Pope Takes Decision On Married Priests Feb 12 [LEADERSHIP]

The Vatican yesterday said Pope Francis will on February 12 release a document in response to a proposal to allow married men into the priesthood.

The proposal is strictly limited to the Amazon region.

It was made in October by a summit of bishops, known as a synod, in order to deal with a serious shortage of clergy in the sparsely-populated South American rainforest region.

The idea outrages traditionalists, who fear it could open the way to the complete abolition of the celibacy rule for priests, which is not part of church dogma but has been in place since the Middle Ages.

In a so-called Apostolic Exhortation, the pope is expected to take a decision on the issue.

The Vatican said the document will be called Querida Amazonia, (Dear Amazon).

Francis is also due to weigh on other issues discussed by the Amazon synod, including social justice and climate change, minority rights and the role of women in the church.

A positive decision on married priests could exacerbate tensions between the pope and his conservative critics, who see his papacy as excessively liberal.

A previous bone of contention was Francis’ decision to soften a ban on Holy Communion for remarried divorced people, taken in 2016 following a proposal from another bishops’ summit.

I’ll Remain Neutral In Ganduje, Sanusi Feud – PMB [LEADERSHIP]

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he will continue to maintain a neutral position in the feud between Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness (HRH) Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Buhari, however, said that the separation of powers between the federal government and the states notwithstanding, he has enough grounds in the constitution to ensure that the security of Nigerians is not compromised.

He stated this yesterday when he received Governor Ganduje and the newly-elected state legislators on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Commenting on the dispute between the governor and the emir of Kano, the president in a statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu, said: “I know my role as the president of Nigeria. By the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the governor of Kano State has his own roles, once a matter is in the hands of the House of Assembly (like in Kano), the president has no constitutional right to interfere. I am here by the constitution, I swore by it, and I am going to stand by it.

Insecurity: Don’t Sack Service Chiefs Now – CSOs [LEADERSHIP]

Instead of the persistent calls for the sack of service chiefs due to the resurgence of attacks by insurgents and bandits in various parts of Nigeria, civil society organisations (CSOs) have appealed for mass support for the armed forces to address the security challenges facing the country.

The appeal came from several CSOs, which staged a massive solidarity rally for the security chiefs in Abuja and held separate press conferences to mobilise Nigerians to show understanding with the military heads as they intensify their crackdown on all criminal elements in the country.

The first set of CSOs under the aegis of the Conference of Civil Society Organisations for Peace, Security and National Development, held a rally at the Unity Fountain in Abuja while the second coalition, Conference of Civil Society of Nigeria (Civil Society Centre for Leadership and Followership) addressed a press conference at the secretariat of the Abuja Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The conveners of the Conference of Civil Society Organisations for Peace, Security and National Development, Hon. Mike Msuaan and Comrade Adamu Kabir Matazu, said that their group comprises 90 CSOs, which have jointly rejected the calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the service chiefs.

Visa Restrictions: FG, US Officials To Hold Crucial Negotiation Next Week [PUNCH]

The committee set up by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to look into issues surrounding the recent suspension of United States’ immigrant visa issuance to Nigerians has begun talks with the American government officials over the matter, Saturday PUNCH learnt on Friday.

Buhari had named the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, as the head of the committee, raised to liaise with the US government on the matter.

The visa ban effective from February 21 listed Nigeria together with Eritrea, Myanmar, Tanzania and Kyrgyzstan.

It was also reported that the US justified the decision, stating that Nigeria didn’t adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information necessary for the protection of national security and public safety of the US.

Terror Group Worse Than Boko Haram May Emerge, Says Sultan [PUNCH]

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji  Sa’ad Abubakar,  has warned about another future Boko Haram because of the over 50,000 orphaned youths in the North.

Speaking at a security meeting in Kaduna on Thursday, the monarch also condemned the setting up of Operation Shege-Ka-Fasa by the Coalition of Northern Groups in the region, calling on northern elders to caution them and  “don’t allow the youths to take over leadership from you”.

He said if nothing was done about the orphans, they would turn out to be worse than Boko Haram if northern governors failed to act.

He blamed the northern elite for the socio-political challenges facing the region.

The CNGs unveiled the symbol of the security outfit in Kaduna on Wednesday.

The Sultan said, said, “Governors must see that they do more to address insecurity, just imagine that there are over 50,000 orphans. They will be worst than Boko Haram if allowed to grow without proper care.

“Several recommendations have been made but are not implemented and as they remain unimplemented, we will continue to suffer the consequences.

“We are not short of solutions to the challenges facing the North, what we lack is implementation.

DSS Dismisses False Report On Terrorists Movements, Attacks On Luxury Buses [SUN]

The Department of State Services (DSS) has dismissed with a wave of the hand, a report that the service had alerted the public to the movement of terrorists into the FCT and other parts of southern and middlebelt regions of the country.

The statement issued by the service’s Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya, also announced that another misleading falsehood was the alleged hijack of luxury buses of three major transport companies on the Lokoja-Okene Road by persons suspected to be championing an ethnic agenda.

The service further explained that the alert purportedly issued by the service on the arrival of Boko Haram and other terrorist elements to the aforementioned places had been in circulation since 2013 when it was first created by mischief makers whose handiwork is to cause chaos.

IPOB Should Not Come Near Umuahia – CP [SUN]

Following the tension that is building up as the date for the burial of the parents of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu draws closer, the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon in this interview with OKEY SAMPSON in Umuahia has warned members of the pro Biafra group not to come near Umuahia, the Abia State capital under the guise of coming for the burial or they would have themselves to blame.

The burial of the parents of IPOB leader, Nnmadi Kanu is coming up next week, the pro Biafra group said they would participate actively. Is  the Police comfortable with that?

Do you think we will sit down here and allow IPOB to participate in the burial? Whoever thinks along that line is fooling himself. IPOB will dance during the burial and the police elephants will dance too.

IPOB said they are not coming for war or cause any trouble, but just to pay the parents of their leader their last respect. How would police react to that?

Valentine’s Day: Being Single Makes Me Angry –Uche Ogbodo [SUN]

Nollywood actress and single mum of one, Uche Ogbodo, has opened up on how she feels anytime she sees couples preparing for Valentine’s Day.

She confesses: “Valentine is almost here and I don’t have plans yet. Left for me, I would watch football all day. I don’t feel bad or get jealous seeing lovers getting ready to enjoy the day. Love is beautiful and should be celebrated, but sometimes I get angry because I am still single.”

Ogbodo, who welcomed her baby girl, Mildred more than five years ago, revealed that though, her baby daddy, Arthur Apo, has not been involved in the life of their daughter, she had since moved on.

“I am not lonely though. I have a boo and a full house. I have my 5-year-old daughter too. So, I have no time to be lonely. For now, my partner and I haven’t planned for Val’s day because he would be working. It is a Friday after all bu.

Supreme Court Refuses To Unfreeze Abacha’s Accounts In Switzerland, UK, Others [THE NATION]

THE family of the late Head of State, General  Sani Abacha, lost, on Friday, its bid to regain access to the many accounts held by its members in banks in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Jersey, Liechenstein and Luxembourg blocked upon a directive by the Nigerian government in 1999.

A five-man panel of the Supreme Court held, in a judgment on Friday, that it was too late for the Abacha family to query the decision taken by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1999, via a letter authored by the then Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Kanu Agabi (SAN).

Justice Chima Nweze, who authored the panel’s lead judgment. in the appeal marked: SC/68/2010, held among others, that in view of the evidence presented by parties, he was left with no other options than to uphold the earlier concurrent decisions of the two lower courts (the Federal High Court, Kano and the Court of Appeal, Kaduna division), to the effect that the action was statute barred.

Our Nightmares, Our Joy [THE NATION]

Things have not been the same in the transport sector of Lagos State since the state government announced its decision to curtail the activities of the operators of commercial motorcycles, popularly called okada, and their tricycle counterparts, popularly called Keke Marwa.

As it would be expected, there have been protests in different parts of the city, organised by the operators with sympathy from commuters who are feeling hard done by the policy. In Ijora, Iyana Ipaja, Ikeja and other parts of the city, law enforcement agents have had to battle it out with protesters who believe that their sources of livelihood are under threat on account of the new policy.

Insecurity: Go After Hate Preachers, Sultan Tells Christian, Muslim Leaders [THE NATION]

THE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar II, is canvassing the arrest and prosecution of hate preachers in the country be they Muslims or Christians.

He warned on Friday that the conduct of such hate preachers was putting the unity of Nigeria at risk.

“One of the problems we are facing as a people is religious leaders who mount the pulpit and say anything they like and get away with it,” the Sultan said at the opening of the 2nd National Summit on Peaceful Coexistence and Nation Building in Jos.

He added: “I don’t know why security agencies don’t often go after such religious leaders. I think we will be better off as a country if security agencies go after anyone who hides under religion to commit crime against the country.

“The preacher who incites his followers is as criminal as any agent of insurgency.They should be charged for public incitement.”