logo.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the prophecy
that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its leaders will be
stoned for failure has come to pass as Nigerians are already
stoning them with the words of their mouths.
In a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary,
Kola Ologbondiyan, the party asked the APC leaders to perish the
purported plan to change the name of the ruling party.
It stated that such a move would amount to a desperate decoy to
exonerate themselves from the failures of the party and the present
administration, which it said have led the nation to excruciating
hardship.
“Our party is already aware of clandestine meetings being held
by APC leaders following their realisation that the APC, as a
political party, has failed as a platform for governance and
managing of the broad diversity of our nation.
“The APC leaders, who are already troubled by the post-President
Buhari’s disastrous tenure in office, are planning to adopt a new
name in order to beguile Nigerians once again,” it said.
The PDP accused the APC leadership of deceiving Nigerians with
it claims that opposition members were trooping into its fold.
According to it, this will not save the APC from crashing and
only those who have lost relevance with the people by betraying
their causes will seek accommodation in the ruling party.
flags.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
“Which patriotic Nigerians would want to join the APC that has
wrecked our economy, reneged on all its campaign promises?” the
opposition party questioned.
It added, “Which patriotic Nigerian can join the APC that has
willfully failed to secure our citizens from marauders, insurgents,
and bandits; a party under whose watch, the once happy and
prosperous Nigerian citizens can no longer afford basic necessities
of life to the extent that they now resort to suicide and slavery
mission abroad as options?”
The PDP believes the ruling party is overweighed with the burden
of failure and can no longer be a platform for any credible
Nigerian who has the intention to serve the people.
It stressed that while the APC leadership was celebrating with
lone defectors, a majority of Nigerians have been rallying with the
opposition party.
“After all, not a few APC governors as well as ministers in
President Buhari’s cabinet and members of the National Assembly are
already fed up and have expressed their readiness to join the
rescue train, PDP.
“However, what is paramount to our party at this critical time
is the wellbeing and security of our citizens, particularly as the
APC has shown that it has no capacity for governance and has no
iota of regard for the good of Nigerians,” the opposition party
said.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/11/27/apc-plans-to-change-name-nigerians-already-stoning-them-pdp/
The Kingdom of Netherlands on Thursday officially presented a
smuggled Ife Terracotta antiquity dated to be at least 600 years
old to Nigeria.
The repatriated antiquity was presented to the Minister of
Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed at a ceremony held in
Abuja.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, Netherlands
Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry Van Dijk, Nigeria Charge de Affairs to
Netherlands, Kabiru Musa and the Director-General National
Commission for Museum and Monuments (NCMM) were present at the
event.
Receiving the repatriated object, the minister said it was
smuggled through the airport in Ghana before getting to Europe in
2019.
“The smuggler had obtained forged documents purported to be from
a former Director-General of the National Commission for Museums
and Monuments.
“The smuggler ultimately passed through the airport in Ghana
before getting to Europe in 2019.
“The Dutch Customs at Schiphol Airport suspected that the object
might be illicitly imported and alerted the antiquity protection
office known as the Inspectie, which is the Information and
Heritage Inspectorate of the Netherlands, to give an opinion.
“The Inspectie invited Nigeria to prove her case against the
suspected smuggler,’’ he said.
In proving the case, Mohammed said the NCMM acted swiftly by
dispatching its lawyer, Mr Babatunde Adebiyi, to present evidence
and argue for the return of the object.
He said Nigeria was successful in the case and the claim was
determined in its favour.
Mohammed said after all internal procedures, including the right
of appeal, were exhausted, the Government of the Netherlands handed
over the object to the Nigerian Embassy in Hague on Nov. 2.
He noted that with the repatriation of the “priceless and
timeless’’ artefact the federal government efforts at pursuing the
return of Nigerian antiquities had started yielding fruits.
The minister underscored the need for Nigeria to tap into
tourism and other fields, where Nigeria has comparative advantages,
in order to generate income for the nation and secure jobs for the
youth.
“One way of generating income for the country is if our cultural
properties are exhibited around the world to a fee-paying audience,
on the basis of proper agreement that acknowledges us as owners and
confers the right benefits on us.
“But this is not possible for as long as most of them adorn the
museums and private collections of others, who describe them as
their properties,’’ he said.
The minister reiterated Nigeria commitment to joint
international efforts to put a stop to illicit export and import of
cultural goods.
He said Netherland and Nigeria will make a joint presentation on
the repatriation to the UNESCO Secretariat in Paris, so that other
nations might take a cue from it in finding rapprochement and
common ground concerning the issue of return of antiquities.
On his part, Onyema said it is a happy day for Nigeria because
there are many Nigerian cultural assets around the world which have
become difficult to track.
He said some of the assets were taken out of the country for
over 100 years back and some more recently.
The minister said there is underground illegal market for
cultural asset which has made them difficult to identify, retrieve
and repatriate.
Onyema said the government is committed to the restitution of
all the nation’s cultural assets illegally taken and litter across
the globe
Musa said the repatriation was made possible in compliance with
the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Prevention of Illegal Trafficking
of Cultural Heritage which Nigeria and Netherlands are
signatories.
He said that the return of the smuggled artefact was significant
considering the fact that it coincided with 50 years-celebration of
the UNESCO Convention.