By Omonu YG Nelson
The Nigerian Peace Corps has described as misleading , ridiculous and preposterous, the on going campaign of calumny, which is aimed at misleading Nigerians on the status of the Nigerian Peace Corps bill and the actors, whose efforts brought the corps to fruition.
A statement signed by the Assistant Commandant General (ACG) Administration of the corps, Azeez W.T, on behalf of Commandant-General , Dr Mustapha Abubakar, explained that the corps is not the personal efforts of any single group or individual (s). He appealed to Nigerians to disregard the purported statement issued by Senator Ali Ndume. The corps affirmed that the media campaign is a calculated attempt by some sponsored henchmen, whose main aim is to hoodwink Nigerians by standing truth on its head.
“We remained resolute,” the corps fumed. “The Command headquarters wouldn’t have reacted to the news being maliciously sponsored and diffused ubiquitously regarding the ownership of Nigerian Peace Corps bill that has just been passed as the argument lacks merit,in all ramifications, and falls into the indepth of banality.
“It is characteristic of the group in question to lay claim to everything claimable including air which human being breathes. It is indisputably a natural tendency on their part with mastery.
“Those who are not cursory observers of the project and its transitional development will bear testimony to the erratic launching of media onslaught against any group that constitutes an integral component to the bill. Our experiences in 2017 pre and post public hearing event speak volume of the antics, covetousness and aggrandizement of right to the bill. It was ridiculous!
“The perversive sponsorship of misleading information, news and report on a large scale, on media, by the group was the order of the day until they were put into a permanent state of shutup at the end of the day. “
The statement further that, ordinarily, there shouldn’t have been any need to respond to the (new) poorly orchestrated and executed mischief, but for the benefit of Nigeria s, who may unknowingly buy into lies of these usurpers.
“It is our responsibility to correct the erroneous notion, feeding them back thier vomits and debunking the claim of “it is mine” .
“The bill in question is a private bill sponsored by senators and not the man in question, for the benefit of Nigerians.
“These bills did not emanate only from the group alone. It is a bill that enjoys harmonization of the upper and lower Chambers of the national assembly due to some areas of pronounced divergence, for example, our emphasis and major focus, among other cardinal functions, centre on mediation and conflict resolution.
“Three, it has to be noted that once a bill is passed by the National Assembly and the clean copy sent to the presidency, the bulk of the work lies on the president who either assents or rejects such a bill in the national interest. No senator or any individual is capable of forcing the president to choose any of the aforementioned options. The prerogative power of the president comes into force in this regards. The claim “it is mine” therefore becomes nonsensical as it has no effect in the decision making process.”
According to the statement, the federal government of Nigerian, under the leadership of President Muhammed Buhari has appointed a leader for the Nigerian Peace Corps, hence it has become a public institution, not belonging to anyone or group.
“The president has the responsibility of appointing any competently qualified Nigerian to lead the agency. For example Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, CFR (Rtd) has his background in the military, he had even occupied a position of military administrator and he later became the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Custom Service by virtue of presidential appointment. So what is the relevance of nasty and horrible statement of “it is mine”!
“Once a leader of the agency is appointed, every qualified Nigerian can be absorbed into the Corps by the appropriate ministry of the Federal government of Nigeria and not an individual dozing in the garrulity of ridiculous notion of “it is mine” whereas It is not yours, it is government’s!
“It is not in doubt that as at today, the leadership of Nigerian Peace Corps is headed by no other person than Dr Mustapha Muhammad Abubakar. And that is why he is enjoying enormous goodwill and fraternizing with eminent Nigerians whose understanding transcends a mere rustic pronouncement of “it is mine”. That Dr Mustapha Abubakr leads the agency is no longer a news as eminent personalities in Nigeria be it monarchs, politicians and every stakeholder across the length and breath of the country acknowledges this fact and not a controversial element who wrote a master degree examination in a university few years back and today laying claim to profesorship.”
The Commandant appealed to Nigerians to remained calm and focused and never to be distracted by charlatans, who are out to reap from where they did not show. He restated the commitment of the corps under his command, to the development of officers and men towards the realisation of the purpose for which it was set up.
“It is, however, part of our responsibilities as a structured organization to sensitize our members to remain focus and unperturbed by the baseless statements of distraction.It has no effect!
“The Commandant-General of the Corps is absolutely committed to the development of officers and men of the Corps and realisation of the objectives of the agency.”