos are meant to undermine the Nigerian state. 

Considering that Adeyanju’s actions contravene the Terrorism (Prohibition) 2011, we have nothing against him adding terrorism charges to the homicide case he already has, but we take strong exceptions to him plying his evil trade in a manner that directly has implications  for peace and security in our region. We therefore  urge Adeyanju  to be concerned about defending himself in the case of murder against him. He should stop feigning unnecessary activism to distract Nigerians from the crime which he has committed against humanity. A murderer is not a responsible person in the society to be taken seriously. 

In view of the risk Adeyanju has constituted himself into, we call on law enforcement agencies to immediately investigate his collusion with foreign interests to revive Boko Haram. These agencies should partner the Economic and Financial  Crimes Commission (EFCC) to track payments made into Adeyanju’s bank accounts with the objective of identifying those that fall under the Terrorism (Prohibition) Act 2011.

Meanwhile, the security agencies should be at alert as Adeyanju reportedly has a brief to resuscitate IMN protests with a specific goal of making them deadly. They must not allow Adeyanju additional arsenal to turn the people against the government. Operatives must be briefed that there are agents that have been mobilized to produce and manipulate video and photographs that would be used to accuse them of rights abuses.

The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Wednesday, rested his case in his ongoing trial on charges of false and non-declaration of assets.

 

The development came as a surprise as the defendant, whose lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had indicated on Monday that the defence would be calling “two or three witnesses,” only one of whom had testified at the previous Monday’s proceedings.

 

In addition, the defence had, on Monday, applied for and caused the Danladi Umar-led CCT to issue a subpoena to be served on an officer of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Mrs. Theresa Nwafor, to appear on Wednesday to testify as the second defence witness.

 

It was not clear if Nwafor was present at the tribunal when Onnoghen’s lead defence counsel for the Wednesday’s proceedings, Chris Uche (SAN), rose to announce the closure of the defendant’s case.

 

Uche made no mention of Nwafor or any other proposed defence witness.

 

He said, “My lords, today is for continuation of trial. But my lords, after a deep review of the evidence led by the prosecution and the defence, the defence has come to conclusion and we have closed our case.

 

“Pursuant to paragraph 14 of the Practice Direction of this honourable tribunal, we apply to file our final written addresses.”

 

He asked for 14 days to file the final written address.

 

The prosecuting counsel, Aliyu Umar (SAN), said Uche had given him prior indication to close the defence’s case on Wednesday. He urged the tribunal to use its discretion to allot time for the filing of final addresses by the parties.

 

The next stage in the trial would be for parties to exchange their final addresses and return to the tribunal on a date to adopt the court papers.

 

The date for judgment would be fixed after the adoption of the final addresses.

 

The prosecution had earlier closed its case with three witnesses.

No fewer  than 113 million people were affected in 2018 by very serious food shortages, including famine, a report by the European Union and two United Nations agencies said on Tuesday.

“The worst situations were, in order of severity, in Yemen, Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan and Northern Nigeria,’’ the Global Report on Food Crises said.

Jose Graziano da Silva, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said that the number of seriously hungry people, even though down from 2017’s 124 million, was “still far too high’’.

The World Food Programme (WFP), another UN agency, also contributed to the report.

“To truly end hunger, we must attack the root causes: conflict, instability, the impact of climate shocks,’’ WFP executive director David Beasley said.

In September, in a report covering a wider definition of undernourishment, UN agencies said some 821 million people, one ninth of the world’s population, did not have enough to eat in 2017.

America’s midwestern city of Chicago on Tuesday became the biggest US city to elect a black woman, Lori Lightfoot, its mayor, as voters put their faith in an openly-gay political novice to tackle difficult problems of economic inequality and gun violence.

Lightfoot, a 56-year-old former federal prosecutor and practicing lawyer who has never before held elected office, won the city’s mayoral race in a lopsided victory.

She beat Toni Preckwinkle, a career politician who is also black, by a wide margin of 74 to 26 percent with most ballots counted.

“We were up against powerful interests,” Lightfoot said in a victory speech, with her wife and young daughter by her side.

“Today, you did more than make history, you created a movement for change,” she told a cheering crowd.

Lightfoot will become Chicago’s first openly gay mayor as well as the first African America woman to hold the post. Since 1837, Chicago voters have elected only one black mayor and one female mayor.

Her ascendancy to the top of Chicago government was a stunning development in a city where insider deals and entrenched party politics held sway for decades.

“It is a city-wide rejection of the Chicago political establishment at the mayoral level,” Evan McKenzie, political science professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, told AFP.

Preckwinkle, the chief executive of Cook County in which Chicago is located, has for decades held various local elected offices, which analysts said hurt her in an election in which voters were looking to shake up city hall.

Among the top issues were high levels of gun violence that claims more lives than in other major American cities, and years of political corruption in the Democratic stronghold.

The initial field in the mayoral race consisted of 14 contenders, but Lightfoot managed an upset — sidelining moderates and establishment figures by promising to clean up city government and reduce economic inequality.

She and Preckwinkle were the final two left competing in Tuesday’s run-off election.

Voters left little doubt they wanted the next mayor to tackle the major issues vexing the city of 2.7 million people — including economic disparities and gun violence.

“The message is that (voters) want new ideas and cleaner government,” McKenzie said.

Community groups have for years complained about disparities in living conditions among the sprawling city’s diverse communities.

Gun violence, fueled by gangs and the drug trade, plagues economically-depressed neighborhoods in the South and West, which are majority African American.

The downtown business district, and areas to the north and along the city’s famed lake shore, have enjoyed an economic boom even as more than 550 people were murdered last year alone.

Reforming the police department, which has a sordid history of abusive tactics, and city hall, which is mired in a federal corruption probe of one of its members, were priorities for voters, McKenzie said.

Lightfoot headed a panel investigating the city’s policing problems and held a number of appointed positions in city government.

She has promised to increase affordable housing, fight homelessness and crime, and boost oversight of the police department.

“We can and will finally put the interests of our people, all of our people, ahead of the interests of a powerful few,” Lightfoot said Tuesday night.

Lightfoot will replace outgoing mayor Rahm Emanuel — once a rising star in the Democratic Party and former president Barack Obama’s first White House chief of staff.

The powerful Emanuel sustained political damage for his handling of murder of black teenager Laquan McDonald and declined to run for a third term.

The Nigerian Books of Record Research Institute, Abuja, has honored the GO of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E. A. Adeboye and inducted him into the Nigerian Books of Record today the first day in the month of April, 2019.

Nigerian Books of Record is the official Books of Record of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, conceive by the Institute to drive attitudinal re-orientation, Change Begins With Me Campaign of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Abuja.

Speaking during the induction ceremony at the Redemption Camp, headquarters of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Ogun state, the DG of the Institute, Dr. David David said that the cleric earned the honor on merit.

The new DG who came with five NBR delegates, commended the cleric for his hard work, youth empowerment, humanitarian liberation and nation building.

‘Attitudinal re-orientation has for long been recognized as the best way to address the myriad of societal problems confronting the Nigerian society. The challenge of a new Nigeria, therefore, places a big responsibility on all of us as Nigerians to spread the message of value re-orientation and social harmony. We are out to launder the poor image of Nigeria with Nigeria’s best which led to the creation of a National Compendium, Nigerian Books of Record, a unique encyclopedia of Nigerian excellent records.’ He said.

While speaking on the need to identify influential and well respected leaders like Pastor Adeboye who channeled their influence to create positive impact in the lives of their followers, he appealed for all hands to be on deck to launder the international image of Nigeria.

‘We must appreciate and celebrate the good side of our country and that is the essence of Nigerian Books of Record. There is no place on earth we do not have the good and the bad people, but a few Achilles’ heel of some bad eggs is not enough to condemn a nation. Nigeria is a beautiful land and her people are intelligent, full of perseverance and Pastor E. A. Adeboye is one example of a true Nigerian. I think a lot is needed to be done to improve the international image of the country. Given the current technology – driven nature of the global system and the emerging techno – lexicon of globalization, it is equally important to respond positively to such issue of national interest.’ He added.

Unlike Guinness Book of Record, Dr. David emphasizes the primary focus of Nigerian Book of Record which is to recognize and immortalize Nigerians who have made remarkable achievements in their chosen professional callings to break the gap between history and achievers in Nigeria.

He stated that hardworking, zealous, industrious and selfless minds in the Nigerian societies are celebrated as ethic exemplars.  He quickly added that such individuals in Nigerian Books of Record are elevated and positively positioned as role models for future generations to emulate their virtues and accentuates the value system of the Nigerian society.  

In conclusion, the DG mentioned that the foregoing analogy is the philosophy behind the honoring of the cleric today’ 

 

Pastor E. A. Adeboye received and appreciates the honor as a motivation to do more for his nation and humanity in general.