The Bishop of Ekwulobia, Peter Cardinal Okpaleke, has recalled the circumstances leading to his coronation as the new prince of the Nigerian Catholic Church, saying all things work for the good of those who love God. Before his elevation as Cardinal, controversy had trailed Okpaleke’s appointment as Bishop of Ahiara Diocese in Imo State. Some clergy and lay faithful had protested his appointment because he is not an indigene. The situation forced him to resign which later made Pope Francis carve out Ekwulobia Diocese in Anambra and installed him as Bishop.   In an interview with Vatican City News, Okpaleke spoke about how he received the news of his appointment and how his pastoral experiences contribute to inspiring him in his new role. “We know that all things work for good for those who love God,” Okapaleke said, stating that he considered his own unworthiness and shortcomings. “By the grace of God, it has pleased the Holy Spirit working in the Church.” According to Okpaleke, in spite of the difficult moments and the antagonism that trailed his appointment as Bishop, God granted him peace as he had never experienced before. He said, “Jesus talks of this type of peace in John 14:27. Now, I know what Jesus meant; that he gives us peace; not the kind of peace that the world gives.” “Ours is a providential God who, in spite of seeming confusion and randomness, directs history to his purpose and invites all to open themselves up and contribute their own God-given energies, insights, and talents to the Divine project of making the face of the Earth to reflect more clearly the Kingdom of God.” On Saturday, Okapaleke was one of the 20 new cardinals sworn in by Pope Francis at St. Peters Square in Rome. The College of Cardinals is a body of senior priests who support the pope in overseeing the affairs of the church, and they also vote during papal elections. Bishop Okpaleke who is among the 20 new cardinals of the church is one of two African bishops and the only Nigerian sworn in. With the new cardinals, the total number of College of Cardinals has now grown from 208 to 229.

  of Justice (ICJ) to seek clarification of some ambiguities in a ruling over possession of the Bakassi Peninsula. Historically, Nigeria conceded Bakassi to Cameroon as far back as 1975 when Yakubu Gowon, a general, was military head of state. In 2002, ICJ ruled against Nigeria when Obasanjo was president, and President Goodluck Jonathan handed over the peninsula to Cameroon in 2012 in compliance with the judgment. In a communiqué issued at the end of the 24th session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC), the two countries pledged to collaborate closely to promote the development of cross-border infrastructure projects.   The communiqué also added that the mixed commission recommended that the two parties finalise the agreement on the joint exploitation of the hydrocarbon along the maritime border. Both countries commended the sub-commission on Demarcation and the Joint Technical Team for reaching an agreement on the course of the boundary in Mabas village and the project steering committee and the technical monitoring team for the successful construction of additional 327 pillars in Alantika mountains, which has been endorsed by the Mixed Commission. Umar Gwandu, a spokesperson for Abubakar Malami, said the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) led the Nigerian team to the session.   Gwandu quoted Malami as expressing Nigeria’s determination to ensure that the limited areas of border disagreement between both countries are resolved amicably. “Nigeria is committed to the quick and successful execution of the mandates of the Mixed Commission,” Malami said, noting that disagreements had been reduced to three. Malami urged experts working on the issue to “embrace pragmatism in order to reach consensus in all the three areas of disagreement,” hoping that “amicable solutions would be found as soon as possible to enable the work to be completed”.

  Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says he places high value on the virtues of integrity, transparency and social justice. Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the vice-president interacted with a group of Harvard Business School students who visited him at the Presidential Villa. Numbering about a dozen, some of the students are Nigerians. The students, who are currently on an African excursion, asked questions about leadership, faith, spirituality, government policies in education, health, economy, and national image, among others. “Just looking at these values, there is a great deal of unanimity about what is the right thing to do. “The question is whether or not you will do those things, or whether you are motivated enough to do them, or whether you are compelled to do them. “Spirituality helps in that sense to help you to decide what to do and what not to do; especially where institutions are not strong enough to restrain people from behaving in a particular way or not,” he said. Osinbajo said that the virtues of integrity, transparency and social justice were also exhorted in the different faiths and religions in the country. According to him, spirituality connotes values. “I came into government with values about what I think is important especially around transparency, social justice and justice, among others. “”You are almost always a product of the values you believe in. “”Fortunately, a lot of these values cut across the different faiths, they are not necessarily restricted to a religion or one faith. “In societies that are more developed institutionally, you don’t need to be told that you shouldn’t do certain things, because you could end up in jail. ”If you do and there is a good likelihood that you could be detected and the process will go through and you will be punished. “I speak about corruption and all that; but where the institutions are weak, some people have reasons for not doing the right thing,” the vice-president said. On the perception on Nigeria in the international community, Osinbajo said that it was in understanding the size of Nigeria that the international community could better appreciate the enormity and complexity of some of the country’s challenges. “First, there is a need to appreciate the size of the country, which is crucial to understanding what the issues are. “For instance, Borno is about the size of the whole of the UK plus Sweden or Denmark. “When they talk about economy, we are often compared with smaller African countries, but there are 10 states in Nigeria that have bigger GDPs than those countries, it is a huge target market.” He also responded to the question about some inaccurate characterisation of Nigeria in sections of the international community. The vice-president said it was important to constantly engage the international community to show them how we feel about the stereotypes. “It comes down to the work we do as government and people about the characterisation. “This is why some of the work around the Ease of Doing Business among others are all initiatives that have behind them. The whole idea that this environment is one that is welcoming to business and people can come and do business,” he added. Osinbajo also talked about creativity in governance and education. “A lot of that is tied to education that is really something that interests me the most; just using an example of something we did in the Northeast.” He narrated how the Learning Centers in Maiduguri were started. “I visited Maiduguri, Borno in 2015, and I saw many children whose parents had been killed by the Boko Haram insurgents and in a place where they were; I saw about 49,500 of such children. “ I had a conversation with the governor and other officials and the idea of starting a school for them came up and we stepped in. “The state government gave us land in Maiduguri that could accommodate 1,300 children, and these were children that could only speak Kanuri. “We built a school that exposed these children to technology and values, and after five years, the children were able to speak English and Hausa, they were doing robotics, writing programmes and other things they were not able to do before then. “What this showed is that with skills, any child, anywhere can do everything, especially when you provide that child with education that is focused,” he said. More so, Osinbajo spoke about the economy, and the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme, politics, leadership, education, and energy transition, among others. The students thanked the vice-president for the opportunity to visit him. The Team Leader, Mr Daniel Jaiyeoba, said that they wanted to hear from the vice-president. “We understand your private sector experience and now you are in the public sector. “That is why we put this visit together,” he said. The students were accompanied on the visit by the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, who had taught some of them as undergraduates. The list of the Harvard students delegation also included Maan Aldaiel, Dusty Register, Tomas Tussie, Connor Popik, Ruben Anzures, Scott Kimberlee, Thomas Cowan, Laura Romine, Lanre Ojutalayo, Oluwatoyin Ogundele, Etim Imoh and Abdul-Rahman Buhari

  The Indigenous People of Biafra has warned those who claim to be fighting for Biafra actualisation and praying for the peaceful return of its Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, to eschew all kidnappings for ransom and other forms of criminalities in the South-East geopolitical zone. While noting that kidnapping for ransom and other heinous crimes were not part of the tradition practised by the zone’s ancestors, the group warned it was a sacrilege to be part of such an ugly trend in the land. The group’s Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, stated this in a statement on Sunday. It said it initiated the Monday sit-at-home order in the zone, but had since suspended it, saying its continuation was against the people and should be condemned at its entirety. The statement read, “We, the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by the great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, wish to condemn numerous Kidnappings and killings going on at the Nnewi LGA and other parts of Biafraland by criminals as Igbo tradition goes against Ndigbo waste innocent Igbo lives. “It is a sacrilege to be part of such heinous crime against our own people. If our ancestors acted in such way to themselves we wouldn’t have been able to see today. “We are cautioning those claiming to kidnap because of non-compliance of non-existent Monday sit-at-home order to stop. If you are fighting for Biafra freedom and wish that Nnamdi Kanu should be released from the DSS dungeon, you must stop all forms of criminalities in Biafra land. However, if you enjoy spilling the blood of a fellow innocent Biafran, bear in mind that you will be rewarded in the same coin. “We wish to remind our people that the already suspended Monday sit-at-home was initiated by the IPOB leadership (DOS) and not any other person or group. However, our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whom we are following his footsteps and leading this movement and noble family, advised us to stop the Monday sit-at-home and we obeyed. All previous sit-at-home orders from DOS were not enforced yet Biafrans obeyed knowing that we are in the struggle together. We don’t know why infiltrators paid to be unfortunate disciples to Nnamdi Kanu will recruit, brainwash and arm criminals and some misguided Biafrans to maim, kidnap, murder and destroy fellow Biafran properties so as to enforce already suspended Monday sit-at-home. We are calling those brainwashed and misguided Biafrans used by the paid infiltrators to impersonate the IPOB to pull out of such gang. But if you continue kidnapping and killing innocent citizens because of Monday sit-at-home, bear in mind that you must be killed because you are not fighting for Biafra Restoration nor the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.” It further condemned the spates of kidnappings going on in Nnewi, Anambra State, adding that the ugly trend had led to the unnecessary killings of innocent citizens, who could not provide ransom for their release. It added, “If you’re among the criminal gangs contracted to continue to harass our people, the IPOB and ESN operatives must not spear you unless you repent. If indeed you’re passionate to fight for Biafra freedom, how come you didn’t join ESN and do the legitimate work for Biafra freedom? Those who have been brainwashed into terrorising our people should stop, repent and revert to the IPOB strategy and operations or regret your actions. “The infiltrators were paid to hire criminals to impersonate, blackmail, demonise and destroy IPOB in the eyes of the International Community by killing our people whom we are fighting for their liberation and freedom. The IPOB doesn’t kill and must not kill anybody to have Biafra as a Sovereign Nation. Biafra will come but not through car snatching, kidnappings and killings going on in these communities in Imo, Abia, Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi States. “We are aware that Nigeria Government and Fulani Caliphate recruited and funded those criminal activities in the region, they recruited the criminals and make them look as if they are IPOB or ESN members. But it is the duty of every Biafran to debunk this ‘divide and rule British game’ because they are looking for anything and anyone to destroy IPOB and ESN. “Igbo youths, please shine your eyes!! The green snakes are in the green grass. The enemies have armed some of us to be harmful to fellow Igbo man and woman while impersonating the IPOB. But one thing is sure, you cannot destroy the IPOB-ESN using propaganda or fake ESN, Why so? Answer – Just to get ESN and IPOB out of the way for Fulani conquest of Biafra land to be sure. “The DOS and other leadership are up there fighting hard to gain Biafra recognition internationally while some idiots have allowed themselves to be used against our people and to damage the good loyalty and reputation the ESN and IPOB volunteers have enjoyed since establishment. We knew why our leader stopped the Monday sit-at-home order which we are not obliged to expose to the public. Unfortunately, some Biafrans are on social media ranting and fighting the IPOB leadership without knowing what is happening or going on with the struggle and where the struggle stands at the moment. But in a short while some revelations will be made known concerning Biafra agitation. “Anybody still enforcing that non-existent Monday sit-at-home is a criminal who is paid through infiltrators’ leader in Fulani to impersonate and blackmail IPOB. So long as IPOB is concerned, the Monday sit-at-home initiated by the DOS has been cancelled and has not been reinstated. The IPOB doesn’t force or intimidate anyone when we call our people to sit-at-home as part of our civil disobedience especially on our Leader’s Court date. We allow people to do it voluntarily and not by force. Therefore, anyone enforcing already suspended Monday sit-at-home is not an IPOB member nor IPOB volunteer.”