The 2017 diary: July 2017

July 1. Retired Generals, others insist Osinbajo capable of making appointments.

Retired military brass hats insisted that the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, wielded sufficient authority to replace them, if the need arose. Prominent lawyers are also of the view that the Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution empowered an acting President to carry out his principal’s role as Commander-in-Chief, without let or hindrance.

July 2. 1.7 million NigeriaN women, 380,000 children living with HIV. No fewer than 1.7 million women and 380,000 children under age 15, were living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, according to the 2015 data by the National AIDS and STIs Control Program (NASCP) of the Federal Ministry of Health.

July 3. Frontline diplomat, Maitama Sule, dies at 87. Elder statesman and former Nigeria’s representative to the United Nations, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule died. He was 87 years old. His only surviving son, Alhaji Mukhatar Maitam Sule said his father passed on at an Egyptian hospital.

July 4. Senate asks Osinbajo to recant on appointments. The National Assembly asked Osinbajo to immediately withdraw his earlier remarks that the Senate lacked the power to confirm nominees of the President.

July 5. Resign if you can’t cope, Senate tells Fashola The Senate Committee on Appropriation asked the Works, Power and Housing Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to resign if he could not cope with the responsibilities of his Ministry.

July 6. 97 Nigerians feared killed in Bakai by Grandarmes. About 97 Nigerians were feared killed as Cameroon Grandarmes allegedly attacked residents of Bakassi over failure to pay N 100,000 boat levy.

** NAF helicopter crashes into water in Borno. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) confirmed that one helicopter; Augusta 109 Light Utility suffered technical mishap and crashed into a pool of water in Borno state.

July 7. Fear gripe Ogun over Badoo cult incursion. Trepidation gripped residents and members of Lagos border communities within Ibafo and Mowe axis in Ogun state over alleged news of the incursion of the dreaded Badoo cult group in to the area.

July 8. NASS tests might against Presidency. National Assembly (NASS) leadership perfected plan to over ride the veto of the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on some Bills, which lawmakers considered of the strategic to economic revival efforts of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

July 11. Osinbajo holds secret meeting with President Buhari in London. Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo secretly travelled to London in the United Kingdom where he held a meeting with ailing President Muhammadu Buhari.

July 12. Supreme Court’s verdict ends 14-month battle in PDP. Supreme Court ended a 14 month leadership squabble within the country’s main opposition-the People’s Democratic Party and gave it to a new lease of life ahead of an important general election in 2019.

Senator Ahmed Markafi, the former Governor of Kaduna State and his counterpart from Borno, Senator Alli Sheriff, were locked in a protracted legal battle for the soul of the party, forcing the main opposition to lose critical elections, including Governorship seats in Edo and Ondo states and legislative seats in many others.

July 13. PDP offers Sheriff “amnesty”, gives quit notice to APC. The first reconciliatory step in the PDP was the granting of amnesty to its former and factional leader, Alli Modu Sheriff, and his supporters by the National Caretaker Committee of the party.

** Reps probe alleged killing of 97 Nigerians in Bakassi by Cameroonian gendarms. The House of Representative ordered an immediate probe into the alleged killing of 97 Nigerians by Cameroonian Gendarms. The House of Representatives ordered an immediate probe into the alleged killing of 97 Nigerians by Cameroonian gendarmes in Bakassi Peninsula.

July 14 Badoo: Ikorodu residents resort to self help. The residents of Ikorodu learnt how to apply many self defence strategies, both night and day, against Badoo cult terror attacks. During this period, many young men and old, engaged in street to street patrol.

July 15 Osinbajo, vice-chancellor inaugurate advanced studies institute at OAU. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and vice-chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Osun state, Prof Temitope Ogunbodede, inaugurated the Institute of Advanced Studies (LAS) at the tertiary institution. The brain behind the institution was Professor of African –American Studies at Harvard University, Jacob Olupona.

July 18. 37 feared killed in fresh Southern Kaduna crisis. At least, 37 people were feared killed and many others seriously injured in fresh crisis that broke out in Southern Kaduna. The latest trouble was said to have started when some Fulani youths allegedly went to a village at Ugwan Uka to avenge the killing of their kinsmen.

July 19. Minister denies killing of 97 Nigerians by Cameroonians. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyeama denied the killing of 97 Nigerians by Cameroonian gendarms. The Permanent Secretary, Olusola Enikanolaiye and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, stated that there was no concrete evidence to back the claim.

July 20. Osinbajo seeks N135.643 billion virement for priority projects. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo wanted the approval of the House of Representatives for a virement of N 134,643,018,749 billion from Budget lines to fund the Federal Government’s priority projects and programmes.

**Again, The Guardian’s Uwaaegbulam wins Housing, Environment Reporter of the year. The property and Environment Editor, Cainedun Uwaegbunam won the Housing & Environment Reporter of the year for his series of exclusive stories in the real estate sector.

July 21. Prostitute stabs businessman to death for refusing to pay her. A middle aged prostitute who operated in a popular brothel around Abraka Quarters in Asaba, Delta State, stabbed a businessman to death over his refusal to pay for extra sexual “services”. The suspect broke a bottle to stab her customer in the stomach.

July 22. Poor turn-out, violence as Lagosians elect council officials. Heavy down pour which lasted for about two hours kept parts of Lagos State heavily flooded, as well as ensured the late commencement of voting in the state’s local council polls. Out of the 12 parties that registered for the council poll, only the APC and Labour Party eventually took part.

July 23. Government loses N6 billion yearly to fake cargo insurance papers. About 300,000 of the cargoes imported through the nation’s airports and seaport yearly had no genuine insurance papers.

**17 Million Nigerians in Diaspora push for voting rights. The leaders of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) were in the country to ensure that about 17 million of their members spread across the world participate in elections to choose those to be at their helm of the country.

July 26. Governors silent after meeting Buhari in London. The six state governors who visited President Muhammadu Buhari at Abuja House, the official residence of the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, kept mum after meeting the ailing leader. The governors who arrived around 2.50 pm, left about an hour later, looking morose and refusing to utter word when The Guardian asked for the outcome with Buhari.

July 27. You’re lazy, Sultan tells northern governors. The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar condemned what he considered as the lazy attitude of some northern governors to governance. The Sultan said the governors must show practical commitment to discharging their duties by avoiding procrastination.

July 28. 65 days after, abducted Igbonla school boys regain freedom in Ondo. Respite came for the six students of Lagos Model College, Igbonla, Epe area of Lagos State and their parents, 65 days after unknown men camouflaged in Police uniform, kidnapped them, they were found in Ondo State.

The students were Judah Agbaosi, Ramon Isiaka, Adebanjo George, Yusuf Fariouk, Peter Jonas and Pelumi Philips.