ICYM: NRTC in Brief

Zamfara Mass Abductions, Fired Ministers, Buhari’s Legacy Promise and Presidency’s IPOB Bombs

On Wednesday, September 1, Nigerians woke up to a series of shocking news with another Zamfara mass abduction of 73 students from the Government Day Secondary School in Kaya, in Maradun Local Government Area of the State, the very council Governor Bello Matawalle comes from.

The abduction of the students by bandits (terrorists, if the right nomenclature must be used) in broad daylight while they were writing their examination happened despite assurances by President Muhammadu Buhari and Matawalle assuring that such would never happen again.

And it also came on the back of Matawalle’s defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the All Progressives Congress (APC), with the promise that his cross-carpeting to the party at the center will curb banditry in his state.

Read also: PDP leaders visit ex-President Jonathan, beg him to stay

Nigerians were also thrown into a delirious shock when the Buhari-led administration finally woke up, and fired two of its non-performing ministers in the persons of Abubakar Sabo Nanono who is the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Engr. Saleh Mamman, the Minister of Power.

Though this was long in coming going by the poor performances of the duo, the administration has assured Nigerians that more heads will roll in the Buhari cabinet before the administration’s review of performance is over.

Also on the same day, Buhari claimed that the impact of his administration will only be felt by Nigerians when he leaves office in 2023.

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The President said this after inaugurating a new board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

At the brief ceremony which was held at the State House in Abuja. Buhari tasked the board to make more investments that support economic diversification, as global oil prices were projected to drop to around $40 per barrel by 2030.

Another interesting talking point you should not miss was the Federal Government’s attack on Amnesty International’s entreaties to treat members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), with some human dignity instead of treating them as terrorists.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement titled ‘Why Amnesty’s Entreaties Should Be Ignored,’ however, took Amnesty International to the cleaners by saying the international body is not supposed to be in Nigeria as they are supporting IPOB which “has amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across Nigeria.”

The statement was in reaction to the last report of Amnesty International on the way security agencies had been handling the IPOB debacle in the South East region.