Wike came out against me in Rivers – Obi

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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 elections, Peter Obi, has claimed that the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, came out against him during the elections.

Obi said people who voted for him did not do so on the basis of ethnicity, saying the electorate knew what he stood for. He added that he even got more votes from Lagos indigenes than those referred to as “visitors”.

In the South-East, it is a similar situation, people know me, people know what I stand for, people know I have kept my promises. People know I’ve kept to what I have said.

It is a simple thing, people go about and say, oh! he got votes in Lagos because of the Igbo, and I ask how many Igbos live in Lagos? I got more votes from indigenes in Lagos than those who you can call visitors.

Youths, politics in social media age

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The year was 1954 when 25-year old Martin Luther King Jr became a pastor in the Dexter Baptist Church. By 1955, a now 26-year old King organised the Montgomery bus boycott in protest of the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in Southern United States.

As a 32-year-old, he had started the non-violent Albany movement against all forms of racial segregation in Albany Georgia. As a 34-year-old, he had also started the Birmingham campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice where he was jailed, during which he wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.

It was at this same age that King organised the epic March on Washington where the now renowned “I Have a Dream” speech was made.

At 35, his agitations had led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that ended racial segregation and turning 36, he had achieved the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which ended disenfranchisement of black people in the United States and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 that improved the living condition for all poor people. King Jr was assassinated on April 4, 1968. He was a mere 39 years, 79 days old.

Parliament speakers urge Tinubu to prioritise youth empowerment

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Nigerian youth leaders, under the auspices of the Conference of State Youth Parliament Speakers, on Monday, called on President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to use his victory to make an impact in the lives of teeming youths who are ready to contribute to the development of the largest economy in Africa.

The PUNCH reports that the conference is an offshoot of the National and State Assemblies as established in the 2019 youth Policy Act, whose vision is to create a platform for developing and empowering Nigerian youths to fully realize their potential to build leadership capacities, postulate actionable policies and implement community impact projects.

In a statement by its image maker, Fawole Opeyemi, the youth leaders urged Tinubu to embrace the philosophy of youth inclusion and empowerment across all the zones in his administration.

The statement quoted the conference chairman, Toba Fatunla, appealing to the incoming president to strengthen the youth system, saying by doing so, he has given a sense of belonging and fulfilment to the youths.

Herders killed 5,138 people during Ortom administration, SEMA alleges

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The Executive Secretary of the Benue State Emergency and Management Agency, Emmanuel Shior, has said that 5,138 people were killed by suspected herders under Governor Samuel Ortom’s administration.

The SEMA boss stated this on Monday when he addressed journalists on the humanitarian situation in the state since the assumption of office of the Ortom-led administration about eight years ago.

He said in all, 18 of the 23 local government areas of the state were attacked by suspected armed herders.

Shior, who gave breakdown of deaths recorded since assumption of office of Governor Ortom since 2015, hinted that the figures were the ones recorded.

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