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NAUB: Prayers of our enemies shall not come to pass.
NAUB: Prayers of our enemies shall not come to pass.
By: Dr. James BWALA
When the bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Army University Biu was taken to the National Assembly, VP Kashim Shettima, then as Senator representing Borno Central in the red chamber, added his voice in support of the establishment. He was among the top voices who spoke to make the university come to light by giving the university the legal instrument that established it. The VP, then governor of Borno State, is the one who speedily granted the approval of the site and delivered the C of O of the site when General Buratai came up with the idea of the university.
Certainly those who came up with the idea to merge the Army University Biu with the Nigerian Defense Academy did not consult widely before reaching the decision, and we are hopeful that the prayers of these enemies of Borno State, the northeast, and Nigeria will not come to pass. We are also confident and firmly believe in our unity and loyalty to our leaders that they will see the reasons for the existence of this great institution that has continued to give direction to our mass of youths who seek education through the university.
The President and his Vice President are men of integrity who love education, especially for the children of the masses. They are aware of the benefits these children of Nigeria are getting through the army university, blending character and learning in the most civil and regimented system. As our governor pleaded alongside many other Borno indigenes of note, we are praying for the president to give a listening ear to those pleas for the future of the children of Borno State, the northeast, and Nigeria.
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Those who are bent on the idea that the university must be merged are like those who did not want it to be established in Borno and in Biu in the first place. But they never care to learn why the Army University of Biu was established in the first place. The understanding of some Nigerians perhaps prior to the establishment of the Nigerian Army University Biu was either lopsided in their regional beliefs or in their political thinking or born out of outward envy to attempt to deny the people of northeast Nigeria the opportunity to have such an outstanding university that brought glory to the region and Nigeria as a whole. Today, not only the children of the northeast are the beneficiaries of the Nigerian Army University Biu, but largely students from the southwest and southeast, south-south, northwest, and north-central parts of the country.
I recalled having a chat with some of the staff of NAUB, sometimes in late 2022, where the discussion led to how the funding of the university was almost becoming an issue under the former COAS, the late General Ibrahim Attahiru. It was at that time that I also learned of certain plans by some forces working against NAUB for their political and regional interests, and I was not surprised when certain questions about the merger issues came up in the Steve Oronsaye report. The sighting of NAUB has been fought against, but Biu struggles. Thanks to the support given by sons and daughters of the northeast, who stood to defend the establishment of the army university in Biu,.
While the cracks were on about the Steve Oronsaye report, I went back to the argument on the floor of the National Assembly to revisit earlier arguments about the establishment of the Army University Biu. I took the case of Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abont and Hon. Kingsley Chinda, both of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. They kicked against the establishment of the university, seeing the institution as a ground for military training, with the NDA in focus throughout their argument on the floor of the green chambers. Comparing their argument with the explanations put forth as to why the Army University Biu was established, I realized that the two Hon. Members were not armed with the right information as to why the Army wanted such a university in place, in parallel to the NDA, which is a purely military institution for regimental purposes.
When the President’s Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, announced the agencies to be merged to include the merger of the Army University Biu and the Nigerian Defence Academy, there was a lot of roar from the northeast part of the country, with thousands of people who are directly or indirectly beneficiaries of this establishment pouring out their reservations on the adoption of the Steve Oronsaye report by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly with the mention of the Army University Biu being one of the universities in the country that does not go on strike.
Some people who commented have this to say: We can’t afford to lose the NAUB; the effort and energy our leaders put into establishing it can never go in vain, Insha’Allah. Blame the defense ministers from the north-west; they’ve always been against NAUB. The greatest undoing of a democratic government is to clamp down, merge, or relegate a vibrant, important, and exceptionally good tertiary institution that is located in a disadvantageous state or state that needs education, a state that was ravaged by Boko Haram,… What happens to Admiralty University? Is it not a military university? Or is it a private holding of the Nigerian Navy devoid of FG funding? Why has it not been merged with the NDA? Any explanation to defy this? Answers to these would clarify premature assumptions on the need or otherwise for the merger. On a literal perspective, NDA, NAUB, and AFIT are funded by FG. Why NAUB? These are the questions trending.
But the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, had last year, while speaking during the graduation of some 500 students, given an explanation of why the Army University Biu was established. He explained that the Nigerian Army University in Biu, Borno State, was established as a means to explore a non-kinetic approach to service operations against insurgency. He also said the institution was established to achieve social inclusion, gender balance, and expand diversity through education. The COAS, who is also the Pro-Chancellor of the institution, disclosed that by establishing the Nigerian Army University in Biu, the Army adopted the strategic option of exploring a non-kinetic approach to its counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria.
According to him, the Army sought to achieve social inclusion and gender balance and expand diversity through education, adding that the emergence and growth of the institution in the heart of the North East was a testament to the successes the Nigerian military has collectively achieved in its counter-insurgency efforts. I hope that the COAS, at this time of debate, will add his voice to the plea by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and the highly respected leaders of Borno to press on the president to see the reasons in this matter and to know the hands of Jacob from those of Esau.
* James BWALA, PhD, writes from Abuja.
NAUB: Prayers of our enemies shall not come to pass.
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.
Institute of Agricultural Research (I.A.R.), Division of Agricultural Colleges (D.A.C.), and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and other related units are where we were more attracted to because of their implements/tools and equipment. The tractors and their components, like harrows, ploughshares, and harvesters, have awakened the aspirations of some of us to be agricultural experts, farmers, and university dons in agricultural sciences, and others as researchers.
Agricultural tractors have been one of the most important machines in the cultivation of commercial and mechanized farmland, providing food/cash crops and agro-allied raw materials for industries and factories, hence the economic development of Nigeria.
Therefore, tractors like Massey Ferguson, John Deere, Ford, Fiat, and Styre were common sights for us.
When I decided to do some investigations on the whereabouts, or to say disappearances, of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors belonging to the state government and the people of Plateau State. It was really not easy for me because individuals who were in the stream of affairs, past and present, are not willing to speak on this matter. And I began to suspect there was connivance/conspiracy in the disappearances of these tractors by some collective individuals.
Questions are being asked over and over by the citizens of Plateau State about the 400 Duetz Fahr model tractors made in Germany, which were procured by the state government during the administration of former Governor Simon Bako Lalong (2015-2023), whose tenure was nothing to write home about except for his poor performance in governance. Unlike the beginning of the good governance of the present administration of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.
In the course of my investigations and findings, I was told that the one and only person who had asked questions severally and was still speaking on the matter was one Ehis Akugnonu of JFM 101.9 FM. Jos (aka Osama), whom I met on this matter, our discussions lacked adjectives to qualify the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors on the Plateau, a state blessed with fertile land for farming and production of food and cash crops in all seasons.
Agricultural programs have always been the priority of the government, both state and federal. Institutions of learning—universities, institutes, and other research centers—are not left out of the scheme of agricultural activities. Individual and organized private sectors are also playing significant roles in the development of the nation’s agricultural economy, adding value to the agricultural food chain.
Former Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State procured the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors to boost agriculture to enable farmers to cultivate more farmland through the utilization of these tractors. Surprisingly, they were never distributed to farmers in the 17 local government areas. Sources within Government House Little Rayfield Jos told this writer that “there was a clandestine arrangement that played out in the disappearance of the 400 Duetz Fahr’. In simple arithmetic, if and only if these tractors were distributed to the 17 local government areas, each would have gotten 23, leaving 9 tractors for other purposes, but the disappearance has dampened the spirit of the state farmers. “No single individual is happy about this matter.”. We will continue to ask questions until these tractors are brought back to us’. Said a concerned citizen.
Recently, the Executive Governor of the State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, in his good governance programs, procured 200 new tractors of the Massey Ferguson model that were immediately, without delay, distributed to organized farmers’ groups across the 17 local government areas. This gave hope, wiping away tears on the faces of small and medium-scale farmers on the Plateau.
In tidying up this write-up, I was informed that the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors paved
way that saw the carting away in a thievery manner and the gleaning of government house items at Little Rayfield Jos. While fingers are pointing to Senator Simon Bako Lalong on the whereabouts of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors worth hundreds of millions of naira, which could have changed the agricultural landscape of Plateau State.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist
08036779290
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.
As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.
Institute of Agricultural Research (I.A.R.), Division of Agricultural Colleges (D.A.C.), and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and other related units are where we were more attracted to because of their implements/tools and equipment. The tractors and their components, like harrows, ploughshares, and harvesters, have awakened the aspirations of some of us to be agricultural experts, farmers, and university dons in agricultural sciences, and others as researchers.
Agricultural tractors have been one of the most important machines in the cultivation of commercial and mechanized farmland, providing food/cash crops and agro-allied raw materials for industries and factories, hence the economic development of Nigeria.
Therefore, tractors like Massey Ferguson, John Deere, Ford, Fiat, and Styre were common sights for us.
When I decided to do some investigations on the whereabouts, or to say disappearances, of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors belonging to the state government and the people of Plateau State. It was really not easy for me because individuals who were in the stream of affairs, past and present, are not willing to speak on this matter. And I began to suspect there was connivance/conspiracy in the disappearances of these tractors by some collective individuals.
Questions are being asked over and over by the citizens of Plateau State about the 400 Duetz Fahr model tractors made in Germany, which were procured by the state government during the administration of former Governor Simon Bako Lalong (2015-2023), whose tenure was nothing to write home about except for his poor performance in governance. Unlike the beginning of the good governance of the present administration of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.
In the course of my investigations and findings, I was told that the one and only person who had asked questions severally and was still speaking on the matter was one Ehis Akugnonu of JFM 101.9 FM. Jos (aka Osama), whom I met on this matter, our discussions lacked adjectives to qualify the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors on the Plateau, a state blessed with fertile land for farming and productionof food and cash crops in all seasons.
Agricultural programs have always been the priority of the government, both state and federal. Institutions of learning—universities, institutes, and other research centers—are not left out of the scheme of agricultural activities. Individual and organized private sectors are also playing significant roles in the development of the nation’s agricultural economy, adding value to the agricultural food chain.
Former Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State procured the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors to boost agriculture to enable farmers to cultivate more farmland through the utilization of these tractors. Surprisingly, they were never distributed to farmers in the 17 local government areas. Sources within Government House Little Rayfield Jos told this writer that “there was a clandestine arrangement that played out in the disappearance of the 400 Duetz Fahr’. In simple arithmetic, if and only if these tractors were distributed to the 17 local government areas, each would have gotten 23, leaving 9 tractors for other purposes, but the disappearance has dampened the spirit of the state farmers. “No single individual is happy about this matter.”. We will continue to ask questions until these tractors are brought back to us’. Said a concerned citizen.
Recently, the Executive Governor of the State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, in his good governance programs, procured 200 new tractors of the Massey Ferguson model that were immediately, without delay, distributed to organized farmers’ groups across the 17 local government areas. This gave hope, wiping away tears on the faces of small and medium-scale farmers on the Plateau.
In tidying up this write-up, I was informed that the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors paved
way that saw the carting away in a thievery manner and the gleaning of government house items at Little Rayfield Jos. While fingers are pointing to Senator Simon Bako Lalong on the whereabouts of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors worth hundreds of millions of naira, which could have changed the agricultural landscape of Plateau State.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist
08036779290
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga
By: Sam Kayode
Indeed Angbalaga was a reporter’s delight. Firm yet welcoming. His demise is a sudden blow to some of us who have basked in his warmth and detribalized nature. He was of a different make from the generality of uniformed personnel some of us are used to, sharp witty with a strong ability to interface from one generation to another. He was a trained sociologist from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where he graduated in 1984. Taught for sometime at the FCT which gave him the unique ability to understand his generation and all the ones after his.
His training as a customs official since 1988 had taken him to many States including the commercial capital of Nigeria Lagos and many other cities. Controller Joshua Angbalaga was easy going and kept an open door for most of us journalists who came into contact with him through exclusive interviews. He was open minded and was ready to tolerate most of our young colleagues who sometimes displayed slight intolerance for uniforms at news conferences because of the insurgents lurking around.
In Controller Joshua Angbalaga buried today in lafia nasarawa state, I have a personal loss of a man who was an exemplary news maker. He was a public figure who had immense knowledge about the weaknesses and strengths of the gentlemen of the pen. He was a good representative of his controller General. He understood the body languages of most of our intolerant younger colleagues and gave his subordinates in the office then a standing directive that any time any of us comes to see him, we must not be kept waiting unnecessarily if he is free. He was far different from previous controllers who had come and treated reporters like condemned criminals who should never be allowed to come close to the controllers office upstairs.
Some of them in sister agencies especially the ones in the immigration service gave standing orders that journalists should be turned away from the gate as if we were insurgents. This was because some of them were never financially transparent as we learnt from their boys so we understood why they were so vehement at stopping journalists from conducting their constitutional activities. A lot of Angbalaga’s paramilitary colleagues marveled at his dexterity with the gentlemen of the fourth estate.
Our paths met in April 2017 when he reported to Maiduguri as controller and Borno/Yobe area Commander of the Nigerian customs. That was three years after I reported in Maiduguri as correspondent of the nation newspaper.
From then on we continued to work together with him and his entire management team in making expected progresses within the war theatre.
We had several news conferences with him especially on how he had been able to make tremendous progress in turning things around in spite of the insurgency which was at its peak by then. Angbalaga was a rare news maker in uniform because of his belief that none of his officers were too rotten to resist reforms. They were all in sync with his policies to make the state better than he met it. When it was time to go, he left maiduguri on transfer to Abuja where he later retired in 2020. He was involved in stopping a lot of contrabands including hard drugs which is the main fuel keeping insurgents at alert.
On retirement, we kept our communication intact and friendly. Oga Angbalaga was a very studious officer who had already prepared himself for leadership roles by completing his master in public administration in 2000. Feeling a bit bored and not tired in retirement, he went back to school for his PhD program in University of Abuja. He told me recently that he was close to finishing his course work and was kicking to go to the next challenge as God directs. We bantered on the phone while I wondered if he was going back to teaching but he laughed and asked for Gods will to be done. We had a one hour call last year with an invitation to me to visit him during the last yuletide 2024. So with a promise that I would be in lafia to see him for the yuletide, we rounded the call. But due to certain conditions not under my control, that was the last time we would talk as friends. I missed the trip due to I’ll health. Controller Angbalaga is no more as the Lord wills. He has answered the solemn call of nature which sends all mortals back to their creator regardless of age, status, character, race or creed. Death has shown that it’s a leveler of all mankind and my friend oga Angbalaga as I used to call him lived a forthright life before bowing to immortality. May the Lord console his friends at Mount St Gabriel Makurdi, St John Bosco Doma, the entire family of the Nigerian customs service, immediate family and the entire eggon nation where the Lord used him to touch several souls before his passage.
Have a nice sleep oga Angbalaga. From Biodun as you used to call me.
My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga
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