Apparently disturbed by the ravaging attacks of bandits in some parts of the country, Progressive Governors’ Forum have resolved to strengthen local security towards preventing possible attacks that could truncate the development in their states.

The governors stated that strengthening community-based security initiatives and better intelligence gathering from the grassroots were identified as major antidote to gunmen attacks across the country.

The communique issued by the governors on Saturday after a two-day meeting in Lagos where security, economy, and social welfare issues were reviewed with the aim to address hurdles that may affect growth and development in the country.

The communique was read by the chairman of the Forum, Governor Hope Nzodimma of Imo State.

Governors in attendance attendance included: Kebbi, Dr. Nasir Idris, Edo, Senator Monday Okpebholo, Ogun, Dapo Abiodun, Ekiti, Biodun Oyebanji, Ondo, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Sokoto, Ahmad Aliyu, Akwa-Ibom, Pastor Umo Eno, Delta, Sheriff Oborevwori, Enugu, Peter Mbah, Kaduna, Uba Sani and Katsina, Dikko Umar.

The host Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu said, “The engagement provided an opportunity to review the nation’s current trajectory, deepen coordination among progressive governors, and reaffirm the Forum’s unwavering support for the Renewed Hope agenda of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

According to the governors on platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the decision to embark on strengthening local security architecture was taking after a review of the security situation across the country particularly as it affects each states.

The Forum reviewed the security situation across the country and expressed appreciation for the improved coordination between federal, state and local security structures, as well as the courage and sacrifices of security agencies and community volunteers.

The Forum commended the President for the ongoing re-engineering in the security architecture of the country.

Governors reiterated that safety of lives and property remains a non-negotiable obligation of government.

The PGF resolved to continue strengthening community-based security initiatives, intelligence gathering, conflict-prevention mechanisms and support for victims of violence and disaster.

The Forum underscored the importance of social cohesion, inter-faith harmony and inter-ethnic understanding, and urged all leaders to use their voices and platforms to promote unity, moderation and respect, while isolating criminality and hate speech in all its forms.

“The meeting served as an important platform for aligning state-level priorities with national reforms, reinforcing the centrality of citizens, citizens’ welfare in governance, and consolidating the Forum’s shared vision of people focused and development-driven leadership at all levels of government.

“The Forum undertook a broad review of the political, economic, and social environment in the country.

“Governors reaffirmed that the ultimate purpose of every reform must be to improve the lives of Nigerians, protect their dignity, and expand opportunities for all, rural and urban, youth and elderly, women and men, workers, entrepreneurs, and vulnerable groups alike.

“The Forum noted ongoing efforts at food security, power sector improvement, transport and infrastructure upgrades, social investment, and support for productive enterprises, and pledged to align state policies to maximise the benefits of these reforms for citizens in every ward and in our communities.

The Progressive Governors Forum resolved to intensify state-level interventions in areas such as food production and distribution, support to small and medium-scale enterprises, youth employment, social protection for the poorest and most vulnerable, and targeted relief for workers and low-income households.

“We, the Progressive Governors, are committed to working closely with federal institutions, the National Economic Council and local governments to ensure that things keep improving, that no group is left behind, and that the gains of reforms continue to translate into visible improvement in the quality of life of the people.”

By Jackson Udom

On 5 December 2025, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan again resorted to social media to claim incorrectly and misleadingly that His Excellency, the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, had only just filed a multi-billion-naira defamation suit against her over her unfounded allegations of sexual misconduct.

These allegations, as the public is well aware, have never been supported by a single shred of evidence before the Senate Committee or before any competent authority.

For the avoidance of doubt, the facts are clear, verifiable, and already before the court.

Following Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s grave and unsubstantiated accusations capable of inflicting severe reputational damage, Senator Akpabio exercised his constitutional right to seek legal redress. The suit was filed over three months ago. Its progress was temporarily delayed by routine administrative processes and the normal judicial procedures.

Upon the resumption of judicial activities on the file, several attempts were made by the court’s bailiff to personally serve Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan with the originating processes. Each attempt failed due to her deliberate evasion of service, as deposed to under oath in the bailiff’s affidavit now before the court. Only after these repeated evasions did the court, in November this year granted the application for substituted service.

Her claim that the matter was “just filed” is therefore false, misleading, and intended to distort public understanding of the case.

We reiterate that legal disputes are resolved in courtrooms, not through orchestrated narratives and staged outrage on social-media platforms. The online applause Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan habitually seeks cannot replace credible evidence, legal procedure, or judicial scrutiny.

This behaviour is consistent with her pattern during her six-month Senate suspension, an entirely lawful disciplinary measure she sought to delegitimise through digital agitation, only to ultimately serve the suspension in full.

It is time for Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to present the “evidence” she claims to possess before a court of competent jurisdiction, rather than relying on sensationalised commentary designed solely to attract sympathy and obscure the facts.

The law is guided by proof, procedure, and due process, not sentiment, not emotion, and certainly not social-media theatrics. She is advised to properly instruct her lawyers, file her defence, and finally provide the evidence she purports to have for the baseless allegations she has peddled over this matter.

This is that her golden opportunity. The public, the media, and the legal community now await her defence to the unsubstantiated accusations capable .

Udom is Special Assistant To President Of The Senate On Media.

Prof (Mazi) Okoro Ojiaku,a native of Imo state and the author of the Book on “Before Nigeria was” described an Igboman as an adventurist and competitive in nature which pinches him with other ethnic groups in Nigeria.
In this interview with the Publisher of Daily Echoes Media, Ignatius Okorocha, Prof Ojiaku dived into the genealogy of the country known as Nigeria.

He speaks on other issues of national importance.
Excerpts:

Prof can you tell us the import of your book on “Before Nigeria was”

Well,good to tell you that I am from Imo State and I am the author of the “Book Before Nigeria was” which is now the subject of our discussion.
Actually, I started with a question ” Why are we (Nigerians) the way we are today.That was the initial interest I had and it was in the cause of the research that I discovered that the question could be the other way round, “how did Nigeria become the way it is and it was on that note that I started with ‘Ecology’ that is the study of an environment and human behaviour in this country, which is the subject of my research. That is how Nigeria became what it is today was conditioned by the environment in which the various communities live in, comprising; the Igbo,the Yoruba,the Kanuri and the Hausa.
In the case of the Fulani, I discovered that they were included into the society and they came into the society and because of their adventure into the society alot of things started going different ways.That is, if they had not entered Nigeria the way they did, possibly the other three ethnic groups would have gotten themselves together and Nigeria would have become a different country today.

What other things in your book do you think can attract Nigerians to long to read this book?

There are two things that differentiate this book from other books. One of them is the meaning of the word Nigeria. South of River Niger and Benue is not Nigeria.What is Nigeria is not Nigeria by Lord Lugard and his virtual wife. Anybody North of Benue, North of Niger is a Nigerian but the interpretation dies not include Anybody South of any of those Rivers. That is one.
The second is the word Nigeria actually is an insult to the people who are called Nigerians because they are not what Nigeria means. Since they are not what Nigeria means,the question is what does Nigeria mean by the people who founded and coined the country, that is Mrs Lugard Niger-Aria. We, are not in Niger-aria, we are in Niger and Benue aria. So, there is no need saying that we are in Nigeria because you are in Niger-aria. A person who is in Niger-aria can be a Nigerian but a person who is in Niger/Benue-aria can not get a Nigeria. And I insisted that the word Nigeria should not apply to people in the South and secondly that Nigeria has to find a name for itself, possibly something like Nock-aria, that is area in the North. The North civilization which was about 500 BC and existed in this country called Nigeria. So, if all of us are going to be Nigerians it is Nock- aria not Nigeria.
The title of the book is before Nigeria was. The Ecology of the Igbos, the Yoruba, the Kanuri. These are the , major ethnic groups that make up Nigeria and are really the major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Fulani are not.

Talking about the Igbo ethnic group,we discovered that there is this perceived level of hatred mated on the Igbos by other ethnic groups in Nigeria. Why is it so?

The Igbos are not hated rather they are misunderstood and the major characteristics of an Igboman tend to frighten others, especially because of their competitive nature, their resilience,and their adventurism, these are the things that others have not been able to understand and whenever they come across the Igbo people, these particular features tend to disturb them. So, there is resentment against the Igbos because of these qualities.
Like I said before, the seemingly hatred against the Igboman is born out of his characteristics nature. His right is built around competition and it is one of the major principles that really instill into his psychic-the struggle to survive by competition. You don’t expect things to come to you.You have to work for it and consequently,it became part of their lives to go anywhere and survive because, if you have to survive not just in your own environment, but you can survive in anyother environment and when they go to a different environment where the people are not competitive they do the best they can to survive. An Igboman will go to a place empty handed and by the time he lives he has accumulated a lot. An Igboman is one person in Nigeria that can go anywhere and make the place his home permanently, build industries, establish and stay there as his home and the natives find a way of resenting him. The question is ‘Why? It is not because an Igboman is antagonistic, no it is because of his competitive nature aside other tribes don’t know how to handle competition, it frightens them and it worries them.

Don’t you think that this perceived antagonistic behaviour of other tribes in Nigeria against the Igbos may have been as a result of the civil war between Nigeria and Biafra?
You see Nigeria felt that she has defeated the Igbos in 1970 and destroyed everything they had. Do you know that in 1970 an average Igboman did not have upto N20 but from 1975 on, the Igbos began to resurrect. The question is why? How did they do it. The Igboman was the last…but 10years after the civil war he came to be the first. What held other people back, was it the Igbos. The Igboman was not in politics, he had no money, he had no power, he had no control because he was ostracised he sought of started working on himself. He was able to come back to life and Nigeria became very very disturbed by it because this somebody they thought they have finished but he is now back to life.Those people who were his destroyers are now still looking for a way to live.

Again looking at power equation in Nigeria by way of rotational presidency, it does appear that the Igbo have been shortchanged. Prior to the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu,it was expected that an Igboman would emerge as the president of Nigeria. And having lost that opportunity in 2023 that power may likely move to North after Tinubu. When will an Igboman ascend the seat of presidency in Nigeria?

There are two answers to it. In my own view I don’t think the Igboman should try to ask Nigerians to make a leader.I think Nigeria has to come and beg an Igboman to be his president because without the igbos Nigeria will never succeed. The only true Nigerian in Nigeria is an Igbo. That is he lives anywhere,anyhow, with anybody under any condition. An Igboman goes to Kaduna and becomes a Kaduna man, he goes to Abeokuta, he builds a house and becomes an Abeokuta man. He goes to Kafanchan builds a house and ,ives there. In otherwords he can go to any part of Nigeria and resides there as his own. Therefore he is the only one person who qualifies as a Nigerian. The other people are sort of fake Nigerians. They are more interested in what they can get rather than what they can give.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently accorded amnesty to some convicts in various Prisons in the country but our brother Nnamdi Kanu was not included among such people. What do you think could be the reason for denying Kanu prerogative of mercy by the Federal government?

Actually in my own view Kanu’s incarceration is not particular to Kanu it is the incarceration of the Igbos in politics. The average Igboman in Nigeria today is incarcerated because a Fulani person can not be incarcerated in Nigeria as Kanu has been, a Yorubaman can not be incarcerated for so long as Kanu has been neither a Jukun or even anybody from the North but this is one person whose own community is unable to bring out after so many years inspite of court judgement.
The question is why?
There are two reasons. The first is lack of unity of purpose among the igbos. The second is because of the Igboman’s personal ambition. This is because he doesn’t talk as a group. He is for self. They said it is the golebility of an Igboman. He can easily be deceived. Whatever position he holds he can easily be bought over but a Fulani can not be. A Yorubaman can not be bought over but if he is bought over,he can easily decieve you to the point that he can never be deceived or bought over.
The second in my view is that a person like Peter Obi should not be bothering himself with Nigerian leadership struggle. Nigeria has to beg Obi to be its leader because as long as Obi is fighting for Nigeria, they will take it forgranted that he owes them an obligation. They are the people who owe him an obligation because they know that his leadership can bring them out of life.