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RE: ENDING THE AFFRONT TO THE RULE OF LAW : A RESPONSE To COLLINS NWEKE

Published

2 years ago

February 14, 2024

Ochuwa Ibrahim

RE: ENDING THE AFFRONT TO THE RULE OF LAW : A RESPONSE To COLLINS NWEKE

By Magnus Agu magnusagu85@gmai.com

Reading through the public letter by Collins Nweke, purportedly addressed to the new Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs I thought it would be something new, something different, something more intelligent.
But it was all still same of the same I won’t bore you with a long treatise I think Collins Nweke already did that .So let me go straight to the points that I want to focus on in the write-up

The issue of Nido ( Nigerians in diaspora organization )Collins Nweke has taken us through the history of the formation of Nido I don’t have any problem with his historical background
NIDO, an initiative of President Olusegun Obasanjo many years ago was set up to have all Diaspora groups under one umbrella. Unfortunately, the purpose was not achieved due to in-fighting, and quarrels, that subsequently saw even original, serious-minded members of the group exiting Nido , thanks to the sit tight and clandestine nature of its inaugural leaders like Collins Nweke and few of his cohorts.
Stories are replete of many Nigerians abroad who were recommended to join the organization but left disappointed and wondered how they would function in an organization that had different factions, had lots of hidden and selfish agendas by its so called leaders at that time . They were confused as they had to deal with these fears so they , like many others, saw no focus and so opted out . So Collins Nweke, a founding father of Nido should be ashamed of the general state of affairs of Nido , particularly the clandestine Nido Worldwide and Nido Continental , which he and just a handful of his like , treacherously hold on to as their cash cow. It’s either his way or no way
Now . Don’t get me wrong There are various branches of NIDO doing well in some countries Take for instance NIDO Sierra Leone. NIDO Sierra Leone has taken up a project to build a hospital in Sierra Leone for Nigerians in Sierra Leone. Nido Europe ( representing the whole of Europe led by Bashir Obasekola ) Nido Qatar, Nido South Korea , Nido Sweden, and some other Nido chapters in some countries are doing well in their various chapters and must be commended , along with other diaspora groups and associations and individuals making Nigeria proud
It must be noted that some countries don’t have any organization called NIDO. For instance, South Africa has NICASA, and Nusa , Australia has an Association of Nigerians in Australia, and Ethiopia has an organization called NISE. I could go on and on, In America there is NAPAC , an association that has supported Nigerians contesting various elections in America, and today about 14 Nigerians in America have won their elections In America with the support of NAPAC . In Canada alone there are about 51 diaspora organizations and none of which is called Nido. Canada is peculiar because one of Collins Nweke´s Colleagues registered Nido in his own name In other words he owns Nido. Story for another day . We all know that there are professional associations like ANPA, NAPPSA, MANSAG, NNCA, NCBN, NNC,and several other professional and socio cultural groups . Canuk in the UK represents almost over 100 associations while existing along Nido UK South Zumunta is also a very strong and purposeful diaspora group . So would it not be easier if all these associations are under one umbrella as former President Olusegun Obasanjo envisaged ?Noble intention But these genuine objectives failed over the years because people like Collins Nweke remained selfish and self-centered. They could not keep Nido as one I mean how can an association that is fragmented bring others on board, for instance, NidoAfrica shamelessly has at least 2 factions, fighting over what ? Nido America has more than a faction, There are some Nido groups in some countries in Asia and the Middle East , existing along side other very active and purposeful groups .
Nido does not exist anywhere in Australia and many other countries around the world

As noble as the objective of having all Nigerian diaspora groups under one umbrella is , it has not worked.

So what NIDO needs to do is put its own house in order and rebrand, talk to all these associations, and see if they can bring them together under one room, But my fears are it is too late now because of people like Colin’s Nweke and and his cohorts , who after 25 years , feel that they must hold on to Nido and hold 17million Nigerians in the diaspora to ransom through what Nweke calls Nido Worldwide and Nido Continental. These are bodies created by him and his gang made up of former Chairmen of Nido whom they constituted with the aim of remaining in charge of these associations for life. Mr Chairman put yourself in this situation Imagine former chairmen and members of the house committee of diaspora constituting themselves into associations of former committee members and taking decisions for you as a serving parliamentarian and chairman of committee ?What Collins Nweke is thus asking you to do is to take these guys , who have been former chairmen of Nido , as the alpha and omega of all 17 million Nigerians in Diaspora ? Chairman, does that make sense to you ?
Nweke is talking about rule of law . What moral right does a man who was an executive of Nido since the days of President Obasanjo , but refuses to let go , through what he calls Nido worldwide ?
I think Collins Nweke , beyond giving empty foreign policy analysis on tv sometimes, needs a job . Mr Chairman, you can help him get a job , please

Collins Nweke and his Nido worldwide and Nido Continental ( whatever it means ) has remained a nuisance and a distraction from genuine diaspora issues affecting Nigerians all over the world
Mr. Chairman sir I challenge you to ask Collins Nweke to give you just 500 genuine names of his members world wide !

Colllins Nweke`s piece titled “ Ending the Affront to the Rule of Law “ is ironic because , as expressly stated above ,if there is any affront to the rule of law that should be ended ,it should be that of Colllins Nweke and his inconsequential microscopic minority gang who want to be perpetual rulers, We in the Diaspora will continue to resist and reject them
Now , we have our own Commission , Nidcom , to relate with .And in this age of technology, getting data of registered groups and associations and bringing them together to work for the progress of our country is easier . And we can see that Nidcom is doing just that

As for the issue of the NiDCOM Board, it is an Administrative structure to be set up by Mr President, so it is an administrative matter. NiDCOM Board is not the only Board that has not been constituted and it will be constituted., hopefully soon However, we must commend the Diaspora Commission for bringing the Diaspora phenomenon to the front burner and you can see it’s been doing well despite all the challenges as well as little or no funding. They have taken the issue of diaspora seriously and put Nigerian issues on the front burner and we do appreciate this. Is the Commission perfect? No, but we have to help in building and strengthening this organization. Diaspora is a part of our foreign policy in Nigeria and if you look at the diaspora policy, it is well crafted if it is properly implemented we would even do better than other countries have done all over the world.
Nweke’s obsession, as in other issues with him , is self serving . He desperately had hoped to be chairman or worse case , member of the board , especially if another party had won elections , not the APC
Well, dreams do come true . I wish him well

And on the issue of Diaspora voting, Collins Nweke and his gang are not even sincere about this. A few years back they said, oh, they will mobilize 1,000,000 people on Diaspora voting and they could not even mobilize one person

So therefore he is not in a position to talk about diaspora voting, Diaspora voting has been an issue that has been championed by people at home and in the diaspora. There is already a bill in the Senate to amend the constitution to make diaspora voting a reality and what we want from you Mr Chairman is to join in our voices to make this a reality.
In his write-up, Collins Nweke asked you a pertinent question , which he termed “ the elephant in the room”He asked “ what do you want to be remembered for.” I pose the same question right back to you
What do you want to be remembered for ?
A selfless , patriotic parliamentarian or
a religious, tribal bigot that will give in to selfish manipulations? ( By the way Mr Chairman I know you are a member of the Labour Party to which people like Collins Nweke belong to ) So do you want to be remembered as a selfless parliamentarian who put the issues of diaspora selflessly Irrespective of tribe , political affiliations ?Or one who will join the clarion call for all Nigerians at home and abroad to join hands to build Nigeria together
The ball is in your court !.

RE: ENDING THE AFFRONT TO THE RULE OF LAW : A RESPONSE To COLLINS NWEKE

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VP SHETTIMA TO NISS COURSE 18: President Tinubu Acting Decisively To Frontally Address Nigeria’s Security Challenges

Published

1 hour ago

December 10, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

VP SHETTIMA TO NISS COURSE 18: President Tinubu Acting Decisively To Frontally Address Nigeria’s Security Challenges

Says president determined to advance security establishment in the country and beyond

By: Our Reporter

The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has remained steadfast in tackling security challenges in the country, and is acting quickly and decisively to frontally address the concerns.

According to him, the Tinubu administration is determined to support the security establishment in Nigeria and beyond to discharge their responsibilities to the nation.

The Vice President stated this on Tuesday when the faculty and participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 18 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Led by the NISS Commandant, Mr Joseph Odama, representatives of the 78 participants were at the Presidential Villa to present the executive brief of their end-of-course report to the Vice President who received the report on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on the significance of the programme, which had participants drawn from MDAs within Nigeria and beyond, the Vice President said he was impressed with the composition of the EIMC 18, noting that “the security of Africa is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders given the peculiarity of the situation.”

He said, “President Tinubu is working round the clock to address concerns in the security sector. It is absolutely essential that we fuse as one to address these issues and all hands must be on deck to salvage the situation.”

The highpoint of the occasion was the presentation of the report titled, “Non-state Actors in Security Management in Africa: Issues, Challenges and Prospects for Peace and Development” by representatives of the EIMC 18 participants.

Among recommendations made by the participants was the formal harmonisation and integration of a country-base security initiative as part of a broad strategy to strengthen the existing legal framework for peace and conflict resolution across Nigeria and Africa.

Earlier, the Commandant of the NISS, Joseph Odama, told the Vice President that the 18th edition of the flagship programme, EMIC 18 commenced on February 19, 2025, pointing out that it had “been a ten-month journey of intense intellectual discovery, strategic broadening and unparalleled professional fellowship.”

Noting that this year’s team was composed of 78 distinguished participants of the rank of Deputy Directors and above, Odama said they “were meticulously drawn from the military, para-military, law enforcement agencies and strategic ministries, departments and agencies of both federal and state governments.

“In significant testament to our pan-African mandate, we were privileged to host five African countries, which had earlier been mentioned. With the graduation of the AIMC 18, the institute has proudly graduated 1,130 strategic leaders.

“These are men and women who have been rigorously equipped to think critically and act decisively, as well as proffer innovative solutions to the most complex security and developmental challenges facing our nation and the continent at large.”

The Commandant expressed the institute’s deepest appreciation to President Tinubu and the Vice President for their visionary and pragmatic leadership, saying the Renewed Hope Agenda under the President’s stewardship was already manifesting in tangible progress across the nation.

VP SHETTIMA TO NISS COURSE 18: President Tinubu Acting Decisively To Frontally Address Nigeria’s Security Challenges

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Zulum assures FSTC Lassa of adequate security

Published

1 hour ago

December 10, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Zulum and Salau during the address to the staff and students of FSTC Lassa.

Zulum assures FSTC Lassa of adequate security

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Borno Governor Babagana Zulum has assured management of the Federal Science and technical College Lassa of adequate security for their existence as long as he remains chief security officer of the state.

Prof Zulum assured the management and students of an instant beef up of their security, to ensure that nobody will be endangered or exposed to being kidnapped by insurgents again.

The Governor noted that he will be providing the school with adequate security by deploying a fully equipped squad of civilian joint task forces (JTF) and vigilante to take care of their vigilance and security from now on.

The Governor who was in the school recently to feel their paulse after it was rebuilt from the last attack however urged them to be careful about the girl child admissions in the school obviously to discourage frequent abduction of girls by insurgents.

He suggested that boys other than girls should be hosted in the school’s dormitories for now for obvious reasons adding that he will surely look into the shortage of accommodation encountered by them as a long term fixer.

The Governor also assured that he Will provide more accommodation to teachers in the school adding that fencing will be addressed as soon as possible coupled with a new gate to secure the entrance.

On the need to recruit more teachers, the Governor directed that the Principal should screen some teachers he handpicked on the spot who will be enrolled by the Borno teachers board and posted to teach in their school.

This enrolment he stressed will take place based on the strict requirements of eleven key areas in line with the curriculum of technical schools and they would receive automatic employments from the state government.

On water supply to the school, Zulum assured that he will treat their demands for borehole, toilet and necessary water and sanitation (WASH) demands as priority for the kids

Earlier, the most senior teacher on ground and representative of the Principal Abubakar Salau said that since the last attack of the institution, confidence has been building up which is why they now have 230 students out of which 80 are girls and a total of 61 teaching and non teaching staff.

On Challenges, the Governor assured that the vigilante will be empowered to support the CJTF to secure the place.

“We will fix the fence where it has been damaged and I assure you that we will restore your gate accordingly to ensure all is safe.

“We need a gate to secure the students, more teachers in maths, metal and woodwork, chemistry and physics” teacher Salau had hinted.

Zulum assures FSTC Lassa of adequate security

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Nigeria’s Education Budget Jumps To ₦3.52trn Under President Tinubu

Published

1 hour ago

December 10, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Nigeria’s Education Budget Jumps To ₦3.52trn Under President Tinubu

** VP Shettima says out-of-school children pose national emergency, calls for private sector co-investment

By: Michael Mike

Nigeria’s education budget has jumped to ₦3.52 trillion in 2025 under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, which is a significant increase from ₦1.54 trillion in 2023.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who stated this in Tuesday in Abuja, said that the number of out-of-school children in the country constitutes a national emergency, calling for collaboration between government and private sector stakeholders to address the problem.

Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on General Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Aliyu Modibo Umar at the opening of the 2025 Nigeria Education Forum in Abuja, VP Shettima noted that education spending under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reflects the administration’s unwavering commitment to building an enlightened and globally competitive population.

The forum, organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Federal Ministry of Education, and the Committee of States’ Commissioners of Education, focused on the theme “Pathways to Sustainable Education Financing: Developing a Synergy Between Town and Gown in Nigeria.”

Senator Shettima said, “Nothing threatens a civilisation more than an uneducated generation. Nations rise when the people, regardless of circumstance, are equipped with the knowledge to imagine a better future and the skills to build it.”

The Vice President emphasised that Nigeria has reached a critical inflection point where traditional government-only funding models can no longer sustain the country’s educational needs. He called for a fundamental shift toward collaborative, innovative, and resilient financing mechanisms.

In his words: “The burden cannot rest on government alone. We must enlist private sector actors, industry leaders, alumni networks, philanthropists, and communities to co-invest in laboratories, research centres, vocational hubs, innovation clusters, and endowment funds.”

VP Shettima detailed substantial increases across key education funding agencies under the President Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope plan, where, for example, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) budget grew from ₦320.3 billion in 2023 to ₦683.4 billion in 2024, and now stands at ₦1.6 trillion in 2025.

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has distributed ₦92.4 billion in matching grants to 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Another ₦19 billion has supported teacher development across 32 states and the FCT, while ₦1.5 billion has reached more than 1,147 communities. Individual state UBE grants have increased from approximately ₦1.3 billion to over ₦3.3 billion, allowing states to access more than ₦6.6 billion through counterpart funding arrangements.

The newly created Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), established under the Student Loans Act of 2024, has already disbursed ₦86.3 billion to over 450,000 students in 218 tertiary institutions nationwide.

According to the Vice President, “This Fund signals a new era where no Nigerian is denied tertiary education for lack of money.

“The learning crisis cannot be solved without safe and well-equipped schools, from basic classrooms to technical laboratories. Teachers must enjoy adequate training, welfare, and professional recognition if they are to deliver the outcomes our children deserve.”

He called for deliberate collaboration across federal, state, and local government levels, emphasising the importance of prompt counterpart funding, transparent utilisation of resources, and strict adherence to action plans.

“Since education begins in the community, local governments and traditional institutions must take responsibility for infrastructure development, school maintenance, security, and teacher welfare.

“We are here today because we do not treat education as just a line item in the national budget. We treat it as the foundation of our national identity, the engine of our economic transformation, and the shield of our collective security,” the Vice President said.

Nigeria’s Education Budget Jumps To ₦3.52trn Under President Tinubu