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THE NATION, SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012 FG approves four new departments for better armed and better NAFDAC funded? But I can assure you
Boko Haram: National Security Adviser blames PDP
HE contribution of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency was exposed yesterday by an unlikely source. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Owoeye Azazi, said the party’s brand of politics, especially the way it picks its candidates for elections, is partly responsible for the menace now being visited on Nigeria and Nigerians by the Islamic sect. “A situation where a political party insists on fielding a particular candidate over another to get a massive win, and that if they get that massive win the party has arrived, is the source of the problem,” Azazi said at the second South-South Economic Summit in Asaba. Azazi, who himself has been widely criticised for the inability of the security agencies to put Boko Haram in check, added: ”How come the extent of violence did not increase in Nigeria until the public declaration of the people that were going to contest election by the PDP? And I would also like to say this, though the PDP people will not agree with me, they would like to attack me, but I hope they do it in private: PDP got it wrong from the beginning by saying Mr A can go and Mr B cannot go, and these decisions were made without looking at the constitution. “Is it possible that somebody was thinking that only Mr. A could win and that if he could not win, there would be problems in this society? “Let’s examine all those issues to see whether the level of violence in the North East just escalated because Boko Haram suddenly became better trained, better equipped and better funded or some-
thing else was responsible. “And in any case, how did they get it all done? It takes very long for somebody to be a sniper. But I can assure you that Boko Haram can garner that level of sophistication over time, if it has not got it already. “There are a lot we know that they are doing and there are a lot that could be done to address the problem. But then, I must also be quick to point out that today, even if all the leaders that we know in Boko Haram are arrested, I don’t think the problem would end, because there are tentacles. “I don’t think that people would be satisfied because the situation that created the
problems are not just about the religion, poverty or the desire to rule Nigeria. “I think it’s a combination of everything. “Except you address all those things comprehensively, it would not work. “It is not enough for us to have a problem in 2009 and you send soldiers to stop the situation, then tomorrow you drive everybody underground. “You must look at what structures you need to put in place to address the problem holistically. “There are economic problems in the North, which are not the exclusive prerogative of Northerners. “We must solve our prob-
lems as a country.” “Some people were wearing white garments 22 years ago and calling themselves Republic of Afghanistan in the north, and some people said they were only keeping to their religion and that there was nothing wrong. “We try to play the ostrich and think things will blow over. I believe we should stop the politicisation of security issues in Nigeria. “I believe there is a strong element of politicisation of the crisis, where some people were assured that they would win 80 per cent and they did not win. ‘’Is it not amazing that after the elections, the Boko Haram (sect) became better trained,
that Boko Haram could not have that kind of sophistication without a backing. “Today, if you arrest all the leaders of Boko Haram, I don’t think the problem will end, because the situation that created the sect has not been tackled e.g poverty and the desire (of some people) to rule Nigeria. These issues cannot be isolated unless they are handled comprehensively.” Azazi said the present security challenge in the country was getting complicated on account of the 2015 election with different interest groups desperate to have it their way. He called for economic empowerment and enlightenment of the masses with a view to checking poverty and crimes.
Attack on media worries Obasanjo •From left: The Nation’s Executive Director, Mr. Ade Odunewu; Director of Operations, Television Continental (TVC), Ms Lola Sanusi and Deputy Director of Programmes, TVC, Ms Morayo Afolabi-Brown during TVC’s officials’ visit to the company over the recent fire incident... yesterday.
THISDAY blast: Police, security agencies recover number plate, vital documents S
ECURITY agents are going after the owner of the vehicle used in bombing the Abuja office of ThisDay. They have already retrieved the number plate of the dark green Isuzu Sports Utility Van (SUV) used by the suicide bomber in the Thursday attack. Also in their possession are some vital documents that could assist them in tracking the brains behind the explosion. A major component of the full scale investigation into the bombing by the FCT Police Command and other security agencies is the forensic analysis of parts of the SUV and shrapnel of the explosive device. The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, said yesterday that the state of insecurity in the country was a passing phase. A top security source told The Nation that the investigation was being handled by all security agencies and the police. Said the source: “We have been lucky in retrieving the number plate of the SUV used by the suicide bomber. We are actually sieving records to locate where the vehicle was reg-
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HE Federal Government has approved four new departments to improve and strengthen the activities of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in its war against fake drugs and other substandard regulated products. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Christian Chukwu, who announced this in his office while receiving the WHO Audit Report on Prequalification of Nigerian Pharmaceutical Companies, said the creation of these departments was a direct response to the huge mandate of the agency and to sustain its leading role as a global leader in the fight against counterfeit products. Chukwu, who lauded the current strategies deployed by NAFDAC, especially the use of cutting-edge technologies in carrying out its mandate, named the new departments to include Drug and Chemical Evaluation and Research, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Pharmacovigilance and Post Marketing as well as Veterinary Medicine and Allied Products Departments. The new structure, the minister stated, will bring a new vigour in the current onslaught against counterfeit medicines and other regulated products as competent directors will be appointed to man these departments in order to reposition the agency to effectively carry out its broad mandate of safeguarding the health of Nigerians.
•Forensic experts begin analysis of recovered bomb shrapnel, SUV parts Yusuf ALLI and Gbenga Adanikin, Abuja istered in order to know the owner or owners of the illfated SUV or whether the ownership had changed hands. “With the recovery of the number plate, we are actually tracking the sponsors and collaborators behind the explosion. “There are other clues we are working on, which I may not immediately disclose. “Some forensic experts have also started analysing shrapnel of the explosive device planted in the SUV for the bombing.” Maku, speaking after inspecting the scene of the blast yesterday, said: “I am here to commiserate with THISDAY newspaper over the unfortunate and unprovoked attack on your own establishment here. The President has spoken and I will not want to repeat what the government has already said. “But as a journalist and Minister of Information and as
member of this constituency, I have come to express my personal sympathy and sorrow over this attack, particularly the loss of lives of your guards and other Nigerians in the premises of this organisation. Let me express my personal satisfaction with the statement that has been issued by THISDAY, saying that this organisation will not be intimidated or cajoled by the attack. “I wish, therefore, to rather encourage you. All of us as journalists and all Nigerians are with you and are praying for you. This is a passing phase in the history of the nation. “When a nation comes under attack, it calls for greater courage by the citizens; it calls for greater commitment by the citizens; it calls for greater vigilance by the citizens. I therefore express my sympathy to you. I am in solidarity with you. I have come to greet all our colleagues.” A delegation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also visited the scene and ThisDay Nation’s Capital Editor, Mr. Nduka Nwosu, said the
newspaper had been fair in reporting issues concerning Boko Haram in the country. He said THISDAY would continue to uphold the principles of journalism in spite of the setback. Nwosu said: “THISDAY management issued a statement on the attack, but I want to assure Nigerians that we will continue to uphold the ethics of this profession. Journalism has its basic principles, and in this profession, THISDAY has distinguished itself severally and maintained the cardinal principles of journalism.” Reacting to a question on the accusation by the Islamic sect that THISDAY had been misrepresenting its positions, Nwosu dismissed it as a bias. He added: “We have always been balanced and fair in our reports. We have not gone beyond what other newspapers have been doing, and to that extent, we will continue to look at issues passionately. “Of course, we have whipped the government when there was need for that
and when they were doing what was wrong. My organisation will always want to see things from a balanced point of view. The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, sent a delegation led by the National Secretary of party, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. In his message, Tukur said there was need for security agencies in the country to intensify their efforts at curtailing the activities of the sect. He said: “This is a very bad development. It is surprising. I can only implore the security agencies to step up their duties to ensure that decency returns to Nigeria. “I want to urge you to continue with your duties and don’t be discouraged. I want to use this occasion to encourage the security personnel to step up their operations curtailing the activities of this sect. likewise; “I will like to advise Nigerians that security is not a key duty reserved for government alone. As individuals, any information no matter how minute should passed on to security agencies to forestall this kind of incident.’’
FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo is saddened by the bombing of ThisDay, The Sun and The Moment newspapers’ offices on Thursday. Obasanjo, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in London yesterday, said the development would not augur well for Nigeria’s peace, development and progress. He asked the authorities to investigate the remote causes of Boko Haram members’ attack on media houses. Obasanjo would, however, not make further comments on the motive behind the bombings, saying he needed to be briefed on why they (BokoHaram) had chosen those media houses as a target before making recommendations or suggestions. “I need to find out if there is a particular grievance. What is that grievance? Can that grievance be addressed by other means than the ones others have adopted? These are some of the issues I need to know before I can give advice,’’ Obasanjo said. He recalled his fact-finding trip to Maiduguri which led to some of the recommendations he made to the government on how to deal with the sect. “I have always maintained that when you have a situation like the one we are having now, we have to look thoroughly what the remote and immediate causes are that cannot be solved.’’ Obasanjo said he believed that violence is not the answer to any problem. “We have a problem of security. We have to give it the right dosage of solution. We are the ones to solve it and nobody else,’’ he said.