How should FG handle Turkey’s arrest of 50 Nigerian students?

I think the whole thing is political, otherwise, both Nigeria and Turkey have, at least, business relationship. I believe Turkey has (tertiary) institutions in Nigeria; if that is the case, it is something that could be resolved between the two governments without necessarily putting innocent ones into unnecessary tension and problem. By my view, whatever must have necessitated it, the two governments should sit at a round table and iron the issues out, so that the innocent students could be released to go back to their schools. If they have found anything unusual in the behaviour of those that are in detention, they should let our government know and if they don’t want them in their country, Turkey, then they should repatriate them. If it is mere politics, I think they need to be released and allowed to go about their academic pursuits. Two wrongs don’t make a right. That is the more reason why the two ambassadors need to sit down together and iron issues out. By closing down the Turkish schools in Nigeria, government would only be creating more enemies. But if they find out that the blame belongs to Turkey, then their schools here also could be closed down. If they are saying they don’t want any relationship with Nigeria, then the embassy here should be closed down. The two countries should temper justice with mercy. The students should not be punished unnecessarily. •Joseph Coleman (Father of Turkey-based Nigerian students)

Minister of Education

The issue is complicated. I would not want to believe that they were arrested just because they are studying there or because they are beneficiaries of the scholarships of the alleged plotters of the failed coup. Things are so difficult in Nigeria that many Nigerian students seek support from different quarters abroad. In the process of seeking assistance, some of them could fall easily and become instruments in the hands of strange people. It is difficult to identify the reason for their involvement without actually investigating. I don’t think they would just arrest them because they are on the scholarship of so and so sponsors. What the Federal Government should do is to insist that the students be thoroughly investigated.

But if they have nothing to do with the coup and they were arrested simply because the originators of the coup gave some of the students scholarships, the Federal Government should intervene. The Federal Government should be realistic and work hand in hand with the Turkish government to get to the root of the matter. Questions to ask include: Were they involved in the coup? To what extent were they involved? What is their level of guilt, if there is any? The Federal Government should assist the students with lawyers and insist that they should be properly investigated. If they are found to be involved and the evidence is intimidating, that would be another level of intervention. For now, I think if someone left his country for a purpose and that purpose is not what he is pursuing abroad, and he is involving in illegalities, we should not condone that. This is irrespective of whatever nation such a fellow comes from. Let the Federal Government ensure that it has representatives among those that would investigate the students to ensure there is fair play. •Kolawole Ogundowole (A Professor of Philosophy, University of Lagos)

Beyond the immediate need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to respond quickly and positively to the arrest and incarceration of the 50 Nigerian students in Turkey lies the necessity, at this point in time, more than ever before for the Federal Government and state governments all over Nigeria to resuscitate our dying education system, particularly, the tertiary education system. It is the very sorry state of our education system that has created a situation in which young Nigerians, supported by their elite and middle-class parents, are now wandering in practically all the nooks and crannies of the world in search of education. We are talking about Turkey now; Nigerians are in Ukraine, a country where a war is raging. They are in all sorts of places all over the world looking for education. If in the long run, we want to prevent Nigerians from being arbitrarily arrested overseas while they are searching for education, from being killed in the United Arab Emirates as it happened to Aisha Falode’s son, from being brutalised all over the place, the thing to do is to fix our education system and turn it into a revenue earner in the face of evaporating foreign exchange. •Jiti Ogunye (Human rights lawyer)

First, we need to understand that Nigerian students don’t enjoy immunity abroad. They are not diplomatic officials. So, they are liable to be prosecuted for any offence they commit abroad. The best thing that the Federal Government can do is to employ diplomatic means. We, presently, don’t have any leverage over Turkey. The only option available to us is to follow the diplomatic path. The government should appeal to the Turkish ambassador in Nigeria to reach out to the home government in order to ensure a timely release of the students. They can even appeal for pardon for them.

But if the action of the Turkish government is a vendetta move, then Nigeria should also apply the principle of reciprocity and ensure that if Turkey has some companies here, the government should consider the option of closing the companies, even if it is temporary. But I don’t think it is a vendetta because based on the aftermath of the coup, many people were arrested from different backgrounds. I don’t think it is a personal attack. Let the investigative process be credible and if they are innocent, let the students come back home. Professor Dauda Saleh (Department of Political Science, UNIABUJA)

I think we should first ask why Nigerian students are going out to study abroad. If we fix our educational system, we will stop this exodus or education tourism. Considering the amount of money we are losing, it calls for concern. I was told that the Nigerian embassy is employing diplomatic measures. The matter should be properly investigated. The most important thing about diplomacy is that it is give and take. In matters of diplomacy, one has to be careful. If you close down Turkish schools in Nigeria or other stringent measures and they kill the students, what would be the gain? The primary responsibility of our government is to protect and preserve the lives of the citizens. If they can do anything that would ensure the release of the detained students, it would be in the best interest of Nigeria.

But ultimately, we have to address the issue of why our youths are going abroad for education in places that ordinarily would not have been of interest to them. Many of them are taking risks by going to volatile areas because they are seeking cheep education. So, if you allow your citizens to go to unsafe environments, then you have to manage the aftermath. I think it was wrong on our part to have created a situation that makes young citizens of this country seek educational opportunities in unstable environments such as Turkey and some parts of the Middle East. What we should do is to fix our education system. If we fix our education system, there would be lesser crises in Nigerian universities. If we listen to those who know the root of the crises such as staff unions, particularly ASUU, things would change. We know the root of the crises in Nigerian universities. We have proffered a number of solutions. If the government listens and do what it is expected to do, we will have less of these volatile situations on our hands. In the 50s and 60s, the citizens of other countries were coming to Nigeria for education, but these days, it is a one-way traffic. That should stop.•Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi (National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities)

I expect that the Federal Government by now should have got in touch with the government of Turkey. We have an ambassador to the country over there; the Federal Government should have got in touch with them and found out what is happening and asked for the immediate release of the students. It is an inter-government relationship and I think we don’t have a bad relationship with the government of Turkey. So, the (Nigerian) government should get in touch with the Turkish government immediately to ask it to release our students before any other thing can be done. I would say the arrest of the Nigerian students is a political move because they feel the two countries no longer have a good relationship, or else why would they have selected just Nigerians students, over 50 of them? There are students of other nationalities over there, so, it is purely political. The Federal Government should not take it lightly. It should do everything possible to make sure we get out of this position we currently find ourselves. The National Association of Nigerian Students is demanding that our students are released; in the next few days, we will go to the Turkish embassy to lock up the place to make sure they pass across our message to the government of Turkey and get our students out.•Aruna Kadiri (President, National Association of Nigerian Students)

• Details here on this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr6maaiN09c

Woman electrocuted month to wedding, family blames fiancé

A 35-year-old woman, Loretta Ewere, has been electrocuted at her fiance’s home on Ajoke Kazeem Street in the Idimu area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Ewere’s fiancé, Segun Tolani, was fixing an electrical fault when the incident happened.

She was said to have been rushed to a private hospital in the area but was rejected before being confirmed dead at the Igando General Hospital.

Ewere

Our correspondent, who visited the area on Tuesday, gathered that Ewere and Tolani had scheduled their wedding for November and preparation was in top gear when tragedy struck.

A resident, who did not want to be identified, said the incident happened around 1pm on Saturday, adding that it created chaos in the neighbourhood.

He said, “The man had wanted to change his old cable TV decoder and antenna. When power was restored, he discovered that he didn’t have electricity in his house.

“He wanted to do it himself, but neighbours advised him to get the service of an electrician. He contacted an electrician who billed him N2,500. But he said the charge was too high. He decided to go and rent a wooden ladder from someone in the area.

“He mounted the ladder on the wall and called the lady from inside the room to assist him in holding the ladder. She held the ladder with one hand and held an iron pole beside the room with the other hand.

“While he was working, the wire fell and touched the pole she was holding and that was how she was electrocuted.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that Tolani called for help from a next-door neighbour, whose wife reportedly rushed to the scene to pull out the victim with her bare hands.

She was reportedly flung by the electric current.

An electrician was said to have been invited, who then disconnected the power.

“The woman fell down and hit her head against the concrete floor. People tried to resuscitate her by giving her milk; but she didn’t come round. A lot of time had been wasted. She was rushed to a private hospital in the area, but she was rejected.

“We took her to the general hospital, where she was confirmed dead. Her corpse was deposited in a mortuary,” another resident said.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Ewere, an indigene of Ewuru, Delta State, worked in Union Diagnostics, a medical lab in Ikeja, while Tolani, who hails from Ekiti State, worked with an insurance company.

When our correspondent visited the victim’s family house on Ogidan Street, Idimu, they said the family was too distraught to talk about the incident.

However, a relative, who identified himself simply as Charles, blamed the incident on Tolani’s stinginess.

He explained that the duo had been living together for the past four years, adding that the two families had started preparation for their wedding.

He said, “They did their introduction four years ago and since then, they had been staying together. Their marriage was slated for November and the two families have bought clothes and sent invitation to people.

“Around 1pm of the day that she died, she called one of her friends that she would be going to shop for the wedding, not knowing that she would die that day.

“It was the man’s stinginess that killed her. If he had paid someone to fix the electrical fault, this would not have happened.”

Meanwhile, friends of the victim have started paying tributes to her on the social media.

One of them, Kehinde, wrote on Facebook, “Loretta (Ewere), a member of the Purchasing and Supply Students Association, The Polytechnic Ibadan, was kind-hearted, brilliant and reserved.  The industrious lady was preparing for her last two exams (slated for October 4 and 6) left for her to become a graduate when she died.  We love you, but God loves you most. I pray He accepts your soul and comforts your household.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.

She said the corpse had been deposited in a mortuary for autopsy.

 She said, “The woman, Loretta Ewere, was electrocuted around 9am. She was living with one Segun Tolani, to whom she was supposed to be married next month. They were fixing a GoTV antenna when power was suddenly restored. Ewere, who was holding the antenna wire, was electrocuted. The corpse has been deposited in a mortuary for a post-mortem examination.”

Youths stage anti-Tinubu protest at APC’s national secretariat

A group of youths stormed the APC National Secretariat on Tuesday to protest what they claim was the overbearing influence of the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on its affairs.

The party’s youths, who came under the aegis of the APC Democratic Youth Frontiers, held several banners with anti-Tinubu posters.

Glatiators of APC- Tinubu and Oyegun

Some of them read, ‘We are united in APC; Tinubu can’t separate us’; ‘Tinubu is not God’; ‘Greed is not democracy’; ‘No room for an emperor’.

Leader of the protesters, Mr. Lookman Salaudeen, said the APC national leader should be told to either toe the party line or be shown the way out.

He said, “We call on Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu to either leave the APC, (or) curtail his greed (and) toe the line and exhibit the kind of loyalty needed for party cohesion whether from ordinary members or national leaders.

“Nigeria is bigger than Lagos State, where you control affairs like a god; whose words are sacred and must be obeyed at all times.”

The group leader said he and members of the group were compelled to stage the protest when it became apparent that attacks on Buhari’s appointees and other party leaders were coming from within.

Salaudeen added, “We had initially thought this was the handiwork of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, who wanted to continue with the unjustified attacks on the administration of Mr. President.

“We are unusually perplexed that our leader, who parades himself as the national leader of our great party, the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, is the one now whistle-blowing against the same party he claimed to have brought into prominence.

The APC Gladiators

“Had any other member of the party done something like this, it would have been classified as an anti-party activity; it remains the same anti-party act, an offence from whatever perspective it is considered.

“He is apparently not seeing reason as he again launched an attack on our national chairman, Chief John (Odigie-) Oyegun, whom he asked to resign, the same way his proxies have been demanding the resignation of the appointees of Mr. President.

“He did this without any thought on how the call on the national chairman to resign would affect our party in the Edo State governorship election that was taking place just hours away from when he made that error of poor judgment.”

When contacted, Tinubu’s spokesman, Mr. Tunde Rahman, promised to get back to The PUNCH.

His response was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.

Also, a pro-APC group, ‘APC Disciples in Edo’, has warned against plots by some leaders of the party to force Odigie-Oyegun out of office by all means.

The group, in a statement by its leader, Chief Francis Inegbeniki, on Tuesday, said no amount of conspiracy would remove the national chairman.

It stated that Oyegun had not committed any offence warranting such calls for his resignation when it was so evident that he had delivered on his mandate as results of different elections held under him had testified.

It added, “it is unfortunate that Chief Bola Tinubu, our National leader, whom we all respect so much and Timi Frank to have asked Oyegun to resign from office, as both of them never disclosed any offence that Oyegun committed to warrant his resignation.

“Oyegun was not an aspirant in the Ondo APC primary; so, it is unnecessary for anyone to direct his anger to Oyegun. It is not fair to put all the blame on the head of Oyegun.”

Watch the video of the protest here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ENfSvCwcM