The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 604 (August 23 - September 5 2023)
Ethiopia shaken by a new and growing rebellion in Amhara. Teenager convicted of 22 rapes
Ethiopia shaken by a new and growing rebellion in Amhara.
Teenager convicted of 22 rapes
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V O L 29 N O <strong>604</strong> AU G U S T <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
Teenager<br />
convicted<br />
of 22 rapes<br />
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali (Photo by<br />
Blair175 CCA Share Alike 4.0 Int)<br />
Ethiopia<br />
shaken by a<br />
new and<br />
growing<br />
rebellion in<br />
Amhara<br />
Edited by Obi Anyadike<br />
Continued on Page 2><br />
Ateenager has been<br />
convicted of 22 counts<br />
of rape against six<br />
separate victims.<br />
19-year-old Kevarnie Queen<br />
of Barrington Road, SW9 was<br />
convicted after a trial at Inner<br />
London Crown Court.<br />
He was remanded in custody<br />
to appear at the same court on 13<br />
October for sentencing.<br />
Detective Constable Jennie<br />
Seward, investigating, said:<br />
“Queen’s disregard for the<br />
young women’s rights to<br />
consent, and his complete lack<br />
of respect for them, is<br />
disgraceful. He treated the<br />
women as objects to use for his<br />
own gratification.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> bravery of these young<br />
women attacked by Queen is<br />
humbling. As police officers, we<br />
of course understand that taking<br />
part in a police investigation and<br />
attending court is extremely<br />
challenging, but these<br />
courageous women have done<br />
just that. <strong>The</strong>ir actions will, no<br />
doubt, have prevented this from<br />
happening to other young<br />
women.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> court heard how Queen<br />
had met all but one of the six<br />
victims on social media, where<br />
he’d use his street name of ‘K1’<br />
as his username. Queen would<br />
manipulate the victims and go on<br />
to rape them.<br />
<strong>The</strong> multiple offences were<br />
committed over a three-year<br />
period from May 2019, when he<br />
was 15, to 2022 when he was 18-<br />
years-old.<br />
Prior to May 2022, police had<br />
received multiple allegations of<br />
sexual offences against Queen,<br />
but in each case, the victims<br />
were unable to provide a formal<br />
interview or support an<br />
investigation as they did not feel<br />
ready because of what had<br />
happened to them.<br />
However, on 7 June 2022,<br />
Queen was arrested on suspicion<br />
of rape after a report was made<br />
to police on 31 May 2022 where<br />
Continued on Page 15
Page2 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
News<br />
Ethiopia shaken by a new and<br />
growing rebellion in Amhara<br />
Continued from Page 1<<br />
Two weeks after irregular militia<br />
fighters called the Fano seized several<br />
towns and cities in Amhara,<br />
Ethiopia’s second-biggest region, the<br />
barricades have been cleared from the streets<br />
and an uneasy calm has been restored by the<br />
federal military. <strong>The</strong> fighting was the fiercest<br />
to grip Ethiopia since a November ceasefire<br />
ended the two-year conflict in the next-door<br />
region of Tigray.<br />
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had set his<br />
sights on welcoming back foreign investors<br />
and kickstarting the economy. Instead, earlier<br />
this month, he found himself putting down<br />
yet another regional rebellion. Across<br />
Amhara, the Fano – a historical term in<br />
Amhara for “freedom fighter” – ambushed<br />
federal military units and took control of<br />
government buildings as civilian protesters<br />
blocked roads and hurled rocks.<br />
In Lalibela, Ethiopia’s main tourist<br />
destination, the Fano seized the airport, while<br />
in Gondar, Amhara’s second-biggest city,<br />
terrified officials barricaded themselves<br />
inside the main police station as militiamen<br />
freely roamed the streets outside.<br />
<strong>The</strong> military answered with tanks,<br />
artillery, and airstrikes, rushing in<br />
reinforcements from Tigray and the Sudanese<br />
border, as the government declared a state of<br />
emergency. In several areas, soldiers fired<br />
upon demonstrators, killing an unknown<br />
number of civilians.<br />
Humanitarian access was also disrupted<br />
during the roughly one week of violence.<br />
World Health Organization boss Tedros<br />
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian,<br />
called for Amhara’s healthcare system to be<br />
protected, and Save the Children warned that<br />
children’s lives were at risk.<br />
“We must shield vulnerable children<br />
from violence, displacement, hunger, and<br />
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Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali<br />
Joubert, Save the Children’s Ethiopia<br />
director, said in a statement.<br />
Services to Alemwach, a camp outside<br />
Gondar that houses 22,000 Eritrean refugees,<br />
were suspended as government agency<br />
officials fled, according to residents.<br />
On 9 <strong>August</strong>, the authorities said the<br />
military had wrested back control of<br />
Amhara’s towns from the Fano, who have<br />
retreated into the countryside. “It is peaceful<br />
here now,” said a resident by phone from<br />
Bahir Dar, the regional capital, which had<br />
seen days of street fighting.<br />
Deepening distrust<br />
Unrest had been simmering in Amhara<br />
for months. In April, a plan to dismantle<br />
regional forces and integrate them into the<br />
police and the military led to gun battles and<br />
the assassination of the head of the regional<br />
branch of Abiy’s ruling Prosperity Party.<br />
Even during the war with Tigray, the<br />
authorities and the Fano had eyed each other<br />
uneasily. Amhara’s regional forces were a<br />
key ally of the military against the Tigray<br />
People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), but the<br />
Fano had clashed regularly with federal<br />
forces in the months leading up to the war,<br />
with many Amhara fighters instinctively<br />
mistrusting Abiy, who is an Oromo,<br />
Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.<br />
Amhara forces took advantage of the war<br />
to seize Western Tigray, a fertile territory<br />
bordering Sudan long claimed by the<br />
Amhara, and an area called Raya. Human<br />
Rights Watch and Amnesty International say<br />
they waged a campaign of ethnic cleansing<br />
in Western Tigray – characterised by arbitrary<br />
arrests, killings, and deportations – that<br />
uprooted hundreds of thousands of Tigrayan<br />
residents.<br />
In mid-2021, TPLF fighters recaptured<br />
most of their region and then pushed deep<br />
into Amhara, committing their own human<br />
rights abuses while also looting hospitals and<br />
schools. Amhara was mobilised for total war,<br />
with thousands of young men given<br />
rudimentary military training and sent to the<br />
front as militia. Many felt let down by the<br />
government and regular military, which had<br />
been unable to stop the TPLF advance.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> PM was saying during the war that<br />
these contested regions are Amhara, and now<br />
people feel betrayed.”<br />
<strong>The</strong>n, in April 2022, during a truce with<br />
the TPLF, Abiy moved against the Fano,<br />
launching a sweeping crackdown that saw<br />
thousands arrested.<br />
After the signing of the Tigray peace deal,<br />
the sense of spiralling mistrust heightened.<br />
Even though Amhara’s Vice President was<br />
part of the team who negotiated the peace,<br />
Amhara activists complained that their<br />
interests were not represented at the talks.<br />
<strong>The</strong> final text of the peace deal says the<br />
future of “contested areas” will be settled<br />
according to the Constitution. Since it was<br />
agreed, Abiy has touted the possibility of<br />
holding a referendum to determine the status<br />
of Western Tigray and Raya.<br />
Even questioning the status of these<br />
territories is deeply unpopular with Amhara<br />
nationalists, who see their return to the TPLF<br />
as an uncrossable redline. “<strong>The</strong> PM was<br />
saying during the war that these contested<br />
regions are Amhara, and now people feel<br />
betrayed,” a member of the Amhara branch<br />
of Abiy’s ruling Prosperity Party told <strong>The</strong><br />
New Humanitarian.<br />
‘He is killing Amhara people<br />
everywhere’<br />
This feeling of betrayal feeds into a wider<br />
sense that the Amhara are under attack<br />
elsewhere in Ethiopia. In western Oromia,<br />
Amhara farmers have been massacred by the<br />
Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which says<br />
it is fighting for greater autonomy for the<br />
Oromo. <strong>The</strong>re have been similar attacks in<br />
the Metekel region of Benishangul-Gumuz,<br />
where the Amhara are also a minority.<br />
Under the imperial regime of Haile<br />
Selassie and then the communist Derg<br />
government, Amhara dominated Ethiopian<br />
national life. Many Amharas now complain<br />
that the Oromo have taken over under Abiy,<br />
Ethiopia’s first Oromo Prime Minister. Many<br />
even allege his government is behind the<br />
OLA’s attacks on ethnic Amharas.<br />
A resident of Lalibela, for instance, told<br />
<strong>The</strong> New Humanitarian over the phone that<br />
the Fano are “liberators” from Abiy’s “OLA<br />
government”. Views like this are widespread.<br />
“Abiy is a dictator,” said a Gondar resident.<br />
“He is killing Amhara people everywhere in<br />
the country.” Both spoke on condition of<br />
anonymity due to fear of reprisals.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> war was a bonanza for the Fano.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y could recruit, they could keep the<br />
weapons they found in Western Tigray for<br />
themselves, and they had the government’s<br />
support for everything they did.”<br />
Yet, in many ways, Abiy helped create<br />
the Fano militia now fighting his<br />
government. Under Ethiopia’s former TPLFdominated<br />
government, many of the leading<br />
lights of today’s Fano movement were locked<br />
up. When Abiy came to power in 2018,<br />
promising democracy, he released them as<br />
part of a mass amnesty for tens of thousands<br />
of political prisoners.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se Amhara strongmen subsequently<br />
built small-scale militias that were used to<br />
provide security services and fight other<br />
insurgent groups on the government’s behalf.<br />
On the eve of the war with Tigray, Abiy’s<br />
government was beginning to crack down on<br />
these Fano groups, believing they had grown<br />
too powerful. <strong>The</strong>n the fighting broke out.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> war was a bonanza for the Fano,”<br />
said a Western researcher who did not want<br />
to be named. “<strong>The</strong>y could recruit, they could<br />
keep the weapons they found in Western<br />
Tigray for themselves, and they had the<br />
government’s support for everything they<br />
did.”<br />
That the Fano are now fighting the<br />
government is not surprising, said the<br />
researcher: “I was expecting this to happen<br />
much earlier.”<br />
Fear of a widening rebellion<br />
Abiy may have been compelled to act<br />
against the Fano after seeing the threat<br />
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces<br />
(RSF), under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo,<br />
known as Hemedti, pose to the country’s<br />
establishment.<br />
“You have dozens of Hemedtis in the<br />
Amhara region, dozens of guys who are able<br />
to build forces and get some<br />
institutionalisation from the state apparatus,<br />
and that is exactly what the RSF did,” the<br />
researcher said.<br />
Although the federal military has<br />
reclaimed control of Amhara’s towns, the<br />
Fano rebellion is not over. <strong>The</strong> group will<br />
likely continue to wage a guerrilla campaign<br />
in Amhara’s vast mountainous interior, where<br />
they have widespread popular support.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> public supports the Fano.”<br />
On Sunday, a government airstrike killed<br />
at least 26 people and wounded 55 more<br />
when it struck the Amhara town of Finote<br />
Selam. Many of the victims were local<br />
people who had been taking food to the Fano,<br />
according to eyewitness accounts.<br />
Even before this month’s violence, rural<br />
Amhara was witnessing a similar uptick in<br />
insecurity.<br />
Unlike the TPLF, the Fano may be able<br />
to bring in supplies across the Sudanese<br />
border. Eritrea, meanwhile, helped train the<br />
Fano during the Tigray war, and many<br />
Western diplomats suspect it had a hand in<br />
fanning this month’s fighting. Eritrean<br />
President Isaias Afwerki was an ally of<br />
Continued on Page 3
AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page3<br />
News<br />
Ethiopia shaken by a new and<br />
growing rebellion in Amhara<br />
Continued from Page 2<<br />
Abiy’s, but he is believed to have opposed<br />
the Tigray peace deal.<br />
It is unclear what Abiy’s government can<br />
do to quash the growing rebellion in Amhara.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Fano are loosely organised, with deep<br />
internal divisions. Even if Abiy’s government<br />
wanted to negotiate with them, it is unclear<br />
who could talk on behalf of the movement.<br />
A recent wave of arrests in the capital,<br />
Addis Ababa, which the State human rights<br />
body says is targeting ethnic Amharas, is only<br />
likely to fuel the group’s sense of<br />
persecution. Last week, Human Rights<br />
Watch said the federal government had<br />
responded to the unrest with “increased<br />
repression”.<br />
Analysts predict a general breakdown of<br />
law and order across Amhara as the Fano<br />
insurgency escalates, similar to the situation<br />
in Western Oromia, the OLA’s stronghold,<br />
where government control rarely extends<br />
beyond the suburbs of towns.<br />
If that happens, the group will not find it<br />
difficult to find recruits among the millions<br />
of young Amhara men fed up with Abiy’s<br />
government. “You can’t fight with the<br />
public,” said a resident of Kobo, one of the<br />
centres of the fighting. “<strong>The</strong> public supports<br />
the Fano.”<br />
This story was originally published by<br />
<strong>The</strong> New Humanitarian.<br />
<strong>The</strong> New Humanitarian puts quality,<br />
independent journalism at the service of the<br />
millions of people affected by humanitarian<br />
crises around the world. Find out more at<br />
www.thenewhumanitarian.org.
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AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page5
Page6 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong>
Opinion<br />
AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
Of Niger, breathing problems<br />
and other matters<br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page7<br />
“Bros, you dey town?”<br />
“Yes. Where you think say I for<br />
dey. I no tell you say I dey travel”<br />
“I thought maybe you would<br />
have gone to Niger.”<br />
“Go Niger go do wetin?”<br />
“I hear some civil society groups<br />
are compiling names of persons<br />
who will go to Niger to talk to the<br />
coup leaders to give peace a chance,<br />
forget about the coup and reinstate<br />
President Muhammad Bazoum in<br />
power.”<br />
“Of all the pressing problems<br />
that I have in Nigeria: fuel price has<br />
gone up, diesel is expensive,<br />
landlord has announced rent<br />
increase, school fees have been<br />
raised, Tinubu’s economic policy is<br />
not working, how on earth do you<br />
think that my main priority should<br />
be what goes on in Niger? People<br />
are fighting their former colonial<br />
masters, they have removed a<br />
President that is a lackey of the<br />
West, the people of Niger<br />
themselves are on the streets<br />
jubilating and hailing the coup<br />
leaders and you say, I should go<br />
there to talk to them. Please, in my<br />
capacity as what?”<br />
“As a notable noise maker in the<br />
Nigerian society, and a champion of<br />
democracy. This is about<br />
democracy, and the need to preserve<br />
it in the West African region, from<br />
the Sahel to the rest of Africa.<br />
ECOWAS has already taken up the<br />
responsibility. <strong>The</strong> Heads of States<br />
and Governments have imposed<br />
sanctions. <strong>The</strong>y have dispatched a<br />
standby force.”<br />
“Yes, yes, I know. <strong>The</strong>y have the<br />
support of the African Union, the<br />
European Union Commission, and<br />
the United Nations. Americans, the<br />
French, the Germans have military<br />
bases in Niger. <strong>The</strong>y did nothing<br />
until shege happened, and now it<br />
has become our collective<br />
responsibility. Please my main<br />
responsibility now is how to pay<br />
school fees next month, and how to<br />
buy diesel for the generator at home<br />
and fuel the cars. Whatever they do<br />
in Niger is not my personal problem<br />
right now. Have you not heard that<br />
here in Nigeria, we too are trying to<br />
breathe?”<br />
Former President Mohamed Bazoum (Photo by Bogdan Hoyaux via European Commission)<br />
“Many Nigerians are concerned<br />
because Niger is our sister country.<br />
We have strong religious, cultural<br />
and historic affinities. Are you<br />
aware that the head of the military<br />
junta in Niger is married to a<br />
Nigerian woman from Kangiwa in<br />
Kebbi State, while the Emir of<br />
Dosso in Niger pays homage to the<br />
Emir of Argungu in Nigeria? Seven<br />
States in the North share a border of<br />
about 999 miles with Niger,<br />
including Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara,<br />
and Katsina. Some people sleep in<br />
Nigeria and eat breakfast in Niger.<br />
That is how close we are. And even<br />
if you are not aware of anything, are<br />
you not aware that when President<br />
Buhari was leaving office one thing<br />
he said is that if anybody disturbs<br />
him too much in Nigeria, he will<br />
relocate and join his kith and kin in<br />
Niger? Now the old man has<br />
nowhere to go. He is stuck here. You<br />
people complain too much in<br />
Nigeria. <strong>The</strong> people in Niger are in<br />
a revolutionary mood.”<br />
“I sympathize with President<br />
Buhari. His plight must be a lesson<br />
to all persons who assume dual<br />
citizenship as allowed by the laws of<br />
Nigeria. You could find yourself in a<br />
situation where there could be issues<br />
in your two countries and you are<br />
caught betwixt and between. If<br />
gbege come gbege now, where<br />
BY REUBEN ABATI<br />
President Buhari go run to? Father<br />
country no well, mother country dey<br />
boil. This is why I always say what<br />
we need in Africa is good<br />
governance and responsible<br />
leadership.”<br />
“But I think that there is now<br />
some light at the end of the tunnel,<br />
though. Nigeria’s Council of<br />
Ulamaas, the Jamma’tu Izalatu<br />
Bidiah wa Ikamatu Sunnah<br />
(JIBWIS) led by the Chairman,<br />
visited Niger on Sunday. <strong>The</strong>y were<br />
granted audience by the coup<br />
leaders. <strong>The</strong>y met with President<br />
Abdourahamane Tchiani himself<br />
and the newly appointed Prime<br />
Minister. <strong>The</strong> coup leaders in fact<br />
sent their apologies to President<br />
Tinubu for having refused<br />
previously to grant audience to the<br />
delegations that he sent before now:<br />
President Patrice Talon of Republic<br />
of Benin, a Nigerian delegation<br />
comprising former Governor of<br />
Katsina State, Aminu Masari, Head<br />
of Nigeria’s National Intelligence<br />
Agency and Nigeria’s Chief of Air<br />
Staff, subsequently, President<br />
Mahamat Idris Deby of Chad also<br />
went to Niger, and thereafter too,<br />
General Abdusalami Abubakar and<br />
the Sultan of Sokoto. Emir Sanusi<br />
Lamido Sanusi went to Niger in his<br />
capacity as the head of the Tijanniya<br />
sect. <strong>The</strong>y granted him audience.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Council of Ulammas from<br />
Nigeria also went there. <strong>The</strong>y met<br />
with them. I am afraid Niger may<br />
have been taken over by Jihadists<br />
and terrorists, right on our doorstep.<br />
Afterall, President Alassane<br />
Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire pointedly<br />
accused them of terrorism. <strong>The</strong> good<br />
news is that they now say they want<br />
to dialogue with ECOWAS.”<br />
“It is because the sanctions<br />
Continued on Page 8
Page8 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
Of Niger, breathing problems and<br />
other matters<br />
Continued from Page 7<<br />
imposed by ECOWAS, the EU<br />
Commission, France and those who<br />
donate money to keep Niger going<br />
are beginning to bite hard. Yes,<br />
Niger is rich in Uranium, the<br />
seventh largest deposits in the<br />
world, but it is also a poor country<br />
that depends on about $20 billion<br />
worth of international aid per<br />
annum. <strong>The</strong> sanctions are actually<br />
not enough. I assume that the coup<br />
leaders are now panicking. <strong>The</strong><br />
thing to do is to add more sanctions.<br />
Nigeria should take the lead by<br />
telling our daughter from Kebbi<br />
State who is married to the coup<br />
leader to pack her bags and come<br />
back home. That is one sanction that<br />
will hit home. I don’t trust Tchiani.<br />
ECOWAS must resolve to hit him<br />
hard below the belt.”<br />
“You know sometimes, I don’t<br />
understand you. We are discussing<br />
peace, diplomacy and international<br />
relations, you are reducing<br />
everything to marital issues. What if<br />
your sister says it is in fact the coup<br />
leader of Niger that she wants and<br />
ECOWAS can go to hell, will you<br />
go and force her to leave her<br />
husband because Nigeria wants to<br />
show it has power even in the<br />
bedrooms of Niger?”<br />
“I don’t trust General Tchiani and<br />
his men. Look at how they snubbed<br />
Nigeria, the giant of Africa”.<br />
“Leave that giant thing. Nobody<br />
considers Nigeria a giant anymore.<br />
In fact, it is so bad, if President<br />
Tinubu himself dares to go near<br />
Niger, they will arrest him and lock<br />
him up with Bazoum and serve him<br />
agbado which they must have heard<br />
he likes a lot. And nothing will<br />
happen. In fact, some Nigerian will<br />
say it serves him right. Please leave<br />
that matter about being a giant.<br />
Nobody sees Nigeria as a giant<br />
anymore please.”<br />
“Those boys in Niger will detain<br />
Nigeria’s President? That will be an<br />
assault on the sovereignty of<br />
Nigeria. <strong>The</strong>n, the war that nobody<br />
wants will begin immediately”<br />
“My friend, go and calm down.<br />
You think all the Nigerians who<br />
have been saying Nigeria should not<br />
commit to any act of aggression<br />
don’t know what they are saying?<br />
ACF, Katsina Forum, Afenifere,<br />
Council of Ulamaas, HURIWA,<br />
Senator Shehu Sani, NLC, PDP, LP,<br />
you think they don’t know what<br />
they are saying? Nigeria is broke. It<br />
cannot finance any major military<br />
operation that is likely to end up as<br />
proxy war between the East and the<br />
West. It also cannot afford a fullscale<br />
war in its backyard. And what<br />
does Nigeria stand to gain from<br />
committing troops to an operation in<br />
Niger?”<br />
“Peace and stability at home.<br />
That is Nigeria’s national interest,<br />
particularly to prevent the coup<br />
virus from spreading from the Sahel<br />
region into the West African<br />
heartland. It is not in Nigeria’s<br />
interest to have a coup anywhere<br />
around its vicinity. Nigerian citizens<br />
President Abdourahamane Tchiani<br />
at the moment cannot breathe at the<br />
moment. If they get suffocated<br />
further, you don’t know what they<br />
can do. We may have to use Niger<br />
to send a strong lesson to anybody<br />
that werey is disturbing his or her<br />
head.”<br />
“Have you thought of the<br />
implications of joining ECOWAS to<br />
send troops to Niger? Nobody<br />
knows the reaction we will get.<br />
Terrorism in the Northern borders,<br />
more refugees trooping into Nigeria,<br />
the possibility of aggrieved<br />
Nigerians supporting Niger, and<br />
sabotaging their own country. If I<br />
were President Tinubu, I will<br />
borrow myself small sense, and<br />
tread cautiously. Niger is a Banana<br />
peel for President Tinubu. He<br />
should not step on it.”<br />
“I see we are a country of<br />
cowards. ECOWAS is a community<br />
of shadow-boxers. <strong>The</strong>y don’t even<br />
have a standby force anyway. Just<br />
making mouth. In the next few days,<br />
I imagine that Tinubu and<br />
ECOWAS will try to do damage<br />
control and save face.”<br />
“I think the former Governor of<br />
Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido,<br />
former Minister of Foreign Affairs<br />
put his fingers on it when he said<br />
Tinubu has no experience in<br />
international diplomacy, and he<br />
should seek the help of former<br />
Heads of State and Presidents of<br />
Nigeria. And he is right. This is not<br />
the Kabiyesi rulership of Lagos<br />
State. This is something far more<br />
complex, because of the<br />
international dimensions. Nigeria is<br />
bigger than the swashbuckling,<br />
Continued on Page 9
Opinion<br />
AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Of Niger, breathing problems and<br />
other matters<br />
Page9<br />
Continued from Page 8<<br />
triumphal, “awalokan” boys from<br />
Lagos.”<br />
“Please can we talk about<br />
something else?”<br />
“Did I not hear that one Nigerian<br />
aircraft on its way to Niger has<br />
crashed somewhere in the North?<br />
Those are the people you say are<br />
sending apologies to Tinubu? If they<br />
want dialogue, then on what terms?<br />
Will they listen to ECOWAS?”<br />
“Can we change subject? It looks<br />
like Pastor Tunde Bakare has joined<br />
the ranks of those criticizing<br />
Tinubu? Did you listen to his State<br />
of the Nation address on Sunday?<br />
Vice, Virtue, Time: three Things<br />
That Cannot stand Still.”<br />
“What prophecies did he make?<br />
Did he predict that the Naira will be<br />
N2,000 to the dollar by October and<br />
that the pump price of petrol will be<br />
about N900 per litre?”<br />
“He said more than that. He<br />
spoke truth to power. He said<br />
Nigeria is on a downward slope<br />
under Tinubu, and that what we<br />
have is an imperial presidency and<br />
leadership by impulse”<br />
“Pastor Bakare is one of the<br />
original founders of the ruling APC,<br />
Nigeria’s ruling party.”<br />
“He said APC could never have<br />
won the 20<strong>23</strong> general election if<br />
there was no split in the PDP, and<br />
that President Tinubu is showing a<br />
tendency to act before thinking.”<br />
“He said that? Isn’t that antiparty?”<br />
“I think the man was speaking<br />
under the influence of the Holy<br />
Spirit. I heard him saying with 48<br />
Ministers, Tinubu is running a<br />
bloated government and abusing the<br />
tenets of neoliberalism, and that<br />
there cannot be any economic<br />
reform without economic justice,<br />
and the poor must be allowed to<br />
breathe.”<br />
“Yes, yes, yes, on that one, he is<br />
right. <strong>The</strong> poor in Nigeria are<br />
suffocating. That is why they are<br />
now protesting in Yola, Ibadan, Port<br />
Harcourt, and Kano due to the high<br />
cost of living. We, the people, just<br />
want to breathe. <strong>The</strong> people are<br />
saying let government remove its<br />
knees from our necks and not choke<br />
us to death like George Floyd was<br />
choked to death in the US.”<br />
“You know Pastor Bakare even<br />
said Godwin Emefiele, the<br />
embattled and suspended CBN<br />
Governor is a victim of vendetta,<br />
and political impunity, who is being<br />
made a scapegoat.”<br />
“I won’t be surprised if Pastor<br />
Bakare is accused of anti-party<br />
activities and he is expelled from<br />
the APC. Has Mr. Dele Alake<br />
responded to him yet?”<br />
“I have not seen anything. No,<br />
not yet.”<br />
“You can be sure the President’s<br />
spokespersons are still loading their<br />
bazooka. When they fire, you will<br />
hear the boom, boom of attacks on<br />
Pastor Bakare.”<br />
“And you think the Pastor will be<br />
bothered? Na dem dem. If they fire<br />
bazooka, he will respond with an<br />
inter-continental ballistic missile!”<br />
“At home and abroad, just creepy<br />
stories all over within 75 days of<br />
Tinubu in office. Punitive economic<br />
policies that impoverish the people.<br />
A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)<br />
that publishes a balance sheet for the<br />
first time after seven years that is fit<br />
only for the dustbin. An uninspiring<br />
cabinet list. Mediocre performance<br />
in international relations Oh, what a<br />
curious set!.”<br />
“Oh, come on. I can think of one<br />
or two sweet stories. <strong>The</strong> Super<br />
Falcons did well in the Women’s<br />
World Cup. <strong>The</strong>y may have lost out<br />
in the Round of 16, but they were<br />
good, and they deserve to be<br />
celebrated truly. Also under Tinubu,<br />
our girls won the AfroBasket<br />
Championship for the fourth time in<br />
a row, beating their arch-rivals,<br />
Senegal 84-74. That’s something to<br />
cheer about. And our boy, Anthony<br />
Joshua knocked out Helenius in the<br />
seventh round, his first knock-out in<br />
three years… let’s be fair.”<br />
“Yeah, I also saw the Governor<br />
of Osun State, Jackson Ademola<br />
Adeleke hosting Rasheedat Ajibade<br />
and Rofiat Imuran, two Super<br />
Falcons from Osun State and<br />
celebrating them with Jacksonian<br />
dance steps. Quite refreshing.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Governor of Osun is a<br />
naturally happy man. He is always<br />
giving us good content. He should<br />
consider opening a Tik Tok page on<br />
social media, and that can be a good<br />
source of non-oil revenue for Osun<br />
State! He will beat all social media<br />
influencers at their game. He is just<br />
a natural entertainer. Nice one.”<br />
“So which two teams do you<br />
think will make the Women’s World<br />
Cup final? Four teams are already in<br />
the semi-finals. Spain vs Sweden<br />
today. Australia vs England<br />
tomorrow.”<br />
“I must confess this year’s<br />
Women’s World Cup has been topnotch.<br />
Record attendance.<br />
Impressive quality of play. In fact,<br />
some of those female teams are so<br />
technically proficient, if they play<br />
against the current Super Eagles of<br />
Nigeria, our male national team,<br />
they will serve them woto woto. But<br />
do I want England to win? No. For<br />
defeating Nigeria without putting up<br />
a convincing performance, No,<br />
please. Australia should beat them<br />
and Spain or Sweden should win.<br />
“This is exactly what Pastor<br />
Bakare calls the politics of vendetta<br />
oh. Can you see that there are no<br />
saints anywhere?”<br />
“Not exactly the same thing. I<br />
have a right to protect my country’s<br />
interest. I still don’t understand the<br />
overriding national interest that<br />
Nigeria wants to protect in Niger. I<br />
keep saying that the time may have<br />
come when we have to review this<br />
mantra about Africa being the<br />
centre-piece of Nigeria’s foreign<br />
policy process. Nigeria must be<br />
Nigeria’s number one interest, not<br />
the ego of ambitious politicians –<br />
call it Nigerian exceptionalism.”<br />
“I hear you. Na here we dey,<br />
everything go soon clear for<br />
everybody eye. Make all of una dey<br />
talk your talk. Na here we dey as<br />
Dede dey.”<br />
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Page10 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
Osun government and<br />
politics of plurality<br />
Governor Ademola Adeleke of<br />
Osun State deserves a pat on<br />
the back for instructing the<br />
three senators representing the State<br />
in the Upper Chamber to “mobilize<br />
support for former Governor<br />
Gboyega Oyetola’s nomination as<br />
Minister” during last week’s<br />
screening exercise. Of course, it is a<br />
gesture that could not be caged!<br />
But beyond sheer propaganda, did<br />
the Senators’ support amount to<br />
anything? Are we saying that, as<br />
Senators, they cannot reason or talk<br />
unaided? If Osun Senators have<br />
spoken against Nominee Oyetola,<br />
would the Senate have rejected him<br />
and would the President have<br />
dropped him? How many ministerial<br />
nominees have been so rejected in the<br />
past?<br />
Just the same, a section of<br />
Nigerians are already alleging<br />
deterioration of leadership value in<br />
the Adeleke-led administration. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
are saying that it is nepotistic: a ‘nawe-spend-all-our-money-to-win-theelection-so-we-are-beyond-reproachfrom-anybody’<br />
government. This set<br />
of Nigerians believes that it’s wrong<br />
for the Commissioner for Finance to<br />
have come from Ede and that the<br />
Ministry of Works, being the biggest<br />
spender, shouldn’t have been held by<br />
the Governor, who is from Ede.<br />
“Apart from the Governor, Ede<br />
also has the Chief of Staff; Executive<br />
Secretary, Osun State Universal<br />
Basic Education (SUBEB);<br />
Chairman, Local Government<br />
Service Commission; Rector, Osun<br />
State Polytechnic, Iree; and Corps<br />
Marshal, Amotekun, in its kitty. In<br />
this government, the town alone has 7<br />
Commissioners, 7 Permanent<br />
Secretaries, 4 Special Advisers and 3<br />
Boards’ Chairmen. Others are still<br />
coming!<br />
“Yes, people love entertainment.<br />
<strong>The</strong> very serious-minded people are<br />
small. <strong>The</strong> Governor understands<br />
that psychology and he’s playing on<br />
it; and he understands that leaders<br />
can continue to purchase pleasure<br />
while the led recycle poverty”.<br />
On the sack of the teachers<br />
employed by his predecessor in<br />
office, the group insisted that Adeleke<br />
should have handled it in a more<br />
mature way. And, on the Osun State<br />
Anthem which was recently repealed<br />
by the State Assembly, they posited<br />
Governor Ademola Adeleke<br />
that the Governor was bent on<br />
destroying whatever was of Afenifere<br />
and/or Obafemi Awolowo’s legacy in<br />
the State.<br />
That the Adeleke administration<br />
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opted for electric generators to power<br />
the disputed 332 boreholes in an age<br />
of solar power and allied cutting-edge<br />
technology is also generating a furore<br />
in some quarters. What about the<br />
Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs)<br />
where it has become easier for a<br />
camel to pass through the eye of the<br />
needle than for patients to get<br />
ordinary Paracetamol tablets; and<br />
Osogbo, the State capital, where<br />
median strips have become breeding<br />
grounds for snakes and other<br />
dangerous reptiles due to bushy<br />
roads? But for time and space<br />
constraints, lots more!<br />
Politics of plurality is a fraud, and<br />
a shameful one at that. Take, for<br />
instance, why do people talk about<br />
‘Ijesa politics’? Why do they say<br />
‘Iragbiji politics’? In reality, there’s<br />
nothing like that! If the political<br />
Continued on Page 12
Opinion<br />
Remembering Abba Kyari<br />
AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> Page11<br />
By Abiodun Komolafe<br />
Abba Kyari, CFR, OON!<br />
Remember him? Kyari was<br />
the Chief of Staff (CoS) to<br />
former President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari. Born on <strong>September</strong> <strong>23</strong>,<br />
1952, he served in that prestigious<br />
position between <strong>August</strong> 2015 and<br />
April 2020.<br />
While in office, little was<br />
actually known about Kyari in the<br />
public realm. Unfortunately too, his<br />
name actually symbolized an<br />
uncanny error of namesake. <strong>The</strong><br />
Borno State-born lawyer and banker<br />
shared a name with somebody who<br />
once had a favourable public<br />
perception, until Satan smiled; and<br />
the ‘super cop’ lost it!<br />
Kyari died on April 17, 2020,<br />
following complications from<br />
COVID-19.<br />
In the case of the former<br />
President Buhari’s top aide, there’s<br />
no doubt that the man saw it all and<br />
had it all! However, going by media<br />
reports after his demise, Kyari was a<br />
highly misunderstood and<br />
misrepresented person. As a matter<br />
of fact, everything about him was<br />
misrepresented in the Nigerian<br />
space, even beyond. Even his<br />
friends and acquaintances who<br />
posthumously were trying to<br />
outshine one another in their tributes<br />
to the dead did not help matters. It<br />
was Geoffrey Onyeama who tried to<br />
bail him out. However, had he put<br />
together, say, a beautiful piece to set<br />
the record straight while his friend<br />
was alive, Kyari would have<br />
secured respite from the deluge of<br />
negative impressions hanging on his<br />
neck at the time. Had he and others<br />
alike done at least one quarter of<br />
what they did after his death, maybe<br />
the depiction would have been<br />
different.<br />
From observation, Kyari died<br />
with his brilliance unacknowledged<br />
in Nigeria’s socio-political space;<br />
and that was painful. He had a<br />
trumpet but he refused to blow it. He<br />
refused to announce his<br />
achievements to the world and he<br />
paid dearly for it. That he allowed<br />
“false allegations” and “all the<br />
defamations” to have their way<br />
while his sojourn on earth lasted<br />
was not a sign of strength, more so<br />
as his silence was misconstrued for<br />
consent. Wherever the late legal<br />
luminary is now chanced to wander,<br />
he’s most likely to be regretting his<br />
inability to dispute some negative<br />
comments when opportunities<br />
presented themselves. After all,<br />
there’s no repentance in the grave!<br />
In human organizations, madness<br />
and humanity go hand-in-hand.<br />
While what happened to the late<br />
CoS was an unforgivable error, that<br />
the Nigerian press also failed to do<br />
some digging deep into his life to<br />
avoid misinforming the public is no<br />
longer news; and it’s something that<br />
should make the Fourth Estate sad.<br />
Kyari was so erroneously portrayed<br />
that, even if the angels had seen<br />
him, they’d just have condemned<br />
him to hellfire. <strong>The</strong> more reason the<br />
media owes it a duty to watch it and<br />
do a thorough job before putting pen<br />
to paper. It’s not a bad thing to paint<br />
a man black. It’s also not that it’s<br />
wrong to be black; only that the<br />
media has to be sure that what it is<br />
putting out for public consumption<br />
constantly swims in the river of<br />
truth. This is because the masses<br />
depend on what it pushes out to<br />
them. But if it is writing errors, they<br />
become errors that are ‘very<br />
errorian’; and that becomes a<br />
problem! Abba Kyari was a victim<br />
during his time. Who knows whose<br />
turn it will be tomorrow?<br />
Unfortunately, many Nigerians who<br />
have also heard that Kyari was a bad<br />
man might have even died; and they<br />
went away with that sad impression!<br />
Kyari’s final journey from<br />
Mother Earth has taught us many<br />
lessons. A couple who tied the<br />
nuptial knot in the presence of only<br />
the priest and the matchmaker will<br />
not be crucified for not inviting<br />
more people as guests. Likewise, a<br />
man who’s also vowed that it’s the<br />
President who must preside at his<br />
wedding reception can now see that<br />
nature has its way of enforcing its<br />
laws. Indeed, that only few people<br />
attended Kyari’s internment in an<br />
age of COVID-19 rage did not make<br />
it less of a burial. After all, he who<br />
buried his father with only 8 people<br />
present at his graveside has buried<br />
his father; and the man has gone!<br />
Abba Kyari and former President Buhari<br />
Most importantly, if we have less of<br />
‘owambe’ fanfares accompanying<br />
social functions, maybe the make-itby-force<br />
struggles which now define<br />
our world will become subdued.<br />
Like the Abba Kyari in all of us,<br />
people say, ‘let me not talk about<br />
what I am doing or my<br />
achievements’. But what’s wrong<br />
with it, especially, when what they<br />
are doing is right? Since nobody<br />
will do it for them, why don’t they<br />
blow it for the future to judge them<br />
right or wrong? Why not blow the<br />
trumpet so that issues can be put in<br />
proper perspectives, even after they<br />
are long gone?<br />
Without doubt, those who<br />
remember Abba Kyari from their<br />
personal perspectives will read<br />
meanings to this write-up. Those<br />
who didn’t know him might be<br />
wondering why it’s so important for<br />
yours sincerely to bring him back<br />
while perception-compliant<br />
Nigerians will understand that this<br />
intervention is about ‘one blowing<br />
one’s trumpet’, especially when<br />
one’s trumpet is good and enhanced,<br />
and it’s in one’s hand. Take it or<br />
leave it, we live in a society that<br />
doesn’t help anybody! Even when<br />
one has lofty goals and objectives, it<br />
still gives one sandbags that<br />
constrain one.<br />
A Yoruba proverb says: ‘Bi<br />
omode ba subu, a wo iwaju. Bi agba<br />
ba subu, a wo ehin wo’ (Upon<br />
falling, a youngster looks ahead (for<br />
help), an elder looks back (for the<br />
cause). Well, the problem with<br />
looking down is that it is deliberate.<br />
It is also decisive to look up because<br />
changing position to look down is a<br />
big trouble. In our fated clime,<br />
everybody is just following trends.<br />
But nothing is as frustrating as<br />
trends. Contrary to thoughts that<br />
nothing seems to be working, the<br />
truth is that Nigerian society is<br />
loaded but no one knows the<br />
direction in which things are tilting.<br />
When circumstances take their toll,<br />
they reduce a perfect man to a man<br />
of yesterday. Of course, such a<br />
situation cannot but saddle one with<br />
sober reflections. But the reality of<br />
sober reflections is that they tell one<br />
the truth about oneself. <strong>The</strong>y reduce<br />
one to one’s original self even as<br />
they don’t give room for falsehood.<br />
Instead, they make something that’s<br />
so big become so small which, in<br />
any case, is not a crime.<br />
Beyond partisan considerations,<br />
government and governance in a<br />
democracy are the products of the<br />
consent of the governed. However,<br />
democracy is like dictatorship; it<br />
also has its inconsistencies. For<br />
Continued on Page 12
Page12 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
Remembering Abba Kyari<br />
Continued from Page 11<<br />
instance, I have argued elsewhere<br />
that former President Olusegun<br />
Obasanjo would always want to<br />
take Nigerians through how many<br />
sheep and cows he left behind when<br />
he was relinquishing power to his<br />
choice of successor in 1979. He<br />
would want to entertain us with how<br />
he met not only a treasury riddled<br />
with the bullets of debts but also<br />
task our tolerance with the miracle<br />
of debt forgiveness during his<br />
second coming. Unfortunately, the<br />
former President has never for once<br />
made the mistake of either telling<br />
Nigerians the shape of the burden of<br />
debt he handed over to the former<br />
President Shehu Shagari on October<br />
1, 1979, or the size of the estacodes<br />
and accompanying expenses the<br />
Abba Kyari<br />
taxpaying Nigerians had to carry on<br />
behalf of our debt-cancellation<br />
seekers who practically turned the<br />
airspace into their offices, post<br />
1999. This is in addition to the<br />
hymns of the loots repatriation<br />
without the accompanying stanzas<br />
of their judicious use. That’s how<br />
successive leaders have been faring<br />
in office; and it’s a shame!<br />
Abba Kyari attempted to be<br />
different but, again, this is Nigeria!<br />
May the Lamb of God, who<br />
takes away the sin of the world,<br />
continue to rest Abba Kyari’s soul!<br />
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-<br />
Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria<br />
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)<br />
Osun government and politics of plurality<br />
Continued from Page 10<<br />
gladiators understand the mix and the<br />
correct sentiments underpinning it;<br />
and, if the moment is ripe, it can<br />
propel its adherents to any height. In<br />
transactional politics, people also<br />
base favours on transactions. In this<br />
‘chop-I-chop’ system, one who is idle<br />
eats nothing but one who is<br />
intelligent enough to ‘belong’ will<br />
surely have something to eat. One<br />
who is in politics but not intelligently<br />
brilliant is likely to eat very little.<br />
One may not even eat anything,<br />
because those who are prepped up to<br />
eat most, if not all, have already<br />
positioned themselves; and they are<br />
many, and they are ruthless; and they<br />
are increasing in number with each<br />
passing day. And, since society that’s<br />
expected to curb the menace is the<br />
owner of the initiation, nothing is<br />
going to change! Thus, it begs the<br />
question: on which platform is<br />
democracy actually built, especially<br />
now that everything is in a flux?<br />
So, who will muster the courage to<br />
tell the ‘Dancing Governor’ that<br />
politics is over; and that what Osun<br />
needs is real governance? Who will<br />
advise him that it’s only a<br />
transactional administration that will<br />
give its members rice and beans<br />
before winning elections but, during<br />
the last Ileya festival, the rice and<br />
beans would almost disappear<br />
completely? Who will tell him that all<br />
the promises he made during the<br />
campaigns have long dropped out of<br />
sight?<br />
Go to L.A. Primary Schools 1 &<br />
2, Imo, Ilesa and you’ll see an edifice<br />
overgrown with weeds!<br />
A visit to Jehovah Jireh African<br />
Primary School, Ijebu-Jesa will also<br />
reveal the rot that’s become the fate<br />
of education in Osun. Founded in<br />
1930, the school has practically<br />
become a den of criminals and a<br />
breeding ground for deranged youths<br />
and misfit toys who daily converge<br />
on its old, dilapidated classrooms to<br />
puff smokes into their lungs and<br />
pump alcohols into their systems. <strong>The</strong><br />
few buildings that are still standing<br />
have had their roofs removed by<br />
those trying to eke out an existence.<br />
At Jehovah Jireh African Primary<br />
School, Ijebu-Jesa, pupils and weeds<br />
now compete for courtesy. Here, the<br />
archaic ‘shot-put’, open defecation<br />
saw an opportunity and capitalized on<br />
it; and it’s as if the potentials of<br />
humanity were heading in the dark<br />
ages. With close to 200 pupils, the<br />
school has only 6 teachers, including<br />
the headmistress.<br />
Perhaps these informed the<br />
decision of Digging Well Foundation,<br />
a United Kingdom-based charity<br />
organization, to see what can be done<br />
to return the school to its old glory.<br />
With its plan to build modern toilets<br />
and dig a borehole for the school,<br />
Nigerians wish the Foundation well.<br />
‘If the foundation be destroyed,<br />
what can the righteous do?’ Pity the<br />
poor pupils who are being exposed to<br />
chain smokers and drug addicts so<br />
early in life, courtesy of their learning<br />
environment! For God’s sake, what<br />
foundation are we laying for our<br />
future leaders?<br />
Jehovah Jireh African Primary<br />
School, Ijebu-Jesa is an indictment,<br />
not only on the government but also<br />
the religious community, particularly<br />
the Ijesa Diocese of <strong>The</strong> African<br />
Church. Sad that people’s lives and<br />
destinies are being wasted because of<br />
unhealthy politics, insensitivity and<br />
lack of institutional values. That the<br />
sweats and efforts of our heroes’ past<br />
are now lying in ruins portends a<br />
tragic future, if not remedied!<br />
For obvious reasons, that the Osun<br />
government is sleepwalking is no<br />
surprise. For reasons also best known<br />
to the opposition, that it is thinking<br />
that 2026 is 100 years away, or that<br />
victory is a fruit pluckable from a tree<br />
is no longer news. If not, the<br />
opposition ought to have known that<br />
its job goes beyond issuing Press<br />
Statements; that it’s a real job, allencompassing<br />
and very challenging!<br />
Interestingly, Nigerians are hungry.<br />
So, they can hardly read! Besides,<br />
many things are working for the<br />
ruling Party in Osun: an extremely<br />
rich Adeleke dynasty, power, State<br />
resources and the people’s sympathy<br />
which again, for obvious reasons, is<br />
presently tilted towards the Party in<br />
power.<br />
Among the central functions of<br />
the opposition is the protection of<br />
Nigeria’s political integrity. For the<br />
opposition in Osun, <strong>August</strong> 9, 2014<br />
ought to have shown that ‘our Party<br />
holds the centre’ or “our man is<br />
Nigeria’s No 1 citizen” is not enough<br />
to covet victory in any serious<br />
election. One has to work for it!<br />
Taking the All Progressives Congress<br />
(APC), Osun State Chapter, as a case<br />
study therefore, preparations for 2026<br />
should start with disclosing the<br />
findings of its Repositioning<br />
Committee to show that the Party is<br />
truly picturing the future and that it<br />
takes the people seriously, because<br />
Nigerians are anxiously waiting.<br />
Unlike religion, democracy is not a<br />
project whose dividends should be<br />
delayed till one gets to heaven. No!<br />
Here on earth is a better, if not the<br />
best place!<br />
May the Lamb of God, who takes<br />
away the sin of the world, grant us<br />
peace in Osun State!<br />
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-<br />
Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria<br />
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Page13
Page14 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
Careers<br />
NHS encourages students to<br />
consider a future in nursing<br />
<strong>The</strong> National Health Service (NHS)<br />
in England has congratulated local<br />
students who received their A<br />
Level, T Level or BTEC results recently,r<br />
joining the NHS through the final<br />
remaining Nursing and Midwifery degree<br />
places available.<br />
Already this year, 31,430 people in<br />
England have signed up for a Nursing<br />
degree, and 7,490 have applied to become<br />
a Midwife.<br />
Now exam results have been<br />
announced, clearing places are available<br />
for Nursing and Midwifery and the NHS is<br />
reminding students who may be<br />
reconsidering their choices that a future in<br />
health care could be the life-changing<br />
career they’re looking for.<br />
Regionalry Workforce, Training and<br />
Education Directorate NHS England,<br />
Nichole McIntosh said: “It’s fantastic to<br />
see so many young people making the<br />
decision to pursue a career in the NHS.<br />
Nursing is one of the most rewarding and<br />
diverse careers, with over 50 different jobs<br />
and specialties<br />
“For those who are still deciding on<br />
their next steps or perhaps rethinking their<br />
original choices, I would urge you<br />
to consider applying for a nursing or<br />
midwifery course through UCAS clearing,<br />
and to search NHS nursing careers to find<br />
out more.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re are also great career options for<br />
anyone who doesn’t want to go to<br />
university but would still like a future ine a<br />
Nichole McIntosh<br />
Continued on Page 15 >
News<br />
AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong> <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
Teenager convicted of 22 rapes<br />
Page15<br />
Continued from Page 1<<br />
the victim felt able to make a formal<br />
report and support a criminal<br />
investigation.<br />
Officers then made contact with<br />
the previous victims and five agreed<br />
to support the investigation,<br />
supported by specialist officers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> investigation into Queen<br />
uncovered some upsetting details.<br />
Some of the victims had been taken<br />
by Queen to tower blocks where he<br />
raped them in communal stairwells.<br />
Others spoke of being in<br />
relationships in which they were<br />
emotionally manipulated, allowing<br />
for the abuse to be minimised by<br />
Queen.<br />
Queen preyed on his victims,<br />
making them think the sexual abuse<br />
they had been subjected to was a<br />
Kevarnie Queen<br />
normal part of being in a<br />
relationship.<br />
Queen’s defence was that he had<br />
cheated on all of the victims and as<br />
a result they had got together to<br />
teach him a lesson – but this was<br />
proven to be false.<br />
Detective Constable Lena<br />
Kraemer, said: “We are doing<br />
everything we can to ensure that<br />
sexual predators who make our<br />
streets unsafe for women and girls<br />
are placed before the courts. We<br />
can’t do that alone. If you have been<br />
the victim of a sexual offence and<br />
have not yet spoken to police, we<br />
urge you to do so; at the very least<br />
so we can ensure that you are being<br />
supported.<br />
As demonstrated in this case,<br />
without the information provided<br />
about Queen, the full details of his<br />
offending may not have come to<br />
light.<br />
We understand that supporting a<br />
police investigation for sexual<br />
assault is a daunting prospect but<br />
with police and professional support<br />
we can ensure your voice is heard.<br />
“If you have any information<br />
about sexual predators please<br />
inform police directly or via<br />
Crimestoppers as this helps to build<br />
a picture providing police with the<br />
tools to prevent and detect crime.”<br />
Detective Inspector Ian<br />
Kenward, Senior Investigating<br />
Officer, added: “I am pleased with<br />
the conviction and would like to pay<br />
tribute to the tremendous courage<br />
shown by the young women<br />
targeted by Queen. <strong>The</strong>ir support<br />
has led to a dangerous predatory<br />
offender being taken off the streets<br />
and I am immensely grateful.<br />
“I would also like to thank the<br />
team, in particular the officers in the<br />
case DCs Seward and Kraemer who<br />
have worked tirelessly with the CPS<br />
to bring Queen to justice.”<br />
Careers<br />
NHS encourages students to<br />
consider a future in nursing<br />
Continued from Page 14<<br />
degree and give the chance to gain practical<br />
on-the-job experience with patients while<br />
offering fantastic progression<br />
opportunities.”<br />
Those whochoose to attend university<br />
to study nursing or midwifery could also<br />
be eligible for the NHS Learning<br />
Support Fund, which will guarantee a grant<br />
of £5,000 a year, as well as specialist<br />
payments for studying mental health or<br />
learning disability nursing.<br />
UCAS clearing is now open and<br />
prospective students will be able to apply<br />
for courses until 17 October. Entry<br />
requirements for nursing and midwifery<br />
degree courses will vary, but students are<br />
advised they will likely need at least two A<br />
Levels or equivalent. Contact a university<br />
directly to find out what specific<br />
qualifications are needed.<br />
If you think nursing could be the career<br />
for you, search ‘NHS nursing careers’ to<br />
find out more about the range of roles<br />
within the NHS and how to apply.<br />
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduatestatistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduatereleases/ucas-undergraduate-applicant-rele<br />
ases-20<strong>23</strong>-cycle/20<strong>23</strong>-cycle-applicantfigures-30-june-deadline
Page16 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> AUGUST <strong>23</strong> - SEPTEMBER 5 20<strong>23</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> is published in London fortnightly by <strong>Trumpet</strong><br />
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