Headline
Restructuring: It’s Impossible To Stay As one if There’s Injustice – Saraki

Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has aired his opinion on the lingering issues concerning restructuring of Nigeria.
Many Nigerians, groups and individuals believe that the country must be restructured to bring about equity and justice to all its regions, with some people even insisting that this is the only way Nigeria can still stay together as a unit.
But fielding questions during an Independence Day luncheon in commemoration of Nigeria’s 61st Independence anniversary, held in Abuja at the weekend, Saraki, who is also a former Governor of Kwara State, advised Nigerians to rather seek to be better governed.
According to him, those in government need to ensure that there is development in all parts of the country, insisting that people would not be happy staying together in a country where only one part is being developed.
He said in such circumstances, it was impossible to believe that the country would remain as one in peace.
The former Senate President said that in restructuring, Nigerians should be looking at what they are getting out of the government, adding that it is the failure of government to deliver the expectations of the masses that has led to the agitations for restructuring.
“I think that the government not being able to deliver to the people as regards what their values and expectations are, has made us start looking inward to see that there is something wrong structurally… That’s why you hear people talk about maybe we should give more powers to the states; more powers to the regions.
“My view is that we must ensure that we provide the most viable ways to govern at all levels. This includes making our state more viable…,” Saraki said.
“We are saying this because we have seen a failure at the center. I think we need to address what is wrong with our country. The major issue has to do with the opportunity for all of us. I call it the democratization of opportunity.
“Today a lot of people do not have a sense of belonging. They do not believe that the opportunities are fair to all. We need to go back to that. We must have an environment that enables all of us to believe that we have a fair chance of getting to where we want to get to and in doing that we have to be sure that some of us do not believe that we are being held back.”
Speaking further, the former leader of the National Assembly said that states and local governments must begin to address what makes them viable, adding that this will help them generate their revenue.
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“You only have internally generated revenue when there is activity. You cannot generate from zero activity. That is why we have the VAT problem. Because the places where there is commercial activity are limited,” he added.
“Some states believe it is their revenue that is being shared by other states …the fact is, we need to make every state viable. It is possible to make every state viable if you have policies that encourage a particular investment in different sectors…I believe it’s doable but we need to have the capacity to understand what the situation is.
“There was a bill we passed in the eight Senate on how to generate money through road authority. Trying to see if there were certain amounts being paid for road maintenance across the country but it didn’t see the light because of the issue we had at the eight senate.
“I’m told the same bill they are about to pass now. Six years have been wasted, if that bill was passed 6 years ago, the country would have been able to generate enough revenue through that and these are just examples we need to do.
“A lot of noise is being made about restructuring but I think we need to first see that we are governed better. There are things we need to do and we need to see that there is fairness and equity in how we are governed and how the resources of Nigeria are distributed.
“We also need to ensure that there is development in every part of the country. You can’t be seeing development in one part of the country and believe that we will stay as one, it is not possible. In some parts of the world, there are incentives to see investment in places where there is no investment.”
(DAILY POST)
Headline
South African Ambassador Found Dead Outside Paris Hotel

South Africa’s ambassador to France, formerly a long-serving cabinet minister, was found dead on Tuesday outside a Paris hotel after the window of his room in the high-rise building was forced open, prosecutors said.
Nkosinathi Emmanuel Nathi Mthethwa, 58, usually known as Nathi Mthethwa, had “reserved a room on the 22nd floor whose secured window had been forced open,” the office of the Paris prosecutor told AFP.
The body of Mthethwa, a close associate of former South African president Jacob Zuma, was found “directly by the hotel”, it added.
A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, said the ambassador suffered from depression and his death could have been suicide.
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An investigation has been opened.
Mthethwa had been ambassador since December 2023.
In a statement released in Pretoria, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said he had “no doubt that his passing is not only a national loss but is also felt within the international diplomatic community”.
The circumstances of “his untimely death” are under investigation by the French authorities, the statement confirmed.
The ambassador’s disappearance was reported on Monday by his wife, who said she “received a worrying message from him in the evening,” the prosecutor’s office said.
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Mthethwa served as minister of arts and culture of South Africa from 2014 to 2019, and then of sports, arts and culture until 2023, according to his embassy website.
He was also police minister from 2009 to 2014 and security minister from 2008 to 2009.
Mthethwa also served on the board of directors of the 2010 football World Cup local organising committee.
Between 2007 and 2022, he was a senior official in the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party since the first post-apartheid democratic elections in 1994.
He worked underground within the ANC’s military wing during apartheid and was notably arrested during the state of emergency in 1989.
Headline
Afghanistan’s Taliban Release US Citizen

Afghanistan’s Taliban government released an American citizen from detention on Sunday, a week after freeing an elderly British couple.
In a statement, the ministry identified the detainee as Amir Amiri and said he had been handed over to Adam Boehler, Washington’s special envoy on hostages.
Boehler made a rare visit to Kabul earlier this month to discuss the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the Taliban government.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released an American citizen named Amir Amiri from prison today,” the Foreign Ministry on X, using the official name for the government.
“The Afghan government does not view the issues of citizens from a political angle and makes it clear that ways can be found to resolve issues through diplomacy.”
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Little is known about Amiri’s case, as it has not been widely reported.
An official with knowledge of the release said Amiri, who is 36, “had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024”.
The official added that Amiri would stop briefly in Doha, Qatar for medical checks before continuing back to the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release of Amiri, said he had been “wrongfully detained” in Afghanistan, and thanked Qatar for helping to get him freed.
President Donald Trump “has made it clear we will not stop until every American unjustly detained abroad is back home,” Rubio wrote on X.
In January two Americans were freed in exchange for an Afghan fighter, Khan Mohammed, who was convicted of narco-terrorism in the United States.
READ ALSO:Taliban Court Publicly Flogs Woman For Illicit Relationship, Running Away From Home
Another American, airline mechanic George Glezmann, was freed after more than two years in detention during a March visit to Kabul by Boehler.
At least one other US citizen, Mahmood Habibi, is being held in Afghanistan. The United States is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The Taliban authorities deny any involvement in his 2022 disappearance.
Just a week ago, Britons Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, were released from a Kabul prison after almost eight months in detention. The Taliban authorities did not say why they were detained.
The couple was arrested in February and first held in a maximum security facility, “then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred” to the intelligence services in Kabul, UN experts have said.
READ ALSO:1.4 Million Girls Banned From Afghan Schools Since Taliban Return – UNESCO
The couple married in Kabul in 1970 and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan, running educational programmes for women and children. They also became Afghan citizens.
All the releases have been mediated by Qatar.
Both the US and the UK, like many other Western nations, warn against all travel to Afghanistan.
Russia is the only country to have officially recognised the Taliban government, which has imposed a strict version of Islamic law and been accused of sweeping human rights violations.
Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the group returned to power in August 2021, when most embassies withdrew their diplomatic presence.
The Taliban government says it wants to have good relations with other countries, notably the United States, despite the 20-year war against US-led forces.
Headline
One Dead, Several Injured After US Shooting, Fire At Mormon Church

One person was killed and several others injured Sunday after a shooter targeted a Mormon church in the US state of Michigan, where the building was also set on fire, authorities said.
The suspect, a 40-year-old man from a nearby town, was shot dead by law enforcement after the attack, police said, without specifying any possible motive.
President Donald Trump called the shooting “horrendous” and said on his Truth Social platform it “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America.”
Images from the scene showed emergency services escorting people on stretchers and a large plume of dark smoke at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township.
READ ALSO:Head Of Mormon Church Is Dead
Local police chief William Renye told reporters the suspect drove his vehicle through the front doors of the church and then began firing at people inside with an assault rifle.
He said the service was active with “hundreds of people within the church.”
Authorities believe the gunman also deliberately set fire to the church before he was killed by responding police officers, Renye said.
Ten gunshot victims were transported to hospital, including one who has died, the official said.
READ ALSO:US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged
He added that the fire had been extinguished but that “we do believe that we will find additional victims once we have that scene secure.”
A woman who lives near the church told AFP: “My husband heard people screaming, one lady yelling for help.”
FBI agents are on the scene to assist the investigation, chief Kash Patel said on X.
“Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy,” he wrote.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also said she had been briefed on the incident.
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